Author Topic: Shadowcraft Mage: My First Time  (Read 3371 times)

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Endarire

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Shadowcraft Mage: My First Time
« on: January 15, 2009, 04:07:31 AM »
This is my planned Shadowcraft Mage for the all-Wizard campaign I mentioned around here.  (I'm DMing but I enjoy running a character as well.)  The rest of my party is undetermined as of yet.

Build
Gnome Illusionist1: {Aggressive}, [Ban Enchantment & Necromancy], [Chains of Disbelief], Heighten Spell, [Improved Initiative], Metamagic School Focus: Illusion, {Murky-Eyed}, {Noncombatant}, {Passionate}, School Focus: Illusion
Wiz2: Deep Breath
Master Illusionist1:[/i] Easy Metamagic: Heighten, [Skill Focus: Spellcraft]
Shadowcraft Mage1: [Cloak of Shadow]
SCM2: [Silent Illusion]
SCM3: Arcane Thesis: silent image, [Shadow Illusion]
Incantatrix1 (Assumes Iron Will from O Hole): [Ban Evocation], [Extend Spell]
Ix2:
Ix3: [Metamagic Effect], Residual Magic
Ix4: [Persistent Spell]
SCM4: [Extended Illusions]
SCM5: [+20% Shadow Conjuration/Evocation], Arcane Mastery OR Extraordinary Concentration
Ix5:
Ix6:
Ix7: Arcane Disciple: Luck, [Quicken Spell]
Ix8:
Ix9:
Ix10: Arcane Mastery OR Extraordinary Concentration, [Easy Quicken], Improved Metamagic]
Fatespinner1: [Spin I]
FS2: [Reroll 1/day: Ally or Foe], [Spin II]
Hood - My first answer to all your build questions; past, present, and future.

Speaking of which:
Don't even need TO for this.  Any decent Hood build, especially one with Celerity, one-rounds [Azathoth, the most powerful greater deity from d20 Cthulu].
Does it bug anyone else that we've reached the point where characters who can obliterate a greater deity in one round are considered "decent?"

Wyvernhand

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Re: Shadowcraft Mage: My First Time
« Reply #1 on: January 15, 2009, 04:51:02 AM »
Hmmm, off the top of my head, I notice that you don't qualify for ScM at ECL4, its impossible.

Also, HOLY FREAKIN FLAWS BATMAN!  Guidelines limit to 2 + 1 trait.  I guess if you are running the game, its ok, but that's hella abusive.

Also, you are missing the whole Earth Spell trick.  Yea, you are reducing Heighten by a lot with a combo of Easy MM(can you even take this with Heighten?) Incantrix10, and MMSF: Illusion, but you aren't getting the sick CL bump that way.  You don't really need Arcane Mastery, if you have Earth Spell, since your CL will be about +10 anyway, from Heightening a spell from 0 up to like, 10 or 11.  Get Earth Sense and Earth Spell instead of Arcane Mastery and one other.

Another thing, Arcane Thesis won't work with Heighten Spell.  That one is EXPLICITLY stated in Arcane Thesis, so its only reducing Persist and Quicken.

Here's a little trick too, to mess with Quicken.  Cast a fully Heightened Minor Image.  The next round, when you cast your level 0 Silent Image that emulates the one before it from Residual Metamagic, use a Circlet of Rapid Casting (MIC, 15000g) to quicken it.  Since its a 0th level spell, before RMM hits it, it only uses one charge.  Then you can cast another fully Heightened Minor Image as your standard action, and the next round, repeat with the Circlet.  Circlet has 3 charges, which means you get 3 perfectly abuseable rounds of 2 9th level spells per round.  Using the enhancement guidelines in the MIC, you can tack on +6 int to your Circlet for only 36,000g (the price of a +6 int item) bringing the total up to 51,000 for possibly the best wizard item EVAR INVENTED EVAR!

Oh, and I honestly wouldn't do Shadow Miracles if I was you.  You might as well turn your character sheet upside down, pull out a giant sharpy, write "I WIN" in big capital letters on the back, and after every 3rd word the DM says, interupt him and scream I WIN!  Keep doing this until your DM stops talking, then take the sheet, light it on fire, and watch your friendship blow away with the ashes.  Well, except you are the DM, so instead, it'll probably be all the other players who walk off.

PLUS, I'm still not convinced that Shadow Miracles even work.  My grounds is based on the fact that AD adds the spell to YOUR spell list, but Shadow Illusion specifically states THE wizard spell list.  The two entities are not the same, IMO, but every time I try to point this out, someone jumps on my back and tells me I'm wrong.  So, I stopped fighting, and just ban it in my games for balance reasons.  Balance reasons don't need to argue RAW, they just get a large foot shoved in the keester.  To each their own.
« Last Edit: January 15, 2009, 05:00:34 AM by Wyvernhand »

Flay Crimsonwind

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Re: Shadowcraft Mage: My First Time
« Reply #2 on: January 15, 2009, 06:04:37 AM »
First, have you seen the Shadowcraft Mage Handbook? That'll pretty much be the go-to guide; and like Wyvernhand said, you'll want Earth Spell. It'll tell you how you can emulate a lot of 9th level spells with much lower spells, and as I recall 10th level spells as soon as you hit epic (of a few schools of course...).

Also, your build has a LOT of flaws, which is... wow. You can do this build without any, trust me. My personal build stub is Illusionist Wizard 2 / Master Specialist 4 / Shadowcraft Mage 5 / Master Specialist (7) / X5. The X can be anything with full casting (give up NO caster levels!); Geometer was a nice addition, four levels of fatespinner, Mage of the Arcane order, hell, you could even just go more wizard. Alternatively, though I've never used it, Nightmare spinner is nice. They're all described in more detail above.

Have fun with it!

Endarire

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Re: Shadowcraft Mage: My First Time
« Reply #3 on: January 15, 2009, 06:16:53 AM »
I use Metamagic School Focus and Easy Metamagic to Heighten a dead end (Spell Compendium) to spell level 4 at character level 3.  (Level 1 spell Heightened 2 levels is +2, -1 for Easy and -1 for Metamagic School Focus.)

I included traits, feats, and flaws for the level 1 entry.

And I changed my mind on some of the rulings.  Two flaws should be allowed.
Hood - My first answer to all your build questions; past, present, and future.

Speaking of which:
Don't even need TO for this.  Any decent Hood build, especially one with Celerity, one-rounds [Azathoth, the most powerful greater deity from d20 Cthulu].
Does it bug anyone else that we've reached the point where characters who can obliterate a greater deity in one round are considered "decent?"

woodenbandman

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Re: Shadowcraft Mage: My First Time
« Reply #4 on: January 15, 2009, 10:05:20 AM »
Dude your the DM of an all wizard party are you sure you want to bring this upon yourself? You have incantatrix and SCM in the same build, that never doesn't end in tears.

Flay Crimsonwind

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Re: Shadowcraft Mage: My First Time
« Reply #5 on: January 15, 2009, 08:21:27 PM »
Dude your the DM of an all wizard party are you sure you want to bring this upon yourself? You have incantatrix and SCM in the same build, that never doesn't end in tears.
Well, if multiple wizards try to take him out, it should be oka-..... well, less ultimately painful... if they have int scores anywhere near their characters...

JaronK

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Re: Shadowcraft Mage: My First Time
« Reply #6 on: January 15, 2009, 09:37:30 PM »
The big feats you want are Arcane Thesis (Silent Image), Earth Spell, and Residual Metamagic.  Echoing Spell is very nice too.

JaronK

Endarire

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Re: Shadowcraft Mage: My First Time
« Reply #7 on: January 16, 2009, 12:32:01 AM »
As DM, the campaign's point is a party of all Wizards.
Hood - My first answer to all your build questions; past, present, and future.

Speaking of which:
Don't even need TO for this.  Any decent Hood build, especially one with Celerity, one-rounds [Azathoth, the most powerful greater deity from d20 Cthulu].
Does it bug anyone else that we've reached the point where characters who can obliterate a greater deity in one round are considered "decent?"

Wyvernhand

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Re: Shadowcraft Mage: My First Time
« Reply #8 on: January 16, 2009, 12:47:14 AM »
The big feats you want are Arcane Thesis (Silent Image), Earth Spell, and Residual Metamagic.  Echoing Spell is very nice too.

JaronK

Arcane Thesis explicitly doesn't work with Heighten, so unless you are runnin a lot of Quickens or Empowers, its probably not worth it except for the cheap +2 CL.

JaronK

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Re: Shadowcraft Mage: My First Time
« Reply #9 on: January 16, 2009, 12:58:54 AM »
Arcane Thesis explicitly doesn't work with Heighten, so unless you are runnin a lot of Quickens or Empowers, its probably not worth it except for the cheap +2 CL.

It's +2 CL on the majority of your spells for one feat, which I think is worthwhile.  After that, try throwing in Echoing Spell + Residual Metamagic and you can have some real fun.

JaronK

woodenbandman

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Re: Shadowcraft Mage: My First Time
« Reply #10 on: January 16, 2009, 02:25:54 PM »
oh is this guy spellgifted? Because he should be!

awaken DM golem

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Re: Shadowcraft Mage: My First Time
« Reply #11 on: January 17, 2009, 04:47:11 PM »
Endarire's "first time" you say ??

Now you are no longer a 20% real virgin, or a 40% real one, or even a 120% real virgin. Heh.

[/humor alert]