Planar Shifter PrC from Manual of the Planes-?

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Obleo
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Planar Shifter PrC from Manual of the Planes-?

Post by Obleo »

This guys seems really, really cool. I'm playing in a campaign right now that would allow me to have a character of level 11 or so to start off at, and I was hoping to get to as high a level a Planar Shifter as possible.

The prereq's for Skills aren't going to be factored in, but the ability to cast 5th level arcane spells is going to be the major obstacle to overcome. If anyone knows some good rules-lawyerin' to get around this at as low a level as possible, I'd appreciate it. I'd hate to have to start off as a level 9 Mage/2 PS.

As to the second point of posting this thread, what do you all think about that PrC in general? Demi-plane seed sounds like a fun ability to mess around with, even though the growth rate is fairly low. And I've always liked the idea of plane-shifting to other planes. True, the spell-casting levels take a bit of a hit when you switch, but I'd be willing to swap them out for the other class features that PS provides.

Sidenote-This is my first post on these message boards, but I've seen some of the interesting twists you guys are able to put on the rules, and I must say, I'm very impressed. Keep on truckin'.
Username17
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Re: Planar Shifter PrC from Manual of the Planes-?

Post by Username17 »

In general, I'm unimpressed by classes which grant spell-like abilities instead of spellcaster levels - especially for high level Conjurers.

Now, as to your specific question of whether you can get around the 9th level minimum on casting 5th level arcane spells - the answer is most decidedly yes.

1. Many creatures cast spells "as a sorcerer" - and thus have Spell-like abilities (or even simply spellcasting abilities) beyond their level. Playing as any one of these races will get you where you want to be.

2. Some classes can grant you the ability to add metamagic to spells without increasing spell slots. Once cast, however, these spells are arcane spells of a higher level. So you could take the Relics and Rituals Summoner or the Incantatrix or Spelldancer from Magic of Faerun, for example, and promptly qualify immediately.

3. Some of the more bizzare classes which were probably never intended for PC consumption offer a faster route to high level spells. For example, qualifying for Beholder Mage in the 3.5 rules is one simple casting of Polymorph any Object away. You can qualify for that at 2nd level if you spend most of your resources bribing a 15th level Wizard. 5 more levels of Beholder Mage will give you 5th level Arcane Spells.

You can actually combine version 2 and 3 into Voltron. You can increase caster levels of Beholder Mage from just about anything. That being said, you'd still need to be 7th level to qualify for the class based on skill ranks (which are limited by your hit dice).

More elaborately, you can perform level trade-out. It works like this:

When you lose a level, you lose your highest level. When you get the level back, you can take a level in any class you qualify for. So a 9th level Wizard who took one level of Plane Shifter could promptly suffer a level loss effect (losing a level of Wizard automatically) - and then get hit with a restoration, allowing him to take a second level of Planeshifter. You can go all the way down to a 4th level Wizard/6th level Planeshifter in one day if you do things right.

-Username17
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fbmf
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Re: Planar Shifter PrC from Manual of the Planes-?

Post by fbmf »

Obleo at [unixtime wrote:1081920091[/unixtime]]This is my first post on these message boards, but I've seen some of the interesting twists you guys are able to put on the rules, and I must say, I'm very impressed. Keep on truckin'.


Welcome, Obleo. Glad to have you. You may want to check in at the Welcome thread in MPSIMS.

Game On,
fbmf
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Re: Planar Shifter PrC from Manual of the Planes-?

Post by User3 »

A Wizard 7/Nar Demonbinder 1 is probably the quickest you can legitimately do it, and I'm not certain it is even worth it. As far as rules-lawyering, you could always tahe Tainted spellcaster levels, and have those Wished away (or level-drained). However, *that* probably isn't worth the hassle either. Playing a Sylph and then undergoing the SS Ritual to make you a Human might be worth it, you could start play as a Human Planeshifter 10 of something =P However, it is *very* iffy.

The class is very cool, and grats some handy abilities. Planeshift at will, for example, is a fun thing to have. So are the adaptation abilities. However, they are generally not worth the lost caster levels (and there are more powerful classes at epic levels. Incantatrix, Hathran [Hathran!!!!], and so on).

If you're doing it for cool, just bite the bullet. Your fellow players will love the support you provide, assuming it is a plane-hopping campaign.

-Catharz Godsfoot
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