Douglas Muir 406 |
Character concept: a gnome who's a drug addict, exploring the extremes of sensation and reality. Probably NE alignment, though CE is on the table too.
It's a gestalt, so I'm toying with the idea of alchemist / wizard (illusion specialist) who's a devotee of Mahathallah, the LE Night Queen of mortality and illusions. Unfortunately I've never done a gestalt before, so I have no idea whether that works. I'm not a minimaxer, so I'm okay with suboptimal, but I would want the character to be competitive with the other gestalts in the party.
So: assuming I want to keep the wizard side of the gestalt fixed, what of the alchemist side? Can it be made to work? Obviously I'm intrigued by the drugs/poison aspect. Is there an alchemist type that synergizes well with an illusionist wizard and/or is thematically a good match here? Or is this combination so weak I should try something else entirely?
avr |
I'd think a psychic with the psychedelia discipline is appropriate here, replacing either wizard or alchemist. Even if you don't take it, it obviously points towards a cognatogen as being helpful for a Int-based spellcaster while also fitting the theme.
Sticking with the wizard // alchemist, besides cognatogen there's intuitive understanding, collective understanding and the potion based discoveries which could work for you. Mindchemist would be an obvious archetype to take.
Mysterious Stranger |
The Sorcerer of Sleep archetype seems to be perfect for the concept. Use the Sage Bloodline to make your casting stat INT instead of CHA to synergize with the alchemist. You can still focus on Illusion. The School Power bloodline power will give you an additional +2 to the DC of your illusion spells.
Instead of an Alchemist you may want to look at the investigator and the Halucinist archetype.
Basically this character uses drugs for everything.
Sysryke |
If you want to give your illusions some extra substance and really blur the lines of reality, there are some alchemist discoveries that let you paint solid images in the air. Eventually these can become animate a la "The magic paintbrush". I think the first one is called wonderous pigments or some such.
Douglas Muir 406 |
I'd think a psychic with the psychedelia discipline is appropriate here, replacing either wizard or alchemist.
Oh my gosh, the psychedelic psychic is perfect. I think that replaces the illusionist. Thank you!
Even if you don't take it, it obviously points towards a cognatogen as being helpful for a Int-based spellcaster while also fitting the theme.
Yes yes.
Sticking with the wizard // alchemist, besides cognatogen there's intuitive understanding, collective understanding and the potion based discoveries which could work for you. Mindchemist would be an obvious archetype to take.
Intuitive understand and... collective memory? Both of those look great, and very much on point.
Mindchemist, heck yes. Doesn't stack with collective memory, but that's okay. I can take Breadth of Knowledge as my first level feat and be the party knowledge monkey.
Excellent suggestions. Assuming my first feat is Breadth of Knowledge, and my third level feat is Mahathallah's Obedience -- which is really 2.5 feats for the price of one -- any other thoughts on building in the early levels?
avr |
For a gnome illusionist effortless trickery has to be on your list of feats to get. You may not have the feats early for cunning caster, stylized spell/stylized spontaneity or other means of disguising what spell you're casting, but keep them in mind for later. Persistent spell is often useful with illusions.
For phrenic amplifications you'll want will of the dead (affect undead w/mind-affecting) and possibly overpowering mind, intense focus or relentless casting as direct bonuses to casting spells. Not all of them because you can only use one at a time, and situations where only one would be useful are rare. Mindtouch adds utility.
The psychic duelist archetype could be fluffed as dragging the target into a shared hallucination, and while mad hallucinations is appropriate it is also a very sucky spell. Instigate psychic duel does require you to read up on mindscapes I admit.
If you're the party knowledge monkey then the heightened awareness spell is one you want. Fool's gold (AA version) is appropriate for someone who may be the evil plotter some day. Placebo effect pauses effects which stop most psychic spellcasting (and which may be annoying otherwise). Color spray, oneiric horror and id insinuation (read up on undercasting) are some attack spells of note; the psychic seems to have all the wizard buffs, and gets horrific doubles (mirror image + illusion nastiness) as a level 3 spell.
There's an awful lot of alchemist utility extracts. They can mix up an extract to fill a spell/formula slot left open in just 1 minute, so using them for that rather than combat stuff seems likely on a gestalt character even tho' there are some decent extracts for combat use.
& yes collective memory. I could do with a cognatogen myself sometimes.
Reduxist |
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Have you considered the Puppetmaster Magus? They gain not only all of the bard’s spells (including several illusion and enchantment spells), but also have the ability to maintain even more illusions at once, especially if you pick a School Familiar with the Illusion school.
You’d also have access to the Spell Trickery arcana. This allows you to get your spells out faster if you succeed at a dirty trick maneuver, which with True Strike, the Dirty Trickster gnome racial feature, and the Prankster trait, should be easy to do.
Going Illusion Wizard/Puppetmaster of Matahallah would let you set up and control a huge amount of illusions in no time.