3.5e Optimized reaper themed spellcaster

[Tsuki]

Hello there,

Recently I decided to try forming a spellcasting reaper themed build and ended up with Sorcerer 1/Binder 1/Dread Witch 3/Ur-Priest 2/Dread Witch 2/Anima Mage 10/Mystic Theurge 1. The three caster classes would be 9 Sorcerer, Binder 11, and Ur-Priest 10 with the EBL being 13 for highest vestige bindable. The idea was to run around being ethereal shrouded in mist (which means no Zceryll) making everyone run in fear while throwing twinned save or die spells.

What I'm wondering is if there's a better way to do this than the build above. If it makes a difference you can assume Ur-Priest is house ruled to chaotic rather than evil and any source book is fine.

[KellKheraptis]

Are you specifically going for a grim reaper type theme, or wanting to be a SoD specialist, or wanting a more rounded necromancer?  The above will be awesome if nothing else due to Anima Mage and Ur-Priest being the shit, but I might be able to come up with a save or die/suck/lose/wet-your-pants-scared build if you'd rather not deal with being MAD (posting late, so might be wrong on Binders being Cha focused and not Wis >.> ).

[Tsuki]

I'm not sure what SoD stands for but yeah the idea is for it to be themed as a grim reaper. I did however just realize the build is MAD I just assumed Ur-Priest was Cha based but I looked and was proven wrong. You're right the binder uses Cha for the binding check as such if you have a different build I'd be glad to hear it.

[Nytemare3701]

I'm not sure what SoD stands for but yeah the idea is for it to be themed as a grim reaper. I did however just realize the build is MAD I just assumed Ur-Priest was Cha based but I looked and was proven wrong. You're right the binder uses Cha for the binding check as such if you have a different build I'd be glad to hear it.

SoD = Save-or-Die. You could probably nail the Reaper theme if you do an area debuff aura followed by SoD effects. Hexblade is a terrible caster, but its curse is CHA based and is a free action to activate. Enter combat with an AoE intimidate effect, lock eyes with your target, walk over casually and boop them on the nose with a death effect.

[Tsuki]

Huh I must've been tired being unable to put 2 and 2 together. As for the Hexblade I'm not sure as Chuboclops and two other vestiges have a aura with a similar effect Chuboclops being one of the two without a save. There's also dread witch which has an aura but it gives a save and shaken as a result. I'm probably missing something but Hexblade seems fairly underpowered for the job.

[Nytemare3701]

I haven't checked the type of penalties, but if they are untyped you can stack them, and free-action/constant effects are relatively rare so stacking them to ensure a SoD always lands is good.

[Tsuki]

Yeah it's untyped so it should stack with the others and you're right free action abilities like that are awfully rare it's just fitting it in seems like a pain. The basic curse is -2, one use per day unless you progress quite a bit into the class, and takes 7 levels to get to -4. Not sure how to do it without taking a big hit to my casting ability so I'm stuck.

[Nytemare3701]

Hexblade has an unofficial errata by the original writer that makes it significantly easier to use:

Good Fortitude save
Curse ability usable 1 + the hexblade's Cha modifier per day
Curse ability usable as a swift action
Curse ability does not count as used if the target makes his saving throw
Ability to cast in light or medium armor and while carrying a light shield or buckler
At 6th level, the hexblade can cast one hexblade spell per day as a swift action, as long as its original casting time is a standard action or faster. He gains an additional use of this power at levels 8, 11, 14, and 18.

In addition, Dark Companion from PHB II replaces a familiar and gives you a saveless, invulnerable mobile version of your hex.

Dreadful Wrath and Imperious Command combine with those for pretty much free panicked state, which is its own pseudo-SoD.

I agree though that you would be pressed for caster levels with this setup unless you have some sort of progression shenanigans available.

[Tsuki]

Actually that sounds pretty great I wouldn't even have to dip more than a level since Cha modifier would add to daily uses. I did take a look at the dark companion alternative feature what I'm unsure of is if it's saying lvl 4 character or lvl 4 Hexblade since the ones before are saying lvl 1 then (4th for hexblades). Otherwise I can just replace sorceror companion on a 1 level dip and do fine.

[Nytemare3701]

lvl 4 character or lvl 4 Hexblade

It replaces the "Summon Familiar" ability gained on your 4th level of Hexblade.

That said, arcane resistance is an untyped bonus of 8-9 vs all Spells and SLAs, and Mettle lets you completely negate effects with a save, so those first few levels are definitely not wasted.

If you do take Hexblade, You may need to do some early entry shenanigans to get the 2nd level arcane casting needed for Anima Mage.

Also, if you want Ur-Priest level abuse but arcane, you can use Darklight Wizard.

[Tsuki]

Well that's unfortunate the features aren't too bad but I'm not sure if I can go all 4 especially since I'm trying to squeeze Dread Witch in for Greater Master of Terror and all those other fear features. I looked at Darklight Wizard and it seems really weird to create not sure that would be an option for me. Is there any fast progression classes besides those, Beholder Mage, and Sublime Chord?

Nevermind there seem to be a number of them although they don't seem to fit very well while having a Cha modifier. Might have to just try to squeeze Sublime Chord or some sort of reflavored Divine Crusader in a domain with multiple save or x assuming there is one.

[Tsuki]

I thought about it for awhile and came up with Hexblade 1/Binder 1/Bard 1/Sorceror 1/Dread Witch 4/Anima Mage 2/Sublime Chord 2/Anima Mage 8. I would lose out on the second use of fearful empowerment from Dread Witch and the other features like the aura but I can manage. Sorceror is there because it gets to 3rd lvl spells a level before Bard and gives more spell slots at the same time. Also compared to the original build I lose 4th level spell slots of a second spell casting thingy but this one isn't MAD and has more debuffs and save or x.