Dragonthemed Dragonwrought kobold rebuild

[Vidar]

 So, my girlfriend is sick of playing a lvl 19 sorcerer/dragonheart mage. Party has 2x wizard/loremaster/archmage (exact copies, cuz one of them is just not capable of making a charactersheet) + Gawain rebuild to a CL 17 swiftblade/AC, so her CL 17 sorcerer casting is pretty bleak in comparison. Also, 27d6 breath weapon damage is pretty worthless as damage is overrated anyway + our 2 glass cannons do about 800-ish damage. The most useful thing she can do is entangle and change her damagetype, which is nice for a lvl 3 character, but not a big deal when that's the top of your cunning at lvl 19.
So we got permission to rebuild it, only thing that has to stay is the dragon flavor and the dragonwrought kobold(CG, not silverish).

 First thing that came to mind was a lvl 19 DFA dragonwrought Jungle Kobold, but both my girlfriend and me don't know much about the DFA. Any suggestions about the DFA or another interesting concept? As previously mentioned, we have 2 Wizards/loremaster/archmage, 2 glass cannons: vanilla half orc barb charger and a very dm-friendly archer, Gawain the Gish, me the lvl 19 cleric/radiant servant of Pelor/paragnostic apostle and our very big dumb fighter/copycat who tries to be gawain: a champion of corellon/pious templar.

Edit: 32 point buy, no ToB/ToM/psionics/3rd party,  DM is touchy about: dragon magazines/3.0/eberron/forgotten realms

[AndyJames]

The thing with DHM is not the breath weapon. It is the bunch of Draconic feats you get, which will allow you to get Resist 1 type of energy, extra HP, extra spells known, extra caster level, etc.

A DW Kobold Sorcerer can afford to lose a couple of caster levels because a level 17 Sorcerer may be able to cast as a level 20 Sorcerer (Loredrake sub + Greater Draconic Rite). At the very least, you will be able to cast as a level 18 Sorcerer, so it isn't that bad (just Draconic Rite alone).

Two builds that I like to play around with are:
Wizard 4/Sorcerer 1 (4 casting)/UM 10/Wizard 5 for Wiz 19/Sorc 14 casting
Sorc 1 (4 casting)/Druid 3/Mystic Theurge 4/Arcane Heirophant 10/MT +2 for Druid 19/Sorc 20 casting

[Negative Zero]

Because of the bonuses to caster level that dragonwrought kobolds have, they are great for any double casting build. You could get a sorc/wizard, sorc/archivist or sorc/psion, and with the Riddled template, each of those rely on Int as the casting attribute.

[Vidar]

1st: thanks for the explanation on DHM, I see where I went wrong there. But still, the idea might be dropped completely.
2nd: I think that we'll drop the focus on arcane casting and go for something "easier", as the woman is "too busy with non stop, timeconsuming tasks for college   . With easier I mean: not preparing a full list of spells, which I doubt we'll need too much anyway, what with the 3 wizards and all.    I really like your builds, and it would be nice to shove the DM in the face how to really play a dual caster (his arcane hierophant just goes all the wrong ways in another campaign), but it won't help with that first issue I mentioned in this post.
3rd: I forgot to mention: we work with limited sources. ToB/ToM both are forbidden, Psionics are forbidden (but somehow not for the npc's/enemies), Eberron needs to be parleyed, most dragon magazine stuff is also just npc/enemy, except for the 'innocent' stuff. 3.0 is mostly forbidden (like OA and such, mentioning about the 3.5 updates will get frowns, but that's it). If I forgot anything here, Gawain will soon drop in and correct me. Also, it's a 32 point buy.

[AndyJames]

That is where Sorcerer is good. You don't have to prepare a full list all the time. What you have is what you get. It doesn't help the dual caster thing, of course.

If she likes Silver Dragons, then take a look at the Frost Mage from Frostburn. Cold theme and you can enhance your cold spells to be quite nasty. Use Energy Sub for maximum effect.

If you like cheese, then do the following:

Necropolitan Kobold
Sorcerer 5/Frostmage 10/something x

Feats: Snowcasting, Draconic Reservoir, Frozen Spell, Energy Sub: Cold, Lord of the Uttercold

You don't need Dragonwrought if you have Necropolitan since Undead do not lose physical stats, but still can gain mental ones (check with your DM).

The schtick: Get an area effect damage spells like Wings of Flurry. If the enemy gets close, drop one at your feet. Energy Sub it to cold and apply Lord of UC on it. You are immune cold and healed by negative energy. Your opponents (probably) are not. If you raise dead and stuff, most Undead are immune cold and are healed by negative energy too. Have a bunch of them fight the bad guy and then lob Cold subbed UC Fireballs in there.

One of the oldest tricks in CO.


EDIT: The thing is, if you are going DW Kobold, there is really no reason to play anything other than a Sorcerer beause of the tasty +1 to +3 virtual Sorcerer levels they get. You'd be better off using another race if you want to play something else. That said, what sort of character does she want to play if not a caster?

[Vidar]

Again, I have to dissapoint you.
I said "(CG, not silverish)", so I meant: the CG bronze,brass,copper what's it thingy.
Still, the necropolitan won't work either, my cleric is traumatized by anything that resembles or works with undead.
To mention exactly what SHE wants comes close to "I like breathing on monsters and flying like the ecstatic and sugarpumped kobold I've always been playing". There you have it, all the needs a girl can ever have, phrased in one line.

[GawainBS]

My suggestion is to go DFA all the way. It's not to hard to learn and offers good utility/control and social skills, which is her shtick most of the time anyway.

[AndyJames]

Then DHM is the PrC she wants...

Kobold (venerable, requires 1gp upkeep per day in candy)
Sorcerer 6/DHM 10/some fullcasting PrC 4

Dragonblood sorcerer sub level 1 (change Draconic Heritage for your Familiar)
Loredrake sub (+2 Sorcerer casting)
Greater Draconic Rite
Dragonborn Template (Wings) <- apply this *first* before you tag on DW

Feats:
DW (1)
Draconic Reservoir (3)
Draconic Breath (DHM 1)
Flyby Attack (6)
Draconic feat that gives HP (9)
Draconic Power (DHM 4)
Draconic feat that gives energy resistance (12)
Draconic Legacy (DHM7)
Draconic Armour (15)
Draconic feat (DHM10)

You end up with 7 Draconic feats, which gives you:
+8 to saves vs energy type
energy resistance/24
+16 hp
+1 natural AC
+1 caster level on top of the 3 you already have
3 bonus spells known
1 extra class skill (Hide is good, and Copper gets it, IIRC)
3d6 per spell level breath weapon

You also get:
3/day spell-like ability (any level 1 sorcerer spell)
immunity to sleep and paralysis
flying speed
level 21 sorcerer casting

Amongst other things...


Sub-optimal as heck, but I have made a nigh unkillable sorcerer using that before:
+5 Initiative on top of whatever he already had (he goes first with Improved Initiative and +6 dex bonus and Nerveskitter)
immune to criticals and sneak attacks
uncanny dodge
+10ft land and fly speeds
resist fire/20
swim speed
featherfall, freedom of movement, water breathing and fireshield (hot) on call
blindsense 10ft

He had limited attack options, but with that breath weapon, I dumped what he had into battlefield control like Evard's, Telekinesis, the various Fog spells, and debuff-kills like Ray of Stupid and Shivering Touch.

Turned out to be quite effective. Used the breath weapon against mooks, and then go straight into the big guns on tough monsters. He one-shot dragons at Medium range (love Spectral Hand).

[Vidar]

Kobold (venerable, requires 1gp upkeep per day in candy)

I see what you did there. Have some Fu for tackling the sugar-problem.

Aside from that, yes, that's close what we had, but you made it better on the casting part. Still, it stays an arcane caster, of which we have plenty, and the breath weapon won't outdamage our glass cannons. The 'nigh unkillable part' also is overcome by a DM who tries REALLY hard to get his daily quotum on party kills. Where does the loredrake sub come from? Also, there's no more room for such things as entangling breath?
Still, very nicely worked out, but we feel like comparing this to a DFA, any knowledge about those?

[AndyJames]

Loredrake is from Dragons of Eberron.

Unless your DM cheats, there is no way he is going to beat +20 initiative. Then just Dimension Door past his encounter if you think it is too hard. If he cheats, you lose even if you play Pun-Pun.

Seriously though, it looks like you need to have a very optimised build instead of the sub-optimal one I posted here in order to play with your DM.

I have not have any experience with DFA, so I can't tell you how good it is. On paper, I don't like it. Reality might prove me wrong.

[Rebel7284]

DFA is not an optimized class for high level play sadly.  If you want to go that way, the feat that allows you to breathe as a free action is probably a good one.

[awaken DM golem]

So, my girlfriend is sick of playing a lvl 19 sorcerer/dragonheart mage ...  ... 

We don't usually deal with "role-playing" here on the CO-board, but ... 
... I don't know how she'd feel if you were a multi-pouncer ...
... in the real world, I don't think you can move that fast without (blah,blah,blah)



edit: humor alert

[Vidar]

So I went off making a lvl 19DFA
Venerable Dragonwrought Dragonborn Jungle Kobold
6/13/28/12/10/24 +6 enhancement to con and cha, +5 enhancement to dex (doubting bout this one)
Fort:29=12+12+5(resistance)
Ref:15=6+4+5(res)
Will:17=12+5(res) (+2 when near the RSoP)
HP:340

invocation: Endure Breath, (another least: beguiling influence?), Frightfull presence, (another lesser: enthralling voice?), baleful geas, chilling fog, energy immunity, greater draconic flight.
Breath: sickening, weakening, slow, sleep, force, one left for when we hit 20

Feats:
1 Dragonwrought, Dragontouched
3 Entangling Exhalation
6 Power Surge
9 Improved Initiative
12 Ability Focus (breath)
15 Clinging Breath
18 Lingering Breath

Dragonborn with sight thingy: 30ft blindsense, boni to listen and spot, darkvision 120ft, lowlight x4
Maxed skills: diplo, umd, spellcraft, spot
other skills: toyed around with 18 ranks in concentration and 5 in bluff, making for a halfway decent bluff and synergy to diplo and enough concentration to auto-roll 31

What else am I forgetting here? Any suggestions on items?