The Enervating Buffer - The Wizard who Couples Necromancy and Group Buffs

[Endarire]

The Enervating Buffer

INTRO
This build focuses on an unusual combination of enervation, animate dead, and party buffs.

Why?

There's surprisingly overlap between these feats.  Also, if you can buff your group via Chain Spell, you can include your Undead minions as well.

Animate dead is the most optional part of this build, and merely one feat (Corpsecrafter) is dedicated to improving it.

BUILD NOTES
This build was statted for a game expected to start at level 10 or higher.  Starting from level 1, your feats may need rearrangement.

Necropolitanhood is optional.  It has its draws (like d12 HD, lots of immunities, and being able to give yourself temporary HP via enervation), but it has its drawbacks.  If you're immune to stunning (like from being Undead), Reserves of Strength damages you.  You may be taking 30 damage per use (it's 5d6), but that's easily negated if you have an hour or so to prep your persisted spells.  Just bring mass lesser vigor or lots of inflict light wounds wands!  (Alternatively, in the Player's Handbook 177, in the part under "Voluntarily Giving Up a Saving Throw," an Elf can willingly suppress his racial immunity to metaphysical sleep effects.  Ask your GM if you can ignore your Stunning imminity if you have Reserves of Strength.)

This build assumes you can use Corpsecrafter and desecrate to enhance your own Necropolitan transformation.  Being Undead, you can target yourself with your Chain enervation and grant yourself temporary HP for an hour (or 2 if extended).

Being able to absorb the power of more than 1 Metamagic Storm (Complete Mage 151) to get extra and cheap metamagic feats is spiffy!  If this doesn't work, rearrange feats as you see fit.

Dragonborn is optional in this build.  It's included for the flight capacity.  If your necromantic ways would prevent you from becoming Dragonborn, or your necromantic bent would remove your Dragonbornhood, don't go Dragonborn!

The build below assumes a Gray Fire Elf is legal.  Otherwise, go either Fire Elf (better) or Gray Elf/Sun Elf (still good).

If you can, get a Slaymate!  This wonderful creature from Libris Mortis 122 provides a metamagic reducer on all Necromancy spells.  Enervation is a Necromancy spell.  Specifically, it's -1 total slot level.  Use planar binding to get an extraplanar Slaymate if need be!

At the tail end of the build, I use Magic of the Land to make any Personal range spell into Touch range.  Just get an acorn of far travel.

I considered Quicken Spell (+4 slot levels) for this build.  For enervation, Improved Metamagic, a Slaymate, Arcane Thesis, and Easy Metamagic would negate the slot level increase.  By that time though, you're likely to have arcane spellsurge (Dragon Magic 64) and Selective Spell (Spellguard L3 ability) so you can cast 2 spells per round.

I took Precise Shot (and Point Blank Shot, by extension) so I could fire rays (and at low levels, my bow) more accurately and need not worry about being dispelled.  Heroics (Spell Compendium 113) can grant both these feats (such as from an item that casts heroics at will), and a persisted guided shot (Spell Compendium 108) ignores accuracy penalties due to cover or people being in melee.

The Wizard5 ability is open.  I chose the Travel Domain granted power because contingent freedom of movement for 5 rounds/day is wonderful!  It also helps you get out of your own area effects like solid fog, should you bait foes to come near you then drop a cloud on yourself, laughing all the way away.

TN Necropolitan Dragonborn Gray Fire Elf Generalist5/Incantatrix10/Spellguard of Silverymoon5

1:  {Aggressive}, {Noncombatant}, {Vulnerable}
1:  [Domain Wizard: Transmutation], [Elf Wizard Substitution Level], [Familiar: Hummingbird], [Improved Initiative - Trade for Scribe Scroll]
1:  Extend Spell, Point Blank Shot, Precise Shot (OR -=FEAT=- & -=FEAT=-)
3:  [Iron Will from O Hole], Reserves of Strength
5:  [Domain Granted Power: Travel Domain]
6:  Corpsecrafter, [Ocular Spell], [Oppose Enchantment]
7:  [Cooperative Metamagic!]
8:  [METAMAGIC EFFECT!]
9:  Arcane Thesis: Enervation, [Persistent Spell OR Split Ray]
10: [Metamagic Spell Trigger]
11: [Seize Concentration.  Meh.]
12: Arcane Mastery, [Instant Metamagic 1/day], [@METAMAGIC FEAT@]
13: [Snatch Spell - for summonlings and called creatures]
14: [Instant Metamagic 2/day]
15: Combat Casting, [Improved Metamagic!], [@METAMAGIC FEAT@]
16: [Spellguard Attunement & Obligation Stuff]
17: [@MEATMAGIC FEAT@]
18: Magic of the Land, [Selective Spell!], [@MEATMAGIC FEAT@]
19: [Spellguard!]
20: [+1 CL]

-=FEATS GAINED FROM WONDROUS LOCATIONS=-
 ~ Metamagic Storm ~
-Easy Metamagic: Chain Spell, Ocular Spell, Split Ray
-Invisible Spell
-Persistent Spell
-Sanctum Spell

~ O Hole ~
-Iron Will

-=BUFFING FEAT LIST=-
*Overlap Feat

*Chain Spell
Extend Spell
*Ocular Spell
Persistent Spell
Reserves of Strength

-=NECROMANTIC FEAT LIST=-
*Overlap Feat

Arcane Mastery
Arcane Thesis: Enervation
*Chain Spell
Corpsecrafter
Easy Metamagic
Empower Spell
Invisible Spell
*Ocular Spell
Precise Shot
Point Blank Shot
Split Ray
Twin Spell

-=OTHER FEATS=-
Craft Wondrous Item
Lifesight

[widow]

Fell Energy Spell feat from the Dragon compendium volume 1.  Any spell that grants a numerical bonus to an undead creature is +2 points higher.

[SorO_Lost]

Suggestions.
*Undead Battery: Free metamagic by draining HDs from undead, so negative you can drain other negatives.
*Ritual of Dark Flame: Shoot a 20d6 negative energy ray by taking 2 wis damage.
*Energy Drain: DotF Armor enhancement, unarmed attacks and natural weapons bestow 1d4 negative levels.
*Grafted Tiny +1 Necromantic Starburst Ballista: Shoot 'fireballs' of 1d8 piecing damage that animates everything in the area.
*Ring of Greater Desecration: 24k and you are a walking Desecration effect, the one permanent shrine in the area is of course you.
*Sacred Exorcist 1 or Shroudcrown : Gives the Turn Undead Class Feature to permanently controlled undead via Rebuke/Command.
*Various Turn boosting equipment: To increase the effectiveness of your new Turn Undead ability.
*Mention of Heart of Water: Swift action FoM that lasts CL rounds by sacrificing a CL hour swim granting buff to skip Travel Domain.
*Mention of Cloak of Turn Resistance: +4 Turn Resistance for 11k, you might want it if undead.
*Mention of Sneak Attack: Enervation based attacks actually deal negative energy typed Sneak Attack damage (source).
*Honorable mention of Touchstone(catalogues of enlightenment): Rebuke/Command Golems, like Flesh, Shadesteel or Grave Dirt for flavor.
Think that's all I got off the top of my head.
All that time spent on Feats, animate by doing this, Bind that, visit here, but no effort on items...

Also as written Arcane Spellsurge makes all standard spells swift, no pick and choose and I'm pretty Spellguard is a binary effect applied at casting, if not it costs to change type/subtype limits anyway making it far from feasible. Likewise I so no information of how you obtained it so I guess you're blowing a 9th level spell slot to Wish for it?

[Endarire]

No wish.  Arcane spellsurge is a level 7 spell which, as a Wizard, I can get.

Also, this thread details using arcane spellsurge and Spellguard for 2 spells per turn via Selective Spell.  I only use this effect a small number of times per day (within the limits of Selective Spell), not all the time.

Thanks, though,. for your recommendations, SorO.

[SorO_Lost]

No wish.  Arcane spellsurge is a level 7 spell which, as a Wizard, I can get.

Also, this thread details using arcane spellsurge and Spellguard for 2 spells per turn via Selective Spell.  I only use this effect a small number of times per day (within the limits of Selective Spell), not all the time.

Thanks, though,. for your recommendations, SorO.

Looked it up, Spellsurge is Sor/Wiz and I do indeed have a limited memory. Nice catch on the Full-Round through, just the kind of flashing neon sign I'd miss

[zugschef]

Necropolitan Dragonborn

how's that supposed to work?

[SorO_Lost]

Necropolitan Dragonborn

how's that supposed to work?

Well a mommy dragon and a daddy zombie get together and then they **** up the rules.

I think, idk. I zoned out like half way through the birds and

[snakeman830]

Necropolitan Dragonborn

how's that supposed to work?

Well a mommy dragon and a daddy zombie get together and then they **** up the rules.

I think, idk. I zoned out like half way through the birds and

Since Necropolitan doesn't have an alignment requirement or shift, there's no conflict.

[PlzBreakMyCampaign]

I use Magic of the Land to make any Personal range spell into Touch range.

This Magic of the Land?

Also this build has full incantrix. It can do anything a PC would ever need. Ew

[Harald]

I use Magic of the Land to make any Personal range spell into Touch range.

This Magic of the Land?

Also this build has full incantrix. It can do anything a PC would ever need. Ew

because he is using the Spellguard 4 class ability, which allow him to cast personal spells with a range of touch instead, but with "defensive" personnal spells (healing or temporary Hp or CA increase). With Magic of the Land, the personnal spell nows heal, thus is elligible.

[Endarire]

Added the part about voluntarily giving up a saving throw so, as a Necropolitan, you get Stunned instead of taking damage when you use Reserves of Strength.