Min/Max recommendations, Lvl 15 (PH+DMG only)

[Cazador75]

Hi, I'm going to join a Min/Max tournament soon, and I would like to make the best possible character (and since it's a min/max tournament, I can use (almost) any dirty tricks within the stablished rules).

Rules are this:
Allowed handbooks: Player's Handbook & Dungeon Master's Guide only.
Level: 15 (spending experiencie in anything during character creation means starting at a lower level).
Magic items: Only those described in the DMG, I can't buy custom woundrous items, rings, etc unless I make them personally (that means spending xp and lower starting level).
Starting money: The correspondent to a lvl 15 character slightly modified, that means 200000 plus a bit more.
Ability scores: Point buy system, I still don't know how much points.
Hit points: The average.
Age: I still don't know if being middle age/old/venerable is allowed.

Right now I think that those are all the rules, if anything new comes up, I'll update it.

About the tournament fights, we are going to be a yet undertermined number of people (I think between 10 and 20). Combats are going to be 1vs1, and we are going to figth everyone, the one with most wins win.

Combats are going to be in a coliseum arena-like field, but with columns and obstacles, and with a lowfloor (a floor underneath the starting arena level). We start far from each other (not yet defined but about 200-300 feet I think), and we have a time limit (also, not yet defined) to kill the other, else both lose.

We can't start the fight (if I do remmember well) with temporary spells already casted. Magic items with uses, hit points, buffs, deffufs, etc recharge after each fight.

That said, I would like to know your recomendations, I'm already a bit experienced at min/maxing but the fact that only PH and DMG are allowed, and custom magic items are not allowed, kills most of the options I know/remmember right now.

[sirpercival]

At that level, probably wizard.  Druid is solid as well.

EDIT: Actually... are you allowed the Monster Manual for polymorph and/or wild shape?  If no to the latter, then druid is much less useful.

[Cazador75]

At that level, probably wizard.  Druid is solid as well.

EDIT: Actually... are you allowed the Monster Manual for polymorph and/or wild shape?  If no to the latter, then druid is much less useful.

I don't know, I would have to ask the GM, but probably for things like that the MM is allowed (otherwise that spell and ability would be nerfed).

[Solo]

Wizard, win initiative, PAO the ground under your opponent into aqua regia or Hydrofluoric Acid if he is not flying.

[Cazador75]

Wizard, win initiative, PAO the ground under your opponent into aqua regia or Hydrofluoric Acid if he is not flying.

Since aqua regia, or any specific acid is not covered in those handbooks, most probably it would be ruled as doing normal acid damage, that in case of total immersion is only 10d6 per round...

[sirpercival]

Lava!

[Cazador75]

Lava!

That's 20d6 per round, higher, but not worth a lvl 8 spell and not enough to one shot kill the opponent...

[Solo]

Wizard, win initiative, PAO the ground under your opponent into aqua regia or Hydrofluoric Acid if he is not flying.

Since aqua regia, or any specific acid is not covered in those handbooks, most probably it would be ruled as doing normal acid damage, that in case of total immersion is only 10d6 per round...

There's no reason why you can't play dirty.

Aqua regia means "royal water"; it is one of the few acids that can dissolve noble metals such as gold, silver, platinum, and etc. This is much more powerful than the acid found in the PHB. Argue that it deals more damage. Argue that it deals damage over time. Argue that it dissolves Amulets of Health and other magical items.

Interesting fact about hydrofluoric acid - the shape of the molecule is such that it passes right through the skin and penetrates down to the bone. It reacts with calcium, so when it reaches your bone or nerves, it attacks the calcium in them and destroys them. These burns are initially painless, as the nerve endings that convey pain are destroyed in the initial attack. By interfering with body calcium metabolism, the concentrated acid may also cause systemic toxicity and eventual cardiac arrest and fatality, after contact with as little as 160 cm2 (25 square inches) of skin."
 
If your DM asks you how your character knows of this, remind him that aqua regia first appeared in the work of medieval European alchemist Pseudo-Geber, dating from the 14th century, while hydrofluoric acid was made in medieval times by combining flurospar with oil of vitrol - or, in modern English, by combining fluorite with sulfuric acid.

[Cazador75]

Wizard, win initiative, PAO the ground under your opponent into aqua regia or Hydrofluoric Acid if he is not flying.

Since aqua regia, or any specific acid is not covered in those handbooks, most probably it would be ruled as doing normal acid damage, that in case of total immersion is only 10d6 per round...

There's no reason why you can't play dirty.

Aqua regia means "royal water"; it is one of the few acids that can dissolve noble metals such as gold, silver, platinum, and etc. This is much more powerful than the acid found in the PHB. Argue that it deals more damage. Argue that it deals damage over time. Argue that it dissolves Amulets of Health and other magical items.

Interesting fact about hydrofluoric acid - the shape of the molecule is such that it passes right through the skin and penetrates down to the bone. It reacts with calcium, so when it reaches your bone or nerves, it attacks the calcium in them and destroys them. Of course, you don't feel the pain until it is too late since it destroys your ability to feel things and causes permanent damage, so it's pretty nasty stuff. You know what to argue.

I know what aqua regia is, but D&D isn't realistic, that's assumed.

Besides, things off the allowed books won't be allowed... (sorry if I'm redundant).

[Solo]

Does milk exist in D&D?

[Cazador75]

Does milk exist in D&D?

Not per se, but it's assumed to be included in the Food, Drink, And Lodging category of the Equipment section. Please don't start to argue about stupid things, it's as simple as the DM won't allow something that is combat relevant if it's not on a handbook.

[sirpercival]

Well, Wizard 5/Red Wizard 10/Archmage 5 is likely to be your best bet.  Shapechange with Circle Magic is your friend.

[phaedrusxy]

Well, Wizard 5/Red Wizard 10/Archmage 5 is likely to be your best bet.  Shapechange with Circle Magic is your friend.

Level 15. Still wiz5/RW 10 would be a good place to start, especially if you can take advantage of circle magic before the match begins.

Which is something you should post the details of: what kind of buff time do you get? What's the arena like? Distance between competitors? Any special rules for consumable items (load up on scrolls of Gate, Timestop, and Shapechange, if not...)? etc.

All of that can have a tremendous impact on what build(s) and strategies to use.

Edit: I see now that much of what I mentioned is already detailed in the OP.

No temporary spells? Does that include Contingency? If you can have a Contingency, it could help a lot.

If not... you have to win initiative, at any and all costs. That's all that matters. And in core only, there aren't really that many ways to boost it. It is technically a Dexterity check. So you could push that angle and try to get items that boost Dex checks, aside from boosting your Dex itself. Without buffs going, that's going to come down to magic items, though, and I can't remember any off hand.

[muktidata]

Getting a bunch of Permanency'ed Runes cast on something you wear is always fun.

[Endarire]

Wizard: Banners of illusory script and possibly separate banners of explosive runes.

[Cazador75]

Given the rules I can't see how a Red Wizard can be a good option, first of all it means 3 prohibited schools, and then his Circle Magic lasts for 24 so it's temporary, and even if that weren't a problem, I would need more people since there has to be a minimum of 2 participants aside from me...

Contingency is one day/level, theorically temporary, I don't if it would be allowed, today I'm going to make some questions to the GM about the points I'm not completly sure about.

[Endarire]

Red Wizard: Go TN Diviner with Leadership and simulacrum.  You get clones and minions to fill your Circle Magic slots.

[carnivore]

try this:


CORE Only

Human
Wizard 7/ Loremaster 6/ Archmage 2

25pt buy

(click to show/hide)

9 Str
15 Dex(12 +2 Gloves +1 lvl)
16 Con(14 +2 belt)
22 Int(16 +4 Headband +2 lvl)
12 Wis(12)
8 Cha

28pt buy

(click to show/hide)

8 Str
17 Dex(14 +2 Gloves +1 lvl)
16 Con(14 +2 belt)
22 Int(16 +4 Headband +2 lvl)
14 Wis(14)
8 Cha

32pt buy

(click to show/hide)

8 Str
18 Dex(16 +2 Gloves)
16 Con(14 +2 belt)
23 Int(16 +4 Headband +3 lvl)
14 Wis(14)
8 Cha

Scribe Scroll(Wizard bonus)
Still Spell(Wizard bonus)
Silent Spell(Loremaster Bonus)
Spell Focus(Illusion)(Human Bonus)
1st lvl Quicken Spell
3rd lvl Spell Focus(Transmutation)
6th lvl Skill Focus(Knowledge(Arcana)
9th lvl Skill Focus(Spellcraft)
12th lvl Improved Initiative
15th lvl ?FEAT?(Improved Familiar or Empower Spell or Maximise Spell)

Loremaster Secrets:
Feat: Silent Spell
=1 Attack
+1 Dodge AC

High Arcana(Spell-like ability: Quickened Magic Missile(8th lvl slot=4 uses/day, 5th lvl slot)
High Arcana(Spell Power(5th lvl Slot))

Equipment

(click to show/hide)

32000gp +4 Ring of Protection
25000gp +5 Cloak of Resistance
3000gp Rod of Extend
38000gp Scarab of Protection
16000gp +4 Headband of Int
25000gp +5 Bracers of Armor
30000gp Orange Ioun Stone(+1 CL)
4000gp +2 Gloves of Dex
14900gp Belt of Dwarvenkind

12100gp left

 

[carnivore]

if you like it ... I will also provide Suggested spells and Tactics later

 

[phaedrusxy]

Red Wizard: Go TN Diviner with Leadership and simulacrum.  You get clones and minions to fill your Circle Magic slots.

He's going to wind up starting a level behind, but that still leaves him able to cast Similacrum. So it likely won't matter, especially since it sounds like it is fair game to load up on consumable items like scrolls.

What you want to do is make yourself untargetable if you can't insure that you go first, and without Contingency I don't think you can in a core-only game. Buy yourself a pagoda and have your similacrums or purchased animals carry you around. It doesn't have to be indestructible. It just needs to take the other guys at least a round to get into. While they're doing that, you whip out your scroll of Timestop... then probably Gate something terrible in, and then do some kind of turtling (Prismatic Sphere + spherical Wall of Stone, Shapechange into something incorporeal and drop into the ground, etc). Then you let your clone army + gated monstrosity do your dirty work while you hide in the ground.