Talk:Archmage Coeus (3.5e NPC)
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Semi-Optimizing this Bad Boy[edit]
I need help figuring out ways to make this guy powerful, but beatable. He has 12 9th level spells (!), but I'm not sure what to fill them with. He will use *some* cheese with Moment of Prescience + epic spellcasting to get a +25 to his spellcraft check, giving him a ballpark of +72 for a single spell. That is a 7 required to cast Eidolon, which seems like a fun spell... Get 1 negative level to have a level 21 partner? Sign me up!
His character traits is constantly obsessive with the future. He always predicts exactly what will happen (though he may only tell the group what they need to hear to make what he wants happen). Thus the Divination specialization.
So, I need help picking feats, more equipment, spells, and any other advice. I've laid out my work in progress inside comment tags if you want to see what I've been going for. --Aarnott 10:22, 7 March 2008 (MST)
- If he's going to be a divination specialist, why not substitute Spell Focus (Conjuration) for Spell Focus (Divination)? Spell Focus (Transmutation) seems like a cool choice, because you mentioned he likes to try and change the future, and Transmutation is all about change.
- Is he going to be an item-createy wizard? If so you might want to consider Craft Wonderous Item and Craft Epic Wonderous Item. Or Craft Staff.
- Focusing on the "Archmage" theme, maybe Mastery of Counterspelling for Archmage High Arcana? Everything you've said makes him not seem like a blaster mage. Mastery of Counterspelling gives him some survivability in spell battle without having to be aggressive.
- Also you said that "At level 20 he increases all his ability scores by +5 with wishes". It appears that only his mental ability scores (Int, Wis, Cha) are wish'ed +5.
- For feats, maybe Improved Counterspell?
- I'll post more thoughts later.--Othtim 13:02, 7 March 2008 (MST)
- Counterspells tend to be best with a Sorcerer. Though it is an option because I want to use Eidolon. That way he could effectively double his counterspells for the cost of 1 epic slot. I think I will take out an Arcane reach for Mastery of counterspelling. I kinda like the CL boosts so I'm reluctant to remove them.
- I think you might be right about that one. I thought about spell focus Divination, and though it is great for flavor (which is why I may still do it), it is near-useless. +1 DCs to what?
- All his scores were wished up at level 20. Look at the ability score breakdown. He ages to venerable from his starting stats (giving him a total of -6 to physical stats and +3 to mental stats).
- Item creation might be worthwhile, but I almost like to think of him as "above" crafting things. I'd have to think up a good reason why a noble blooded man such as Coeus would lower himself to building trinkets.
- Thanks for the suggestions! --Aarnott 13:13, 7 March 2008 (MST)
- Ah, gotcha man. I forgot about the venerable ability score penalties. And about Spell Focus (Divination), at least you get another spell per day. Have you thought about flavour items to build for this guy? Like some sort of special object that he carries around that matches his persona, etc. Based on what you say about him: lying to serve his own purposes, looking down on commoners, refusing to fight, incapacitating anyone who speaks out against him, sending commoners to their deaths to save a few noble" - that doesn't sound LG - more NN or NE. He also sounds, based on your description that he has scizophrenia or some sort of bipolar disorder. I'm not trying to be mean, but his flavour text just doesn't make sense to me... how can someone be lawful good, but you describe him by explaning how bad he is? :S --Othtim 13:48, 8 March 2008 (MST)
- Call it a game mechanic for alignment. He is not LG, you are right. His stats reflect that because of his self-virtuous beliefs and his Celestial blood. He logically reasons his Lawfulness and Goodness and that makes it so for purposes of Detect Evil, Good, Law, Chaos, Smite, etc. I have considered a flavor item. I'm thinking some sort of crystal ball. I still have a lot more to fill out about his personality, so it will make more sense later :).
- Oh. You might want to mention somewhere in the article that he registers as Lawful Good for the purposes of spells/special abilities etc that detect or are based on alignment. Also, do characters that meet Coeus have to feel that he is good? Are people allowed to feel that he is not good? Like, if a character notices that he does something not lawful or not good, are they allowed to disbeleive his lawfulgoodness? Am I getting my point across? I'm having a hard time explaining myself =/ --Othtim 19:06, 12 March 2008 (MDT)
- Also -- Spell Focus doesn't give an extra spell per day. Spell Focus: Divination is near useless... --Aarnott 15:13, 8 March 2008 (MST)
- Crap. I'm sorry, I dunno what I was thinking. I got Spell Focus: Divination confused with Divination school specialization. I must have been tired or something, please disregard. And there are things that Spell Focus: Divination is good for. Like boosting DCs for Scrying and Probe Thoughts. But yeah, I agree it's not that useful. And it's probably not neccessary if the archmage forcuses on forseeing the future, rather than just Divination. --Othtim 19:04, 12 March 2008 (MDT)
Having him see into the future[edit]
What ways can I have him "see into the future" using existing rules? I was thinking Contact Other Plane would be a great start. He can talk to deities directly without a chance of abusing intelligence. 9% chance of a lie, 88 chance of the truth? Seems like a very good start... Any suggestions of higher level spells would be greatly appreciated. --Aarnott 16:06, 13 March 2008 (MDT)
- Arg, screw it. His ridiculously high Int score plus knowledge skills is a good enough reason for him to foresee everything! Plus part of his character quirk is that nobody really knows if he just makes random guesses since he apparently lies to manipulate the future. It is altogether possible that he makes educated guesses using lots of divination to gather info to come to these conclusions. I can use the forsee seed, but it doesn't allow a suitable DC for daily casting, plus it may only be used once every five weeks. --Aarnott 16:36, 13 March 2008 (MDT)
- Maybe make use of the Extra Spell feat from Complete Arcane. It basically says, "You can learn any one spell up to one-level lower than the maximum level you can cast." You might want to use this feat to say, take the augury or divination or commune spells from the Cleric spell list. Or possibly re-build the character as a Domain Wizard, and manually create a "Future" or "Foreknowledge" domain, or somesuch.
- Also, you could craft for him an artifact that emulates the "Foresee" seed. --Othtim 19:15, 13 March 2008 (MDT)
ECL?[edit]
What is the ECL of this? --Green Dragon 19:40, 13 March 2008 (MDT)
- It isn't done, so I am stalling that decision. I may end up adding more Loremaster levels, for example. --Aarnott 10:55, 14 March 2008 (MDT)
Stats Breakdown[edit]
Using Sledged's template for an ECL 59 NPC I saw, this seems like a better idea than commented inside the text!
Archmage Coeus's starting stats (using the elite array):
- Str 13 Dex 16 Con 15 Int 18 Wis 16 Cha 15
- Half Celestial: Str +4, Dex +2, Con +4, Int +2, Wis +4, Cha +4
- Aasimar: Wis +2, Cha +2
- Final for 1st level: Str 17 Dex 18 Con 19 Int 20 Wis 22 Cha 21
- Final at level 31: Str 16 Dex 17 Con 18 Int 35 Wis 30 Cha 29
Final Synergies:
- +6 UMD involving scrolls
- +4 spellcraft
- +4 search (secret doors & compartments)
- +4 survival (underground, avoid getting lost or natural hazards, other planes, above ground natural environments)
- +4 bardic knowledge
- +4 gather info
- +4 diplomacy
Final Spellcasting
- 0 - 4+1
- 1st - 5+1 +5 = 11
- 2nd - 5+1 +5 = 11
- 3rd - 4+1 +4 = 9
- 4th - 4+1 +4 = 9
- 5th - 2+1 +4 = 7
- 6th - 3+1 +4 = 8
- 7th - 2+1 +3 = 6
- 8th - 4+1 +3 = 8
- 9th - 4+1 +3 +ring of wizardry (+4) = 12
| ECL | Class/HD/LA | Base Attack Bonus |
Saving Throws | Feats | Skills | Class Features / Special |
Base Spells (Including Specialization) | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fort | Ref | Will | Points | Allocation (Total Ranks) | 0th | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | 5th | 6th | 7th | 8th | 9th | |||||
| 6th | Diviner 1 | +0 | +0 | +0 | +2 | 28 |
|
Bonus Feat, Enhanced Awareness variant | 4 | 2 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |
| 7th | Diviner 2 | +1 | +0 | +0 | +3 | 7 |
|
5 | 3 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 8th | Diviner 3 | +1 | +1 | +1 | +3 | 7 |
|
5 | 3 | 2 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 9th | Diviner 4 | +2 | +1 | +1 | +4 | 7 |
|
+1 Int | 5 | 4 | 3 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |
| 10th | Diviner 5 | +2 | +1 | +1 | +4 | 7 |
|
Bonus Feat | 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 | — | — | — | — | — | — | |
| 11th | Diviner 6 | +3 | +2 | +2 | +5 | 7 |
|
5 | 4 | 4 | 3 | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 12th | Diviner 7 | +3 | +2 | +2 | +5 | 7 |
|
5 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 13th | Diviner 7 Loremaster 1 | +3 | +2 | +2 | +7 | 10 |
|
+1 Int, Dodge Trick | 5 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 3 | — | — | — | — | — | |
| 14th | Diviner 7 Loremaster 2 | +4 | +2 | +2 | +8 | 10 |
|
Lore | 5 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 | — | — | — | — | |
| 15th | Diviner 7 Loremaster 3 | +4 | +3 | +3 | +8 | 10 |
|
+1 Int, Wis, and Cha; −1 Str, Dex, and Con; Newfound Arcana | 5 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 3 | — | — | — | — | |
| 16th | Diviner 7 Loremaster 4 | +5 | +3 | +3 | +9 | 10 |
|
Bonus Language | 5 | 6 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 | — | — | — | |
| 17th | Diviner 7 Loremaster 5 | +5 | +3 | +3 | +9 | 11 |
|
+1 Int, More Newfound Arcana | 5 | 6 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 3 | — | — | — | |
| 18th | Diviner 7 Loremaster 6 | +6 | +4 | +4 | +10 | 11 |
|
Greater Lore | 5 | 6 | 6 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 | — | — | |
| 19th | Diviner 7 Loremaster 7 | +6 | +4 | +4 | +10 | 11 |
|
+2 Fort saves | 5 | 6 | 6 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 3 | — | — | |
| 20th | Diviner 7 Loremaster 8 | +7 | +4 | +4 | +11 |
Chain Spell |
11 |
|
+1 Int, Wis, Cha; −2 Str, Dex, Con; Bonus Language | 5 | 6 | 6 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 | — |
| 21st | Diviner 7 Loremaster 8 Archmage 1 | +7 | +4 | +4 | +13 | 10 |
|
+1 Int, Mastery of Counterspelling | 5 | 6 | 6 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 3 | — | |
| 22nd | Diviner 7 Loremaster 8 Archmage 2 | +8 | +4 | +4 | +14 | 10 |
|
Arcane Reach | 5 | 6 | 6 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 2 | 3 | 2 | |
| 23rd | Diviner 7 Loremaster 8 Archmage 3 | +8 | +5 | +5 | +14 |
Persistent Spell |
10 |
|
Mastery of Shaping | 5 | 6 | 6 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 2 | 4 | 3 |
| 24th | Diviner 7 Loremaster 8 Archmage 4 | +9 | +5 | +5 | +15 | 10 |
|
Spell Power | 5 | 6 | 6 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 4 | |
| 25th | Diviner 7 Loremaster 8 Archmage 5 | +9 | +5 | +5 | +15 | 13 |
|
+6 Int, Wis, Cha; +2 Str, Dex, Con; Spell Power | 5 | 6 | 6 | 5 | 5 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 5 | 5 | |
| 26th | Diviner 7 Loremaster 8 Archmage 5 Loremaster 1 | +9 (+1 epic) | +5 | +5 | +15 |
Epic Spellcasting SRD:Epic Skill Focus (spellcraft) |
15 |
|
Applicable Knowledge | 5 | 6 | 6 | 5 | 5 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 5 | 5 |
| 27th | Diviner 7 Loremaster 8 Archmage 5 Loremaster 2 | +9 (+1 epic) | +6 | +6 | +16 | 15 |
|
5 | 6 | 6 | 5 | 5 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 5 | 5 | ||
| 28th | Diviner 7 Loremaster 8 Archmage 5 Loremaster 3 | +9 (+2 epic) | +6 | +6 | +16 | 15 |
|
5 | 6 | 6 | 5 | 5 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 5 | 5 | ||
| 29th | Diviner 7 Loremaster 8 Archmage 5 Loremaster 4 | +9 (+2 epic) | +7 | +7 | +17 | 16 |
|
+1 Int | 5 | 6 | 6 | 5 | 5 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 5 | 5 | |
| 30th | Diviner 7 Loremaster 8 Archmage 5 Loremaster 5 | +9 (+3 epic) | +7 | +7 | +17 | 16 |
|
5 | 6 | 6 | 5 | 5 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 5 | 5 | ||
| 31st | Diviner 7 Loremaster 8 Archmage 5 Loremaster 6 | +9 (+3 epic) | +8 | +8 | +18 | 16 |
|
5 | 6 | 6 | 5 | 5 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 5 | 5 | ||
| 32nd | Diviner 7 Loremaster 8 Archmage 5 Loremaster 7 | +9 (+4 epic) | +8 | +8 | +18 | 16 |
|
5 | 6 | 6 | 5 | 5 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 5 | 5 | ||
| 33rd | Diviner 7 Loremaster 8 Archmage 5 Loremaster 8 | +9 (+4 epic) | +9 | +9 | +19 | 16 |
|
+1 Int | 5 | 6 | 6 | 5 | 5 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 5 | 5 | |
| 34th | Diviner 7 Loremaster 8 Archmage 5 Loremaster 9 | +9 (+5 epic) | +9 | +9 | +19 | 16 |
|
5 | 6 | 6 | 5 | 5 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 5 | 5 | ||
| 35th | Diviner 7 Loremaster 8 Archmage 5 Loremaster 10 | +9 (+5 epic) | +10 | +10 | +20 | 16 |
|
5 | 6 | 6 | 5 | 5 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 5 | 5 | ||
| 36th | Diviner 7 Loremaster 8 Archmage 5 Loremaster 11 | +9 (+6 epic) | +10 | +10 | +20 | 16 |
|
5 | 6 | 6 | 5 | 5 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 5 | 5 | ||
He's not done yet... Still integrating stuff. Much easier to follow his progression now though. --Aarnott 13:58, 25 March 2008 (MDT)