Every year, starting now, you gain a level IRL. What is your build?

[Deophaun]

I see a lot of people going full caster, but with a primary caster stat of 13, that's not going to be optimal.

You should be getting +4 stat increase through leveling, and for a good chunk of members they'll also be getting age adjustments, so ending with an 18 or 19 in the primary stat is doable. And if we're willing to lose a caster level, there's always Human Paragon to shore that up.

If Extra Spell allows you to take spells off another class list, I might go Dread Necromancer 20. That Extra Spell is mandatory though to avoid all the social implications of being a walking desiccated and decaying corpse.

[Solidarity]

You can take any class or combination of classes, 3.5 or PF, up to a maximum of level 20 in the year 2036. After that, you gain a bonus feat every year instead.

Since you are an ordinary person, not a protagonist, assume your ability scores use the nonelite array (13, 12, 11, 10, 9, 8).

Assuming that makes us level 1, IRL go Wizard.

1) make sure to take cheat as one of your level 1 spells

2) hit up different casinos every week

3) ???

4) profit!

After that, it all depends on how it went. With a good amount of cash, Wizard can branch off in any direction. Obviously lots of item creation feats.

[Cosi]

Some thoughts:

1. Wizards, and anyone else who wants magic items are boned. Getting a Runestaff, Knowstone, or Scroll is likely to be all but impossible. This gets better once you have wish to get boccob's blessed books full of spells (or whatever), but Clerics have a definite leg up early.

2. wish is super good in this, particularly with Dweomerkeeper's Supernatural Spell. You get to bump your stats up, and also wish for magic items (for example, Craft Contingent Spell'd reincarnate should make you nice and immortal).

3. With that said, the high level stuff is not super exciting. It's different from normal D&D (particularly if you assume that there aren't Genies or Zodars wandering around), but the endgame is essentially the same. You pick up SLA or supernatural wish (or shapechange, or gate or any of the other spells that make you win the game), then you win everything forever.

4. Having to start with a 13 in your primary casting stat is rough. Especially if you can't rely on planar binding to get you the first wish to hit the 14 or 15 breakpoint. Otherwise, you don't get 9ths until middle age. Which sucks, though is admittedly not super bad given that you get to middle age before you get 9ths unless you are under 18.

The power build is probably Wizard 5/Cleric 1/Dweomerkeeper 4+/Something Else. That gets you both wish and Supernatural Spell, which is nice.

In terms of actual utility from the beginning, I'd probably go Cleric 5/Dweomerkeeper 10/Whatever 5 instead. I don't think you can get wish in that setup (barring some shenanigans). But you do get scholar's touch (read all the books), healing magic, and every single Cleric spell in the entire game.

I think there's an unholy hybrid involving Dread Necromancer, Rainbow Servant, Arcane Disciple, substitute domain, and the difference engine that gets Supernatural Spell, the entire Cleric list, wish, and other goodies, but that seems excessively complicated for this.

Still once you can get infinite crafting XP out you can just start cranking out magic items like crazy and do all the other crazy stuff artificers are known for (Spell Storing Item abuse, etc etc)

You can make 1000GP of items per day. Not nothing, but not really "cranking out".

StP (mantled/favoured discipline, depending on mantles) erudite

Barring other people in this thread, you wouldn't have anyone to brain-lick for powers. Getting spells at all is going to be super difficult, especially getting spells off of non-Wizard lists.

Also, how do XP costs work?

[Segev]

Pathfinder Wizard into some sort of full-casting PrC, maybe Incantatar (though not sure whether I really need the metamagic cheese IRL) or Air Savant (just because being a humaniform air elemental could be cool). PF Wizard is important: with it, I can use the Spellcraft-to-make-up-for-not-having-the-spell rules to scribe scrolls of any kind of spell I wanted, and then copy them into my spellbook.

[Gnaeus]

I really think witch is going to outperform wizard here.

1. Hanging out with your cat every day sounds much more fun than studying a book daily.

2. The 2 easiest ways to make a ton of money at low levels seem to be: 1. healing
2. cheating at gambling. The witch can take Evil Eye and Healing hex and do both by level 2, without components. They also get another game changing winner, Weather Control, at level 10. Healing may be suboptimal in game, but IRL, it's the first thing you want, and wizards have to jump through hoops to get it. Are there outsiders to bind? If not, or if our world's outsiders are not the 3.PF ones, wizards are screwed by things as simple as diseases.

3. Witch spell list is maybe 5% worse than wizard at high level, so practically they are limited to patrons which get gate, shapechange or miracle. Fortunately, there are many. Dimensions is probably most op, but Agility, Transformation and Endurance look more fun.

4. A witch who loses familiar is way way better off than a spellbookless wizard. He still has all his hexes, which are most of what he will be using daily anyway. And when he summons a new familiar, he can completely repick 2 spells per level. Wizard with a replaced book needs to start writing.

[Felyndiira]

If this is 3.5, then I would probably shoot for Warlock. Maybe with a cleric dip and Eldritch Disciple as my prestige class. I don't want to break the world or anything like that; Warlock, on the other hand, has neat everyday powers that will serve me a lot better in everyday society than being able to mailman enervation.

Having the ability to fly and go invisible whenever I want to, dimdoor infinitely, arbitrarily boost skills, and that sort of stuff is enough for me. Eldritch Disciple would be so that I can heal myself a bit as well and fix some sparse stuff with mending.

If this is Pathfinder classes with DSP, then I would easily choose Path of War Mystic. I would substitute out something for Silver Crane, then go join Médecins Sans Frontières with my newfound healing powers (and ability to just no-sell disease) and actually do something useful with my life . I would still have Veiled Moon teleports and elemental flux fun as well, should I feel like wind surfing somewhere.

[Blackhawk748]

Assuming that makes us level 1, IRL go Wizard.

1) make sure to take cheat as one of your level 1 spells

2) hit up different casinos every week

3) ???

4) profit!

After that, it all depends on how it went. With a good amount of cash, Wizard can branch off in any direction. Obviously lots of item creation feats.

I had the same plan, but went Sorcerer for Bluff synergy

[Alent]

It's been too long since I played a 3.x game, I had a few bard builds I really wanted to try that'd be fun, but I don't remember the feat progression and don't have them written down for some reason.

I'd probably sit down and work out how the progression on my old 3.P bard build that I never used because the campaigns weren't high enough OP to use. It used a PF Sorc/Feat dip/Heartfire Fanner/Sublime Chord setup to get dual arcane 9ths casting with Perform check to caster level, and that one racial feat that let PF Sorcs use Wizard spellbooks. I recall I was trying to work out a way to work in Urpriest and Fochlucan Lyrist, but I don't remember if I ever got that to work or not.

Alternatively, some type of Grammarist, because telling the laws of the universe to go cry in a corner is fun.

[Jack_Simth]

Solidarity: The problem with the Cheat spell at Casinos: Casinos use statistics to detect fraudsters, and you're putting yourself off the curve. While they may not know how you're doing it (and will probably pay you out if they can't specifically prove anything... but depending on how Cheat works, they may catch the cards changing on camera, which could get you arrested), they'll know you're doing it, and ban you fairly quickly. Additionally, they also talk to each other about problem people; after two or three, you will find yourself pre-emptively banned before you ever step foot in the door.

[Deophaun]

Solidarity: The problem with the Cheat spell at Casinos: Casinos use statistics to detect fraudsters, and you're putting yourself off the curve. While they may not know how you're doing it (and will probably pay you out if they can't specifically prove anything... but depending on how Cheat works, they may catch the cards changing on camera, which could get you arrested), they'll know you're doing it, and ban you fairly quickly. Additionally, they also talk to each other about problem people; after two or three, you will find yourself pre-emptively banned before you ever step foot in the door.

Which is why you pick up disguise self at the same time.

[Jack_Simth]

Which is why you pick up disguise self at the same time.

Workable, but you've got some issues:
1) Starts at ten minutes, so you really only get a few throws (which is true anyway, as you can only cast Cheat so many times)
2) It's got an interaction will save, you'll be carefully examined by many different people, and it's unclear if objects (cameras) see illusions or not.
3) Minor nitpick: If you're using a disguise every time... what's the real point of hitting a different casino every week?

[Deophaun]

2) It's got an interaction will save, you'll be carefully examined by many different people, and it's unclear if objects (cameras) see illusions or not.

Cheat has a Will save as well.

Since non-phantasm illusions work just as well on mindless creatures as intelligent ones, I don't see why cameras wouldn't be fooled. As the entry for glamers states:

A glamer spell changes a subject’s sensory qualities, making it look, feel, taste, smell, or sound like something else, or even seem to disappear.

Since the effect of the glamer is on yourself, not the people looking at you, there's no reason for cameras to bypass it.

3) Minor nitpick: If you're using a disguise every time... what's the real point of hitting a different casino every week?

Don't want to drive the poor dears out of business?

Also, cheat would work on slots. The main problem with it is, it's just a single re-roll per casting, which is probably not enough to fully protect you from losing your shirt unless you're doing your gambling over a long period of time. In which case, there are better ways to get rich.

[druid91]

Gestalt Archivist|Wizard Generalist 3 / Mystic Theurge|Erudite 17.

For ALL the options.

[Jack_Simth]

Cheat has a Will save as well.

Which begs the question of saves. Stay away from cards, obviously - anything with an active participants, which also means no roulette and all the 'good' games. So you're stuck with slots, and it's unclear if machines get saves.

Since non-phantasm illusions work just as well on mindless creatures as intelligent ones, I don't see why cameras wouldn't be fooled. As the entry for glamers states:

Since the effect of the glamer is on yourself, not the people looking at you, there's no reason for cameras to bypass it.

Yet people don't need to touch you to get a save, and objects are never fooled by Shadow Conjouration and it's ilk. Objects with senses simply are not addressed in the rules, and different DMs could very easily look in multiple places for a 'closest match' and come to different conclusions.

On the plus side, it'd be really simple to test. A rather lot of stores have displays showing that you're on camera, and most people have cameras on their phones at this point.

Don't want to drive the poor dears out of business?

That's sensible.

Also, cheat would work on slots. The main problem with it is, it's just a single re-roll per casting, which is probably not enough to fully protect you from losing your shirt unless you're doing your gambling over a long period of time. In which case, there are better ways to get rich.

A reroll on a 49% 'win' and 51% 'lose' where 'win' is 'double your stake' and 'lose' is 'forfeit your stake' means a 73.99% chance of a 'win'. If it's 40/60, that's a 64% chance of a 'win'. If it's 30/70, that's a 51% chance of a 'win'.

With the caveats that it's unclear what does and does not get a save, if you get, say, three reroll possibilities out of your 1st level spell slots on a machine where you have a 30% chance of tripling your stake and a 70% chance of losing it, you triple 51% of the time, so your average return is 1.53. Knowing that there's a chance of loss, you do not fully put in your stake each time. You go in with $300, make three $100 bets on the machine, and (on average) walk out with $459 ($159 profit). Sure, some days you'll walk out with $0 ($300 loss), some days you'll walk out with $900 ($600 profit), but the statistical average will be $459 ($159 profit).

[Deophaun]

Which begs the question of saves.

Error: Circular reasoning not found. Did you mean "raises the question" instead? (Sorry, pet peeve)

Yet people don't need to touch you to get a save, and objects are never fooled by Shadow Conjouration and it's ilk.

People need to actively study you to get a sense that something is out of place--that's what belief is defined as: "[failure] to notice something is amiss." A camera has no mind to study with, and can never recognize anything (now, with a facial recognition program behind it... that's getting iffy). Shadow conjuration and its ilk are not glamers. They are shadows. What they do or do not do is, therefore, irrelevant. And yes, objects with senses are not addressed in the rules, which means we default to what is: glamers affect the appearance of the target. As there are no special rules for handling non-creatures with senses, that's where the rules begin and end. Anyone studying the target through the camera, however, gets their Will save.

Sure, some days you'll walk out with $0 ($300 loss), some days you'll walk out with $900 ($600 profit), but the statistical average will be $459 ($159 profit).

Which is hardly striking it rich. And the average is not what we're concerned about, because averages are for when you're dealing with a large sample. If you've ever played with an RNG, you know that even a 74% chance to win produces a fair share of bad streaks. It's going to be slow going to build up your bank so that you can gamble big and still be protected for when you fall off the south end of the Bell curve.

and it's unclear if machines get saves.

Even if machines did get a save for cheat: what, exactly, would they do about it? All the save is for is to recognize that something strange is going on.

[Sapreaver]

dual cursed oracle 10 going in to envoy of balance. Life revelation with Unchained curse and the one that lets you roll initiative twice for skill check penalties

Just go around being nothing keeping things in balance since I'm 25 right now I'd probably get like 25 bonus feats if I'm lucky but I'd try and find a way to become immortal and slowly work my way towards becoming a universal force like the phoenix. If I'm allowed to cheese it I'd take oracle 1 5 times and advance them each twice just for luls.

[Ashtagon]

Even if machines did get a save for cheat: what, exactly, would they do about it? All the save is for is to recognize that something strange is going on.

Casino security are notorious for finding any machines that start paying out big to have developed a "flaw", cancelling the last big win in the process. Most of them are designed so that any truly big win needs manual confirmation from a security office before they physically pay out in any case.

Cheating at slots is a mug's game.

[Quertus]

Casino security are notorious for finding any machines that start paying out big to have developed a "flaw", cancelling the last big win in the process. Most of them are designed so that any truly big win needs manual confirmation from a security office before they physically pay out in any case.

Cheating at slots is a mug's game.

The way these things are set up, the slots machine could have a 0% chance to pay out on the next 10 runs. You reroll that 0%, and... It still doesn't pay out. But cheat does allow a will save to notice something fishy... And requires verbal, somatic, and focus components. So you're really noticed.

Just like all the miracle healers, and everyone else using their powers obviously.

And when someone investigates, be it government, or mafia, or whoever... And asks questions, and notices the pattern that only people who have visited this board are affected... and they start backtracking IPs... Yeah, I'm not really expecting any of us to reach level 2.

Oh, and on a completely unrelated note, tell me more about that technologist feat. I'm curious whether I'm taking that or sculpt self (plus a clever plan for NI XP) for my third feat.

[Randomthom]

With a non-elite array it is hard to make a powerful concept work particularly well. A 13 can be a 20 by level 20 (including the +2 ability score from human) but the remaining stats mean that any class that relies on more than one attribute is inherently weaker...

Full spellcaster classes seem the logical choices, particularly those with access to true polymorph. Those reliant on charisma would probably be strongest though since it is probably the most useful stat to get by in the modern world although the skill points from a high int build could also be valuable.

I'm swaying between oracle and wizard. I guess it also depends on how accessible spells are. If we consider our existing world to be non-magical in nature then wizard is severely stymied by the lack of spells available whereas a spontaneous caster who 'learns' spells as they level doesn't need someone to teach them. If we consider our world one where magic has merely gone 'underground' (think like in Buffy the Vampire Slayer) then the wizard is more feasible.

The oracle with the time mystery stops aging at level 20.

[Arael666]

Stats

STR-11
DEX-9
CON-12
INT-13
WIS-10
CHA-8

Feats: Spell Focus (conjuration), Heighten Spell

Assuming dragon is available, eidetic spellcaster, if not Raven familiar just because it would be fun to have an inteligent talking pet.

If early entry trics are available, metamagic school focus at level 3 so I can get into rainbow servant at year 4, if not, enter it by normal at lvl 6. In year 3 travel to the Temple of the Feathered Serpent so I can qualify to Rainbow Servant (I'll travel there even if I don't need to in order to qualify for the prestige class ). Of course I'm assuming it's RAW full casting raibow servant, otherwize it's incantatrix.

I would lay low for pretty much 10 or more years, just enjoying an easyer life with magic, things will be much more enjoyable with spells like unseen servant, Prestidigitation, Servant Horde. In my line of work (I'm a lawyer btw) things would get interesting, Charm Person and Weildskill would pretty much solve all of small but really annoying problems (unmannerly, bitter with life and downright incompetent public agents mostly). If the other lawyers are unnethical, dishonest or are taking advantage of the corrupt system in my country (yeah, it's a serious problem here ), spells like Detect Thoughts, Mindless Rage and Phantasmal Assailants would solve that pretty much all the time as things can go south pretty fast if you know what the other part is thinking, he attacks you in the middle of the hearing or he just can't show up cause he suddenly is dumber than a dog.

Gambling is illegal in my country, but I think I would seriously consider travelling to vegas a few times and use cheat spell.

Once people started showing around the globe with similar powers as mine, I would lay even lower and wait to see how the world would react to them. Depending on the reaction I would start my own demiplane as similar as I can to earth, and keep it there "just in case".

Craft contingent spell at year 12.

I know people avoid this topic here, but I'm a guy, 29 years old, single, pretty much gave up on dating since all women I've met so far were either interested in my wealth or were'nt faithfull (I'm not saying all women are like that, far from it, I just haven't found the right girl and just and am too tired to continue looking for her), so you guys pretty much catch my drift. Spell's like Simulacrum would solve all my loneliness, and if plannar ally are on the table, I would really like to know what erynies and succubus(buses?) have to ofer.

I don't think I would fight for world domination with other playgrounders, I don't have system mastery or will to do that (just imagine if Tippy posts in this thread, the horror) if things get really nasty I would just run away to my own "noa's arc" demiplane and keep expanding it. Live a long good life untill I'm too bored and just stop casting PaO to keep myself young and die of old age.

[Arael666]

If we consider our existing world to be non-magical in nature then wizard is severely stymied by the lack of spells available whereas a spontaneous caster who 'learns' spells as they level doesn't need someone to teach them. If we consider our world one where magic has merely gone 'underground' (think like in Buffy the Vampire Slayer) then the wizard is more feasible.

Already covered

Magic and supernatural abilities will function just fine, although getting hold of material components for any spells you cast may prove more difficult without spell component pouches readily available at the local magic supply shop.

[TheTeaMustFlow]

Already covered

Cleric seems the best bet to me then, particularly if one can get the spell domain (though that does beg the question of what domains YHWH, for example, has).

[Ashtagon]

Can I be a cleric of my deeply held conviction that the world should be run for the mutual benefit of all mankind? I'd rather not get real world religion involved.

[TheTeaMustFlow]

Can I be a cleric of my deeply held conviction that the world should be run for the mutual benefit of all mankind? I'd rather not get real world religion involved.

Since you can be a cleric of a `cause`, presumably. But that means you don't get to win theology forever.

[martixy]

Monk 20. Actually very good features IRL.
Purity of Body, Wholeness of Body, Diamond Body, Timeless Body, Tongue of the Sun and Moon, Empty Body would be all amazing to have.
Stop aging at 40(or at least stop deteriorating). Never worry about bodily health at all. Let people figure out the cure to cancer from my body. Probably get to live to 150(if by that time immortality hasn't yet been invented). See the world, be able to talk to everyone(including dead languages).
Yes please.

[Gnaeus]

The way these things are set up, the slots machine could have a 0% chance to pay out on the next 10 runs. You reroll that 0%, and... It still doesn't pay out. But cheat does allow a will save to notice something fishy... And requires verbal, somatic, and focus components. So you're really noticed.

Just like all the miracle healers, and everyone else using their powers obviously.

And when someone investigates, be it government, or mafia, or whoever... And asks questions, and notices the pattern that only people who have visited this board are affected... and they start backtracking IPs... Yeah, I'm not really expecting any of us to reach level 2.

Oh, and on a completely unrelated note, tell me more about that technologist feat. I'm curious whether I'm taking that or sculpt self (plus a clever plan for NI XP) for my third feat.

Why would anyone be disappeared by the mafia or the government for going to a hospital and providing healing? I can see them making an offer, certainly DARPA would pay through the nose. But arresting you for touching injured people? Doubt it.

Slots and cheat are the hard way to cheat I think. I'd rather use Evil Eye combined with sports betting or other person to person gambling. If a boxer says he suddenly got scared in round 5 and his opponent started beating the snot out of him, how is anyone going to blame the guy in the 2nd row who just sat there? The down side is that a -2 AC and to hit for 45ish seconds isn't going to guarantee a win. But it should shift odds enough that one could steadily make money on any event that wasn't already rigged.

[dascarletm]

Monk 20. Actually very good features IRL.
Purity of Body, Wholeness of Body, Diamond Body, Timeless Body, Tongue of the Sun and Moon, Empty Body would be all amazing to have.
Stop aging at 40(or at least stop deteriorating). Never worry about bodily health at all. Let people figure out the cure to cancer from my body. Probably get to live to 150(if by that time immortality hasn't yet been invented). See the world, be able to talk to everyone(including dead languages).
Yes please.

It really depends on what you want to do. If you just want to live your life in peace Monk is very good at this. Take VoP. Never need to eat again. Just wander the world forever (assuming you took wedded to history).

[Apricot]

So maybe I'm wrong in thinking this, but this appears to be a game of "apply the overpowered template to fix your awful stats." There are alternatives, but I think this is the fastest way to get some real neat stuff done. Also, I assume that being a spellcaster is the "obvious" choice: everything else fails to benefit you unless you skirt the law in some especially dangerous ways.

So, the useful templates (read: non-inherited) are basically reduced to:
1. The ones granted by deities
2. The undead ones
3. Dragon Disciple

1 requires that there be deities that will help you, 2 has all sorts of fun ups and downs, and 3 eats up a ton of class levels (while the other templates, following this challenge's RAW, give you level adjustment but don't interfere with you gaining that sweet 20 in class levels). 1 is almost always the best, but has a pretty harsh metaphysical restriction behind it, so I won't discuss it. 2 and 3 have some neat things you can do with them, though.

So for 2, the main question is: do you want to be an abomination? If no, then there's no point exploring further. If you don't mind, then the choice essentially comes down to lich or vampire. Lich is, fortunately, very easy to create: all you need is CL 11+ and the Create Wondrous Item feat, both of which you want anyway. Disguise Self or Alter Self ought to handle most of the, uh, integration issues, and if you're that high of a caster level, they shouldn't be a massive issue. As a result of becoming a lich, if you devote all of your attribute points to primary casting, you'll be able to cast level 9 spells! Enjoy your Wishes and Gates and Ice Assassins. Vampire is a little more tricky: the only way I know of to outright create a vampire is to use an epic-level spell. This is problematic. So you could research the process, to be sure, but there's no guarantee of success.

3 is fun and quirky. The obvious restriction of it (apart from some minute portion of dragon blood, which is honestly irrelevant) is that it takes away up to 10 class levels. This means that you're basically never going to be casting 9th-level spells with it, which sucks. All the same, you can use it to do some neat stuff, and if for whatever reason you're denied attribute point upgrades, you can still get 5th-level spells thanks to the Int/Cha upgrades. Also, +8 Str gets you instant Olympic gold medals! Neato! Probably the best build here is getting a single Sorcerer level, heading up to 8th-level DD, and taking the other 11 levels in Wizard for access to the +2 Int and 6th-level spells. Not too bad.

If I had to choose, I'd probably go for Lich followed by using Wishes to turn me into a Half-Celestial or something. Oh, and if that doesn't work out, just Wiz20 with Eschew Materials to escape boring bookkeeping and CWI to fix everything that's wrong with me. Guess Wiz20 is the solution to everything after all. I like the Monk20 idea too, though: probably the best way of being a human (or "human") and still getting tons of benefits.

[johnbragg]

I'm clearly bad at this, since I ruled out anythng that breaks physics too much.

But may I raise a practical question? Where are all the Wizards and related prepared arcane casters getting their spells and spellbooks? Yes RAW says you get a handful of spells automatically when you begin at 1st level and when you level up, But that's only if you take that RAW interpretation, which is arguably not applicable IRL where there are no previously existing wizards and spell books to copy from.

So a 20th level Wizard has a minimum of 43 + Int bonus spells, vs 34 spells for a Sorcerer 20, assuming that RAW about automatically learning new spells applies. And you can plan exploits to break this cap (starting with planar binding), but each of those methods has its own risks. You can also plan to research additional spells, with uncertain results given the limited availablity of research materials IRL vs D&Dverse.

Am I still over-estimating the difficulties of trying to operate as a 3X character IRL? Or are people underestimating the value of spontaneous casters (Sorcerers, Bards) automatically just knowing their spells?

[thethird]

I would go with psionic artificer 18, chameleon 2, because there will be plenty of downtime and psionic artificer is always better than artificer. Since wedded to history seems to be acceptable always take chameleon crafting :P

I would eventually teleport myself back in time probably just for kicks though. Truenaming, incarnum, and maneuvers seems like a good feat dump.