Blood Scholar - Wiz(6),Brd(4),ASC(10),RWT(10)

=Description=

Wizard 6 / Arcane Scholar of Candlekeep 10 / Red Wizard of Thay 10 / Rogue OR Bard OR Druid 4

This is a primary arcane caster build, and easily one of the most powerful possible, since it combines both Arcane Scholar and Red Wizard. Further to this, it goes down the armored caster route, which grants it a few extra AC, but more importantly gives it the option of using Stone or Iron Body for a large chunk of immunities and uncapped damage reduction. This is one of the few builds that can consistently beat the Obsidian Sorcerer in Battle of the Builds (or would be able to if the AI on the AI controlled clones were working properly). Roughly, the sequence of events is as follows:


 * 1. Both Obsidian Sorcerer and Steelclad Scarlet Scholar cast Quickened Greater Breach at the same time removing each other's spell mantles


 * 2. Both Obsidian Sorcerer and Steelclad Scarlet Scholar cast Quickened Forceful hand at the same time knocking each other down


 * 3. After 30 rounds, the Obsidian Sorcerer's Forceful hand wears off. The Steelclad Scarlet Scholar can then get up and finish him off.

Pros:


 * Effectively ignore Spell Resistance (SR): With +5 bonus RWoT caster level and +6 Epic Spell Penetration, your Caster Roll against SR is 41. which means that you automatically bypass Drow and Deep Gnome SR of equal level!


 * Ultimate Magical Power: Easily among the most Powerful Casters possible, with an effective caster level of 35.


 * Relatively tough: The Rogue and Bard Variants have moderate AC, due to Tumble class skill, monk boots, and light armor/shield. And if that isn't enough, you have a whole range of protective buffs on top of that. Autostill lets you walk around in Stone/Iron Body for a whole range of immunities.


 * Uncanny Dodge and Evasion

Cons:


 * Low BAB: You can't hit the broad side of a barn.


 * Comparatively Low AC: You lose the Obsidian Sorcerer's Divine Shield, and have nothing to make up for it.


 * Comparatively Low Saves: You lose the Obsidian Sorcerer's Cha bonus to saves as well. Your fortitude is especially bad. You may have Evasion, but you don't have the Reflex saves to back it up. However, as long as your protective buffs are up, you don't need to worry too much, but if they are removed, you are in trouble.


 * You lose 2 schools of magic. However, you can still learn up to level 8 spells in your RWoT second forbidden school before losing it.

Levelling Notes


 * In the Schemes below, we use a few abbreviations. ASoCK stands for Arcane Scholar of Candlekeep, and RWoT stands for Red Wizard of Thay


 * The Red Wizard loses another spell school as soon as he takes his first level of this prestige class. He will no longer be able to learn spells from this new opposing school, but those he had learnt previously will not be lost. Because of this, you want to delay taking Red Wizard levels until as late as possible, so that you can learn as many spells as you can from this school, before you lose it. Therefore the Red Wizard levels are taken as late as possible in these progression schemes.


 * There are 3 possible level progression schemes, depending on what you pick as your last class. There are seperate schemes for Bard, Rogue, and Druid.

=Bard Progression=

Going with Bard provides one of the all round strongest builds, as the addition of Bard level 1 spell Joyful Noise effectively grants immunity to Silence. Further to this, you gain access to Amplify. Combine this with greater heroism and Clairaudience/Clairvoyance, and you can boost Listen by +34, in addition to your maxed listen score of 33, making it virtually impossible to sneak up on you. However, it lacks the broad skillset that Rogue provides, and therefore loses the capacity to open lock/search and disable. If you already have a Bard in your party, the benefits of going with Bard are greatly reduced.

Bard: Character Creation
Race: Human

Alignment: Any non-good and non-lawful

Low Magic Variant Stats


 * The above stats are for low magic settings. The 14 Cha permits you to cast Bard spells, and lets you cast 1 level 2 spell at Bard 4. However, if you can access Cha boosting Gear of at least +4, you can rely on that to grant you Bard Spell access, and channel the points to Con. This gives you extra HP, which helps a lot as your classes have very low Base HP.

High Magic Variant Stats

BAB: 16

HP:


 * Base HP: (6*4) + (10*4) + (10*4) + (4*6) = 128


 * Low Magic: + 60 con bonus= 188


 * High Magic: +90 con bonus = 218

Saves

Fort: 2 + 3 + 3 + 1 = 9 +2 Con

Will: 5 + 7 + 7 + 4 = 23 -1 Wis

Reflex: 2 + 3 + 3 + 4 = 12 +3 Dex

And Evasion

Bard: Overview
Feats

Character Feats

1. Spellcasting Prodigy

1. Able Learner

3. Skill Focus: Concentration

6. Skill Focus: Spellcraft

9. Spell Penetration

12. Greater Spell Penetration

15. Practiced Spellcaster: Wizard

18. Armor Proficiency (medium) OR Practiced Spellcaster: Bard

21. Great Intelligence

23. Epic Spell Penetration

25. Automatic: Still Spell 0-3

27. Automatic: Still Spell 4-6

29. Automatic: Still Spell 7-9

Wizard Bonus Feats:

5. Empower Spell

Red Wizard of Thay Bonus Feats:

5. Still Spell

10. Extend Spell

A few notes on the Level 18 feat of choice:


 * Medium Armor Proficiency lets you upgrade to Mithril Fullplate for an overall +1 to AC, and also reduces your Max Dex Bonus to 16, so that the Dex penalty from Stone/Iron Body has less effect.


 * Practiced Caster Bard helps some of your Bard spells last longer. Joyful Noise one of the main benefits of going with Bard, however is NOT one of them. This really only helps Amplify and Silence last longer, essentially doubling their length (from 4 rounds to 8 rounds). In particular, Amplify gives you +20 to listen checks, and helps you counter stealth, and can be extended to 16 rounds. Combine this with the Wizard spells Greater Heroism (+4 to all skills) and Clairaudience/Clairvoyance (+10 to spot and listen) and it becomes impossible to sneak up on a Bard.

Bard: Skills
Base Skill Points:


 * Bard 1st level (4*6)


 * Bard 3 more levels(3*6)


 * Wizard 6 levels (6*2)


 * Arcane Scholar 10 levels(10*2)


 * Red Wizard 10 levels (10*2)

Total = 94

With Starting int of 16, and human skill bonus, you start off with 4 extra skill points per level, and it steadily goes up as your Int improves:


 * Int 16-17


 * 4x at Level 1


 * Normal From Level 2-7


 * Total: (4*4) + (6*4) = 40


 * Int 18-19


 * From Level 8-15


 * Total: 8*5 = 40


 * Int 20-21


 * From Level 16-21


 * Total: 6*6 = 36


 * Int 22-23


 * From Level 22-27


 * Total: 6*7 = 42


 * Int 24


 * From Level 28-30


 * Total: 3*8 = 24

Total Skill points: 94 + 40 + 40 + 36 + 42 + 24 = 276 ~enough to max out 8.364 Skills.

This build really doesn't need that many skill points, as it lacks the Rogue skillset. There are 4 core skills it needs:


 * Concentration


 * Spellcraft


 * Tumble


 * UMD

Besides that, I would recommend the following 4 more:


 * Diplomacy


 * Listen


 * Hide


 * Move

Channel whatever remaining points you have left into Spot, which is not a class skill, and therefore only maxes out at 16 ranks at level 30. Note that you don't have enough skill points at the start to keep all of the above skills maxed out. You need to prioritize which one is important. I would recommend maxing them out at each level in the following order:


 * 1. Concentration


 * 2. Spellcraft


 * 3. Diplomacy


 * 4. Tumble


 * 5. UMD


 * 6. Listen


 * 7. Spot


 * 8. Hide & Move

Hide and Move work as a pair and one is useless without the other. Therefore when putting points into Hide and Move, split them evenly so that they are about equal.

Bard: Character Progression
=Rogue Progression=

Going with Rogue provides you a more diverse skill set, including Open Lock, Search and Disable. With these skills, you can effectively double up as the Party Rogue. However, you lose the Spells that Bard or Druid provide in the process.

Rogue: Character Creation
Race: Human

Alignment: Any non-good

Stats

BAB: 16

HP: (6*4) + (10*4) + (10*4) + (4*6) +90 con bonus = 218

Saves

Fort: 2 + 3 + 3 + 1 = 9 +3 Con

Will: 5 + 7 + 7 + 1 = 20 -1 Wis

Reflex: 2 + 3 + 3 + 4 = 12 +3 Dex

And Evasion

Rogue: Overview
Feats

Character Feats

1. Spellcasting Prodigy

1. Able Learner

3. Skill Focus: Concentration

6. Skill Focus: Spellcraft

9. Spell Penetration

12. Greater Spell Penetration

15. Practiced Spellcaster: Wizard

18. Shield Proficiency

21. Great Intelligence

23. Epic Spell Penetration

25. Automatic: Still Spell 0-3

27. Automatic: Still Spell 4-6

29. Automatic: Still Spell 7-9

Wizard

5. Empower Spell

RWoT

5. Still Spell

10. Extend Spell OR Silent Spell

For the Rogue, none of your classes come with Shield proficiency, so that has to be bought at level 18. A Good mithril heavy shield gives you +7 AC, as well as a host of enchantments (such as regeneration).

Rogue: Skills
Base Skill Points:


 * Rogue 1st level (4*8)


 * Rogue 3 more levels(3*8)


 * Wizard 6 levels (6*2)


 * Arcane Scholar 10 levels(10*2)


 * Red Wizard 10 levels (10*2)

Total = 108

With Starting int of 16, and human skill bonus, you start off with 4 extra skill points per level, and it steadily goes up as your Int improves:


 * Int 16-17


 * 4x at Level 1


 * Normal From Level 2-7


 * Total: (4*4) + (6*4) = 40


 * Int 18-19


 * From Level 8-15


 * Total: 8*5 = 40


 * Int 20-21


 * From Level 16-21


 * Total: 6*6 = 36


 * Int 22-23


 * From Level 22-27


 * Total: 6*7 = 42


 * Int 24


 * From Level 28-30


 * Total: 3*8 = 24

Core Skills:


 * Concentration


 * Spellcraft


 * Tumble


 * UMD

Total Skill points: 108 + 40 + 40 + 36 + 42 + 24 = 290 ~enough to max out 8.788 Skills.

There are 4 core skills it needs to max out:


 * Concentration


 * Spellcraft


 * Tumble


 * UMD

Besides that, if you are choosing to go with Rogue, it presumably means you are trying to double up as the party rogue. In which case I would recommend maxing out the following 4 more:


 * Diplomacy (for Campaign) OR Spot (for PvP)


 * Search


 * Disable


 * Open Lock

There are a few skill splashes it should have:


 * Splash 5 ranks in Set Trap for Synergy bonus to Disable Device

Note that you don't have enough skill points at the start to keep all of the above skills maxed out. You need to prioritize which one is important. If you are essentially acting as the Party Rogue, then the rogue skills need to be prioritized. I would recommend maxing them out at each level in the following order:


 * 1. Concentration


 * 2. Spellcraft


 * 3. Search


 * 4. Disable


 * 5. Diplomacy (for Campaign) OR Spot (for PvP)


 * 6. Open Lock


 * 7. Tumble


 * 8. UMD

Open Lock is of lower priority, as you can cast knock as a Wizard.

Rogue: Character Progression
=Druid Progression=

Druid lose a lot compared to Bard or Rogue. For one they don't have Tumble or UMD as class skills. The main reason for picking Druid, is for the Druid spells, and 1 spell in particular: Foundation of Stone. This provides them with immunity to Knockdown, for the 11 or so rounds that it lasts anyway. Therefore, DO NOT take Druid if you already have access to items that grant knockdown immunity anyway.

What sort of opponents use Knockdown? Well anything with High Strength can use it effectively, including enemy monsters. But if you are fighting monsters, you should have a party with you, and as the Wizard, and you should be far away from the front lines.

The other enemy that likes to use knockdown are Arcane casters: Other Wizards and Sorcerers. The spell Bigby's Forceful Hand effectively knocks you down for 3 or so minutes, and is a favorite among Arcane Casters for disabling their foes. (Forceful hand also has a dazing effect, but Wizards already have protection from alignment and mind blank to protect against that.) Foundation of Stone therefore provides immunity to the knockdown effect of Bigby's Forceful hand, and lets you keep fighting, at least for the 11 rounds or so that it lasts.

On the whole therefore, going with Druid is only recommended if you expect to be duelling other Arcane Casters.

Druid: Character Creation
Race: Human

Alignment: Any non-good and any Neutral

Stats

Low Magic Variant Stats


 * The above stats are for low magic settings. The 14 Wis permits you to cast Druid spells, and gives you a bonus level 2 spell at Druid 3/4. However, if you can access Wis boosting Gear of at least +4, you can rely on that to grant you Druid Spell access, and channel the points to Con. This gives you extra HP, which helps a lot as your classes have very low Base HP.

High Magic Variant Stats

BAB: 16

HP:


 * Base HP: (6*4) + (10*4) + (10*4) + (4*8) = 136


 * Low Magic: + 60 con bonus= 196


 * High Magic: +90 con bonus = 226

Saves

Fort: 2 + 3 + 3 + 4 = 12 +2 Con

Will: 5 + 7 + 7 + 4 = 23 +2 Wis

Reflex: 2 + 3 + 3 + 1 = 9 +3 Dex

And Evasion

Druid: Overview
Feats

Character Feats

1. Spellcasting Prodigy

1. Able Learner

3. Skill Focus: Concentration

6. Skill Focus: Spellcraft

9. Spell Penetration

12. Greater Spell Penetration

15. Practiced Spellcaster: Wizard

18. Practiced Spellcaster: Druid

21. Great Intelligence

23. Epic Spell Penetration

25. Automatic: Still Spell 0-3

27. Automatic: Still Spell 4-6

29. Automatic: Still Spell 7-9

Wizard

5. Empower Spell

RWoT

5. Still Spell

10. Extend Spell OR Silent Spell

Druid: Skills
Base Skill Points:


 * Druid 1st level (4*4)


 * Druid 3 more levels(3*4)


 * Wizard 6 levels (6*2)


 * Arcane Scholar 10 levels(10*2)


 * Red Wizard 10 levels (10*2)

Total = 80

With Starting int of 16, and human skill bonus, you start off with 4 extra skill points per level, and it steadily goes up as your Int improves:


 * Int 16-17


 * 4x at Level 1


 * Normal From Level 2-7


 * Total: (4*4) + (6*4) = 40


 * Int 18-19


 * From Level 8-15


 * Total: 8*5 = 40


 * Int 20-21


 * From Level 16-21


 * Total: 6*6 = 36


 * Int 22-23


 * From Level 22-27


 * Total: 6*7 = 42


 * Int 24


 * From Level 28-30


 * Total: 3*8 = 24

Core Skills:


 * Concentration


 * Spellcraft


 * Tumble


 * UMD

Total Skill points: 80 + 40 + 40 + 36 + 42 + 24 = 262 ~enough to max out 7.939 Skills.

There are 7 skills you should try to max out:


 * Concentration


 * Spellcraft


 * Diplomacy


 * Spot


 * Listen


 * Tumble (cross class)


 * UMD (cross class

Note that you don't have enough skill points at the start to keep all of the above skills maxed out. You need to prioritize which one is important. I would recommend maxing them out at each level in the following order:


 * 1. Concentration


 * 2. Spellcraft


 * 3. Diplomacy


 * 4. Spot


 * 5. Tumble (cross class)


 * 6. UMD (cross class


 * 7. Listen