Thoughts On The Scholar Class

Decurio

Mongoose
Having played and GMd more than a few scholars, and since theres a crapload of scholar threads on the forums, I thought I'd share some ideas with those of you intelligent enough to put down your swords and use your intellect. And thats the key: you have to plan ahead (use your head!) when playing scholars.

First off, at first level, you're not eligible for any sorcery feats, so try taking some that will help you survive: Toughness, Defensive Martial Arts, etc., anytthing that makes it harder for you to be hit. If you insist on playing a scholar who is going to be diving into combat, then, barring taking a leverl or two of a more martial class. Soldier is great for this; you get all armour proficiencies, shield prof, two weapon fighting, and a bonus feat. I realize that wearing armour is going to hinder spellcasting, but so what? you're not going to be a spell machine at low levels anyway, and if you're dead, you can't level can you? :D

Taking ranged feats at first level may not be a bad idea either: point blank shot, perhaps even rapid shot will let you Stygians pincushion your foes art a distance, and let the barbs/soldiers get stuck in. If they want to get cut, let em. Keep you Heal skill high, and your meatshields will find a reason to keep you alive for those post-combat sewing-your-wounds fests.

Sorcery style/spell selection is a little tricky. More than any other class, you have to plan ahead for your magical progression. Remember, you are going to be limited by your Magic Attack Bonus and/or relevant skills when choosing styles for your low level sorcerer, and some styles dead-end rather quickly. e.g., grabbing Necromancy at lvl.4 might look attractive but you can't learn Death Touch until your lvl. 10. Plan so you don't 'run out' of advanced spells to learn! Counterspells is another one; you would think at first level its a smart choice, but its going to be awhile before you qualify for greater warding.


Personally, I like taking Prestidigitation early as all the spells are low PP cost and useful; greater telekinesis is a spell that you less subtle sorcerers should be scrambling to grab early; hurling two globes of Kothic demon-fire at third level is nothing to scoff at (thats 10d6, people...massive damage anyone?) and alchemical preparations aren't the only thing that telekinesis can project; weapons (i.e. arrows, spears, hatchets, daggers, etc) can be hurled as well at their standard damage. Who needs a Stygian bow when you can hurl stygian arrows with no range penalties, two at a time? Thats what Im talking about! Burst barrier affects 'objects' not just barriers; Conjuring likewise is very flexible for very low PP costs, and has many not-so-obvious applications; read over the spell description again, and think about it....

Hypnotism is also a great low-level style. Its PP friendly, and encourages really entertaining roleplaying. Can't afford all those nice expensive alchemical items? Take Hypnotism, and your problems are on their way out the door. E.g., try making a hypnotic suggestion that your fellow dice/card players take a break and go for a relaxing walk while you stay behind to watch everyone's things. MwaHaHa!
 
Decurio said:
If you insist on playing a scholar who is going to be diving into combat, then, barring taking a leverl or two of a more martial class. Soldier is great for this; you get all armour proficiencies, shield prof, two weapon fighting, and a bonus feat. I realize that wearing armour is going to hinder spellcasting, but so what? you're not going to be a spell machine at low levels anyway, and if you're dead, you can't level can you? :D

Can you give a character idea for such a combination? I'm somewhat at a loss...
A scholar who has discovered his martial side?
An officer who bought some old books and found them as sorcerous ones?
A battle mage (naaah... :? )
 
Sorry about the grammatical errors; I was late for class, and had to run!

To address the question Rene had brought up, I have to backtrack a bit. Back when Conan was first released, one of my players, upon seeing that certain races had corresponding "martial" abilities (Stygians get prof with Stygian bow, Hyborians and greatswords, etc.) commented that at last he would be able to create a magician that could also fight. he was proved horribly wrong. Low-level scholars in Conan should avoid combat altogether until you reach a point in your scholarly career (esp. once you get access to the Immortality style) where others should be afraid to even get close to you. (and with Defensive Blast, they shouldn't be getting too close anyway, especially coupled with Opportunistic Sacrifice...more on DB in a second.) Taking a cue from James Earl Jones as Thulsa Doom in the first Conan movie (I hate what they did to Conan, BTW but I can't help but love Jones as Doom), taking a level of soldier would allow your scholar to wear armor, have access to weapons, and use shields. Armor will be invaluable to you to stay alive; this point can't be emphasized enough in Conan: armor makes a huge difference in combat. If you don't take levels in another class, your scholar will be forced to burn a feat in order to use even light armor without incurring penalties.

I wasn't making a conceptual suggestion, Rene, just typing very, very fast. Sorry about the confusion.
 
I can think of one 'myth-popular' character concept that coinsides with a Scholar/Soldier multiclass.

Now I'm not saying such a multiclass is a particularly good idea, effective, or Conanesque. I'm just saying the archetype exists:

The learned nobleman. Youngest child, so he was simultaneously trained in courtley manners and education and given a martial education. But he turns to sorcerous power to usurp the Kingdom that, being the youngest child, he is not entitled to (or dukedom, or princedom, or whatever else he's a noble of). That would create a very effective backstory rationale for multiclassing as a Soldier/Scholar (scholar representing the formal court training and education, soldier representing the martial, probably cavalry, training).
 
Damien said:
I can think of one 'myth-popular' character concept that coinsides with a Scholar/Soldier multiclass.

Now I'm not saying such a multiclass is a particularly good idea, effective, or Conanesque. I'm just saying the archetype exists:

The learned nobleman. Youngest child, so he was simultaneously trained in courtley manners and education and given a martial education. But he turns to sorcerous power to usurp the Kingdom that, being the youngest child, he is not entitled to (or dukedom, or princedom, or whatever else he's a noble of). That would create a very effective backstory rationale for multiclassing as a Soldier/Scholar (scholar representing the formal court training and education, soldier representing the martial, probably cavalry, training).

And there ya go!
 
Sounds interesting...
Another - not so new - variant:
a Noble who takes later some Scholar levels (maybe in a desperate hour calling on an entity he read of in the old chronicles of his family, i.e. Summoning as 1st style).
 
René said:
Can you give a character idea for such a combination? I'm somewhat at a loss...

Well, just from the Core rules, Shemite priests are required to take two levels of Soldier in order to be ordained (take the Priest feat). A nomadic Shaman would probably have a few levels of nomad, and Pictish shamans probably have a couple of levels in Barbarian.

The three class books (Hyboria's Fiercest, Finest and Fallen) will have multi-class combinations that combine scholar with other classes. Free Companies also has a Scholar/Soldier combination.
 
I mentioned in another thread about using the ENTRANCE "spell" as an offensive tool. It costs no PP but you may need the concentration skill.

The tread is entitled " entrace spell" I couldn't get the link to go to that thread, sorry.
 
VincentDarlage said:
René said:
Can you give a character idea for such a combination? I'm somewhat at a loss...

Well, just from the Core rules, Shemite priests are required to take two levels of Soldier in order to be ordained (take the Priest feat). A nomadic Shaman would probably have a few levels of nomad, and Pictish shamans probably have a couple of levels in Barbarian.

The three class books (Hyboria's Fiercest, Finest and Fallen) will have multi-class combinations that combine scholar with other classes. Free Companies also has a Scholar/Soldier combination.

Sorcerous Scholar combinations with Barbarian or Nomad are good to imagine. The Free Companies is non-sorcerous, i.e. Adjutant IIRC, so no problem, too.

A sorcerous combination with Soldier is IMHO more tricky, so I'm looking forward to the suggestions in the upcoming classbooks and the Shem book for the Soldier priests!
 
Another scholar multi-class which I've always been fond of is the Scholar/Thief. The thief levels reinforce the scholar's already-good skills and the abilities mesh well with a scholar who wants to be subtle and avoid combat in the first place. Sneak attack works great with telekenisis!

Hope that helps.
 
René said:
VincentDarlage said:
René said:
Can you give a character idea for such a combination? I'm somewhat at a loss...

Well, just from the Core rules, Shemite priests are required to take two levels of Soldier in order to be ordained (take the Priest feat). A nomadic Shaman would probably have a few levels of nomad, and Pictish shamans probably have a couple of levels in Barbarian.

The three class books (Hyboria's Fiercest, Finest and Fallen) will have multi-class combinations that combine scholar with other classes. Free Companies also has a Scholar/Soldier combination.

Sorcerous Scholar combinations with Barbarian or Nomad are good to imagine. The Free Companies is non-sorcerous, i.e. Adjutant IIRC, so no problem, too.

A sorcerous combination with Soldier is IMHO more tricky, so I'm looking forward to the suggestions in the upcoming classbooks and the Shem book for the Soldier priests!

A scenario that might be fairly common in a world like Hyboria would be the Scholar who is forced to take levels of Soldier in order to survive. Like the main charcter from the 13th Warrior. He was a poet, but obviously had gained some soldier levels by the end of the story.

Azgulor
 
Back
Top