I had an idea. It is one I have had in the past but then did not do anything with; I am just revisiting it.
V. Human + War Caster feat - this will allow me to cast spells while holding a shield and give me an advantage on CON saves to maintain spells.
1 level Fighter - this would grant me proficiency with heavy armour and all shields as well as martial weapons (speced for a wizard)
19 levels Wizard - so I can still get 9th-level spells (School of Evocation)
The Idea
The idea so to be a wizard who wears heavy armour and carries a shield, and eventually, Adamantine Armor + Spellguard Shield. Heavily protected behind their armour and shield, and with various advantages relating to casting and defending against magic, they would focus on elemental damage, freezing and setting up the enemy to be shattered, burning them to ash etc., and battlefield control. If attacked directly, they are heavily protected and able to use their martial weapons to deal damage up close, making them an extreme threat on the battlefield.
What do you guys think?
Does that sound like it would be possible? Would it work? It is an idea I have had floating around for a while, and I am revisiting it after trying to make a powerful magic user.
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A caffeinated nerd who has played TTRPGs or a number of years and is very much a fantasy adventure geek.
You could do that or you could take Cleric at level 1, so that it doesn't impact your spell slot progression. You'd still get heavy armor proficency, depending on the subclass you chose.
Not only possible, but very common in optimancer circles. Two levels of Fighter to get Action Surge for double spellcasting in a turn as well as all the armor benefits and proficiency in Constitution saves is considered a Standard Caster Start for optimancy folks. The second fighter level is usually taken much later, but level 1 fighters turning into wizards happens all the time. It's generally the best way to build a battlemage or soldier wizard.
The only thing, RAW I would probably say is that you need one hand free to cast spells, so either a martial weapon or a shield at the same time, not both. That being said, if you put away the weapon, no reason it cannot work. That is just for somatic component spells, and ones that don't have their material handwaved away.
This feels more like a solo build, or one designed to combat a specifically ferocious DM. In a party, you could be fine without the massive armour build, as you would presumably have some body guards. If the party combination is not there for you, this use of resources might seem odd.
It’s doable, but your stats could be a little lopsided; you need 15 STR to move freely in the best heavy armor, although all that affects per RAW is movement speed. Having one hand free/holding a focus means you’re good for all casting; you can stow the focus as a free item interaction for a spell with an S but no M component, and then draw it again on a later turn as needed. I wouldn’t bother with weapons for melee though; your cantrips will hit much harder. Just use Shocking Grasp or a save based one if you’re in melee, although your HP will still be pretty light so you don’t want to linger in close combat.
You don’t strictly need War Caster for this setup, since you still don’t want to be in the front lines and aren’t likely to have your hands full. Resilient would probably be a better pick if you want some CON save padding, or you could just not worry about a level 1 feat and experiment with various species for the features.
Starting with the Fighter level for heavy armor means the character already has proficiency in Constitution saves. No Resilient needed. Battlemages in the thick of combat can try and benefit from all of War Caster's features, not just advantage on concentration checks. Still worth taking, even if War Caster is always boring.
It’s doable, but your stats could be a little lopsided; you need 15 STR to move freely in the best heavy armor,
I thought that where most Wizards might dump STR, I would need it, I would dump CHA instead. He would not be very good at social interactions, but it wouldn't be impossible if the dice rolled well. I could roleplay him as being raised on the battlefield or by a career military family or something. Hence, all his training went into learning magic and his martial ability, and little attention was given to how he interacted with others since that was not important for how he was raised, as long as he followed orders.
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A caffeinated nerd who has played TTRPGs or a number of years and is very much a fantasy adventure geek.
Starting with the Fighter level for heavy armor means the character already has proficiency in Constitution saves. No Resilient needed. Battlemages in the thick of combat can try and benefit from all of War Caster's features, not just advantage on concentration checks. Still worth taking, even if War Caster is always boring.
Point about the CON saves, my bad. Yes, War Caster is a simple and safe pick, but unless we’re looking at a Bladesinger Wizard it’s still best to try and keep to at least the second row if not back row in combat, and Bladesinger isn’t compatible with shields and heavy armor. So you’re still only looking at one of three features being online regularly, so I’m suggesting maybe take a look at some of the other feats or species to see if something else jumps out. Or mix it up in melee anyways, not my call. Trying to just talk factors and options.
Step 1, Be a Mountain Dwarf for medium armor for free.
Step 2, Get to level 4 and take the Heavily Armored feat.
This gets you most of the way there. You just miss out on the shield. Added bonus to doing being a dwarf - they don't need the 15 strength because their speed isn't reduced by heavy armor. So dex and strength can both be dump stats.
You could then take the Moderately armored feed if you REALLY wanted shields. Kinda a waste as you already have the other half of the feat. The spell guard shield is cool, but you could just be an Abjuration wizard instead. That fits the concept of being the tanky wizard so you might do that anyway. A better way to achieve shields is just carry one around with you and once you get 6th level spells, cast Tenser's Transformation.
As for the attacking up close thing, there are spells that are better than any martial weapon you'll swing. That said, you still get a few martial weapons as a dwarf if you wanted to swing away. Booming blade works well here.
Could also stick with 13 strength and use chainmail. Chainmail plus shield is still 18AC, perfectly respectable, and with a Shield spell or the War Wizard's Arcane Deflection you can spike your AC higher at need. The character could take an ASI for Strength later if they find really good plate, or maybe they'll find a Strength-boosting item and not need the higher native Strength. Who knows. All I know is there's no need to start with a Strength score high enough to wear armor you won't have for several levels anyway.
Hello, beyonders
I had an idea. It is one I have had in the past but then did not do anything with; I am just revisiting it.
V. Human + War Caster feat - this will allow me to cast spells while holding a shield and give me an advantage on CON saves to maintain spells.
1 level Fighter - this would grant me proficiency with heavy armour and all shields as well as martial weapons (speced for a wizard)
19 levels Wizard - so I can still get 9th-level spells (School of Evocation)
The Idea
The idea so to be a wizard who wears heavy armour and carries a shield, and eventually, Adamantine Armor + Spellguard Shield. Heavily protected behind their armour and shield, and with various advantages relating to casting and defending against magic, they would focus on elemental damage, freezing and setting up the enemy to be shattered, burning them to ash etc., and battlefield control. If attacked directly, they are heavily protected and able to use their martial weapons to deal damage up close, making them an extreme threat on the battlefield.
What do you guys think?
Does that sound like it would be possible? Would it work? It is an idea I have had floating around for a while, and I am revisiting it after trying to make a powerful magic user.
A caffeinated nerd who has played TTRPGs or a number of years and is very much a fantasy adventure geek.
You could do that or you could take Cleric at level 1, so that it doesn't impact your spell slot progression. You'd still get heavy armor proficency, depending on the subclass you chose.
Not only possible, but very common in optimancer circles. Two levels of Fighter to get Action Surge for double spellcasting in a turn as well as all the armor benefits and proficiency in Constitution saves is considered a Standard Caster Start for optimancy folks. The second fighter level is usually taken much later, but level 1 fighters turning into wizards happens all the time. It's generally the best way to build a battlemage or soldier wizard.
Please do not contact or message me.
The only thing, RAW I would probably say is that you need one hand free to cast spells, so either a martial weapon or a shield at the same time, not both. That being said, if you put away the weapon, no reason it cannot work. That is just for somatic component spells, and ones that don't have their material handwaved away.
This feels more like a solo build, or one designed to combat a specifically ferocious DM. In a party, you could be fine without the massive armour build, as you would presumably have some body guards. If the party combination is not there for you, this use of resources might seem odd.
It’s doable, but your stats could be a little lopsided; you need 15 STR to move freely in the best heavy armor, although all that affects per RAW is movement speed. Having one hand free/holding a focus means you’re good for all casting; you can stow the focus as a free item interaction for a spell with an S but no M component, and then draw it again on a later turn as needed. I wouldn’t bother with weapons for melee though; your cantrips will hit much harder. Just use Shocking Grasp or a save based one if you’re in melee, although your HP will still be pretty light so you don’t want to linger in close combat.
You don’t strictly need War Caster for this setup, since you still don’t want to be in the front lines and aren’t likely to have your hands full. Resilient would probably be a better pick if you want some CON save padding, or you could just not worry about a level 1 feat and experiment with various species for the features.
Starting with the Fighter level for heavy armor means the character already has proficiency in Constitution saves. No Resilient needed. Battlemages in the thick of combat can try and benefit from all of War Caster's features, not just advantage on concentration checks. Still worth taking, even if War Caster is always boring.
Please do not contact or message me.
I thought that where most Wizards might dump STR, I would need it, I would dump CHA instead. He would not be very good at social interactions, but it wouldn't be impossible if the dice rolled well. I could roleplay him as being raised on the battlefield or by a career military family or something. Hence, all his training went into learning magic and his martial ability, and little attention was given to how he interacted with others since that was not important for how he was raised, as long as he followed orders.
A caffeinated nerd who has played TTRPGs or a number of years and is very much a fantasy adventure geek.
Point about the CON saves, my bad. Yes, War Caster is a simple and safe pick, but unless we’re looking at a Bladesinger Wizard it’s still best to try and keep to at least the second row if not back row in combat, and Bladesinger isn’t compatible with shields and heavy armor. So you’re still only looking at one of three features being online regularly, so I’m suggesting maybe take a look at some of the other feats or species to see if something else jumps out. Or mix it up in melee anyways, not my call. Trying to just talk factors and options.
You can get heavy armor as a pure wizard.
Step 1, Be a Mountain Dwarf for medium armor for free.
Step 2, Get to level 4 and take the Heavily Armored feat.
This gets you most of the way there. You just miss out on the shield. Added bonus to doing being a dwarf - they don't need the 15 strength because their speed isn't reduced by heavy armor. So dex and strength can both be dump stats.
You could then take the Moderately armored feed if you REALLY wanted shields. Kinda a waste as you already have the other half of the feat. The spell guard shield is cool, but you could just be an Abjuration wizard instead. That fits the concept of being the tanky wizard so you might do that anyway. A better way to achieve shields is just carry one around with you and once you get 6th level spells, cast Tenser's Transformation.
As for the attacking up close thing, there are spells that are better than any martial weapon you'll swing. That said, you still get a few martial weapons as a dwarf if you wanted to swing away. Booming blade works well here.
Could also stick with 13 strength and use chainmail. Chainmail plus shield is still 18AC, perfectly respectable, and with a Shield spell or the War Wizard's Arcane Deflection you can spike your AC higher at need. The character could take an ASI for Strength later if they find really good plate, or maybe they'll find a Strength-boosting item and not need the higher native Strength. Who knows. All I know is there's no need to start with a Strength score high enough to wear armor you won't have for several levels anyway.
Please do not contact or message me.
Or Artificer 3 - Armorer (spell progression rounds up) / Wizard 17.