I love playing spellcasters. Love it. Battlefield control, sneak attack wizards, clerics, druids...However, they tend to be a little too effective sometimes. A buddy of mine is making his first go at DMing in a while, so I thought I'd try something that wouldn't tend to be so...Overwhelming.
So I thought for a while, and realized that there were two things I always wanted to try. Warlock, and Incarnum. Since I like playing doubly classes, I thoght about the best way to mix these, and this is what I came up with.
There are some house rules:
[spoiler]
Feats are gained at first and every even level after that.
Every class gives two more skill points than it normally would.
The 4th ed style Death and Dying rules from that web article.
No multiclassing penalties.
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Books allowed are any 3.5 WotC book, feats and ACFs from Dragon/Dungeon.
Variant rules in play are Flaws and Traits from Unearthed Arcana.
Starting level, I'm not sure, but low. Probably one.
Here's what I've got so far: (This operates on the assumption that Strongheart Vest mitigates Hellfire Blast, which is cool).
----------------Warlock Incarnate (New Feats)----------
Aggressive Trait, Passionate Trait (Flaws: Noncombatant, Vulnerable) - Chaotic Neutral
Azurin [MoI] Str 13, Dex 18, Con 16, Int 18, Wis 14, Cha 15
1 - Totemist [MoI] - Able Learner [RoD], Least Dragonmark (Healing) [EbCS], Protective Mark [DMrk], Mortalbane [BoVD]
2 - Incarnate [MoI] - Expanded Soulmeld Capacity [MoI]
3 - Totemist
4 - Warlock [CArc] - Flexible Mind [Dr326] (Diplomacy, Heal) (Entropic Warding)
5 - Warlock (See the Unseen)
6 - Nosomatic Chirurgeon [DMrk] - Incarnum Spellshaping [MoI]
7 - Soulcaster [MoI] (Baleful Utterance or Serpent's Tongue)
8 - Soulcaster - Bonus Essentia [MoI]
9 - Soulcaster (Brimstone Blast)
10 -Hellfire Warlock [FC1] - Flyby Attack [MM]
11 -Hellfire Warlock (Fell Flight)
12 -Hellfire Warlock - Extra Invocation [CArc] or Double Chakra [MoI]
13 -Soulcaster (Charm)
14 -Mindbender [CArc] - Mindsight [LoM] (Vitriolic Blast)
15 -Soulcaster
16 -Soulcaster - Extra Invocation (Eldritch Chain) (Chilling Tentacles)
17 -Soulcaster
18 -Soulcaster - Extra Invocation (Walk Unseen, Dead Walk, or Curse of Despair) (Devil's Whispers)
19 -Soulcaster (Utterdark Blast)
20 -Soulcaster - Extra Invocation (Nightmares Made Real)
Abbreviation key:
[spoiler]
[CArc]: Complete Arcane, [MoI]: Magic of Incarnum, [LoM]: Lords of Madness, [DMrk]: Dragonmarked, [EbCS]: Eberron Campaign Setting, [BoVD]: Book of Vile Darkness, [MM]: Monster Manual, [Dr326]: Dragon issue #326 (also available in Crystalkeep's feat index), and [RoD]: Races of Destiny.
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Soulcaster progresses Incarnate, mostly for the extra essentia. Nosomatic Chirurgeon sneaks me into Soulcaster (barely, I know). I was planning to use Embrace/Shun Dark Chaos to swap out Protective Mark (I like the idea of having DR 5/magic at early levels, but it's rapidly going to lose its usefulness) and maybe Flexible Mind (though it doesn't feel right, because I'm using it to meet some prereqs) later.
The idea behind the build is to use Dissolving Spittle as my primary attack at lower levels, and then Hellfire Blast later, using soulmelds for utility and to augment my skills.
Questions:
1) What soulmelds would be helpful at various levels? I've read MoI several times, and the Incarnum handbook, but since I've never actually played a meldshaper, I'm interested in feedback from people who know what they're doing. I was thinking of using dissolving spittle and lucky dice (switching to Incarnate Avatar when I get more essentia).
2) Are my invocation choices good? Some of them are obviously essential (Vitriolic Blast, things meeting pre-reqs...). Again, I've read the handbooks, but I've never seen how they play out.
3) Do you have any general suggestions? I'm spending a lot of later feats on Extra Invocation, mostly because I couldn't really think of anything else to take, and I like invocations (they're shiny). Also, I have a few items in mind for later, but I'm interested in hearing about good stuff.
4) Does having a Dragonmark give you the Dragonblood subtype? I don't think so, but here's hoping. I like some of those Draconic soulmelds, not sure if I want to spend a feat on it, though I could.
The goal is to be effective and interesting without being gamebreaking, so that my GM doesn't have to worry about wishes and miracles and whatnot, and yet I don't have to rein myself in in-character.