Mage Killer

Introduction:
The Mage Killer is a generalist spellcasting class. It grants Spell Focus in four schools, as well as a minor bonus to all summoned creatures. The other main benefit is the ability to either fix the weak Fort save of Wizard classes, or boost the Reflex save of the class as well, making it so you effectively have three high saves. You do get into it two levels later than a normal prestige class. This is also the first class ever made for the PRC, and the one that taught me the basics of 2da work, so I'm rather attached to it.

Pros of the Mage Killer:
Saves. Because of both the class abilities and the entry feats, the Mage Killer has far higher saves than a normal wizard does, a full nine more points of saves by the end of the first ten levels of the class, most likely. By the end of epic levels, this increases to nineteen points ahead, giving the Mage Killer a large advantage just where its designed to have one: in spell combat.

Spell Focus. The Mage Killer gets Spell Focus in the four most important combat schools, allowing him to switch and juggle spells as the moment arises without worrying about whether he doesn't have a boost to that school like the Elemental Savant and Red Wizard must do. These also allow him entry into classes like the Archmage and others that require Spell Focus as an entry feat. This makes him one of the better generalist classes out there.

Augment Summoning. All of the summoned minions (not undead) of the Mage Killer are a little bigger and a little stronger than the others, making him a better summoner class than most of the others out there. It can provide that extra little punch in a fight, especially when using something like the Dire Spider, where insuring it hits often so its poison can be applied is important.

Finally, because of the feat selection, it fits rather well into builds like the Melee Mage, which focuses on killing the weak creatures with melee while taking out the larger ones with spells.

Cons of the Mage Killer:
Entry Requirements. The four feats are rather steep, taking up all of the feats if the PC's race is not human and tries to get into the class at the first opportunity. They also aren't feat choices that would normally be made by a mage, especially not the Martial Weapon, unless they are going into Eldritch Knight. Thus, those who pick Mage Killer must be ready to stay with the class for a while, as they won't have the feat options to make another choice until around level 12 for most classes.

Perhaps too generalist. Unlike most of the other PRC caster PrCs, the Mage Killer does not provide a highly focused build. This makes it not quite as good at overcoming the harder challenges because it doesn't have that extra high DC or immunity that it can rely on.

Build Recommendations:
Because of the possible melee nature of the class, how a player builds with it is very much in two routes. One is the Melee Mage, using combat to clean out the weaker creatures, while the other is the multi-school blaster/summoner, relying on the plethora of Spell Focus feats to use whatever spell most suits the moment.

If a blaster build is your choice, I recommend Archmage for its two Masteries, which are greatly useful. Things like the Thrall of Graz'zt or Diabolist can add extra damage to your spells when most needed, while classes like Red Wizard of Thay and Elemental Savant are too focused if you wish to use all of the Spell Focus feats you have as a caster.

Melee builds should look into Eldritch Knight, especially, along with other classes that can boost martial and magical prowess at the same time.

Feats: If you're a blaster, I would pick up Penetration and lots of Greater/Epic Spell Focus to go with the nature of the class, while for melee, pick whichever melee feats seem appropriate, Expertise and the like.

Especially as a Melee Mage, buffs are the core of the build, so even though you have all the Spell Focus and summoning, make sure to keep the protections up. Its much better to have the high saves as backup, rather than being forced to rely on them the whole time.

For spell choices, pick whatever spell feels appropriate. As a melee mage, you have the buffing spells, while as a blaster, because of the proliferation of Spell Foci, you have freedom to chose from any of the four main damage schools without losing effectiveness.

Baelnorn

Introduction:
The Baelnorn is a 4 level templated class that enhances wizards, sorcerers, and clerics.
It is available only to elves of good alignment and requires the ability to cast level 6 spells.

Pros of the Baelnorn:
Undeath. Upon reaching level 4 you become fully undead, and enjoy all the immunities that other undead enjoy. You gain a substantial amount of hit points, giving you greater survivability than your living brethren. Your immunity to sneak attacks and critical hits coupled with DR 15/+2 will frustrate finesse characters to no end.

(Almost) Full arcane casting. You're a mere 4 levels behind straight casters. This isn?t too bad once you reach higher levels, and it can be negated entirely by Practiced Spellcaster.

The class SLAs. You have a touch attack that is identical to lich touch. This makes you fairly dangerous even when you are not casting spells. The most powerful ability of the Baelnorn however is Projection. This allows the Baelnorn to project an image of itself with which it can open doors, speak, and cast spells from relative safety. This projection cannot be turned. You can also cast animate dead to protect yourself.

Bolstered against Turning. The Baelnorn has a natural +4 bonus to turn resistance. Also, because of it?s good alignment, a Baelnorn cannot be turned or destroyed by good or neutral clerics. Evil characters that Rebuke or Command a Baelnorn instead turn or destroy it.

Can Turn Undead. The Baelnorn can turn dead as a cleric of it?s own level level 3/day. Since this was converted from a template, that means that as a Baelnorn you count all classes as levels of cleric for the purpose of turning. For example, a sorc 36/balenorn 4 will turn undead as a level 40 cleric.

Increased Ability Scores. You gain +2 bonuses to Intelligence, Wisdom, and Charisma. Regardless of which caster class you have, you will get a +2 bonus to your primary stat.

Improved Natural Armor. You gain natural armor bonuses equals 1 + your Baelnorn level.

Cons of the Baelnorn:
Can still be destroyed during Projection: The Baelnorn takes ? of the damage dealt to the projection, so it is not invulnerable, and the true Baelnorn can be killed while concentrating on the projection?s actions.

Undeath. Healing kits, potions, and spells will damage you. As such, forms of healing are more scarce than for other living classes. Also, as an undead creature you are susceptible to turning.

Undead hunting classes. There are always certain characters that are geared toward hunting undead. These are, of course, particularly dangerous for a Baelnorn, and you may find that good characters may not distinguish between good undead and evil undead.

Build Recommendations:
Prerequisites are as follows:

Race: Elf
Alignment: Any good
Skills: Concentration 5, Spellcraft 14
Ability to cast level 6 spells
Must not have any levels in Lich

You will want a high score in your casting class?s primary attribute. Charisma is also important for SLA DCs and Turn Undead.

Some feats you might consider other than the standard wizard/sorc/cleric feats are Positive Energy Resistance and Improved Turn Resistance. Positive energy resistance absorbs the first 10 pts of positive energy dealt to you, such as healing spells from enemies. Improved Turn Resistance gives you another +4 bonus to turn resistance on top of your existing resistance.

Build combinations are somewhat limited due to the requirements for the Baelnorn.
Arcane baelnorns should consider classes such as the Archmage. It?s a logical choice since it focuses on raw magical power, and arcane baelnorns don?t have the attack bonus necessary to take on epic foes in melee. Shadow Adept also provides some extra bonuses that work well. For a full powered mage, it?s important to multiclass to classes that give a full progression, as the levels in Baelnorn take up the entire benefit of practiced spellcaster.

Divine casters have more flexibility. Ironically, Baelnorns work well with the undead hunting classes because of their powerful turn undead ability. Melee heavy builds might also consist of classes that can Smite Evil. The large number of immunities provided by undeath can be quite handy in a melee build. Be aware that projections cannot damage enemies with their projected version of their weapon. As such, a Baelnorn is still best suited to a caster based character.

Either version should be careful to avoid picking classes that provide benefits that they already have because of undeath.

Ninja Part #2

The following section should replace the [bracketed marker] placeholder under Build Recommendations:

Races that give positive adjustments to Dexterity and Intelligence are preferred. Of course, Human is a good choice for the Ninja as well, especially since Humans have a greater number of skill points starting out.

With regards to stat allocation, I would recommend an investment in Intelligence at least up until costs reach more than one point, and a little less than the same for Wisdom. This should guarantee a good number of skill points and Ki Power uses early on. The Ninja lends itself well to a Dex-based dual-wielding build, so in the end, Dexterity would probably be pumped the highest. Anything left is up to the player's discretion.

It would be a bad idea to create as Strength-based Ninja, as the character would have a serious lack of AC and if the Ninja were to so much as put on a Tower Shield, their Ki Powers would no longer work.

In terms of feats, Weapon Finesse is critical for making sure the Dexterity modifier is used for weapons. Ambidexterity and the Two Weapon Fighting string of feats are extremely useful to improve dual-wielding, although if the Ninja is mixed with certain class choices, using feats for TWF can be skipped completely.

With actual weapons, it's recommended for the Ninja to select between either the Kukri or the Short Sword. The former for the wide crit range, the latter for the higher potential base damage. If the Ninja gets access to the Rapier, it's almost the best of both worlds if not for the fact that the Rapier is a medium weapon, which leads to TWF complications.

The following are some useful skills for the Ninja.
Tumble: Avoiding hits and Dodge AC, what's not to like?
Disable Traps: Great for trap-heavy modules.
Search and Spot: For detecting those traps as well as hidden doors and baddies.
Craft Weapon/Armor: For customizing your Ninja's look.
Hide and Move Silently: For times when stealthing around is absolutely needed. Also helps for Ghost Step and not getting detected.

Open Lock can be useful in cases where certain obstacles can't be bashed open due to a factor like not having enough Strength. Jump, while not actually being very useful (there are almost no modules that really take it into account and it leaves the Ninja open to attack), is still a skill I feel is required-- what kind of Ninja can't leap amazing heights? There's also the fact that putting ranks in Jump provides synergistic bonuses to Tumble.

As the only thing past 20 that the Ninja gains is better Sneak Attack and improvements in Acrobatics (which, in the case of Tumble, don't count for increasing Dodge AC), it's generally a good idea to give the Ninja a little bit of extra oomph through prestige classes rather than leveling as a straight base class.

To begin with, note that the Ninja has three key categories of foes against which its Sneak Attack does not function: Dragons, Undead, and Constructs. Against any of them, the Ninja could try to multiclass in a mix of Ranger (or Harper Scout, if Bardic Knowledge tickles your fancy more than Dual-Wield) and Foe Hunter, though this uses up all three class slots and leaves little room for customization.

With Dragons specifically, the Ninja may want to try taking the Vassal of Bahamut class for Dragonwrack's extra damage against the draconian beasts (along with the added bonus of money and Divine Power), though the free Platinum Armor cannot be used without losing the ability to use Ki Powers. Against Undead, the Ninja can actually make his Sneak Attacks work against them through use of the Skullclan Hunter's Divine Strike ability at level 2. However, this option will require multiclassing in Cleric, Paladin, or any other class that can Turn Undead to fulfill the Skullclan Hunter's requirements.

A Ninja/Tempest can be a frightening opponent, having even AB for two light weapons (and thus, an even chance for Sneak Attacks from both) and an AC boost to make up for the lack of a shield. The Tempest's hefty feat requirements can be lightened by taking a level in Ranger, though taking the feats regularly leaves a third class slot open for something like the Vassal of Bahamut.

Due to the Ninja's skills and AC being reliant on Wisdom, it might be nice to multiclass the Ninja with a divine spellcasting class such as the Druid or the Cleric, though to ensure powerful spells, the spellcasting class might have to be the one that uses the most levels.

Despite that, a Cleric or Druid 30 / Ninja 10 not only has +5d6 Sneak Attack and spellcasting at 34 Caster Levels with Practised Spellcaster, but also at least 5 uses of an ethereal Ghost Step in addition to more from having a high Wisdom (10 more uses with Wisdom of 30). A Cleric or Druid 25 / Ninja 10 / Hierophant 5 is also a potent combination that would lead to a base of 29 Caster Levels with Practised Spellcaster, then along with the extra SR penetration from the Hierophant's +10 Spell Power virtual provides a CL of 39 and an added DC of +10. And none of this counts Spell Penetration!

A Cleric / Ninja / Skullclan Hunter would also be quite strong as an Undead fighter, taking at least Skullclan Hunter 2 to allow the Sneak Attack to affect Undead, or Skullclan Hunter 5 to pierce Undead DR. A Cleric 32 / Ninja 3 / Skullclan Hunter 5 with PS would have a CL of 36, minor Sneak Attack, and get past Undead DR. Of course, outside of having plenty of Wisdom to use non-ethereal Ghost Steps plenty of times, this combination doesn't play the Ninja's strengths to the fullest.

Shadowdancer, while being nifty for the infamous Hide in Plain Sight, would be redundant in the face of the Ninja's Ghost Step. Still, HiPS doesn't have a number of uses per day. The Ninja Spy is a nice alternative for its Sneak Attack and Improved Evasion, though it will take a little longer to reach a level in which HiPS is available.

The last multiclass route this section will cover is that of the Ninja / Arcane Trickster, though many of its tactics (Ray of Frost, etc.) are better covered in the Arcane Trickster's own section. Note, however, that it has the Rogue in mind throughout, so concepts like a 'UMD level dump' should be ignored.

---

The section about which classes use UMD should also include the Assassin, so replace it with:

"The Rogue is still one of the few classes in the game that can properly place ranks in Use Magic Device, the others being the Thrall of Graz'zt, the Assassin, and the Bard. The Ninja is not among this select group."

Thrall of Graz'zt (Arcane)

Intro/Description
Strangely enough, while Graz'zt's thralls are supposed to be conniving and seductive, the PrC adds a powerful punch to most spellcasters and provides very powerful meatshields that compliments its Spell strike and spell betrayal abilities. The word "Heavy Duty Artillery" best describes this class. Another thing going for the good ol' ToG is the amount of class skills that it gets. I'm note sure its a bug, by the ToG does have UMD as a class skill, allowing it to wear class/alignment/race restricted items such as Holy Avengers and Monk robes. This opens up possibilities of casting spells that would otherwise be unavailable to the caster class one has picked. As an RP character, Dark Charisma and charm add a lot of bonuses to social situations, so a ToG can go on and be his/her coniving little self.

Pros:
[ulist=disc]adds addiontal damage to spells
good skill set
powerful set of summons on later levels.[/ulist]
Cons
[ulist=disc]1/2 level progression
fragile
weak reflex and fort saves (former can be solved with a feat)
offers little choice in multiclassing
no special epic feats (auto-quicken, auto still etc)[/ulist]
Build(s), including suggested spell choices if a caster

Wizards can easily take the class and fullfill the requirements at first level, an additional benefit for taking the Wizard route would be the amount of class skills the ToG gets, as well as the stat spread. Basically, high enough dex and very high INT will be enough for one to enjoy firing off frost rays that go up to 70 dmg. Sorcs are aslo viable, and would greatly benefit in Dark Charisma bonuses in social situations. However, a Wizard is still choice due to its versatility. Theoretically, Assasins may prove a viable and interesting entry.

Wiz 10 / ToG 30

This will give the character a 30 HD (read, 30 level) Balor which will proved magic, melee and distraction which means more damage from spells. Rays and IGMS shine with this build, but it however suffers from a low caster level (Wiz 10 + 15 Tog + 4 Practised spellcaster = 29). Further more, there are few spells in the higher levels that go work with Spellstrike and spell betrayal. This can be fixed by taking up meta magic feats such as empower and maximise to get better damage output. Putting in high UMD would mean the ability to use divine scrolls for buffing of both you and your Balor pet. Spell penetration, its greater and epic counterparts are a MUST.

Alternatively, one can opt only for a 25 HD Balor, and get more caster levels by taking Archmage and its spell power feats (ToG 12 + Wiz 10 + Archmge + 10 + 4 PSC = 36 caster levels).

Another defensive build would involve using the Elemental Savants, giving nice immunities and better caster levels (Tog 10 + Wiz 10 + ES 10 + 4 PSC = 34) than the pure ToG approach.

For the more offensive minded, the bonuses of the Mage Killer maybe tempting, however the amount of feats needed may cripple your character in certain areas, but one might argue that taking this class does save you some feats such as spell focuses on Evocation and Necromancy.

Note that you lose on additional spell damage when skipping ToG levels.

A more balance approach of direct damage and AOE spells would lead to my suggested build, a Wiz 5/ToG 25/Shadow Adept 15. This will give the the character a total of 36 caster levels, improved DCs on good AOE spells such Weird, Wail of the Banshee and other death spells, while still maintaining a good amount of damage from one's direct damage spells plus 25 HD balor and the Shadow Adept's other abilites. RP wise though, this makes no absolute sense, perhaps more RP-oriented people would chose the Red Wizard, but I wouldn't recommend it.

Suggest spells would be as follows:

Ray of frost - this once pathetic spell is now a force to be reckoned with.
Negative Energy Ray - See above.
Magic Missle, Acid Arrow, Fire Arrow, Fire Bolt and other projectile spells
IGMS - While the the additional damage only applies to the first projectile, its always good to have this around.
Wail of the Banshee
Weird
Finger of Death
(I haven't tried all spells, but since this baby is taking Wizard as its base caster, one can just go wild here)

*20th level only PCs can just opt to stick with the ToG or

Must-have feats:

Great, Epic and normal spell penetration.
Empower Spell
Maximze Spell
Spell focus.

Epic Spells:

Either defensive ones such as Epic Mage armor or Warding and/or additional summons like Unholy Disciple, Twinfiend (this would be bad RP though), Dragon Knight, Summon Abberation or Mummy Dust.

ToGs who've invested on their stealth skills may want to try Unseen Wanderer.

Other Multiclass combinations

Either Rogue/Ninja/Assasin are good ideas, if you want a character that uses stealth, starts with a spell strike, summons a tan'nari then proceeds to either sneak attack or spell sneak his enemies apart.

Somewhere around...

Wiz 6/ToG 25/ Rogue 4

or

Wiz 5/ToG 25/Assasin 15

Not sure about the Ninja yet though.

This is a partial resurrection from Google cache. I'm getting as much as I can, but I'd appreciate it if others could help us. The best way to do this is to search in Google for "Class Name site:http://www.dladventures.com". That was the address of the previous forums. If you do dig it up, please just format the text as best you can and drop it into that Submit Article link on the left. I'll start fleshing out the build threads from there then.

I'll say those look mostly PnP-ish. Are they?

Yup, you need to actually set your PC as a cohort from the in game menu. It will ask you to do the complete levelup package for it.

It's nice to be back, after that dead period without a forum. As you can tell, we sort of based the style off of the original DA look. Which I'm glad, cause the new DA look is ugly as sin.

Losing all of the years of material just because someone didn't pay a bill though... that's rather annoying. This one, at least, I trust who's paying and I can nag them about it.