Kobold Sorcerer

[Nazhkandrias]

OK, I know that Kobolds are usually underpowered. However, I am using the web variant race (Wizards Website - Slight build, weak natural weapons, proficiency with picks) and the Races of the Dragon variant, so it brings a Kobold up to speed. He is going to be a Kobold Sorcerer (the only thing they rock at), and I was wondering - anybody have any tips for getting the most out of the little guy? So far, I've got some basics set down - start as sorcerer, maybe take some levels in Kobold Paragon (extra darkvision, bonuses in tunnels, no light sensitivity, bonus to CHA) and MUCH later, maybe a level or two in Archmage (2 maximized widened fireballs a day, combined with mastery of elements and shaping = pwned). He has 6 STR, 10 CON, 14 DEX, 14 INT, 9 WIS, and 17 CHA (w00t). Any reccommendations for feats, skills, and other little details? I intend for him to be a damage dealer (mostly Evocation, with a few Conjurations). So, any help would be appreciated!

Oh, and on a side note - I just joined the forums, but I know my way around D&D. So, thankfully, I am not a n00b. I just got off of a few random forums because people flamed me. They were convinced that since I haven't been playing D&D since 1990, I was a n00b. I sincerely hope that this forum is different! Just getting that out there. Oh, and don't worry, I don't display the n00bish tendency of having all of my characters inspired by Fabio (flowing hair, muscles, yadda yadda yadda).

[Siberys]

If you're going for a sorcerer that's mainly damaged based, I would go for some defense type feats.

Draconic Heritage feats are pretty good at this, they give you resistances, fortifications to your natural armor and some skills, etc. You can find them in Dragon Magic, Complete Arcane, Complete Mage, and maybe Races of the dragon (I haven't read too much into this book yet)

[Nazhkandrias]

Yeah, that would make sense. Kobolds are not famous for their damage-taking capabilities. Oh, and as for the location of the Draconic Heritage feats, there's a PDF at Crystalkeep detailing feats, and it includes the Heritage feats. So, so far, my feats look something like this:

1st - Draconic Heritage (Red Dragon) - I've already determined that my characters RPD (Required Personality Defect, every character should have one; makes play more fun) is extreme vanity and greed; Red Dragon Heritage just makes sense. Plus, I like fire. Fireballs are good.
3rd - Combat Casting
6th - Metamagic Feat (Probably Maximize, Widen later on)
9th - Draconic Heritage Feat (Skin or Resistance, not sure which)

... And etc., etc. I might take a few Spell Focus Feats later on, but most likely only if I go with Archmage.

As for the other Draconic Heritage Feats, I know I'll never take Draconic Claw (Kobold already has a natural weapon with the variant, and I don't want to be that close). Draconic Presence is also unlikely, as an Evoker is a long-range damage specialist - if I can help it, I don't want to get that close. It's a good feat for someone that uses more close-range spells, like Necromancers, but it isn't for me. I might take Draconic Breath, but most of my spells are good enough at damage anyway. Draconic Flight seems unlikely, as I might as well get the party Wizard to cast Fly, and having to take an action THEN move is a little bit restricting. If I want to fly, I'll probably just shell out for a Draconic Graft. If I take Archmage, I might consider Draconic Power, since Mastery of Elements means that whenever I want fire, I get fire. No questions asked. And I seriously doubt that I'm going to dump four feats into Draconic Heritage so I can qualify for Draconic Legacy. I'd rather take a few Metamagic feats and go with a bigger, badder Fireball instead.

So, in short, I think I've got this all planned out. I've decided that I'll probably take Kobold Paragon (the +2 CHA bonus is too good to pass up, especially since you only need 3 levels in the class to get it; in addition, I'll lose that pesky Light Sensitivity and get bonus spells) around the early or medium levels (between level 6 Sorcerer and level 9 Sorcerer). As for Archmage... I don't know. Harsh prerequisites (I don't mind the Spellcraft or Knowledge (arcana) requirements, they're good skills. The Skill Focus (spellcraft) just burns a feat, and one Spell Focus (I was probably going to take one in Evocation) is alright, but two just kills a feat) are high, to say the least, but combining Mastery of Shaping and Elements with a Maximized, Widened Fireball Spell-like Ability twice a day is great. I would probably only take Archmage at a medium-high level (probably around ECL 15).

I know I'm planning WAAAY ahead, but that's just how I work. A battle strategy is always useful!

If anyone has any other recommendations concerning a Kobold Sorcerer, let me know, but bear in mind that I usually don't buy Source Books. If the prestige class isn't listed on Crystalkeep's PDFs or on the Wizards website, I probably won't be able to do anything about it.

[Rob-hin]

Well that's nicely planned ahead.
Doesn't look like you need help at all.

How about the arcane preperation feat?
This allows you to prepare spells like a wizard does. Comes in handy when you use a matemagic feat (which you are going to do) on a spell. Normally casting this a seorcer takes a ful round action.
This feat makes casting a meta spell a normal action.

[Siberys]

Originally Posted by Rob-hin

How about the arcane preperation feat?
This allows you to prepare spells like a wizard does. Comes in handy when you use a matemagic feat (which you are going to do) on a spell. Normally casting this a seorcer takes a ful round action.
This feat makes casting a meta spell a normal action.

Ehh, I gotta disagree. That feat is pretty cool, but it's really only useful if the sorcerer plans on taking quicken spell as well.

Otherwise for someone who is going to stay back and just rapid fire some fireballs on some enemies, what's the benefit to that extra move action that he might obtain?

[Nazhkandrias]

Yeah, I don't intend on taking Quicken Spell. I'd rather blast a bigger fireball, ya know? As for the extra move action, that can be quickly corrected with a mount. I intend on getting a Medium Deinonychus (trained by someone else; I'll shell out the cash), thus allowing me to stay back with a comfortable 60-ft. move speed. As for bumpy motion, ranks in Concentrate can fix that. Also, I know that a mount trained for Combat Riding can be managed in combat, but what about one trained for Hunting? They both have a similar array of tricks in regard to combat, the Mounted Combat just makes it easier to actually FIGHT on it. I don't think that a hunting animal would get skittish if rode into combat, do you? I just want a cool, fast little critter that I can safely cast my spells from (plus, tracking and hunting are attractive little options, not to mention a beastly +25 or so to Jump). Seriously, what's better than a Kobold Sorcerer with dragon heritage on the back of a frickin' dinosaur? With pointy sharp talons of certain deathocity?

Also, on the Character sheets, one thing bothers me; on the PH sheets, in the spells section, there are boxes stating a particular level of spell's save DC (which I can figure out easily), but then there's a box above that says something about a Spell Save DC Modifier (right above Arcane Spell Failure). What is entered into there? My Cha modifier? That has me just a little bit confused.

Oh, and do you think using the web variant traits for a Kobold will be cool with most DM's? All they really do (natural attacks, smaller size for Hide and such, familiarity with Greatpick and proficiency with Light and Heavy Picks) is bring a Kobold from a 1/2 CR to a 1 CR, which is only fair, I think. All things considered, a regular Kobold's LA should be -1. Silly, but true.

[Rob-hin]

Originally Posted by Nazhkandrias

Also, on the Character sheets, one thing bothers me; on the PH sheets, in the spells section, there are boxes stating a particular level of spell's save DC (which I can figure out easily), but then there's a box above that says something about a Spell Save DC Modifier (right above Arcane Spell Failure). What is entered into there? My Cha modifier? That has me just a little bit confused.

The spell DC modifier (never used it myself).
Without the spell level adjustment.

[Siberys]

Spell DC's are based on the spell level + your main spellcasting score (charisma for sorcs, intelligence for wizards, wisdom for clerics etc) + 10

So if you have an 18 charisma and you're casting a fireball on a horde of kobolds. Each of those kobolds has to make a reflex save and meet or exceed a roll of 17, this is because you have a +4 charisma, and it's a third level spell, so 3 + 4 + 10 is 17.

[Nazhkandrias]

All right, here's some metamagic I probably won't take, but might consider it, simply for sheer coolness-

Explosive Spell (Complete Arcane) - +2 Spell Level - A spell that has a Cone, Cylinder, Line, or Burst that allows a Reflex save will now push any creature that fails its Reflex save out of the area of effect. For every full 10’ a target is moved, he/she takes an additional 1d6 damage, plus an extra 1d6 if he/she strikes a barrier. In addition, the target is knocked prone.

Consider this with a Widened Fireball. True, you would sacrifice Maximize Spell, and this Widened Explosive Fireball would be a level 8 spell, but with a 40 ft. burst, a fireball launched directly at an enemy would explode, dealing normal fireball damage (let's say 10d6), and knock them back roughly 40 ft, prone. So, we have our 10d6 ball-o-fun, which would do 60 damage with Maximize Spell, thus being 9th level. With Explosive Spell, however, it would do (on average) around 30 damage, but that extra 40 ft. knockback would add 4d6, thus bringing us up to 14d6, and an average of 42 damage, in addition to knocking the target prone. This would give room for another tiny little metamagic improvement, such as Enlarge Spell, or Blistering Spell. In addition, this could fling the target into a hazard, making for a quick kill. Even if the target's flight is obstructed, they get nailed with 1d6. Which best-case scenario is preferable:

60 damage, 40 ft. radius burst fireball
OR
14d6 damage (average 42, maximum 84), 40 ft. radius burst fireball that knocks opponents 40 ft. away, knocks prone

In addition, consider the Blistering Spell ([fire] spells only) metamagic and the Archmage's Mastery Of Elements and Spell-like Abilities. Would an Archmage be able to prepare a Blistering Fireball as a spell-like ability, useable twice per day, THEN change it to a [cold] or [sonic] spell (using Mastery Of Elements) and still have the Blistering effect? As it is an already prepared and determined ability, and, for a sorcerer, Mastery Of Elements is applied during the casting of the spell, and as the spell is already cast and prepared (as a Spell-like ability), would the Blistering effect remain, dissappear, or render Mastery Of Elements unable to function on that particular spell-like ability?

[Aragorn12]

You might want to give him the toughness feat. Just to beef him up a little more.

[Siberys]

Originally Posted by Aragorn12

You might want to give him the toughness feat. Just to beef him up a little more.

That is by far one of the most useless feats in the entire players handbook, especially for spellcaster types who are going to stay in the back away from being damaged. Improved Toughness is a better feat, it gives a bonus to hit points per level rather than just 3 immediate HP.

[Sokaijin]

I don't think that a hunting animal would get skittish if rode into combat, do you?

Actually, yes I do. Combat and hunting, though similiar in many respects are quite different in many important ones. Firstly, when hunting, you usually try not to let your prey hack at you with weapons (natural or otherwise), most prey isn't loosing volleys of arrows at you, you get the idea. secondly, hunting is normally quieter and more organized than the din and chaos of battle, making it easier to relay commands to your mount ( or, more to the point, for your mount to care what you want it to do). Thirdly, hunting is less bloody than combat. Most mounts shy away from the scent of blood. Taking all three of these into account, even the most disciplined, viscious creature would be hard to control properly unless trained specifically for combat. That's why even riders on trained mounts must make skill checks. Heck, even bloodthirsty soldiers get nervous in battle, and occasionally rout.

[GawainBS]

If you want a damagedealing sorcerer, go for Dragonheartmage (Races of the Dragon). Coupled with Energy Substitution and Arcane Preparation (both from Complete Arcane), you can load up on more utility/defense spells, which are normally the domain of Wizards. This is because the Dragonheartmage allows you to spend a spellslot to use a breathweapon that does, in the end, 3d6damage per spell level. Energy Substitution lets you choose the Breathweapon type.
Also, whatever route you take, swap Draconic Heritage for Dragonwrought Kobold, with ot without the flying option. Dragonwrought Kobolds are Dragon, thus only accrue boni for aging, no penalties. Make your Kobold 260 years old, and he has +3 INT, WIS, CHA without any drawbacks. If you further select the feat to gain wings, you can fly at will.

[Pellinore]

I don't display the n00bish tendency of having all of my characters inspired by Fabio (flowing hair, muscles, yadda yadda yadda).

What?!!? No Fabio characters??? Whats wrong with you? And what is wrong with Fabio???
I remember it well, 1983. My very first fighter character named... Sir Keith Lanceholm! LOL. Thats all I will say, you can imaging the hair style then...

Sounds like a great character concept. I don't care much for the new system but one highlight of it is the character races have opened up a bit. I used to want to play a half-ogre and no DM would let me.
Fascinating character, let us know how it turns out...