Armored Caster w / o Arcane Armor Training?

[Revolving Door Alternate]

Friend said he wanted:

High strength THW gish

Mostly melee weapon combat

Spells would be for a few buffs but mostly the utility and divination spells that wizards get

High enough AC and DPR to stand on the front line effectively (he did not say he was trying to be the tank though)

Did not want to waste 2 feats on medium armor that he can’t even wear until mid level since the weapon combat is the primary role

We usually only play to about level 13-15 when the AP’s end

I know him well enough to say that he won’t accept a build that can’t perform the intended function until mid levels

Options I see for what he said he wants from this and the other thread:

1) Magus take Spell Blending almost every time for the wizard spells he wants. Probably can get enough of the spells he wants this way. Still doesn’t get medium armor until level 7 or heavy armor until level 13. Not sure if he will go for this. Since it doesn’t seem like it can ‘stand on the front line’ early in its career unless devoting all its spells to defense. Then what’s the point?

2) Early entry Scryer EK with high strength, the feat still spell, and wearing heavy armor. This does the best job of what he said he wants even though it does use up a feat. But I don’t think he will select it since it hurts the casting so much even though he definitely said the casting is not the primary focus. Also he said he wants heavy armor to stand on the front line, but he almost never picks a build that actually wears heavy armor. He doesn’t like being slowed down that much or having the high ACP.

3) Dragon disciple build. The gradual natural armor bonus might be enough on top of bracers or mage armor. But again those won’t be stacking at the beginning. My guess is that he won’t take this one due to the small number of spells known.

4) Early entry Scryer EK with high strength. Use armored coat for decent armor right from level 1. Take off for utility spells or long buffs prior to combat, then redon coat for decent armor. This works fairly well, gets his spells, little casting effect if never trying to use in combat, and doesn’t use a feat. But doesn’t get the AC as high as he said he wants. Might pick this, but taking the coat off and on just doesn’t seem like his style, but I could be wrong.

5) Early entry Scryer EK with high dex build. Use the haramaki, mage armor, maybe a shield spell, or bracers on top of the dex bonus to get the AC high enough. This will get all the spells he wants, doesn’t hurt casting, doesn’t hurt movement, and little ACP. I would predict this as his choice if had not just been running a high dex switch hitting ranger.

6) Early entry Scryer EK with high strength. Use mage armor, then shield spell for hard fights. Just eat the damage from the low-moderate AC.

Personally, I would guess he will pick number 6), but I could be wrong.

[Imbicatus]

There is also the option of a Magician, Detective, or Arcane Duelist bard. Magician is stuck with Light armor but gets to add Wizards Spells to his list. Detective adds nice Diviniation spells to his list, and Arcane Duelist has basic bard spells, but has nice feats for gishing and will get free medium armor prof at level 10.

[Makarion]

How about the Chelish Diva bard? Medium armour arcane caster at level 5, heavy armour at 10 if I recall correctly. You could use UMD to get wands of extra spells as desired, or play a Samsaran for the Mystic Past Life racial trait. Note, though, that Bards get a ton of divinations and other utility spells already, so you may not actually need to.

[Marc Radle]

Raymond Lambert wrote:

Not PFS legal but Earlier today, I found a 3rd party publier product from respected former Dungeons & Dragons contributor Wolfgang Burr from Kobold press for a heavy armor, full bab, 4 level caster(think pal/ran). It was called the spell blade. Availible two ways. Either a single PDF for $4 or in a new compilation coming in January. The compilation PDF wis estimated at 15 and print at 30.

Thanks for that shout out, but I thought I should jump in on this ...

The class is indeed from Kobold Press, Wolfgang Baur's publishing company (although actually written by little ol' me :). HOWEVER, the class is called the battle scion, not the spell blade. It's an 'arcane paladin' type of class, meaning one with full base attack bonus, full BAB and limited spell access similar to the paladin's spell progression (but using arcane spells instead of divine) and a small number of interesting, flavorful special abilities (force blast, dweomer weapon, spell tactician etc.)

The class was first released as a stand alone New Paths PDF HERE

It is now part of the upcoming New Paths Compendium, a print release coming in January that collects all the New Paths classes into a brand new print/pdf book, along with a number of cool, brand-new things like:

• the popular savant class from the pages of Kobold Quarterly, completely updated and expanded
  
• a brand-new spell-less ranger variant class, the skin-changer the swaps out favored enemy and animal companion for the ability to shapeshift into animal form (using a specialized form of wild shape called animal shape) right out of the gate at first level! He also gets a specialized type of combat style, called Animal Combat that makes the skin-changer one heck of a combatant when in animal form
  
• the theurge, a base class that combines arcane and divine in new and interesting ways!

Anyway, if you are looking for a good, armored arcane spell casting warrior class, and don't mind third party material, please check out the battle scion, either in the stand alone PDF or, even better, as part of the New Paths Compendium!

Oh, and if you preorder the print book now, you get the PDF for free!!!

Sorry for jumping in, but I wanted to make sure that got cleared up! Back to the thread, which I've been reading with keen interest! :)

[Revolving Door Alternate]

I don't think the bard archtypes have enough of the spells desired and get the medium armor too late. But I will put that on the list to ask him about.

[Makarion]

Revolving Door Alternate wrote:

I don't think the bard archtypes have enough of the spells desired and get the medium armor too late. But I will put that on the list to ask him about.

Fair enough. They get as many spells as the Magus, though.

[Revolving Door Alternate]

Makarion wrote:

Revolving Door Alternate wrote:

I don't think the bard archtypes have enough of the spells desired and get the medium armor too late. But I will put that on the list to ask him about.

Fair enough. They get as many spells as the Magus, though.

Don't mean spells per day. I mean the wizard-ish utility and divination spells on the spell list. And I'm not sure the magus can even get enough of those to satisfy him.

[Umbranus]

For number 4 of your list he could combine the armored coat with an armored kilt for the additional 1 point of AC. If he has heavy armor prof, that is.
What race is he aiming for? He could boost his AC by selecting a race with +2 natural armor like the gnoll or lizardfolk. Both get strength and Con bonuses with no penalties.

[Makarion]

Revolving Door Alternate wrote:

Makarion wrote:

Revolving Door Alternate wrote:

I don't think the bard archtypes have enough of the spells desired and get the medium armor too late. But I will put that on the list to ask him about.

Fair enough. They get as many spells as the Magus, though.

Don't mean spells per day. I mean the wizard-ish utility and divination spells on the spell list. And I'm not sure the magus can even get enough of those to satisfy him.

Well, guess you can't have it all, eh? Personally, it might be good to know what all he really needs, since a Samsaran Bard can get an awful lot of spell flexibility already. At some point, your friend is sacrificing functionality for the perfection he has in his mind. No game system will be capable of perfectly representing every dream.

[Revolving Door Alternate]

Makarion wrote:

Revolving Door Alternate wrote:

Makarion wrote:

Revolving Door Alternate wrote:

I don't think the bard archtypes have enough of the spells desired and get the medium armor too late. But I will put that on the list to ask him about.

Fair enough. They get as many spells as the Magus, though.

Don't mean spells per day. I mean the wizard-ish utility and divination spells on the spell list. And I'm not sure the magus can even get enough of those to satisfy him.

Well, guess you can't have it all, eh? Personally, it might be good to know what all he really needs, since a Samsaran Bard can get an awful lot of spell flexibility already. At some point, your friend is sacrificing functionality for the perfection he has in his mind. No game system will be capable of perfectly representing every dream.

Absolutely true. I will present him with the list of options, and he'll have to make some choices.

[MrRetsej]

Though not a solution to the presented problem, casting False Life and stacking it with Greater False Life will help up your survivability. According to the FAQ, since the temporary hit points from the two spells are different sources, they will stack. A Vampiric Touch will also up your temp. HP.

[Remy Balster]

The Thing from Beyond the Edge wrote:

Monstrous Physique III is a 5th level personal spell. A sorcerer would need to be a 10th level caster to cast it upon himself. He would need to be a 4th level dragon disciple to get +4 from natural armor in the prestige class. 4th level DD has three caster levels which adds up to 9 when coupled with 6 sorcerer levels, so he wouldn't get the spell, not to mention this would discount getting rage also.

barbarian 1
sorcerer 5
Dragon Disciple 4 (caster level 8, 3rd level spells)

20 base
2 level up
6 belt
4 dragon disciple
4 rage, can a character cast sorcerer spells while raging? (rage spell is +2)
4 monstrous physique II (4th level spell)

40

That is some stacking.

So, drop out one level of sorcerer (replacing monstrous physique II with monstrous physique I and losing two points of strength) then add one level of alchemist to gain a +4 strength from a mutagen gives a 42. :D Later, add another level of sorcerer to get MP II and bump up that strength two more. Add 6 more levels of dragon disciple and one can both get monstrous physique III and transformation (or drop down to one barbarian level, losing uncanny dodge and the rage power class ability) and add two more for level ups and you can have a 48 strength plus a full base attack bonus.

Keep it simple...

Crossblooded Orc/Draconic Sorcerer w/ 4 levels of DD.

@Lvl 10 Total Strength 38

Spoiler:

20 Base
2 Levels
4 Inherent (Orc Line)
4 Enhancement (Belt)
4 Untyped (Dragon Disciple)
4 Size (Monstrous Physique II)

@Lvl 12 Total Strength 43

Spoiler:

20 Base
3 Levels
4 Inherent (Orc Line)
6 Enhancement (Belt)
4 Untyped (Dragon Disciple)
6 Size (Orc Line)

@Lvl 16 Total Strength 46

Spoiler:

20 Base
4 Levels
6 Inherent (Orc Line)
6 Enhancement (Belt)
4 Untyped (Dragon Disciple)
6 Size (Orc Line or Form of the Dragon II)

@Lvl 20 Total Strength 51

Spoiler:

20 Base
5 Levels
6 Inherent (Orc Line)
6 Enhancement (Belt)
4 Untyped (Dragon Disciple)
10 Size (Form of the Dragon III)

[Cao Phen]

Ok, taking a look at Azten's post about the number of spells listed with non-somatic usage, I knew that there were some that were not there. So I took the time to make a list of all of the Arcane Classes' Spells that do not have the somatic component. Some Divine Casters' Spells have no somatic usage, but then again, they do not have Arcane Spell Failure to worry about, Alchemists too.

Getting to the point, here is the list (includes race, deity, and PFS Legal):

Bard:

Level 0
- Light
- Spark
- Flare

Level 1
- Abstemiousness (Irori)
- Chastise (Not PFS Legal)
- Feather Fall
- Flare Burst
- Haze of Dreams (Desna)
- Invigorate
- Liberating Command
- Lighten Object (Gorum)
- Solid Note
- Sotto Voce (Not PFS Legal)
- Sure Casting
- Tap Inner Beauty (Shelyn)
- Timely Inspiration
- Ventriloquism

Level 2
- Allegro
- Anti Summoning Shield (Not PFS Legal)
- Bladed Dash
- Blindness-Deafness
- Blur
- Buoyancy
- Darkness
- Gallant Inspiration
- Honeyed Tongue
- Piercing Shriek
- Steal Voice (Not PFS Legal)
- Suggestion
- Telepathic Censure (Not PFS Legal)
- Tongues

Level 3
- Displacement
- Geas, Lesser
- Invigorate, Mass
- Lover's Vengeance
- Tongues, Communal

Level 4
- Dance of a Hundred Cuts
- Denounce
- Echolocation
- Primal Scream
- Shout
- Truespeak (Aasimar)
- Virtuoso Performance

Level 5
- Bladed Dash, Greater
- Frozen Note
- Resonating Word
- Suggestion, Mass

Level 6
- Brilliant Inspiration
- Charm Monster, Mass
- Dance of a Thousand Cuts
- Geas/Quest
- Irresistable Dance
- Pied Piping
- Unconscious Agenda

Magus:

Level 0
- Flare
- Light
- Spark

Level 1
- Feather Fall
- Flare Burst
- True Strike

Level 2
- Bladed Dash
- Blur
- Darkness

Level 3
- Burst of Speed
- Displacement

Level 4
- Dimensional Door
- Shout

Level 5
- Bladed Dash, Greater
- Teleport

Summoner:

Level 0
- Light

Level 1
- Feather Fall
- Lighten Object (Gorum)

Level 2
- Anti Summoning Shield (Not PFS Legal)
- Blur

Level 3
- Dimensional Door
- Displacement
- Tongues

Level 4
- Contact Other Plane
- Damnation Stride (Tiefling)
- Teleport
- Tongues, Communal

Level 5
- Ice Crystal Teleport
- Lighten Object, Mass (Gorum)
- Planar Adaptation
- Planetary Adaptaion
- Teleport, Greater

Level 6
- Charm Monster, Mass
- Teleportaion Circle

Witch:

Level 0
- Light
- Spark

Level 1
- Command
- Sure Casting

Level 2
- Blindness-Deafness
- Steal Voice (Not PFS Legal)

Level 3
- Lover's Vengeance
- Screech
- Spit Venom (As Ranged Touch Attack, so if in Unproficient in Armor, ACP to Attack Roll)
- Suggestion
- Tongues
- Vision of Hell

Level 4
- Dimensional Door
- Geas, Lesser
- Tongues, Communal

Level 5
- Contact Other Plane
- Damnation Stride (Tiefling)
- Truespeak (Aasimar)
- Teleport

Level 6
- Geas/Quest
- Ice Crystal Teleport
- Suggestion, Mass
- Unconscious Agenda

Level 7
- Phase Door
- Power Word: Blind
- Teleport, Greater
- Teleport Object

Level 8
- Irresistable Dance
- Power Word: Stun

Level 9
- Interplanetary Teleport
- Power Word: Kill
- Teleportaion Circle
- Wail of the Banshee

Sorcerer/Wizard:

Level 0
- Flare
- Light
- Sotto Voce (Not PFS Legal)
- Spark

Level 1
- Chastise (Not PFS Legal)
- Feather Fall
- Flare Burst
- Hold Portal
- Liberating Command
- Lighten Object (Gorum)
- Sure Casting
- True Strike
- Ventriloquism

Level 2
- Anti Summoning Shield (Not PFS Legal)
- Blindness-Deafness
- Blur
- Buoyancy
- Darkness
- Knock
- Steal Voice (Not PFS Legal)

Level 3
- Displacement
- Dweomer Retaliation
- Lover's Vengeance
- Suggestion
- Tongues
- Vision of Hell

Level 4
- Dimensional Door
- Emergency Force Sphere
- Geas, Lesser
- Imbue with Flight (Not PFS Legal)
- Shout
- Tongues, Communal

Level 5
- Contact Other Plane
- Damnation Stride (Tiefling)
- Echolocation
- Lighten Object, Mass (Gorum)
- Planar Adaptation
- Planetary Adaptaion
- Teleport
- Truespeak (Aasimar)

Level 6
- Geas/Quest
- Ice Crystal Telport
- Suggestion, Mass
- Teleport Structure (Not PFS Legal)
- Unconscious Agenda

Level 7
- Phase Door
- Power Word: Blind
- Resonating Word
- Teleport Object
- Teleport, Greater

Level 8
- Charm Monster, Mass
- Irresistable Dance
- Power Word: Stun

Level 9
- Fiery Body
- Interplanetary Teleport
- Mage's Disjunction
- Power Word: Kill
- Prismatic Sphere
- Teleportation Circle
- Time Stop
- Wail of the Banshee

And there you have it.

[Revolving Door Alternate]

Hmm... That is quite a bit more. I will see if he thinks that is enough.

[Sarazel]

I don't know if it's been stated, but if you just want an armor to enchant so that you have an AC bonus in your armor slot with no penalty, why not take Silken Ceremonial armor from the Ultimate equipment? It has no downside other than only a +1 AC, and so you can use it if nothing else. Enchanted it can stack your AC bonus to help out, and it's pretty cheap all told. I'm using it for my Enchantress and it's working fine.