Beguiler planning

[Dwarfi]

Hello everybody. Aas everybody else I like to plan PCs.

It all started with the idea of a charisma based caster, around mindtricks and illusions.
Finally I found the beguiler and I cant wait to play it.
Though I am still playing with ideas of what PrC to take or what else to do with it. As there are no Acf for a beguiler there cant be done much.
And PrC: Usually they somewhat hurt him more then they help, loosing HD, skills...

Our group will play in 3.5e
Faerun/Frg Realms, core + all of the "completed" books.
+maaaaybe some others.
Definatley no settings and Dragon Mag though.

Race: Gnome (or subrace) or Strongheart halfling - maybe I can take a regular gnome and switch the + on illusions to enchantments.
Deity:Shar (for shadowweave magic)
AL: N/C

Cleric for domains ? - Tyranny domain is great, but isnt offered by Shar. Domination domain isnt even available in Faerun .... so there isnt much meaning to this.
If I can talk to my DM and somehow get those 2 domains for Shar it would be  a great boost.

Beguiler > Prc > beguiler - The usual trick to get a better spell pick, by delaying the 2nd adv learing

Beguiler 2 > Enchanter 1> Master Spec (4)> beguiler (Free Gr Ench focus + a great powerup for ench) But As we start on Lv1 this might be a hard Leveling. Wasnt there some sort of feat that makes up for missing CL ? This way sure would power him up a bit, but I could as well just take WIz all the way then.

PrC:
Shadow adept: Not great but some extra resistance for spells and against dispells.
Nightmare spinner: Depends if the DM at that time might allow the ench. alternative.
Mindbender: The usual 1Lv dip. Maybe I can talk about my DM to adjust it. I would love this class, but it would need a better CL progression and some sort of variable bonus on the DCs.
Fatespinner: A rather late PrC but gives a lot of options too.
Shadowcraft mage: Its from Ros, so no.

A beguiler is already great, but he doesnt get much options to power up his spells. PrC that benefit him are made for Wiz, and therefore have lower HD and skills.
I think a modified mindbender or Nightmarespinner might be the best choice.

Feats:
Shadowweave magic
Focus Ench
Gr Focus Ench
Rapid Metamagic ?
Heighten spell ?
Unsettling ench.
Impr Ini
Mindsight - its from LoM but not too powerful, so maybe.
Arcane Disciple ? - The necessary wis is bugging me.
Chain Spell
Cohort ? Sound like a lot of work to keep track of this if really used, but fits the mindbender/ench flair.

A flaw might be useful to give one more feats.

Open for ideas and experience with beguilers and maybe Nightmarespinner or mindbender.
I love the idea of the mindbender, but some houseuling might be necessary.

[mrorangesoda]

Just some thoughts from someone who's playing a level 7 beguiler gnome right now:
-Improved Initiative was the best feat I chose to take- so incredibly useful.
-I chose to play straight beguiler to avoid some of the pitfalls you mentioned (also, I'm CG, so Mindbender is out). I've had my second Advanced Learning spell (Ray of Stupidity) for two game sessions now and I think it's pretty baller- knocked a wizard down a peg and mind killed a bear.
- If you're looking to get both Enchantment Foci feats, I probably wouldn't be in such a rush to switch away your (possible) Gnomish Illusion bonus. I've found myself using Illusions more often than Enchantments (both due to circumstances in game and my opinion that the Beguiler list offers more commonly useful Illusion spells than Enchantments), enough so that I'd want to keep any DC bonus I can get- I really want the BBEG to go blind while I turn invisible.

Best of luck. It's a really enjoyable class to play for the lateral thinking player.

[ksbsnowowl]

The best Enchantment spell my Beguiler PC ever chose... Ray of Dizziness.  Amazing spell that drives me nuts as a DM. 

Looks like Races of Stone is out, otherwise I would have suggested Whisper Gnome.

[Dwarfi]

Yea, I thought about the whisper gnome too. +dex/con is great -Str doesnt hurt although I wanted my beguiler to be rather charismatic. ^^
It lacks the DC bonus as well wich hurts, but speed and darkvision are pretty great .
Even if allowed I am not sure if better as a beguiler or not.

Ray of Dizzyness ? Where is that from ? I cant find it on Dndtools and I dont remember it.

Thanks for the help. A straight up beguiler it shall be then. + That one PrC dip.

[ksbsnowowl]

Ray of Dizziness is from the Spell Compendium.