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BeholderSlayer

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Red Wizard's Handbook
« on: September 10, 2010, 02:14:35 PM »
I'm copying this over from the WotC site, as every time I click on the link I pray that it hasn't been destroyed. Thanks to Lormador for putting this together. The original thread can be found here. I haven't seen a copy of this over on this site, and a recent thread on Red Wizards made me think to copy it over.

The Red Wizard

The Red Wizard is a Faerun-specific prestige class presented in the DMG. Often used as villains or NPCs in many games, it also suitable for player characters. Evil is not a requirement!

DMs and players will approach the Red Wizard differently, and they will take different things from it. For players, Red Wizard offers a flavorful class with excellent abilities, some of which can be used to great effect if you are up to the challenge of managing your resources carefully. This guide will help you identify what those resources are, and will help you grow an efficient, balanced, and effective wizard.

DMs will be using Red Wizard to make NPCs, in many cases villains. Red Wizard offers the DM excellent tools for challenging entire parties of PCs with a single, powerful arcane spellcaster. Minions are even built into the class. This guide will help you create elegant Red Wizards quickly.

Requirements:
Nongood human specialist wizard from Thay
Tattoo Focus, 1st level only feat
Three metamagic or item creation feats
Able to cast 3rd level spells, Spellcraft 8 ranks


Benefits:
Spell Power, affects the specialist school only. It doesn't hurt.
Bonus Feat, either item creation, metamagic, or Spell Mastery.
Circle Leader, this is the reason to take levels in Red Wizard. You can achieve tremendous bonuses to your caster level and heighten spells to 20th level!
Great Circle Leader allows even more minions in your circle magic.

Drawbacks:
Enhanced SpecializationQualifying For The Class As Soon As Possible
There are effectively four feats required merely for entry in Red Wizard. At the earliest possible entry point, after Wizard 5, you have Scribe Scroll, one bonus feat at 5th, Tattoo Focus, and two feats as a function of level. Putting your bonus feat into metamagic will leave you with only a single feat to spend. See the many excellent Wizard Handbooks for advice on what to do with it. Don't take Heighten, Empower, or Maximize, since you will gain access to these for free through Circle Magic later.
You wind up with Tattoo Focus, Scribe Scroll, 2 Metamagic or Item Creation feats. Craft Wondrous Item is almost a requirement for a wizard, even if you only ever use the feat to make a Blessed Book. You can be more flexible if your DM has houserules regarding arcane magical writings, and many do.
You have 1 open feat, at either 1st or 3rd level.; or you can trade your 5th level bonus feat for an alternative features there.

There is a Shadow Weave entry for those who are so inclined, which involves taking the Shadow Weave Magic feat and one level of Shadow Adept. The Shadow Weave bonus feats serve the purpose of qualifying for Red Wizard nicely. One metamagic feat is required for Shadow Adept, and both Insidious Magic and Pernicious Magic are also metamagic feats. This variant also allows you to trade your Scribe Scroll out if you desire, and you can trade out your 5th level bonus feat for Spontaneous Divination or a domain, perhaps the Magic Domain for Anyspell, the War domain if you want to play Gish.
You wind up with Tattoo Focus, one Metamagic feat, and the Shadow Magic feats.
You can trade Scribe Scroll, and you can use your 5th level bonus feat for the Metamagic requirement above, freeing your 3rd level feat.

Delayed Entry Has Benefits
Putting off entry has the benefit of allowing you to take Craft Wondrous Item at 5th and scribe a Blessed Book, making it easier and cheaper to get those forbidden spells into your spellbook. Of course it's possible to make a Blessed Book at 5th: but pulling this off in an actual game requires you to spend 6250 of your 9000 gold (according to the wealth by level guidelines) and also obtain access to the high-level spells you want to cast from the school you're about to forbid. A few levels later, this amount of gold isn't so daunting and spell access has improved.

Do not delay for long. The benefits of having Circle Magic and Simulacrum access at the earliest possible time is the most important part of the traditional Red Wizard build.

Delayed Entry Has A Considerable Cost
However, it is advantageous to advance to Red Wizard 5 / Wizard 5, since at 20th level your Simulacra themselves will be capable of leading Circles. Thanks to Circle Leader for his analysis below. This technique requires no supplemental material.

Circle Magic
The reason to take levels in Red Wizard is to access the circle magic ability, a powerful mechanic that allows you to drain power from other characters with the Tattoo Focus feat and use it to increase your own caster level or apply metamagic feats to spells without altering the spell level. While one can only apply Heighten, Maximize, or Empower to the given spell, knowledge of these feats is not required to perform the operation.
Meanwhile, your caster level can be raised to a maximum of 40th. This increase alone can practically heighten, widen, and enlarge all of your spells, to say nothing of the difficulty another wizard will have in attempting to dispel them. There is no limit to the number of times per day that a caster can use circle magic, but each usage requires 1 uninterrupted hour.
The most optimal thing to do with Circle Magic is probably to just raise your caster level as high as it will go, since this affects all of your spells, making your Black Tentacles, Telekinesis, and Mental Pinnacle far more dangerous than those of your weakling brethren. If you have the opportunity to extract more circle levels, say because you are using your Simulacra as fuel, consider applying as much metamagic as you can to your most powerful attack spell. This spell will remain in your mind until you cast it, so by being conservative you can over the course of a few days build up a suite of several immensely powerful spells.
The difficulty in using Circle Magic is simply one of finding appropriate and willing participants to donate their spells for your greater glory. There are several ways to accomplish this.

Leadership
Leadership is available early and can supply a minion with the correct feat. It shouldn't be too difficult to convince them to participate in the ancient traditions of their homeland and donate their spells to you. Unfortunately, this method leaves much to be desired, as your control over your apprentice is not absolute. Although followers can also donate spells, they won't be high enough in level to really help much and will furthermore be extremely fragile, possibly not worth the trouble of transporting.

Simulacrum
It is imperative, if you are going to forbid Illusion, to scribe Simulacrum in your spellbook before doing so. Even if it was accidentally forbidden, the Spell Reprieve (Simulacrum) feat is worth it once you are able to use Circle Magic. In the Simulacrum spell, you have an endless source of reasonably powerful minions that will not have any problems donating every single one of their best spells to the cause. Notice that the Delayed Entry method with Master Specialist acquires the ability to cast Simulacrum and the Circle Magic ability at the same level.

Necrotic Spells, UPD: Psychic Reformation, Dominate Person, Modify Memory, Diplomacy checks, etc.
There are other methods of acquiring appropriate subjects for Circle Magic. See the appropriate slave-making threads for advice.

Arcane Conversion, Heighten Spell, and Circle Magic
One especially advantageous use of Circle Magic involves the spell Rary's Arcane Conversion from Complete Mage. Casting this spell allows the user to exchange a "prepared wizard spell" for "another spell of equal or lower level." The replacement spell must be one already scribed in your spellbook. The advantage lies in being able to Heighten a 1st level spell with Circle Magic, and Arcane Conversion it over to a 9th level spell. Hence a 6th level slot and the 1st level are exchanged for a 9th level slot.

Thanks to Red Wizard Circle Leader Phoenix00 for this technique.

Spell Engine, Energy Transformation Field, Arcane Manipulation, Absorption, Arcane Manipulation and Ring of Wizardry
Spell Engine, Energy Transformation Field, and Absorption are from Spell Compendium.
The Ring of Wizardry is from the Dungeon Master Guide.
Arcane Manipulation is a feat from Lost Empires of Faerun.

Set up the Energy Transformation Field to cast Absorption, and place in the field a creature able to use limitless spell-like abilities. Instruct it to do so. Place a Simulacrum (or other minion) in the center of the field. The Simulacrum will receive an Absorption spell when sufficient power has collected in the field. Repeat until all Simulacra have Absorptions. Utilize a creature with an at-will ranged 1st level spell-like ability to fill the Absoption spells.

Use Arcane Manipulation on your three highest level spell slots, reducing them to as many first level spells as possible. These will be doubled via your Ring of Wizardry.

Now, initiate Circle Magic. Instruct your minions to use the spell energy contained in the Absorptions to fuel the Circle. Your minions, the Absorptions, and the Transformation Field have now served to channel the specific and probably quite useless magical energy of your (probably enslaved) creature, into the superior form of Circle bonus levels.

Apply these bonus levels to Heighten your now quite numerous 1st level slots to the level of spells you wish to cast for the day. They may all be 9th level spells, if that is your desire. Cast Spell Engine, and exchange your Heightened 1st level spells for the target spells from your spellbook. You may want to leave one slot, somewhere, now unprepared, in order to keep the Spell Engine turning.

This functions at a low level if you can acquire scrolls of the above spells or pay someone to cast them for you.

Reserve Feats
You might find reserve feats that function off of the level of a currently memorized spell worth having, once you can use Circle Magic to prepare a 20th level spell via Heighten. Dimensional Jaunt will get you 100' per use, and the the attack feats will give you 20 dice of damage.

However, 20 dice of damage may not be a relevant attack (even at will) in a game where you've got access to 20th level spell DCs at caster level 40. I suppose it might be fun to take down an army of trolls using only a Fly spell and Fiery Burst.

Cutoff Points for Red Wizard
These are 5th level and 10th level. At 5th level your Circle Magic can hold five extra participants, which is probably enough, and Red Wizard 5 also grants a bonus feat. If you want nine participants, take it all the way to 10th level.
« Last Edit: September 10, 2010, 07:24:08 PM by BeholderSlayer »
Hi Welcome
[spoiler]
Allow me to welcome you both with my literal words and with an active display of how much you fit in by being tone deaf, dumb, and uncritical of your babbling myself.[/spoiler]

BeholderSlayer

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Re: Red Wizard's Handbook
« Reply #1 on: September 10, 2010, 02:14:49 PM »
Cantrip Optimization
So you've done it. You made it to Circle Magic, you have someone that can donate levels to your glorious magical prowess, and you even picked up Arcane Manipulation (Lost Empires of Faerun) along the way. Reviewing your spellbook, you are left with one great shame. The 0-level spells! It's a shame you can't use those slots for something more productive.

Well, get up early and put that minion to work! There's Circle Magic to be worked here.

First, seek out some more advanced wizards and beg, borrow, and steal to get access to their fabulous high-level spells.... the 7th, 8th, and 9th level ones. Let them scoff, let them laugh at your inability to cast such mighty magic. Though resources are limited for now, make sure you get the really important ones.... Gate, Shapechange, Time Stop, and Forcecage. Moment of Prescience is a good idea too, but hey- knock yourself out. If you're really lucky you'll find some wizard who researched a 9th level Forcecage that doesn't have a material component.

Second, grab a Scroll of Spell Engine from someone. Hopefully, someone who doesn't know what you're up to, because you do not want to be disturbed during the next stage of the process. It takes awhile.

We'll assume you're 10th level for this next part.

Third, settle down someplace secure and comfortable with whoever (or whatever) is going to be putting levels into your Circle Magic. Make sure you're nice and rested, and ready to prepare spells. Using your talents of Arcane Manipulation, break apart three 5th level slots down into cantrips. Prepare Detect Magic for each of them. Adding in your normal 0-level spells, you now have 34 Detect Magics prepared.

Fourth, initiate Circle Magic and use the bonus levels to apply Heighten Spell to the cantrips. You'll want to Heighten each one of them to 9th level. It will take some time to do this... days, in fact. Perhaps weeks, if your companion is slow. You need to absorb 306 spell levels through Circle Magic. At the end of the process, you'll have 34 9th level Detect Magics, which provide absolutely no mechanical advantage over a simple 0-level Detect Magic.

Fifth, produce your Scroll of Spell Engine and cast it. When the Spell Engine appears, get out your spellbook and exchange those Detect Magics for all those supposedly uncastable spells you scribed prior to this point. That's right.... as a 10th level wizard, you now have 34 9th level spells prepared.

Sixth, go out and kill some lesser wizards and take their Rings of Wizardry.... retreat into your lair again, and this time, why not throw the rest of your spell compliment up into the 9th level range?

Seventh, live in fear of the Hathrans, who can do all of this with a smaller feat commitment, with divine spells or arcane ones, and with the power to spontaneously convert prepared spells to anything they've written in their spell- or prayerbooks.
« Last Edit: September 10, 2010, 02:28:19 PM by BeholderSlayer »
Hi Welcome
[spoiler]
Allow me to welcome you both with my literal words and with an active display of how much you fit in by being tone deaf, dumb, and uncritical of your babbling myself.[/spoiler]

BeholderSlayer

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Re: Red Wizard's Handbook
« Reply #2 on: September 10, 2010, 02:15:37 PM »
On The Care and Feeding of Apprentices

Defending the source of your power is very important. Whether using Leadership, Simulacra, or such unstable sources as Dominated, Encysted, Memory Modified, or merely friendly followers, neglect can result in disaster. The method of defense chosen depends on your level and on the kind of follower you're dealing with.

Dealing with Unreliable Help
The soonest you can possibly use Circle Magic is 10th level, at which point you may have Leadership, dominate person, or followers who aid you out of friendliness. Of these, the follower you have by dint of Leadership is likely the most reliable and defensible, and should be able to stay with the party, engaging in battle in a limited fashion or simply hiding. At this point you are probably without a stronghold, or you have only a meager stronghold.

Dominated Minions
Dominated individuals are much more difficult to deal with, and must not be allowed to roam freely. Since these are wizards from Thay with the Tattoo Focus feat, they aren't so easy to keep enspelled. Make sure they do not have Protection from Evil or related spells in their spellbooks, and be sure that they have not memorized these spells. If they do, fizzle their memorized spells and rip out the appropriate pages from their spellbooks. It's not worth the risk to bring them around, so you'll need to set up a dungeon to store them. Fortunately, you can teleport to it, and soon you can Gemjump.

It's no fun dealing with an insurrection, and these things tend to happen at the worst possible times. At least try to have some undead on hand so they don't get far. Wyvern zombies or something. Consider the Abyssal Drake.

Simulacrum
The real prize of Circle Magic is the Simulacrum spell. Now at least you won't have to worry about your minions betraying you or trying to escape, and they won't complain about giving you their magic. Furthermore, since they have some magical powers of their own, they can run around invisible or use Rope Tricks all the time. If you have a lair, they can help defend it.
Consider buying a Portable Hole. You will also need a Bottle of Air and some food, since Simulacra share the type of the original. Being undead obviates this need. Thanks to Circle Leader Pithica for pointing this out.

Renting Them Out
Finally, a cadre of decent Simulacra represent a good value for a wizard. Consider renting them out to another powerful Red Wizard, one with a nice tower with some defenses. By sharing the Simulacra, you can take advantage of combining your defenses. Just watch out, or you might have to spend a game dealing with a problem. You might wind up having to rescue this wizard, he could blackmail you, etc. You might want to do this with your expendable backup Simulacra, ones left over from a previous level and unable to cast the powerful spells of the most recent model.
« Last Edit: September 10, 2010, 02:29:10 PM by BeholderSlayer »
Hi Welcome
[spoiler]
Allow me to welcome you both with my literal words and with an active display of how much you fit in by being tone deaf, dumb, and uncritical of your babbling myself.[/spoiler]

BeholderSlayer

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Re: Red Wizard's Handbook
« Reply #3 on: September 10, 2010, 02:15:56 PM »
On the Enemy: A Circle Magic Appendix
While Red Wizard can be reflavored for many different campaign worlds, it was originally conceived for the Forgotten Realms campaign. Specifically, for the nation of Thay, on the eastern edge of the Sea of Fallen Stars.

There are two other prestige classes published for the Forgotten Realms campaign that also grant Circle Magic: both of them designed for power groups that are opposed, in one way or another, to the machinations of the Red Wizards. These are the Halruuans (heirs to the lore of Netheril) and the Hathrans (witches of Rashemen). The Red Wizards have engaged in numerous wars against Rashemen, while their relations with the Halruuans have been colder.

Their prestige classes, Halruuan Elder and Hathran (respectively) have abilities that add subtle flavorings to Circle Magic.

Hathrans gain two abilities worthy of special attention: the power to grant Circle Magic to purely divine spellcasters, and the power to cast their spells spontaneously. This last ability, using spellbook spells spontaneously in an insane sorcerer-like fashion, comes from combining their 1st level ability with the Acorn of Far Travel. It's quite obscene.

I will take a moment to note that a reflavoring of Ruby Knight Vindicator from Wee Jas to Mystra, or to one of the deities native to Rashemen, would allow one to play a Crusader 1 / Cleric 4 / Ruby Knight Vindicator 10 / Hathran 5, and contemplate the joys of 8th level maneuvers, Circle Magic, and Divine Metamagic (Persistent Spell) fun. If one can get the DM to accept a RKV of Mystra-style of Hathran, the Initiate of Mystra feat beckons.

Archivist, too, looks like it would work fairly well with Hathran.

As for the Halruuan Elder, while it doesn't state on the class advancement table that it receives Circle Magic, reading through the description reveals that they acquire the ability to lead Circles at 5th level. Strange that they should hide such an ability, but the rest of the advancement chart is taken up with something called "Adroit Casting," a metamagic reduction mechanic. It's not as good as something like Metamagic Effect from Incantatrix, but it's solid. Personally I would use this to just Extend and Sculpt stuff for free, then use Quickens a little more easily.

To conclude, these prestige classes offer a player character additional alignment choice if some DM, somewhere, is mad enough to let Circle Magic into the game. Only the true Red Wizard, though, remains able to experience the delectable joy of having Simulacra themselves able to lead circles.

The Circle Magic Feat
Ghostwalk has a feat called Circle Magic, requiring worship of some strange deity (could perhaps be reflavored) and 3rd level divine casting. This could be useful, but note that it's much more limited than the original Circle Magic. The metamagic and caster level limitations are much lower. However, this version could be picked early, around 6th level. Not much point in that (since Leadership is probably needed to fuel the Circle Magic in the first place at that level) but hey, it's there.
« Last Edit: September 10, 2010, 02:30:01 PM by BeholderSlayer »
Hi Welcome
[spoiler]
Allow me to welcome you both with my literal words and with an active display of how much you fit in by being tone deaf, dumb, and uncritical of your babbling myself.[/spoiler]

BeholderSlayer

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Re: Red Wizard's Handbook
« Reply #4 on: September 10, 2010, 02:16:30 PM »
reserved
« Last Edit: September 24, 2010, 08:54:08 PM by BeholderSlayer »
Hi Welcome
[spoiler]
Allow me to welcome you both with my literal words and with an active display of how much you fit in by being tone deaf, dumb, and uncritical of your babbling myself.[/spoiler]

BeholderSlayer

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Re: Red Wizard's Handbook
« Reply #5 on: September 10, 2010, 02:16:57 PM »
Finally, reserved just in case....all done for now! Any tips or tricks added I will try to fit into one of these reserved slots.
« Last Edit: September 10, 2010, 02:36:09 PM by BeholderSlayer »
Hi Welcome
[spoiler]
Allow me to welcome you both with my literal words and with an active display of how much you fit in by being tone deaf, dumb, and uncritical of your babbling myself.[/spoiler]

Amechra

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Re: Red Wizard's Handbook
« Reply #6 on: September 10, 2010, 06:41:07 PM »
Just port the stuff from my thread here. I'll post more later.

I think the funniest thing you can do with a Red Wizard is to be a counterspeller, simply because you can effectively say "Ha. Ha. Ha. Fuck you." to anyone trying to attack you via magic.

Oh, and can I harp on the wonders of Human Wizard 2/Stoneblessed 3(Gnome)/Wizard 5/Red Wizard 10/Shadowcraft Mage 5?

Can you say 200% or more reality?

And may I suggest another degree of hilarity? Spell-linked Familiar.

Basically, your Familiar now has a cl equal to half of yours, and it gains the ability to cast spells that you grant it.

Currently, the feat is capped at 20th level, with 2nd level spells, but you can make arguements that you could grant up to the following: 9 Cantrips, 8 1st level, 7 2nd level, 6 3rd level, 5 4th level, 4 5th level, 3 6th level, 2 7th level, and 1 8th level spell.

Yes, your freakin' familiar is a freakin' powerful sorceror.

Yes, it is awesome.

If Dragon is allowed, supplement with Extra Familiar.

And you know what? Your familiar now qualifies for having a familiar.

Have fun.
[spoiler]Fighter: "I can kill a guy in one turn."
Cleric: "I can kill a guy in half a turn."
Wizard: "I can kill a guy before my turn."
Bard: "I can get three idiots to kill guys for me."

On a strange note, would anyone be put out if we had a post about people or events we can spare a thought for, or if its within their creed, a prayer for? Just a random thought, but ... hells I wouldn't have known about either Archangels daughter or Saeomons niece if I didn't happen to be on these threads.
Sounds fine to me.
probably over on "Off-topic".
might want to put a little disclaimer in the first post.

This is the Min/Max board. We should be able to figure out a way to optimize the POWER OF PRAYER(TM) that doesn't involve "Pazuzu, Pazuzu, Pazuzu".
[/spoiler]

My final project for my film independent study course. It could do with a watching and critiquing

archangel.arcanis

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Re: Red Wizard's Handbook
« Reply #7 on: September 10, 2010, 07:03:27 PM »
A consideration for an alternative to Leadership would be using Kalashar to qualify for Thrallherd and having minions that way. While the cost is higher it also guarantees that your followers will be replaced in 24 hrs and lets you abuse them with no fear of impacting your leadership score. This can also work if you plan on being evil and have access to the book of vial darkness as that would allow you to sacrifice your low level extra lackies and gain even more power (as if you really needed it)
Clerics and Druids are like the 4 and 2 in 42. Together they are the answer to the ultimate question in D&D.
Retire the character before the DM smacks you with the Table as the book will feel totally inadequate now.-Hazren

BeholderSlayer

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Re: Red Wizard's Handbook
« Reply #8 on: September 10, 2010, 07:26:05 PM »
Somebody once asked me: "What is the point of having a caster level of 40? Most spells cap out well before then."

Gate, of course. When you can gate in ancient Prismatic and Force dragons and control them...now that's fun.
Hi Welcome
[spoiler]
Allow me to welcome you both with my literal words and with an active display of how much you fit in by being tone deaf, dumb, and uncritical of your babbling myself.[/spoiler]

archangel.arcanis

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Re: Red Wizard's Handbook
« Reply #9 on: September 10, 2010, 07:32:18 PM »
Somebody once asked me: "What is the point of having a caster level of 40? Most spells cap out well before then."

Gate, of course. When you can gate in ancient Prismatic and Force dragons and control them...now that's fun.
Isn't wings of fury uncapped?
Clerics and Druids are like the 4 and 2 in 42. Together they are the answer to the ultimate question in D&D.
Retire the character before the DM smacks you with the Table as the book will feel totally inadequate now.-Hazren

BeholderSlayer

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Re: Red Wizard's Handbook
« Reply #10 on: September 10, 2010, 07:40:39 PM »
Somebody once asked me: "What is the point of having a caster level of 40? Most spells cap out well before then."

Gate, of course. When you can gate in ancient Prismatic and Force dragons and control them...now that's fun.
Isn't wings of fury uncapped?
I believe so, yes.
Hi Welcome
[spoiler]
Allow me to welcome you both with my literal words and with an active display of how much you fit in by being tone deaf, dumb, and uncritical of your babbling myself.[/spoiler]

Amechra

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Re: Red Wizard's Handbook
« Reply #11 on: September 10, 2010, 10:29:43 PM »
As I noted in my wall of text in my thread on this, Earth Spell is utterly broken with this. Why?

When you raise a spell n levels, Earth Spell grants you a spell level increase of n+1 and a caster level increase of n!

In other words, use the Shadowcraft Mage build above. Instead of using those cantrips for normal 9th level spells, store sanctum Silent Image spells. Raise them to 21st level. Your CL for that spell just became 60. Hurl CL 60 Evocations, including Shadow Miracles, like no one's business.

Really funny with Shadow Miracles. Nab a CL 60 Hunter's Eye, and then punch someone in the face.

Face Changer would be decent with a 21 level spell fueling it.
[spoiler]Fighter: "I can kill a guy in one turn."
Cleric: "I can kill a guy in half a turn."
Wizard: "I can kill a guy before my turn."
Bard: "I can get three idiots to kill guys for me."

On a strange note, would anyone be put out if we had a post about people or events we can spare a thought for, or if its within their creed, a prayer for? Just a random thought, but ... hells I wouldn't have known about either Archangels daughter or Saeomons niece if I didn't happen to be on these threads.
Sounds fine to me.
probably over on "Off-topic".
might want to put a little disclaimer in the first post.

This is the Min/Max board. We should be able to figure out a way to optimize the POWER OF PRAYER(TM) that doesn't involve "Pazuzu, Pazuzu, Pazuzu".
[/spoiler]

My final project for my film independent study course. It could do with a watching and critiquing

McPoyo

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Re: Red Wizard's Handbook
« Reply #12 on: September 11, 2010, 12:22:31 PM »
Might want to combine it with Node magic (Underdark and Champions of Ruin). Can get some funny shenanigans going on with a runestaff of widened Node Genesis fueled by powered up circle magic for early access nodes in your character's baskstory, so they've had a chance to fully expand without using flowing time planar traits.

And it's quite easy to get insane caster level boosts to get Class 13+ nodes. Add in an Acorn of Far Travel, and you can apply every metamagic you can get your hands on for free to every spell you cast.

DM: "what metamagics did you prepare on that Locate City?"
You: "All of them."
Dm: "All of them?"
You: "All of them. Every. single. last. one."

Twinned repeating ocular split ray etc locate city nuke?
[Spoiler]
A gygaxian dungeon is like the world's most messed up game show.

Behind door number one: INSTANT DEATH!
Behind door number 2: A magic crown!
Behind door number 3: 4d6 giant bees, and THREE HUNDRED POUNDS OF HONEY!
They don't/haven't, was the point. 3.5 is as dead as people not liking nice tits.

Sometimes, their tits (3.5) get enhancements (houserules), but that doesn't mean people don't like nice tits.

Though sometimes, the surgeon (DM) botches them pretty bad...
Best metaphor I have seen in a long time.  I give you much fu.
Three Errata for the Mage-kings under the sky,
Seven for the Barbarian-lords in their halls of stone,
Nine for Mortal Monks doomed to die,
One for the Wizard on his dark throne
In the Land of Charop where the Shadows lie.
[/spoiler]

Amechra

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Re: Red Wizard's Handbook
« Reply #13 on: September 11, 2010, 03:09:20 PM »
Tell me more of this "Node Magic" you speak of.
[spoiler]Fighter: "I can kill a guy in one turn."
Cleric: "I can kill a guy in half a turn."
Wizard: "I can kill a guy before my turn."
Bard: "I can get three idiots to kill guys for me."

On a strange note, would anyone be put out if we had a post about people or events we can spare a thought for, or if its within their creed, a prayer for? Just a random thought, but ... hells I wouldn't have known about either Archangels daughter or Saeomons niece if I didn't happen to be on these threads.
Sounds fine to me.
probably over on "Off-topic".
might want to put a little disclaimer in the first post.

This is the Min/Max board. We should be able to figure out a way to optimize the POWER OF PRAYER(TM) that doesn't involve "Pazuzu, Pazuzu, Pazuzu".
[/spoiler]

My final project for my film independent study course. It could do with a watching and critiquing

McPoyo

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Re: Red Wizard's Handbook
« Reply #14 on: September 11, 2010, 05:27:37 PM »
Tell me more of this "Node Magic" you speak of.
short version: ley-line convergences have different strength levels, and can do hings like give crazy metamagic reduction to spells (1 spell level reduction per node level), bonus spells, extra spells per day, imprisonment of people with a save based on spellcraft checks, etc. Combine the node genesis spell with circle magic to create an insanely strong node for super craziness. Especially combined with fast time trait shenanigans. Underdark originally introduced them, and they were updated and expanded in Champions of Ruin.

Currently working on getting 16 free metamagic adjustments at level 15 using a fake illusionary node without doing REALLY crazy stuff.
[Spoiler]
A gygaxian dungeon is like the world's most messed up game show.

Behind door number one: INSTANT DEATH!
Behind door number 2: A magic crown!
Behind door number 3: 4d6 giant bees, and THREE HUNDRED POUNDS OF HONEY!
They don't/haven't, was the point. 3.5 is as dead as people not liking nice tits.

Sometimes, their tits (3.5) get enhancements (houserules), but that doesn't mean people don't like nice tits.

Though sometimes, the surgeon (DM) botches them pretty bad...
Best metaphor I have seen in a long time.  I give you much fu.
Three Errata for the Mage-kings under the sky,
Seven for the Barbarian-lords in their halls of stone,
Nine for Mortal Monks doomed to die,
One for the Wizard on his dark throne
In the Land of Charop where the Shadows lie.
[/spoiler]

Amechra

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Re: Red Wizard's Handbook
« Reply #15 on: September 11, 2010, 05:36:02 PM »
Hmm...

I looked at the spell, and Mr. Shadowcaster could use it no problem.

Wait, does the metamagic decrease apply to each individually, or all of them together? Because if it's the first...

Plus, you can increase the number of available spells your minions have to cast via Node Store.

OK, now we have to look for spells that have some part of them based of their spell level...
[spoiler]Fighter: "I can kill a guy in one turn."
Cleric: "I can kill a guy in half a turn."
Wizard: "I can kill a guy before my turn."
Bard: "I can get three idiots to kill guys for me."

On a strange note, would anyone be put out if we had a post about people or events we can spare a thought for, or if its within their creed, a prayer for? Just a random thought, but ... hells I wouldn't have known about either Archangels daughter or Saeomons niece if I didn't happen to be on these threads.
Sounds fine to me.
probably over on "Off-topic".
might want to put a little disclaimer in the first post.

This is the Min/Max board. We should be able to figure out a way to optimize the POWER OF PRAYER(TM) that doesn't involve "Pazuzu, Pazuzu, Pazuzu".
[/spoiler]

My final project for my film independent study course. It could do with a watching and critiquing

McPoyo

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Re: Red Wizard's Handbook
« Reply #16 on: September 11, 2010, 05:47:34 PM »
Hmm...

I looked at the spell, and Mr. Shadowcaster could use it no problem.

Wait, does the metamagic decrease apply to each individually, or all of them together? Because if it's the first...

Plus, you can increase the number of available spells your minions have to cast via Node Store.

OK, now we have to look for spells that have some part of them based of their spell level...
per spell. Check out the Node Metamagic feat in CoR.
[Spoiler]
A gygaxian dungeon is like the world's most messed up game show.

Behind door number one: INSTANT DEATH!
Behind door number 2: A magic crown!
Behind door number 3: 4d6 giant bees, and THREE HUNDRED POUNDS OF HONEY!
They don't/haven't, was the point. 3.5 is as dead as people not liking nice tits.

Sometimes, their tits (3.5) get enhancements (houserules), but that doesn't mean people don't like nice tits.

Though sometimes, the surgeon (DM) botches them pretty bad...
Best metaphor I have seen in a long time.  I give you much fu.
Three Errata for the Mage-kings under the sky,
Seven for the Barbarian-lords in their halls of stone,
Nine for Mortal Monks doomed to die,
One for the Wizard on his dark throne
In the Land of Charop where the Shadows lie.
[/spoiler]

Amechra

  • Man in Gorilla Suit
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  • Thread Necromancy a Specialty
Re: Red Wizard's Handbook
« Reply #17 on: September 11, 2010, 06:03:20 PM »
OK, so the designers aren't completely nuts.
[spoiler]Fighter: "I can kill a guy in one turn."
Cleric: "I can kill a guy in half a turn."
Wizard: "I can kill a guy before my turn."
Bard: "I can get three idiots to kill guys for me."

On a strange note, would anyone be put out if we had a post about people or events we can spare a thought for, or if its within their creed, a prayer for? Just a random thought, but ... hells I wouldn't have known about either Archangels daughter or Saeomons niece if I didn't happen to be on these threads.
Sounds fine to me.
probably over on "Off-topic".
might want to put a little disclaimer in the first post.

This is the Min/Max board. We should be able to figure out a way to optimize the POWER OF PRAYER(TM) that doesn't involve "Pazuzu, Pazuzu, Pazuzu".
[/spoiler]

My final project for my film independent study course. It could do with a watching and critiquing

BeholderSlayer

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Re: Red Wizard's Handbook
« Reply #18 on: September 12, 2010, 04:21:57 PM »
Node magic, me likey. I'm gonna have to read up on it a bit, hadn't occurred to me, but this could be downright nasty using both Earth and Evil nodes, and an Acorn of Far Travel.
Hi Welcome
[spoiler]
Allow me to welcome you both with my literal words and with an active display of how much you fit in by being tone deaf, dumb, and uncritical of your babbling myself.[/spoiler]

Amechra

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  • Thread Necromancy a Specialty
Re: Red Wizard's Handbook
« Reply #19 on: September 12, 2010, 10:18:05 PM »
OK, here's a little extension of the Shadowcraft Mage idea:


Human (Thay) Wizard 5/Red Wizard 5/Spellthief 2/ Stoneblessed (Gnome) 3/Shadowcraft Mage 5

Feats:(In no particular order) Leadership, School Focus (Illusion), Tattoo Focus, Uncanny Foresight, Node Spellcasting, Arcane Manipulation, Arcane Disciple, and Master Spellthief.

Later on, retrain Wizard 1 to Gnome Wizard 1. Get rid of Leadership after 10th level, since if you are smart, you'll have Simulacrum on your spell list.

Retrain Spell Mastery/Uncanny Foresight into Earth Sense/Earth Spell after you get into Shadowcraft Mage

You don't need Arcane Disciple if you can find a Wizard that has Miracle on his spell list, and thus in his spell book.

Laugh at everyone as you cast Shadow Miracles at 20th level.

Oh, and by the way, your maximum reality is about 220%, and, after Circle looping, end with casting Miracles out of every spell slot at CL 100.

You may now laugh at other wizards, because you made the node your base is in out of Shadow Magic, so you get twice the boost.

Enjoy a +8 to your 100 Cl for no real cost to you.

Heck, wait 5 or so years; you'll get a +26 for the price of a 6th level node!

Now, all we need is a way to turn this bad boy immortal, so that he will eventually become invincible!

If you're wondering why all of the Cl boosts are such wonky numbers, it's because you first multiply them by 2.2, and then they apply to both your Spellthief and Wizard Cl. Funnily enough, these are added together afterwards.

With your theoretical level 13+ node, this guy would get a +56-57 to his CL. Not to shabby, if I say so myself.

So you ultimately don't break any records, but you are still immensely badass. I suggest you go around nuking countries; just miracle yourself some energy immunity, and cast a Shadow AftS for fun; let's just say a sphere with a radius of 1560 miles is nothing to be sneezed at.

There is also always Gate...

Wait, how many things have 312 HD at the most?
[spoiler]Fighter: "I can kill a guy in one turn."
Cleric: "I can kill a guy in half a turn."
Wizard: "I can kill a guy before my turn."
Bard: "I can get three idiots to kill guys for me."

On a strange note, would anyone be put out if we had a post about people or events we can spare a thought for, or if its within their creed, a prayer for? Just a random thought, but ... hells I wouldn't have known about either Archangels daughter or Saeomons niece if I didn't happen to be on these threads.
Sounds fine to me.
probably over on "Off-topic".
might want to put a little disclaimer in the first post.

This is the Min/Max board. We should be able to figure out a way to optimize the POWER OF PRAYER(TM) that doesn't involve "Pazuzu, Pazuzu, Pazuzu".
[/spoiler]

My final project for my film independent study course. It could do with a watching and critiquing