The Gaming Den

Ring of Wizardry I = doubles your number of 1st level spell slots for the day, doesn't touch spells from high ability scores or specialization, can by used by any arcane caster, takes up a body slot, costs 20k

Pearl of Power I = Gives you another 1st level spell, no body slot, can be used by anyone but the bard and sorcerer, 1k

The pearl of power is, by almost an order of magnitude, much better than the ring it's not even funny. Are bards and sorcerers supposed to be punished this harshly? They're the ONLY casters that would use the ring over the pearl, and that's only because they don't have a choice, and that's near as I can tell the only reason for the extreme discrepancy.

Is there some kind of awesome technique that got past my sight with that ring? Because otherwise, near as I can tell, pearls can be used by wizards to totally replace sorcerers in terms of spellpower longetivity.

Pearl of Power does have a couple of drawbacks: it doesn't increase the number of unique spells you can cast in a given day, and it takes a round to activate so it doesn't help during combat.

Of course, it will give you a second copy of *any* spell you have prepared, which the Ring won't quite do.

What's the advantage of a Pearl of Power over a wand of Mnemonic Enhancer?

Grek wrote:What's the advantage of a Pearl of Power over a wand of Mnemonic Enhancer?

It doesn't run out, presumably.

Bards and sorcerers can just use that Spontaneous Pearl of Power from Races of the Dragon. Works just like a Pearl of Power, but costs 1.5x as much. (Why? Don't ask me.) Rings of Wizardry appear to just be way expensive for no reason.

Reading the info on mnemonic enhancer, am I to understand that a 7th level wizard who has any real amount of downtime essentially has infinite 1st through 3rd level spells? Spell retention is indefinite, and mnemonic enhancer straight up makes you prepare more spells than normal, and it doesn't have the spell slot consumption trait that imbue with spell ability does.

EDIT: and I just saw the 24 hour fadeaway sentence that negates this idea...carry on.

Considering that they can take a nap in the afternoon and re-do their memenh, yes. Or that that level they can pop in and out of the time frame and position?

The price discrepancy comes from the 1 a day vs 'all the time'. If the ring of wizardry had an activation, it'd be cheaper.

-Crissa

The Ring of Wizardry hack is the Beguiler 1 / Wizard (min) / Ultimate Magus 10.

You get 19 CL in 20 levels, and the Ring doubles spells from both sides of casting (which in turn fuels you metamagic for free).

SunTzuWarmaster wrote:The Ring of Wizardry hack is the Beguiler 1 / Wizard (min) / Ultimate Magus 10.

You get 19 CL in 20 levels, and the Ring doubles spells from both sides of casting (which in turn fuels you metamagic for free).

Even in that case, a Ring of Wizardry is barely worth it compared to Pearls of Power (and the level I ring is actually more expensive than the pearls):

Ring of Wizardry I (20K gp) = 10 bonus 1st level spells = 10 PoP I (10K gp)
Ring of Wizardry II (40K gp) = 10 bonus 2nd level spells = 10 PoP II (40K gp)
Ring of Wizardry III (70K gp) = 10 bonus 3rd level spells = 10 PoP III (90K gp)
Ring of Wizardry IV (100K gp) = 10 bonus 4th level spells = 10 PoP IV (160K gp)

Don't forget that Pearls of Power are more versatile then Rings of Wizardry and slotless instead of taking up the best slot in the game.

I mean, Wizard: prepares Assay Resistance 1/ EBT 1/ Orb of Fire 1/ Orb of Force 1.

Has a Ring of Wizardry: prepares 2 of everything, or a few more EBTs, or whatever.

Has Pearls of Power: Can have up to 11 Assay Resistances. Can also have as little as one if you never run into any SR. And you can make this decision after facing two SR beasts, or you can make it after facing nothing but Goblins and deciding you need more EBTs.

You can even sneak invisibly up till you see the boss, spend a round regathering Orb of Fire instead of Orb of Force because he's not Fire resistant, ect.

Pearls of Power > Rings of Wizardry.

EDIT: Yes my sample Spell list doesn't actually have SR: Yes spells, thus rendering Assay Resistance kinda useless. So what.

Well, Rings of Wizardry do have an advantage that Pearls of Power do not.

You can prepare eight different spells rather than casting the ones you already have prepared.

Of course, if the PoP wizard wanted this kind of versatility they would just prepare a different spell in the 2 to 3 bonus slots that they already have. I'd rather have 6 different spells with the option to repeat them four times in any combination than 10 different ones altogether.

SunTzuWarmaster wrote:The Ring of Wizardry hack is the Beguiler 1 / Wizard (min) / Ultimate Magus 10.

You get 19 CL in 20 levels, and the Ring doubles spells from both sides of casting (which in turn fuels you metamagic for free).

That's... a really interesting point. One of my current characters is a Beguiler/Focussed Conjurer who's going into Ultimate Magus, so that's a very useful idea!

Do you have any other inspiration to offer about the best options for such a character?

FYI, our houserules mean you can qualify for a prestige class with a prestige class, so I can get into UM at 5th level; I'm currently Beguiler 1/Conjurer 2. Are there any generic strategies I should be thinking about?

I love the build, actually.

I tend to abuse actions, so my standard maneuver was to use a 4th level wizard spell to Quicken a 2nd level Beguiler Spell (Blinding Color Surge).

In this manner, you can keep up the Invisible Blinding Assault for a while (use whatever highest level spell you care to, possibly blind some other enemy, be invisible, and move).

Lesser of Quickening allows for continuing this strategy for 3 more rounds.

Ring of Wizardry I gives you your bread and butter spells (Silent Image, Charm Person, Disguise Self) from the Beguiler side as much as you care to use them, and allows you to prepare most of the utility wizard spells ( Mount, Magic Missile, Feather Fall as an immediate action, ect.).

Use Scribe Scroll for the standard wizard bullshit (level 1-2 spells that aren't CL dependent like Grease).

I assume you are familiar with Practice Spellcaster use (the Wizards example Beguiler uses it, so it should be okay with most DMs).

I took Metamagic School Focus (-1 Metamagic cost up to 3x/day for spells of your chosen school), and Sculpt Spell. Free Sculpted Glitterdust everyday (+ some other cheaper metamagic), if I recall correctly.

Charm Person is an amazing spell (especially on modules), so use the crap out of it.

Greater Mirror Image (it is on your Beguiler list) might as well be "invulnerable to melee and ranged attacks" most of the time. There is an Eberron Spellshaper feat to give a 20% miss chance every time you cast illusion spells (like the above) if you want to go that route.

Oh yea, and you should probably never cast Whelm. If you find yourself casting that spell often, you are probably doing something wrong.

It's still pretty much shooting yourself in the foot, but Beguiler 1/Conjurer (or other, hopefully Focused specialist) 4 with Practiced Spellcaster would be fun. Unfortunately you only save yourself from the first two caster level losses, but I suppose that carries you to 11th level...

I'm starting to see the appeal as well.

Krau Sigil Illumian (Races of Destiny) saves you from the last CL loss.

SunTzuWarmaster wrote: Ring of Wizardry I gives you your bread and butter spells (Silent Image, Charm Person, Disguise Self) from the Beguiler side as much as you care to use them, and allows you to prepare most of the utility wizard spells ( Mount, Magic Missile, Feather Fall as an immediate action, ect.).

So would 6 Memento Magica I (from Races of the Dragon) + 4 Pearls of Power I, and it would only cost 13,000 gp, not 20,000 gp.

Seriously, the Ring of Wizardy I is way overpriced, even if you have two arcane casting classes.