Complete Mage Critique & Review

[Iaimeki]

1161929029[/unixtime]]
Actually, this spell is really powerful. The main feature is the 150 ft. antimagic cone that you can project.

Easy combo. Open Bar forcecage + AMF cone + archer. Almost any creature is screwed by that.

I can think of a lot of great uses for an antimagic cone.

So can I, but almost all of them are better served by not giving up your spell-casting. If I want an antimagic cone, I'll just use Sculpt Spell on an AMF, getting a 40' cone (which is good enough for most purposes) with a 7th-level slot.

Forcecage gets suppressed in an AMF unless there's something I'm mising.

I take my comment about this spell back, though: the key is not to cast this spell on yourself, but on your familiar. You keep your spellcasting, while your familiar makes itself useful pinning down your enemies in its AMF cone and zapping things with eye rays. It's still expensive because of the 8th-level slot, but in the insanity that is high-level wizard combat, AMF cones can be quite handy.

[User3]

Keep in mind, if you use the Complete Mage/PHB 2 "revised" rules for Polymorph, those swift-action Polymorph subset spells will not allow you to cast your spells AT ALL while the poly spell is in effect.

That royally sucks. So if you do like polymorphing into Eye Tyrants, you *better* love using that Anti-Magic Eye!

[User3]

1161929029[/unixtime]]
I can think of a lot of great uses for an antimagic cone.

Then take Shape Spell and get on that train with a 7th level spell that doesn't castrate you.

Ah, I see Iaimeki already made that point oh well.

Still, that is by far one of my most favorite uses for shape spell, but I've only got one character who ever made it near high enough level to even think about the tactic (a cleric with the magic domain), and that campaign promptly retired once I hit 11th level.

[Lago_AM3P]

Ha ha! Yeah, I forgot about using familiars.

In fact, the new line of polymorphing spells is especially good for familiars, since with the new rules they don't transfer their weaknesses over to having a form.

It was really hard making your familiar become a decent archer. It was worth it if you thought about it enough, but now you can just turn it into a troll and let 'er rip.

[NineInchNall]

Yeah, the familiar use was already covered quite thoroughly over on the WotC boards. Meh. The spells still make me want to vomit.

[Dragon_Child]

Some quotes from the Complete Mage designer chat...

<Skip_Williams> There's one feature in the book that initially caused me some doubts, and that's the reserve feats. After seeing them in print any playing around with them, I'm inclined to think they give spellcasters a useful new resource to manage and another hard choice to make do I hit this foe with a big spell, or do I keep plugging away with my reserve ability?
<Skip_Williams> But, first, settle down with Chapter One. It just might change your mind about what D&D magice really is. /ga

Uuuuh huuuuh

<Skip_Williams> As an experienced play, CM can be a good tool to help someone along, but I wouldn't leave a newbie alone with it. /ga

True words, Skip. True words.

[User3]

I think those quotes really say a lot.

[RandomCasualty]

1161935942[/unixtime]]
Then take Shape Spell and get on that train with a 7th level spell that doesn't castrate you.

Well honestly I'm not even sure where shape spell is from, so it's possibly your DM may not even allow that.

Even still, I'm guessing it's a feat, and so takinga new spell is a lot cheaper than taking a feat. Plus, it's a swift action to cast, casting a shaped AMF is going to be a standard action, meaning you can't do forcecage + swift AMF cone in a single turn.

[User3]

1162080653[/unixtime]]

1161935942[/unixtime]]
Then take Shape Spell and get on that train with a 7th level spell that doesn't castrate you.

Well honestly I'm not even sure where shape spell is from, so it's possibly your DM may not even allow that.

Even still, I'm guessing it's a feat, and so takinga new spell is a lot cheaper than taking a feat. Plus, it's a swift action to cast, casting a shaped AMF is going to be a standard action, meaning you can't do forcecage + swift AMF cone in a single turn.

I think the feat he's looking for is Sculpt Spell, which is in fact one of the best meta-magic feats ever for precisely reasons like this. Only +1 and it slices, it dices, it makes your toast and butters it too, and serves it up with coffee for breakfast!

Assuming no metamagic cheese is going on, this is the first meta-magic feat i grab as a wizard... scratch that, its the first meta-magic feat i grab period as a wizard. The meta-magic cheese comes late enough as a wizard i can pick up extend-persist in time without grabbing them first.

But seriously, any area effect spell can have its area altered to a standard area type, even if it didn't have a standard area type to start with... AMF, grease... the possibilities are endless.

[RandomCasualty]

1162104381[/unixtime]]
I think the feat he's looking for is Sculpt Spell, which is in fact one of the best meta-magic feats ever for precisely reasons like this. Only +1 and it slices, it dices, it makes your toast and butters it too, and serves it up with coffee for breakfast!

Assuming no metamagic cheese is going on, this is the first meta-magic feat i grab as a wizard... scratch that, its the first meta-magic feat i grab period as a wizard. The meta-magic cheese comes late enough as a wizard i can pick up extend-persist in time without grabbing them first.

But seriously, any area effect spell can have its area altered to a standard area type, even if it didn't have a standard area type to start with... AMF, grease... the possibilities are endless.

Well, ok, even still, that's a 7th level spell compared to this at 8th level which is autoquickened, doesn't require a feat, and you get some eye rays for free.

Beholderform really isn't that bad as everyone thinks.

[User3]

1161883625[/unixtime]]I don't know what possible family emergency you could have that would prevent you from writing down:

These are the spells that fvcking kill people. You will learn them and use them because they make people who make attack rolls feel small in the pants:

Hey, Frank, could you give us a more complete list of the spells that fucking kill people? It'd be nice to have a handy reference.

You know, unlike Complete Mage.

[MrWaeseL]

1161936122[/unixtime]]Ha ha! Yeah, I forgot about using familiars.

In fact, the new line of polymorphing spells is especially good for familiars, since with the new rules they don't transfer their weaknesses over to having a form.

It was really hard making your familiar become a decent archer. It was worth it if you thought about it enough, but now you can just turn it into a troll and let 'er rip.

What's the BaB on a familiar? Full right? i don't think I've ever used a familiar in combat...

[Fwib]

What's the BaB on a familiar? Full right? i don't think I've ever used a familiar in combat...

Attacks

Use the master’s base attack bonus, as calculated from all his classes. Use the familiar’s Dexterity or Strength modifier, whichever is greater, to get the familiar’s melee attack bonus with natural weapons.

[bitnine]

I have to say, I like abjurant champion. If you're going for a quick and easy gish, you might consider conjurer/abjurant champion/dragon slayer/eldritch knight with abrupt jaunt and fairae mysteries initiate. 19/20 casting, 17/20 BAB, int replacing con and tele-dodging giving you early level survivability. (Feat starved, though.)

My current character is going to be going war weaver/abjurant champion. Auto-quickened party buff (quick), greater dimension door activation (move), weave activation [um, let's say sakkratar's triple strike, snake's swiftness, snake's swiftness, and snake's swiftness?] (move). That sounds alright, I suppose. Then again I'm playing with some new players and want to have them feel good and also stay alive.

For a fighter...? I dunno, maybe there are a couple of fighter builds that can make good use of it. If they've already got their hearts set on grabbing a little magic, this certainly doesn't hurt 'em like many other choices might.