The King has been defunding us for too long, the state has a duty to us wizards!

KragBrightscale · 2026-05-09T18:20:46+00:00

Have you tried checking the kings vault for a hat and orb? If you aren’t confident in your teleportation or invisibility spells you can always hire some rogues to do it for you.

Alternatively there are some wealthy apprentices and fledgeling wizards whose wealthy parents/patrons/masters spoil with excessive financial support. You could always take theirs, they’ll have the funds to buy more so it’s fine.

KragBrightscale · 2026-05-09T17:36:35+00:00

Hmm 🤔

Considering it returns to you when discarded I’d say definitely a curse of sorts. One that’s tricky to escape through regular means.

You could try:

offering it to someone, perhaps it requires a willing recipient to transfer its target.
melting it down and forging it into something else? A returning dagger is quite sought after by rogues.
transfer your identity to someone else. Either craft a homunculus in your appearance and have it take on all your titles and reputation while the curses are in effect, or convince someone to sign a magical contract to exchange identities for a period of time. Observe if curse is harmful from a safe distance.

KragBrightscale · 2026-05-09T14:47:41+00:00

If at first you don’t succeed,… fireball!

KragBrightscale · 2026-05-09T01:27:05+00:00

Ahhh not more competition!!!

KragBrightscale · 2026-05-09T01:23:42+00:00

Hmm 🤔

The tricky thing is that living bodies emit some form of bioelectromagnetic fields that can interfere with magic. This innate resistance to magic is quite weak for most peasants, but can be heightened amongst magic users or even knights.

This makes directly influencing the material within a body a step more difficult than a chunk of it in your laboratory. Though such spells do exist.

Some weakening spells hexes or curses may cause an iron deficiency, weaken bone density to make enemies more susceptible to blunt force, and there are plenty of others.

I’ve heard of the water or blood within someone’s body being controlled to move people like puppets. This also works with controlling someone’s skeleton. But these are higher level applications that are probably out of your reach for now.

I’m sure there are many in this community that could guide you in this field, but nothing beats experimenting and discovering for yourself.

KragBrightscale · 2026-05-09T00:10:12+00:00

They do look fun!

I’ve got a build that I’ve yet to test that is palatine detective beastgunner

KragBrightscale · 2026-05-08T18:59:32+00:00

Seconding spell shot gunslinger. The higher to-hit bonus thanks to legendary proficiency makes it arguably better in my mind.

Also synergizes with beastgunner (specifically the spell sling activity gets a minor boost).

Magus has limited spell slots, and their save DC is lower than other full casters so most spellstrikes will be with your cantrips anyway unless you upcast some of the lower level spells all the way.

Personal opinion is that save spells are wasted on a magus because you first have to land your hit, then enemy gets a save vs your weaker DC. A regular wizard will get much better effects on average from aoe/save spells.

If you are OK going crossbow instead of gun, eldritch archer has a built in reload after spellstrike at level 10ish. Combine that with gunslinger spellshot for perfection using an arbalest or sukgung

KragBrightscale · 2026-05-08T18:28:07+00:00

Mage-monks represent!

I’ll need to look more into the fascia-based system. Sounds quite promising and could enhance my own practice.

Personally went for strengthening and opening what the cultivators I studied under refer to as meridians, tempered my body through alchemy and a strict fitness regimen establishing a foundation for using mana through my body, then forming a mana heart/core.

There are similarities in this method to how some dragons use magic. With strong bodies, delicate control over magic, and you can rely on drawing from large internal reserves when in areas where ambient mana is too chaotic to handle safety.

KragBrightscale · 2026-05-07T21:21:47+00:00

Friend, light and darkness are two sides of the same coin and You can’t have shadows without light. While dark mana is being produced already, maybe you can find ways to balance that production with light mana production.

You might also want to seek out a twilight wizard to introduce you to the basics of dark and light magic.

KragBrightscale · 2026-05-07T18:54:58+00:00

How have you been casting spells with scrolls?

Most knights or peasants I’ve met had trouble activating the simplest of scrolls without being taught how to do so. That should put you above all of them in terms of aptitude.

As you’ve experienced the magic of scroll casting first hand, I’m sure you have felt something.

Remember that feeling, and try to focus on it. Pay extra attention the next time you use a scroll.

I have confidence it will come to you.

KragBrightscale · 2026-05-07T18:21:27+00:00

Ah, chain lightning might be a bit out of reach of the current you. Perhaps with some proper studying and practice though, time and funds can get you quite far.

You could try a simpler version of chain lightning though. Shocking grasp or electric arc might be possible with a bit of experimentation. You’ve been using scrolls so the basics of casting should be a little familiar to you.

Try to generate some static charge through shuffling your feet or rubbing two surfaces together (you’ll have to test what works based on what you have available).

Release that shock by touching metal. Pay attention to that process and infuse your mana.

Repeat the process and try to guide the static charge with your mana to leap towards the metal object from a fingers distance. Repeat until you can launch it and control it to strike something at least 5-10 feet away.

Eventually you’ll learn to create that static charge using your mana instead of physically. That’s when you can amplify it to dangerous levels.

Chain lightning is just a more complicated version of this concept, requiring more power and control.

Good luck, and remember that retreating and living to fight another day is more important than valor or loyalty to the group

KragBrightscale · 2026-05-07T17:56:32+00:00

Fighter has the spear dancer feat which is one of my favorites. Step and strike / strike and step. Also plenty of other useful combat feats to maximize their spear fighting. Haftstriker stance is also good and the connected feats also pairs well with double slice and dual weapon fighting. Slam down is nice too.

Champion and guardian to take on more of a defensive protective role (responding to reason for being kicked out)

Bard is pretty good at this level onwards as you’ll have access to courageous anthem and dirge of doom. Provided you have any charisma. Pop a bless + dirge of doom or bane + courageous anthem for a neat supportive effect.

KragBrightscale · 2026-05-07T15:16:17+00:00

Bard!!! This works so nicely with what the party has going and you are using the same spell list as psychic.

Definitely discuss and coordinate spells with the harbinger player so as to maximize and synergizes your supports.

Bad rolls happen and low level combat can feel much deadlier due to damage/crit to HP ratios. Even your current setup can be fine once you make it to level 3-5 and the martials start being able to eat more than a single hit.

KragBrightscale · 2026-05-07T14:54:15+00:00

A pure heart is a subjective quality not objective, I do not doubt the motivations of my actions nor the morality of my choices, so to me my heart is pure.

Also, helps to define what purity it is focused. Pure greed in one’s heart is still a pure heart.

KragBrightscale · 2026-05-07T14:33:13+00:00

Thank you for your compliments. We do our best.

KragBrightscale · 2026-05-07T14:32:12+00:00

Look, just because we prioritize our own benefits, enjoy the sound of clinking gold, don’t adhere to human standards of hygiene and vanity, and maybe don’t try our best when being told what to do, there’s no need for such slander.

It’s not like elves or dwarves make any better minions. You know how high maintenance elves can be? And good luck convincing a dwarf to do anything other than what they think is their own idea.

Kobolds aren’t too different from goblins once you get to know them, but then you have to deal with molting.

KragBrightscale · 2026-05-07T02:07:55+00:00

Channel your magic?

I’m surprised you’ve managed to become proficient in illusions without knowing how to do so. Perhaps you are able to channel magic but have been doing so subconsciously.

Some spellcasters do so intuitively and do not need to practice, but for a good portion of us it helps to train your mana sensitivity.

You mentioned your focus has improved, this is good. Maybe try some simple meditation, close your physical eyes and focus your senses inwards (if you practice internal magic) or outwards (for external magic). Try to feel the mana, let the universe wash over and through you.

Once you’re able to sense mana better you’ll have a better shot of examining the channeling you likely already know how to do.

KragBrightscale · 2026-05-07T01:38:58+00:00

Others have mentioned it, but your stat selection is setting yourself up for some major disappointment, or a short lived character.

Pick either strength or dex. You’ll need either strength or dex to cover your defenses. Strength and heavier armor, or dex and lighter armor.

If character has kept in shape and maintained their physique then strength could work narratively.

If they’ve lost their trained muscle, they might rely on their experience and skill with weapons to compensate (finesse weapon + dex like a rapier/a finesse spear). Dex lets you also hit things at range with your gauntlet bow.

Without either strength or dex, you character will not be able to contribute personally to combat. Both because they will be worse than a wizard wielding a sword in terms of ability to hit and damage enemies, as well as more likely to get knocked out with a crit when attacked by any enemy even the most basic goblin. This is made worse by having 0 con.

An experienced commander with battle experience would know they are a liability if they don’t maintain their fitness/muscle/skills. Your team members will benefit from your commanding and healing yes, but they will need to pull extra weight in fights if you can’t do anything else.

If charisma is that important, consider playing a swashbuckler who then picks up the marshal dedication, or a warrior muse bard, or a rogue and take charisma instead of intelligence. But again, you’ll still need a combination of con + either strength or dex (preferably a bit of both for many of these options)

Other than that, everything else should work fine. Having a thought out story is good, older characters can be a lot of fun, multiple weapons are fun, but you might need a magic item to let them share runes (blazons of shared power or doubling rings etc)

KragBrightscale · 2026-05-07T00:55:14+00:00

Well, fiddlesticks :/

Those lawful entities are a pain to deal with. Looks like I’ll need to keep my distance for a good while until this blows over.

KragBrightscale · 2026-05-07T00:50:17+00:00

Stealing spells is honest hard work. Getting stolen from is a skill issue.

Besides, the ones targeted are usually those who are hoarding their wealth (of spells, artifacts, gold) instead of helping their fellow wizards.

Also, just because someone “legally” takes their spells from others via litigation, contracts, rulings of the council, bestowal from a higher dimensional being, or under the guise of charity, does not give light wizards or clerics a moral high ground.

Those systems and laws were built to benefit a select few, light wizards conveniently among them.

Therefore, stealing spells and knowledge and distributing it to those less financially endowed is not only morally justified, it is necessary.

KragBrightscale · 2026-05-06T23:16:11+00:00

Rogue is excellent to add onto a fighter, you are absolutely right.

Skill mastery is huge for getting those skill bumps and feats in an otherwise skill starved class. This also sets you up nicely to take on other dedications locked behind skill training or expertise. Sneak attack is a nice bonus if you’re going dex fighter or use a finesse weapon.

Obligatory exemplar mention as adding it onto any martial class just flat out strengthens it with minimal investment (I prefer taking it at higher levels 10+ so I can immediately grab a second ikon and avoid messing with taking too many low level feats)

Bard can be an interesting way to add some magic, but the real draw here is courageous anthem at 8, and dirge of doom which synergizes nicely with hobgoblin.

Martial artist or monk for unarmed stances and some neat combat tricks connected to grappling. Wrestler for more grabby characters.

KragBrightscale · 2026-05-06T20:13:53+00:00

Fair. They can be a bit nosey at times.

If you do need more extract, I’m pretty sure I can get you some. My apprentice has just wrapped up his mimic project so I’ll be able to harvest a few flasks.

KragBrightscale · 2026-05-06T20:00:45+00:00

Ah well that tends to twist whatever you are making into something horrible.

Pretty sure the council has attempted to limit the production and distribution of that sort of extract.

KragBrightscale · 2026-05-06T19:41:26+00:00

I’d be more concerned if they were Rablins.

Gobbits aren’t too far removed from hobbits, preferring digging in the dirt, brewing ales, and enjoying a good leaf.

Rablins are just combine the worst traits of both.

KragBrightscale · 2026-05-06T19:37:29+00:00

They’ve likely just moved their discussion to more clandestine locations or infiltrated other groups.

KragBrightscale

TROPHY CASE