New Character! (Tries to resist the urge to multiclass)

[AyounTheDark]

Heya!

I've thought about making a new character, and for once try out playing a singleclass spellcaster.

Either sorceress or wizard... I can't really see my self playing one of them druids.


I've never tried to play one as such, I've always played multi or dualclassed casters. Not even in my 12 years of PnP.

So... Anyone in to gimme some advice/hints on what to go for? Wiz or Sorc? Elf or Human? Or some other funny race?

And what mage order if any to start out in?

(besides that I bet they do have a rough start with close to no HP.. *shivers*)

[girlysprite]

pro-sorc; more spells. Excellent counterspeller. improvising during combat is easy.
anti sorc; fewer different spells to cast, a few less feats, less skillpoints (because lack of intelligence).
anti wizard; Due to IC reasons it is hard to find scrolls of higher level spells.

for the rest it depends of the type of caster you want to play. Any idea on good, neutral, evil...personality...etc?

[AyounTheDark]

for the rest it depends of the type of caster you want to play. Any idea on good, neutral, evil...personality...etc?

Nah, haven't really thought about it yet, though I kinda like the idea of a mystic of sorts. And I do prefer neutrals, but its not a must.

So.. Since its a firsttimer I should go for a human Sorc to make life easier for me?

(And what about epic feats? Are there any good for Sorcs compared to Wizards?)

[loki70]

Cleric is always a choice too. Very versatile, good buffs, some offensive spells too, and good saves to boot.

[girlysprite]

as a human you do get an extra skillpoint, which is just really nice. Also, I have seen a nice buiuld that makes up for the louse mage hp dice; a dwarf with good con and extra hp feat.

[fyrmin]

halfling sorceress... you get a dex bonus for ac, and no penalty for any necessary skills (i.e. cha). plus cha is a nice stat to have for rping skills like bluff, persuade, etc. do something unique (as long as it doesn't cripple your character) and you should have fun.

[Sathsarrion]

do something unique (as long as it doesn't cripple your character) and you should have fun.

Hell, even if it does cripple your character (like an ECL of 3 with nothing to show for it that helps a wizard), it can still be fun

[Elong Singalong]

*drags whisper away from that idea, puts a lot of paper work he needs to do for the Ra-ghul guild (even some made up cause i cant see barberians and fighters doing a lot of paperwork for any furious god)

points to all the facts, cracks her whip*

hehe.. ok en now serious..

Personally if you want to play something mysterieus. Sorcerrers get their magic from their blood.. they have this inside of them. Wizards learn everything from books.. This is the reason why i always played a sorcerer.

If you like spells. Bards do have spells also. Besides that maybe you can try psion also..

You also get information if you click on the races in the character creating screen. Besides that you had a little book when you bought the cds of NWN with a lot of information (or you had just as i bought the first 2 together so you dont have that book).

Good luck

[kinerata]

go a half nymph sorcerer for pure cheese mate

nah seriously a sorcerer is a better option if you just want a few key spells. wizard if you want more. what i did was go through the spell list in the never winter grimoire and see exactly what spells i thought i would cast. i found that i generally wanted more spells than a sorcerer could give me so i went with a wizard. if you think you can live with only 6 spells per spell level, go the sorcerer. for race, you can be anything. most important bit is get a concept, cos if you create it and hate it you will never play it. you have to know what you want the character to be, and how you want it to develop. just wanting a character class isnt enough. i worked that out after about 10 attempts at an alt character

[Tigg]

Good idea about not multiclassing. With a spellcasting multiclass, it's easy to foul things up... whereas with a single-classed, if you just put a good number of points into your primary ability, and just keep up with that class, it's rather hard to mess things up too badly. Reason being, that your spells are what you're about, they come prepackaged with all their effects, and you pretty much just have to learn how to use them right. For instance, with a mage, just keep your int or cha about even with your con (making them high from the start), level away, and voila! uber

[slave_of_emotions]

Heya!

I've thought about making a new character, and for once try out playing a singleclass spellcaster.

Either sorceress or wizard... I can't really see my self playing one of them druids.


I've never tried to play one as such, I've always played multi or dualclassed casters. Not even in my 12 years of PnP.

So... Anyone in to gimme some advice/hints on what to go for? Wiz or Sorc? Elf or Human? Or some other funny race?

And what mage order if any to start out in?

(besides that I bet they do have a rough start with close to no HP.. *shivers*)

if you want to multiclass then go for something dex based... NWN support for arcane spellcasting is really badly worked out, and the armors with reduced arcane spell failure are very rare and expensive.
Bards were my favored class but in NWN it can be annoying to play them when you have to take off your armor each time you want to cast a spell.

[girlysprite]

take still spell casting. easier solved. everything is casted as a level higher though.

[Xandor Amakiir]

If you dont want to multiclass you defenatly should take Bard, its the most versitile class there is, although most of his magic is defencive or suportive of nature...

And off course you should do it cause Elong said so

[slave_of_emotions]

If you dont want to multiclass you defenatly should take Bard, its the most versitile class there is, although most of his magic is defencive or suportive of nature...

2nd edition bards..... ::drools::

[KaiRal Windspar]

If you dont want to multiclass you defenatly should take Bard, its the most versitile class there is, although most of his magic is defencive or suportive of nature...

Doesn't matter.

With UMD, a bard can cast any spell he can get a scroll of, in addition to his own spells. And any Bard should have a stupid Charisma score, so you can bet he will not be hurtnig for UMD ranks.

[Jazz]

If you really have no idea, Ayoun, just make a Human Wizard. It's not hard to RP or play. You have no restrictions and plenty of spells to choose from and Skill points.

[chamalscuro]

My current, and complete favorite, is straight sorceror. Here's why:

* NWN doesn't have nearly as many total spells available as PnP D&D. 6 spells from each level is more than enough, especially since many duplicate from level to level, only getting more powerful.

* Don't like your spell selection? Sorcs can completely overturn their available spells, choosing a new set. I never hesitate trying out a new spell; if I don't like it, I can trade it in at the next level. Change your mind, get it back at the next...

* Not having to memorize specific spells is an incredibly powerful tool. You'll be useful longer between rests than a wizard.

* Don't multi-class. You'll see your spell durations go through the roof. Your familiar will actually keep up with you.

* Sorcs make great RP. Your high CHA, plus -say- a popped fey wine means that you'll get great rolls on all the RP-related CHA skills.

* Speaking of RP, I keep a few spells around that are worthless in combat (eg Contagion), but are fun conversation pieces. Nobody has more fireworks available than a sorc. The 0-level cantrips are also fun to throw at (willing) characters.

* In the low levels, you must jealously hoard your hit points to survive. My sorc has an 18 CON, and it keeps paying back even now. Get Invisibility the first chance you can... it means survival. Keep bandages handy... when you run out of spells, you are the medic.

* What race? Doesn't really matter as long as you can have a good CHA. I saw some neat race ideas in the previous posts. I don't regard the Half-Nymph as cheesy (If they have inherently boosted CHA, they are natural sorcerors, not druids, and the world info needs to be updated to reflect that), but frankly Half-nymph's unnecessary. I now have a 17 CHA, after many levels of boosting that stat. Combined with spell foci, I've found that monsters weren't often making their saving throws anyway.

Hope this helps!

[Aerill]

I guess it depends a lot on what do you want from your character. Sorcerers and wizards have both their advantages and disadvantages.

Sorcerers overall are much more efficient in combat. They can cast more spells compared to wizards before having to rest and they can choose what to cast from their selection on the fly while wizards have to choose everything in advance. Of course sorcerers have less variety in spells because they have to choose 6-3 spells per spell level while wizards can eventually write down every wizard/sorcerer spell in their spellbook. Playing a wizard makes you have to plan and make careful selection of spells in your spellbook. Of course it also gives more room for experimenting. Overall wizards have less raw power, but have more choices and are more versatile as a result.

Also wizards have Intelligence as their primary casting ability score and as you will spend more points on it you will also be able to raise more skills.

Personally I would choose wizard or sorcerer based on your character concept. It is probably not very fitting to be a wizard if you do not want to play a scholary type who spends a lot of time studying. I would also not decide on a Mage Order in advance. Meet with them all IG, decide who your character gets along with most and only then make your choice.

If you go a wizard route I would also advice not to go for a specialist type (Necromancer, Conjurer, etc.) unless you absolutely want to or it really fits the concept. One extra spell to cast per level each day is not worth losing a lot of spells in your selection from the opposite school.

Myself I have been playing a human wizard multi-class for two years and I find it a joy just because of the variety of what she can do.

[Aerill]

* NWN doesn't have nearly as many total spells available as PnP D&D. 6 spells from each level is more than enough, especially since many duplicate from level to level, only getting more powerful.

Not entirely true. You get only 3 spells from higher spell levels (I believe it's 6 to 9 or 7 to 9). Makes for a lot of tough choices later on.

[anodynes]

Do yourself a favor, don't multiclass until you have had a chance for the world arround you to influence your character in one direction or another. I have seen so many opportunities slip by because my main character multiclassed early on.

[Jazz]

If you go a wizard route I would also advice not to go for a specialist type (Necromancer, Conjurer, etc.) unless you absolutely want to or it really fits the concept. One extra spell to cast per level each day is not worth losing a lot of spells in your selection from the opposite school.

That's so true Aerill. I choose Necromancy, because it really fitted my PC (still kinda does), but I still curse everyone using Divination (opposite school) out of jelausy.
I was really bummed as well that the spells I thought would fit Necromancy were actually Illusions.
...then again I didn't really think up my PC before I started playing her, I just went with the flow. But I'm having loads of fun even without those uber-Divination spells

[Pathos Street]

If you go a wizard route I would also advice not to go for a specialist type (Necromancer, Conjurer, etc.) unless you absolutely want to or it really fits the concept. One extra spell to cast per level each day is not worth losing a lot of spells in your selection from the opposite school.

I disagree. Being a specialist spellcaster is incredibly interesting and fun. It makes for new and interesting ways of looking at tactics. Not only that, but it's also fun to RP.

My dude's an evoker. He can't summon stuff (he says it's because he'd "rather befriend his meat shields") or cast mage armor or flame arrow. Not only that, but I also don't cast necromancies (except for undeath to death) with him for RP reasons. So 2 entire schools of magic are almost completely out of the picture... and I don't feel it's limited my enjoyment or experience of the game one bit. The extra spell per day also applies to the highest-level spell you can cast, so it makes you better again by half over generalist wizards of your same level in that regard. Having that extra invisibility at level 3, or that extra stoneskin at level 7, the extra timestop at level 17, etc. etc. can make all the difference in the world.

[Aerill]

Sure, Pathos, but you can also RP the opposite, like the on-going changes in characters interests, while by picking a specialist you pretty much lock yourself from developing any changes in this regard. I personally prefer the world to influence the character's choices, rather then have a pre-determined path. And you can reflect that by picking Spell Focus feats or just RPing the raising interest in a specific school over time or the loss of it.

The worth of the extra spell slot also changes a lot on how many you have in total. Getting 2 instead of 1 is great, but getting 7 instead of 6 in exchange for not being able to ever use any of the fun new conjuration spells is not the trade I would personally make.

To each their own anyway, that's just my personal opinion. I love having more choices.

[pedsdmd]

I have a wiz but I would love the the next caster I try will be a sorceror.

Being a Wiz is tedious at time. If you just want to rock and roll take sorc.

[Elong Singalong]

And off course you should do it cause Elong said so

indeed! that is why.. no arguing with that