| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
I'm building this character with a very open frame work and hoping that some of the power gamers could help me flush him out.
Background highlights: Character was an aspiring Razmiran priest who though an unfortunate act of curiosity found out that the Razmir is not a god. The end result of some high jinks results in him fleeing the country with the goals of actually passing the Test of Stars and then murdering Razmir in revenge for the execution of his heretical family (Iomedae worshipers)
Concept: Some kind of battle mage or arcane assassin who will become very spell resistant (If not spell proof) and will have the ability to raze an army (may or may not happen in campaign)
Character stars out as Atheist may turn to Iomedae later
Level 1 feat must be False Casting (any arcane class)
Level 3 feat must be either Torch Bearer or 7th must be leadership.
Craft construct preferable
Alchemy focus preferable (Homunculi and Alchemical Golems)
All requirements met by level 15 (end of a written adventure) expect Test of Stars around level 17-19
Ooh, this is an interesting character concept. Here are some random ideas: primalist arcane bloodrager, spellbreaker inquisitor, arcane duelist bard, skirnir magus, or arcane archer.
I like the Skirnir Magus idea. Gives good spell resistance and the diminished casting goes well with the idea of him not having more then a basic idea of magic. It works really well thematically.
Marking for interest.
|
Build another Wizard. Use Mind Blank + Greater Invisibility plus the feat Dampen Prescence.
School wise I would suggest Conjuration or Divination.
Also make sure you buff your initiative to rediculous heights as fighting a level 19 Wizard will be all about winning initiative.
Other things to consider:
Aroden's Spellbane(Greater Dispel Magic), Contingency, Greater Planar Binding w. a Familiar(Emissary) using Touch of Glory (fittingly one of Iomidaes domains).
Also you could go Arcane trickster using the Accomplished Sneak Attacker to only having to dip into rogue or another sneak attacking class (have to give sneak at level 1 though).
I'd second the spellbreaker inquisitor, or just play a monk :O
With strong wisdom your saves will be very strong, combined with Abundant step and dimensional dervish you can appear from pretty much nowhere and slug him with stunning fists followed by medusas wrath. Bonus points for getting an item which generates an anti-magic field around you. DDoor in, activate said item and cackle as the 19th level wizard is suddenly a tremendously mediocre fighter... :)
It is actually possible to get into Arcane Trickster with no dip into a Sneak Attack class (or alternatively, dip but later retrain your dip level) if you can use VMC Rogue to give you Sneak Attack starting at 7th level and then every 4 levels thereafter (get Accomplished Sneak Attacker at 9th level to get your 2nd Sneak Attack die before 11th level if you didn't dip into a Sneak Attack class; if you did dip, then get it at 5th level to qualify as early as you can).
Another possibility is to go for Eldritch Knight (to advance BAB faster) and then Arcane Archer (Imbue Arrow and eventually Arrow of Death) so that you can do the Antimagic Field Arrow cheese (just make sure you have some way to get through anti-arrow defensive spells). Magical Knack is your friend for compensating for caster level loss from your martial dip and your 1st level of Eldritch Knight, and Favored Prestige Class + 3 instances of Prestigious Spellcaster are your friend for compensating for spellcasting progression (not just caster level) loss from Arcane Archer. Your martial dip, Eldritch Knight, and Arcane Archer also make you somewhat harder to kill. If your Arrow of Death (using Quickened True Strike, and possibly using Seeker Arrow and Phase Arrow) kills your enemy, great. If not, go for the Antimagic Field Arrow cheese (or if you are high enough level, first use Aroden's Spellbane to get rid of your enemy's Aroden's Spellbane and prevent Prismatic Wall/Sphere) (again using Quickened True Strike, and possibly using Seeker Arrow and Phase Arrow) and turn your defenseless enemy into a pincushion (also add other spells like Dimensional Lock to prevent your enemy from Teleporting away). If your enemy already had Aroden's Spellbane up to prevent your Aroden's Spellbane and Antimagic Field, then try something else nasty (may or may not be on an arrow), like Dazing Black Tentacles (Dazed means can't get out of Black Tentacles area, and probably suffer more hits, which reset the Dazed duration, etc.).
Yet another possibility is to be a Witch (single class all the way unless you want to do the Winter Witch archetype/Winter Witch prestige class combination, but that probably doesn't help for this purpose unless you need it to help you get through all the minions) and go for maximum debuffing including hosing an enemy's ability to cast spells (various spellplague spells, and use Quickened Ill Omen and Hexes (preferably with Accursed Hex) to get the enemy's Save way down, and some of the higher Hexes are downright lethal in their own right, and Aroden's Spellbane doesn't do anything about Hexes). Note that the Deception, Time, and Trickery Patrons get you Time Stop at 18th level. Also note that things like Dazing Black Tentacles are still available and still nasty.
If you want to be more martial and still have Hexes and Curses, Hexcrafter Magus gives you approximately 3/4 Magus + 2/3 Witch.
With any Magus of high enough level, even though you can't do the Antimagic Field Arrow cheese, if you can manage to close and cast it (and Aroden's Spellbane wasn't up), then just slice/stab/whack your enemy to death. One problem with any kind of Magus, or any martial for that matter, is that by yourself you can't do anything about Prismatic Wall/Sphere fast enough to keep your enemy from doing something else in the meantime that you don't want (even with Quicken Spell, you would need multiple spellcasters capable of casting spells up to 6th level to pull this off, but we're talking about 1-on-1 here), unless you somehow manage to get your Saves, Spell Resistance, and Luck Effects so insanely high that you actually have a decent chance of just going through it and still being alive and fully functional when you get to the other side, but I don't know if that's possible to pull off.
Actually, if both combatants are trying to use Aroden's Spellbane, and both specify other instances of Aroden's Spellbane as being banned, how do you determine which one wins?
By Test of Stars, I assume you're referring to the Test of the Starstone.
There's no written Test of the Starstone, so there's no way of knowing what's involved, other than we know that the Test is different for anyone that takes it. We also know only three mortals have succeeded at it, and no one has been successful in a millenia (and it's not for lack of anyone trying).
http://pathfinderwiki.com/wiki/Ascended
Secondly, if you pass the Test, you're instantly raised to demigod (read: NPC) status.
For a demigod (minimum CR 26), killing a CR18 creature - even a wizard - is trivial.
Honestly, defeating Razmir sounds like the kind of legendary feat someone would complete *before* taking the Test of the Starstone.
The biggest problem you're going to run into in the Test of the Starstone, outside of the thing being entirely based on fiat, is this:
'The exact nature of the obstacles changes over time, but constant hazards include magic not always working right and prevention of extra-dimensional movement.'
In other words, you would have to make a wizard designed to work without his spells or any form of extradimensional travel either.
At that point you're basically playing a 10th level warrior with bonus HP and saves.
I've been working on a wizard that uses siege engines. Wouldn't call him exactly anti mage but he can consistently hit people in the 2000-8000ft range. AKA beyond most spell's ranges. Also uses everything you described except false casting(although false focus could make a good addition). Will post full build if your interested
An instructor archetype wizard with counterspell school has tons of antimage potential at higher levels
Protector of the People(Horror Adventures) is a good feat if you don't want the usual perquisites for craft construct
Concept: Some kind of battle mage or arcane assassin who will become very spell resistant (If not spell proof) and will have the ability to raze an army (may or may not happen in campaign)
I'm not sure if you mean to destroy an army (raze) or to get yourself an army (raise)?
In the first case, high level evocation spells usually do the trick. For the second case, Leadership is a good start, then just hire a lot of mercenaries.
It is actually possible to get into Arcane Trickster with no dip into a Sneak Attack class (or alternatively, dip but later retrain your dip level) if you can use VMC Rogue to give you Sneak Attack starting at 7th level and then every 4 levels thereafter (get Accomplished Sneak Attacker at 9th level to get your 2nd Sneak Attack die before 11th level if you didn't dip into a Sneak Attack class; if you did dip, then get it at 5th level to qualify as early as you can).
Another possibility is to go for Eldritch Knight (to advance BAB faster) and then Arcane Archer (Imbue Arrow and eventually Arrow of Death) so that you can do the Antimagic Field Arrow cheese (just make sure you have some way to get through anti-arrow defensive spells). Magical Knack is your friend for compensating for caster level loss from your martial dip and your 1st level of Eldritch Knight, and Favored Prestige Class + 3 instances of Prestigious Spellcaster are your friend for compensating for spellcasting progression (not just caster level) loss from Arcane Archer. Your martial dip, Eldritch Knight, and Arcane Archer also make you somewhat harder to kill. If your Arrow of Death (using Quickened True Strike, and possibly using Seeker Arrow and Phase Arrow) kills your enemy, great. If not, go for the Antimagic Field Arrow cheese (or if you are high enough level, first use Aroden's Spellbane to get rid of your enemy's Aroden's Spellbane and prevent Prismatic Wall/Sphere) (again using Quickened True Strike, and possibly using Seeker Arrow and Phase Arrow) and turn your defenseless enemy into a pincushion (also add other spells like Dimensional Lock to prevent your enemy from Teleporting away). If your enemy already had Aroden's Spellbane up to prevent your Aroden's Spellbane and Antimagic Field, then try something else nasty (may or may not be on an arrow), like Dazing Black Tentacles (Dazed means can't get out of Black Tentacles area, and probably suffer more hits, which reset the Dazed duration, etc.).
Yet another possibility is to...
Avoiding the 1v1 is the reason for craft construct and leadership. Alchemical golems are virtually spell proof and their alchemy and bomb skills are nasty as hell to deal with.
By Test of Stars, I assume you're referring to the Test of the Starstone.
There's no written Test of the Starstone, so there's no way of knowing what's involved, other than we know that the Test is different for anyone that takes it. We also know only three mortals have succeeded at it, and no one has been successful in a millenia (and it's not for lack of anyone trying).
http://pathfinderwiki.com/wiki/Ascended
Secondly, if you pass the Test, you're instantly raised to demigod (read: NPC) status.
For a demigod (minimum CR 26), killing a CR18 creature - even a wizard - is trivial.
Honestly, defeating Razmir sounds like the kind of legendary feat someone would complete *before* taking the Test of the Starstone.
See I figured passing the test would just make the character go Mythic. And with the leadership feat and the Mythic ability to give divine spells to those who warship him I was thinking it would make for a nice slice of irony.
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
I've been working on a wizard that uses siege engines. Wouldn't call him exactly anti mage but he can consistently hit people in the 2000-8000ft range. AKA beyond most spell's ranges. Also uses everything you described except false casting(although false focus could make a good addition). Will post full build if your interested
An instructor archetype wizard with counterspell school has tons of antimage potential at higher levels
Protector of the People(Horror Adventures) is a good feat if you don't want the usual perquisites for craft construct
Yes but your leaving out the most important part. Can your build backstab with a ballista? (Very old D&D joke if you don't understand the reference.)
Concept: Some kind of battle mage or arcane assassin who will become very spell resistant (If not spell proof) and will have the ability to raze an army (may or may not happen in campaign)
I'm not sure if you mean to destroy an army (raze) or to get yourself an army (raise)?
In the first case, high level evocation spells usually do the trick. For the second case, Leadership is a good start, then just hire a lot of mercenaries.
You caught raze but not "Character stars out as Atheist" ?
See I figured passing the test would just make the character go Mythic.
Hah, no, passing the test turns you into a god. Mythic characters are powerful, sure, but their power is still nothing compared to gods or even demigods. Three mortals have passed the Test of the Starstone so far and not only are they all gods, but they're part of the 20 core deities, so very big and powerful ones, too.
You caught raze but not "Character stars out as Atheist" ?
It's not a matter of catching typos just to catch typos, but that it was actually unclear because both interpretations make sense. The difference is that "stars out" doesn't make sense, making the correct interpretation obvious.
Yes but your leaving out the most important part. Can your build backstab with a ballista? (Very old D&D joke if you don't understand the reference.)I've been working on a wizard that uses siege engines. Wouldn't call him exactly anti mage but he can consistently hit people in the 2000-8000ft range. AKA beyond most spell's ranges. Also uses everything you described except false casting(although false focus could make a good addition). Will post full build if your interested
An instructor archetype wizard with counterspell school has tons of antimage potential at higher levels
Protector of the People(Horror Adventures) is a good feat if you don't want the usual perquisites for craft construct
I don't know where the original reference came from, but here's a reference from 2002 (I really need to see the whole thing some time).
Yes but your leaving out the most important part. Can your build backstab with a ballista? (Very old D&D joke if you don't understand the reference.)I've been working on a wizard that uses siege engines. Wouldn't call him exactly anti mage but he can consistently hit people in the 2000-8000ft range. AKA beyond most spell's ranges. Also uses everything you described except false casting(although false focus could make a good addition). Will post full build if your interested
An instructor archetype wizard with counterspell school has tons of antimage potential at higher levels
Protector of the People(Horror Adventures) is a good feat if you don't want the usual perquisites for craft construct
I don't know where the original reference came from, but here's a reference from 2002 (I really need to see the whole thing some time).
I believe the original was in knights of the dinner table magazine.
See I figured passing the test would just make the character go Mythic.Hah, no, passing the test turns you into a god. Mythic characters are powerful, sure, but their power is still nothing compared to gods or even demigods. Three mortals have passed the Test of the Starstone so far and not only are they all gods, but they're part of the 20 core deities, so very big and powerful ones, too.
Yep, here you go:
http://pathfinderwiki.com/wiki/Test_of_the_Starstone
(My Wrath of the Righteous character was a mortal descendent of Irori's bloodline who desired to ascend, so I looked pretty heavily into the Golarion Ascension events. Since it was WotR, I settled on "simply" going Level 20 mythic 10 with three instances of Divine Source, which is sufficient to raise you to demigod status. Post-campaign, he "fully" ascended, and is now a demigod in our Golarion setting. For awhile, there, I was going to simply have him take the Test of the Starstone post-campaign, but I realized mythic allows you to bypass it, which was much more appropriate for his character anyway, as a descendent if Irori's line.)
Demigods are CR26-30
Lv 20 mythic 10 are CR 25, well optimised they could easily be demigod slayers.
So yeah I could see the test of the starstone elevating one to 20/10 but it isn't what I'd to, I would look at the already statted demigods and make my own based on the pc in question.