Which Arcane Caster for Carrion Crown ?

[Mirgwael]

Hi everyone,

I am not used to play an arcane caster, i usually play cleric or oracle.

But i am going to play an arcane caster for Carrion Crown.

Our group is Cleric of Thorag, Rogue, Paladin (Divine Defender) and Monk (Master of Many styles).

I would like to know (without spoils) which arcane caster (and which archetype), would be best suited as a 5th member of the team.

Thanks in advance,
Mirgwael

[ckdragons]

Just finished running Carrion Crown as GM. My group had a normal sorcerer that really excelled in the campaing. IMO, the other 4 players already have the basics covered, so anytype of caster would be fine.

Personally, if I would to be a player in the campaign, I would select a Necromancer Wizard. Easy concept to fit into the campaign as to why the character would be involved, with a hint of evil. Probably Lawful Neutral if my GM would allow.

[Corlindale]

The main concern in CC is that you'll face a considerable amount of undead or otherwise mindless/mind-immune foes. Therefore an Enchantment specialist is probably not a great idea, but otherwise it's pretty hard to go wrong with arcane casters.

A necromancer will be powerful in CC, but be warned that there's an enormous stigma against necromancy among the superstitious populace of Ustalav, so you'll have to be discreet about some of your powers. And don't expect to do any kind of "undead-army" type stuff with a Paladin in the party, of course :-)

Knowledge skills are pretty useful in CC, so I guess I'd lean towards wizard over sorceror in your group. It's not a huge concern, however - you have enough group members to cover the important skills, so it really comes down to whether you prefer spontaneous or prepared casters.

I played a Diviner (Foresight) with a focus on battlefield control conjuration spells for the first chapters of the campaign (he died in Act III, though). That worked really well - and some of the divination magic came in handy for the more investigation-focused parts of chapter 2 and 3 in particular.

When I later GM'ed the campaign we had an UNdead bloodline sorcerors focused on Necromancy and some Evocaton blasting on the side. He became really powerful by the end, especially thanks to his ability to mind control undead creatures. But once again this may be pretty hard to pull off much in a good-aligned/paladin party.

[Rynjin]

1.) Not a Witch.

2.) Not an Enchantment or Illusion focused anything else.

Other than that, whatever you like.

[Fruian Thistlefoot]

I'm going to +1 a Necromancer Wizard.

+1 again to you will not have the Undead Army due to the Paladin. (dang paladin players always ruining the fun of everyone else)

+1 on Rynjin's advise on what not to take. But hey you can easily give up enchantment as a opposed school without any problems.

I recommend NOT creating undead or raising them. But controlling them is a different matter all together. Just inform the paladin your using the Undead as fodder to be destroyed and giving your Living team a reprieve of damage much like a Conjurer would do with his summons. All Undead will be destroyed at the end of the adventuring day and none will be shown openly to the public.

Basically your just using resources already available and still dealing with the Problems at hand. Also undead are great at fighting each other being immune to a lot of the nasty things being Undead brings.

I recommend this guide as well:

ShakaUVM's Method for Necromantic Success

Has a lot of good info.

[Drogos]

Currently playing through and not even finished with the first book, I would strongly reccomend an Intelligence based caster and most likely a wizard due to access to all the knowledge skills. Our d20 rolls have been ~67% knowledge checks, 33% everything else.

[ryric]

I'll bring up that a lot of monsters in the second half of the AP seem to have good sensory abilities, so you may want to steer clear of illusions as well. My girlfriend got very frustrated that it seemed that every time her sorcerer cast greater invisibility something could see through it.

Actually, looking at your party composition, a bard would be very solid as well. You'd get knowledge skills and that group would rock with Inspire Courage. Emphasize buffs with your spell list instead of mind affecting stuff.

[Xen]

Have you look at the Harrower prestige class? Depending on your GM this could work REALLY well into the story and could work with any Wizard as you don't lose any spell casting ability and trade 2 metamagic feats for a pretty good party buff and spell augmentation abilities. Not to mention the flavor is great if your pick up the real Harrow Deck.

[ckdragons]

ryric wrote:

Actually, looking at your party composition, a bard would be very solid as well. You'd get knowledge skills and that group would rock with Inspire Courage. Emphasize buffs with your spell list instead of mind affecting stuff.

The group I ran through this AP had a Bard and the buffs provided to this party made them almost unbeatable. Actually had to hold them back a level, and I added the Advanced template to a few of the "bosses", all with 15-point buys. LOL

[pachristian]

+1 on the bard. Failing that, sorcerer. Although Xen is right, the Harrower is a perfect role-playing and thematic character.

Carrion Crown is speed-heavy (your characters often, literally, race from adventure to adventure) and treasure-light. Without too many spoilers, a wizard does not have many opporunities to add additional spells to his spellbook; and this negates the biggest advantage the wizard has over the sorcerer.

I'd probably go with a Celestial bloodline, as the campaign path theme is fighting undead. Concentrate on buffing spells, and attack spells that will damage undead - forget the enchantments and illusions.

On the other hand, bardic knowledge, and the fact that a bard can do some healing, could make a real difference. We've found that knowledge makes world of difference when getting ready to fight some of our opponenents.

[WendyWitch]

I'm a little confused as to why folks are recommending NOT a witch? Can reasons be given without using spoilers? My group is half way through the AP and are level 9. My NG human witch is a follower of Pharasma and is a very valuable member of our party. She has a lot of white necromancy spells (since Pharasma frowns on undead). She has pretty high knowledge skills, healing and spellcraft. With her high Int & Prehensile Hair hex, she's stronger than our paladin for some tasks. Everyone in the party is glad she's part of it. And she hasn't even taken the so controversial Sleep hex.

[voideternal]

I think when people say "not witch", they mean to not choose options that are bad vs undead.
Undead are immune to mind-affecting, and they tend to resist cold and electricity.
Arguably the two most powerful Witch hexes (Evil eye / slumber) are mind-affecting, and the witch blast spells tend to be cold and electricity.
If you're conscious of those things, I think a witch is fine in Carrion Crown.

[WendyWitch]

Okay, thanks, Voideternal. That makes sense.

[Wyrd_Wik]

My group is on the last book of the campaign. One player started with a sorcerer but seemed sort of glad that his character got offed as he began to find it a bit boring (lots of scorching rays). I would recommend a wizard (as mentioned something other than an enchanter). As for the necromancer suggestion I would talk to the GM about it. It could work but could also be an issue with the party (I mean the campaign is really about fighting the undead). A transmuter could be an interesting addition.

Magus and alchemist might be another possibility.

[the Queen's Raven]

Just starting the third book our group is lunar oracle, rage chemist, blade bound magus, and a greensting avenger hexcrafter magus. We have been relying upon knowledge checks and stealth to scout out enemies then guerrilla tactics to win the encounter. Also our oracle with a high charisma has been key in winning some encounters without blood shed. So anything with high diplomacy, bluff, and raw fire power;)

[Jaime Sommers]

Sage Sorcerer. INT instead of CHA (so lots of skill points for your knowledge skill checks) and no problems with having to find spells to add to your spellbook (no spellbook either).

Besides, it's fun.

[Taku Ooka Nin]

Mirgwael wrote:

Hi everyone,

I am not used to play an arcane caster, i usually play cleric or oracle.

But i am going to play an arcane caster for Carrion Crown.

Our group is Cleric of Thorag, Rogue, Paladin (Divine Defender) and Monk (Master of Many styles).

I would like to know (without spoils) which arcane caster (and which archetype), would be best suited as a 5th member of the team.

Thanks in advance,
Mirgwael

I am building a Conjurer for Kingmaker and I can endorse the idea of playing a Wizard with Acadamae Graduate. It lets you change your Summons Monster spells to a Standard, but can fatigue and exhaust you. If you want added security and don't mind slipping down the path of evil then taking False Focus and the Animate Dead line is a great way to have various undead creatures protecting you.

If you want to be offensively based then a whip using kensai magus can be decent—actually building one for a friend—but so can a Sorcerer or Witch.

One bit: never underestimate the power of taking Rich Parents, Chosen Child, Spark of Creation and Cauldron at level 1.
If you ever wanted to pass out potions of Cure Light Wounds like they're hot, this is your chance.
(900+900)/(25*.95)=Number of potions you can make and then sell at 25 gp a pop to your allies. Just invest the money they unwittingly give you in more potions to sell them or make a buy 20 get 1 free deal.

Eldritch Knights builds are always fun, and so are Dragon Disciples.
You could try a Melee focused Aasimar Dragon Disciple with early entry into EK to keep you alive while you transition to becoming a dragon. However, this is more or less a power build.

[Drogos]

Jaime Sommers wrote:

Sage Sorcerer. INT instead of CHA (so lots of skill points for your knowledge skill checks) and no problems with having to find spells to add to your spellbook (no spellbook either).

Besides, it's fun.

My group has one of these. She has been pretty phenomenal.