Author Topic: Making an epic con(man)  (Read 2624 times)

Offline snakeman830

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Making an epic con(man)
« on: April 23, 2013, 08:47:57 PM »
I am working on a character for an epic gestalt game (well, starts at level 20) in a Forgotten Realms setting.  The source material, though, is surprisingly limiting (PHB1&2, DMG1, MM1, Savage Species, Spell Compendium, and Completes Arcane, Adventurer, Warrior, Divine, and Mage, and some parts of Unearthed Arcana, nobody has asked about bloodlines yet, but I have a feeling they are a "no").   I did ask and got the Epic Insights for the Warlock approved.

In any case, my character concept is a magical con-man who hides his actual abilities by using "magic items" and, while good spirited, has a fey's sense of honor (the letter applies, not the spirit).  In a way,

this guy.  Except with more ladies :p

Right now, I am looking at a Human Warlock 10/Wild Mage 10||Spellthief 20.  Not a super powerful character, but a lot of trickery options present there.  We do get 1 flaw and 2 traits, plus 2k experience beyond level 20, but any item crafting comes out of our starting wealth as though we bought the item instead, so that isn't a good route to go.

Eldritch Blast isn't great damage, but it can be used for some decent carrier effects (especially spell-stealing).  Reflufing it to thrown cards or dice will be easy (though said cards and dice don't stick around, since they aren't physical objects).  He will still keep a number of such items on him, though to throw people off if he ever does get caught (not likely).  Wild Mage and Spellthief give me some excellent tricks for being anti-mage while the normal warlock tricks should be enough for dealing with mundanes.

Feat-wise, I am going with Magical Aptitude, Extend Spell, and Ability Focus (Eldritch Blast) at level 1 (getting prerequisites out of the way quickly), Practiced Spellcaster at level 3, and all other non-epic feats going to Extra Invocation.  If necessary, I can swap some of those out (would like to get Fey Heritage and Fey Power for +1 to caster level and save DC's for all invocations, but that boost seems minor to having 2 more invocations).   My level 21 feat will be Shadowmaster (epic Warlock feat), so sadly, I'm stuck with some lamo invocations right now, but they will be more than made up for once I level up.  I am also looking toward Eldritch Sculptor and Lord of All Essences in that order.  As such, I have a couple of bad invocation choices, but they should be made up for later.

My invocation breakdown is as follows:  5 Least, 5 Lesser, 4 Greater, 3 Dark
Least: Darkness, See the Unseen, Eldritch Spear, Entropic Warding, Hammer Blast
Lesser: Beshadowed Blast, Eldritch Chain, Relentless Dispelling, Fell Flight, Charm
Greater: Vitrolic Blast, Eldritch Cone, Enervating Shadow, Nightmares Made Real
Dark: Dark Discorporation, Utterdark Blast, Eldritch Doom

On the plus side, all of the prerequisite invocations have been obtained for the epic feats I am aiming for pre-epic.  I have one Blast Shape and one Blast Essence invocation known of each grade (Beshadowed Blast is a prerequisite for two feats, so that was handy).  Any suggestions for invocation swaps are welcome, but remember I don't have access to Dragon Magic (so no Eldritch Glaive).

Spell selection for my Spellthief side is completely up in the air, however.  Since Spell Compendium is an allowed source, I at least have good variety in choices, though only 5 spells known of each level 1-4.  Any suggestions are welcome.

Any suggestions for feats or items are welcome, though with feats, you will have to convince me to give up an invocation known.  I do plan on maxing Charisma and getting a Chausable of Fell Power, Rod of Wonder, and at least one Rod of Eldritch Power for Repelling Blast.
"When life gives you lemons, fire them back at high velocity."

Offline Arcanist

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Re: Making an epic con(man)
« Reply #1 on: April 23, 2013, 09:08:05 PM »

Offline snakeman830

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Re: Making an epic con(man)
« Reply #2 on: April 23, 2013, 09:24:48 PM »
Kind of irrelevant, given that the source isn't even close to what I'm allowed to work from.
"When life gives you lemons, fire them back at high velocity."

Offline Arcanist

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Re: Making an epic con(man)
« Reply #3 on: April 23, 2013, 09:26:46 PM »
Kind of irrelevant, given that the source isn't even close to what I'm allowed to work from.

I herped before I derped on that one  :blush

Offline ketaro

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Re: Making an epic con(man)
« Reply #4 on: April 23, 2013, 09:42:06 PM »
Refluffing only gets you so far in regards to hiding your magical abilities from the party. Especially when they get curious enough to start spellcrafting and knowledging you.

There's this awesome feat that is almost purely for fluff called Spell Thematics which actually, physically, lets you apply a visual theme to all your spells. Also it makes it more difficult to identify what you're casting by like +4 I think. Oh, and it lets you pick one spell at each spell level to have a +1 caster level.

So yeah, using mechanics to apply a refluff xD
Players Guide to Faerun is the book I believe. But yeah, its a waste of a feat from an optimization standpoint. On the other hand, I like how fun it is to add something entertaining like that.
....I do love me some Faerun.

Offline snakeman830

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Re: Making an epic con(man)
« Reply #5 on: April 23, 2013, 09:52:38 PM »
The party isn't who he really is trying to hide things from.  He likes being that kind of guy that pulls off sleight-of-hand tricks all the time to dupe people into thinking he's using magic (which, he actually is).  The irony is that he uses magic to make people think he's using "magic" to throw off suspicion that he uses magic.

Unfortunately, Sleight of Hand is not a class skill for him  :banghead
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Offline ketaro

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Re: Making an epic con(man)
« Reply #6 on: April 23, 2013, 09:58:29 PM »
You could still do some crazy things with an application of Spell Thematics, though. Just sayin'  :D
And the caster level bonus on select spells isn't that bad.

Could always make a skill boosting item for Sleight of Hand if its something that fits the character, too. And a rank or two in a cross class to get it started isn't much of a loss.