So, my first incantatrix build (not to be confused with the ice assassin one that I've be piddling about with as a thought experiment) finally got looked at by the DM who's going to run the game it's going to be used in. He's OK with high power, but he's challenged me to not use Dragon or cross setting material. Cross setting material was easy to abolish because my only loss is a talisman of 12 moons (I think, let me know if you see anything else), but losing dragon nixes loresong and my hummingbird. Item familiars, custom magic items, and chaos shuffle are the only other things explicitly banned, off the top of my head, but those restrictions apply to everyone. edit: masterwork tools and aid another for spellcraft are also not allowed.
My primary dilemma is with spellcraft (same ol' story with any incantatrix), namely, whether there is a better way to hit a DC of 63, to extend and persist 9th level spells. Here's where I'm at:
23 Ranks
15 Int mod
10 Take 10
5 Wieldskill (wand, competence bonus)
2 Synergy (arcana)
8 Divine insight (wand, insight bonus)
2 Share talents (with familiar, PHB2 spell)
65 Total (63 target)
Greater heroism isn't an option because it's mind affecting. However, I could be convinced otherwise if there's a good way to replace veil of undeath and mind blank, but that combo is appealing because mind blank is 24 hours out of the box, so it's only 3 metamagic effect uses to get 48 hours of each. I have a wasted (for me, but not for allies) +2 morale bonus to attack rolls, saves, and skill checks from my admiral's bicorne, so if I could get all those immunities from other sources, I'd be interested. I would also love to eliminate the wands; mechanus mind is a minutes/level wizard spell that provides a +2 competence bonus to int based checks, so the wieldskill wand is realistically only providing +3. Master's touch is out there as a possibility, but each casting only affects a single check, so I'd need to cast it multiple times a day, and it's an insight bonus, I'd need +4 from another source to balance out the loss from divine insight. I'm aware of the plethora of feats, but I'd prefer to avoid them if possible. Divine spells are an option, but a costly one, as I can only cast 4 every day, thanks to miracle from the luck domain and vest of the archmagi's pearl of power ability. Improvisation is the leading candidate if it comes down to burning miracle uses, but that hurts because it hogs a use of miracle every day, which is a big deal when 48 hour buffs are in play. A stone of good luck is an easy +1, but is expensive at 20k. What would you do if you were trying to hit 63 on spellcraft? A custom runestaff was suggested to have improvisation, and is still being pondered by the DM. He's being pretty tough, I give it a 50/50 shot, so for now. I also am trying to get nixie's grace, grace, and glibness onto that same runestaff. What other good bard spells are there that I could put on, that aren't mind affecting?
Here's the build:
Skill focus (history), lucky start, and iron will from magical locations
Wizard Arcane disciple (destiny), imp. init. (
replaces scribe scroll), mother cyst (flaw), arcane disciple (luck) (flaw)
Wizard
Wizard Empower spell
Wizard
Wizard Domain power (spot as class skill)
Incantatrix Maximize spell, extend spell
Incantatrix
Incantatrix
Incantatrix Persistent spell, energy sub: fire
Incantatrix
Incantatrix
Incantatrix Searing spell, energy admix: fire
Incantatrix
Incantatrix
Mindbender Mindsight
Incantatrix Quicken spell
Olin Gisir Transdimensional spell
Loremaster Uncanny forethought, spell mastery
Fatespinner
Fatespinner
The fatespinner levels are very expendable if anyone has other ideas. I couldn't think of anything else, the cost of entry to fatespinner is trivial, and I figured it was better than more loremaster or olin gisir.
32 point buy, mental stats put to 18/15/15, venerable to make them 21/18/18. Shapechange form will be chronotyryn. Current stats floating at 30, 28, 29, 40, 26, 24
Magic items (I like to have 100k left over to be able to purchase spells and components, so cuts are coming possibly):
2,000 Dragon spirit cincture (add 1 die to breath weapon damage)
51,000 Admiral's bicorne (+5 to charisma based checks, not optimal, but so stylish I can't say no, plus allies will appreciate the +2 morale bonus to attacks, saves, and skills)
20,000 Bead of karma
20,000 Ring of arcane might
110,000 4 int
2,000 Handy haversack
200,000 Archmage vest (any level pearl of power 3x day, put away after buffing stage, can't be worn with tabard of valor)
27,500 1 dex
12,000 Mantle of second chances (1/day reroll anything, one of the few ways to reroll non-d20 rolls)
30,000 Blinding strike soulfire bracers (+2 init, negative energy immunity)
2,000 Frog God's fane (skill focus: history for loremaster)
3,000 Third eye clarity (negate daze as immediate action 1/day)
3,000 Otyugh hole (iron will for incanatrix)
8,600 Spellblade (keyed to transmute rock to mud, because of stone body)
12,000 Ring of spell battle
30,000 Ioun stone CL
4,000 Sandals of the vagabond (+2 init)
40,000 Amulet of second chances (redo entire turn - IE, cast vision twice, then use this to reset your turn to exp back while retaining knowledge of "lost" actions)
3,000 Fortifying bedroll (8 hours of sleep in one hour)
16,000 Tabard of valor (grants mettle ability when HP is half or lower, UMDed to always be active)
10,080 Band of spell enhancement (+2 CL 1/day, use on alternating days for algid enhancement and consumptive field)
4,000 Marvelous pigments (any mundane item under 2,000 GP can be painted in 10 minutes)
3,000 Gloves of object reading (if you can get a possession from someone, this can give you enough info about them to make the vision spell damning to the target, because while they might have mind blank, the item doesn't, and vision gets around mind blank for the same reason true strike does)
30,000 Shriver (kickass magical location)
5,400 6 bags of tricks (to feed consumptive field)
750 Wieldskill wand
4,500 Divine insight wand
6,000 Court of thieves (magical location that grants a luck feat, for lucky start, replaced ring of anticipation so I could wear ring of arcane might 24/7)
29,300 Rod of piercing cold
24,300 Rod of elemental substitution
713,430
46,570 Remainder for spells
The only magic item slot that won't be in use is the body one normally occupied by armor or robes. Nothing looks all that appealing, but I could be convinced otherwise pretty easily.
Caster level notes:
20 base CL
2 Spell enhancement band
2 Spell enhancer spell
4 Bead of karma
1 Frostfell spell (snowcasting means everything benefits)
1 Arcane might ring
1 Ioun stone
1 Magic tattoo
2 Terran brandy
34 Consumptive field CL
17 Consumptive field bonus
51 Key buff CL (using spell enhancement band and spell enhancer on spells such as algid enhancement)
47 Regular buff CL (extended hours/level spells last 4 days, the 2 hours lost on the 4th day are used for recovery)
38 All day CL (only base 20, tattoo, and consumptive field will be around all day)
61 SR (skin of the steel dragon is persistable and grants CL+10 SR)
18 Algid (CL/3+1 enhancement bonus to attack rolls)
58 DC to dispel buffs (11+CL without spell enhancement band and spell enhancer spell)
Initiative (I also roll 4d20 on initiative checks and prefer to not waste an action on nerveskitter):
2 Bracers
4 Unicorn heart spell
8 Dex
25 Moment of prescience
4 Improved initiative
2 Vagabond sandals
46
Primary attack mode:
1. Use snowcasting to add the cold descriptor to dragon breath, instant metamagic to add persistant spell without increasing its level, and a piercing cold rod to make the cold damage...piercing.
2. Use metamagic effect to add the following feats, with the new spell level and spellcraft DC in parentheses: energy admix: fire (7, 39, also adds fire descriptor for searing spell), maximize spell (9, 45), extend spell (10, 48), transdimensional spell (11, 51), searing spell (12, 54).
3. Cast breath weapon admixture twice, choosing acid and electricity, using energy substitution on them for fire and cold. Persist and extend them.
4. Damage math:
10d8 piercing cold (base)
11d8 piercing cold (cincture)
11d8 piercing cold, 11d8 searing fire (admix feat)
88 piercing cold, 88 searing fire (maximize)
88+5d8 piercing cold, 88+5d8 searing fire (empower)
264+15d8 piercing cold, 88+5d8 searing fire (admix spell 1)
264+15d8 piercing cold, 264+15d8 searing fire (admix spell 2)
If you assume each d8 is 4.5, that works out to 663 damage. I'm aware that there's no good basis for how to calculate damage when you start adding the abilities I have together, I curious how others would calculate it? Also, reflex DC will be:
10 Base
4 Spell level
2 Mystic surge spell
1 Dragon spirit cincture
15 Int mod
32 Total
Other than heighten breath and heighten spell, what ways are there to increase this?
I've returned to boosting spot checks, after becoming aware that if you can hit 80 on them, any illusion that's visual can be recognized with a DC 80 spot check, and you don't need to interact with it, so it happens automatically. Here's where I'm at on that front:
10 racial (chronotyryn)
8 untyped (raptor essence)
10 Insight (vision of the omniscient eye)
6 familiar (gyrfalcon, doubled thanks to being an elf)
2 Untyped (share talents)
23 Ranks
8 Wisdom
67 Total
Notably absent is a competence bonus. What's the best source of one of those? My only open magic item slot is for robes/armor at the moment. Using other slots would be a tough call, I'm very reluctant to give up my third eye: clarity, and there's lots of other great hats that would probably take precedence. A couple armors have bonuses, but are expensive and would force me to negate their ASF somehow, so that all adds up to it not being worth it, probably. Robe of eyes is way too expensive. Embrace the wild and eyes of the raptor would probably be an inefficient use of miracle. Ideally I'd like to get +8 or +13 more so that I can take 10 and hit 85-90, to give good buffer room for the -1 penalty per 20' of distance (thanks to dragonsight). I would also love it if there were a spell that could negate the penalties to spot brought on by weather. Something like snowsight, but that also works in storms not consisting of snow, or fog, etc.
