//Sorry I could not get the link to work.
Hello silverblades,
This request would ordinarily be approved for a CDQ rather than the asked for CDT entries. Due to the limited amount of GMs and GM time, I am investigating options for you. Also, do you have any kind of CDT for this character? Even if it hasn't been contributed to lately, I'd still possibly find something helpful for the request.
Thanks in advance for your patience,
~row
Just one entry I made shortly after I started with him. I doubt I can get this thread to work, cant cut and paste, so heres the written out link.
http://layonara.com/chardev/master-sibbicai-trader-explorer-mage-warrior
Date of this entry is june 21 2016
Also I just recently noticed the prereqs of spellsword having weapon proficiencies and all armor type proficiencies, I misread it and thought these were bonus' to class, not requirements. With that being said I would also like to continue my submission for PrC Spellsword and add fighter as a class split. I doubt Ill ever make it to see spellsword after five levels of fighter though, especially this late in the game.
Hi Silverblades,
Since you didn't up date the original thread I am writing to confirm. Are you now applying for a second AND third class for sibbicai? And you would like to have both of them under the condition of no CDT requirements, is that correct?
requesting second and third class yes.
I can sub a CDT if thats whats necessary. I will most likely break my submission down into a few entries of a CDT and continue on from there as time goes on. I can also resub this requesting the additional class fighter along with SS, and post a link going back to the CDT. Or whatever you want.
I would like to split class after lvl 25 Wiz. then fighter then SS.
let me know.
thanks
Ill take the green light for fighter levels if your giving it thanks.
In the mean time Ill work on the CDT for Spellsword, got a few levels to go for that.
It would take me to lvl 33 to get the req. feats to go SS while leveling up wizard. Unless you want to exchange the martial feat for exotic? then I would need to go to 30.
///
Going fighter is waay easier for sure but RP wise makes less sense. Seems more RP friendly to go Wizard to get feats instead of the easy route and go fighter. Sure it takes longer but fighter is too easy. All the weapon proficiencies are a bit overkill IMO. Kinda goes against the grain if a wizard chooses to keep his staff but has to study a myriad of weapons to progress. Sure, mechanically speaking Its not the weapon thats hindering him from casting but armors. Unless your following more along the spirit of the Class not mechanically. Then for me it would clearly make more sense to progress in Wizard in that respect.
In retrospect
Whats the thinking behind the weapon proficiency (simple) req. on top of the martial ? A wizard aint got time to study that many weapons on top of practicing to cast in armors. Would make mores sense to force Weapon Focus perhaps.
Sorry to butt into this thread, but I might be able to offer perspective to your questions.
Having a Spellsword character myself, I think what makes "RP sense" is less a matter of the class and more a matter of the character itself. I also think that the path one takes to get there, be it a pure caster path or a caster -> fighter path or even an fighter -> caster path...I think that's really a matter for the character's RP and not the RP behind the class itself.
Spellsword, despite the name, should not imply focus or even preference on any particular weapon. Since having a collection of specialized "Spellweapon" classes would be unwieldy and a little confusing, and since NWN has this nasty habit of enforcing mechanics in a rather all-or-nothing sort of way, the various weapon feats are kind of necessary in order to give the class its full flexibility for all character options. Things might be different if this was a tabletop setting without programmed enforcement of rules and rerequisites, but unfortunately, it's not. And yes, your point is taken about how it's somewhat odd to require all those weapon feats, particularly when the average Spellsword will not avail themselves of all the weapon options, but there really isn't a good way to have meaningful prerequisites while still allowing the player to sort of specialize and give the Spellsword the freedom to select the weapon of their choice.
My character, by way of example, decided to train as a Fighter for a while, starting at Level 6. This was an organic development for him. He started wearing light armor and using a sword rather than a staff, got frustrated with the random spell failure, etc. He eventually returned to focusing on developing his magic, got better armor that was made for spellcasters, and migrated back to a quarterstaff. And then, later in his life, he found himself in a bit of a "defender" role of sorts, so he reached back into his more martial training and worked to combine the two. As far as all the weapon feats go, he more or less ignores those weapons he never really used or doesn't care about. So while he can mechanically use battleaxes and heavy flails, he doesn't. If he did come across some, I'd RP him as getting familiar with it, because the only weapons he really has any experience with are a quarterstaff (his main), long/bastard sword (his backup/special-purpose) and a dagger.
So as for the thinking behind Weapon Proficiency (Simple) on top of Weapon Proficiency (Martial), simply put, they cover a different set of weapons. Your average Wizard doesn't have either, unless they take one of them instead of a more caster-oriented feat. Their default of Weapon Proficiency (Wizard) only gives access to a small subset of weapons and less than the "Simple" proficiency. Together, "Simple" and "Martial" cover the span of the most common set of weapons, giving the Spellsword a wide range of options. If a Spellsword wanted to go with something in the "Exotic" range instead, that would require additional training and of course extra feats, but that's, again, an RP choice for the character.
To put it another way, the RP is not necessarily a Wizard training with all the various weapons but rather being able to train with those that they want...and having the sense that just because mechanics say one can use an otherwise unfamiliar weapon doesn't mean they should or have to or should even claim to know. And because the Spellsword character had some martial training under their belt, there'd be nothing stopping them from picking up a flail or a battleaxe instead of their sword or staff, RPing some training with it and adding it to their arsenal.
IMHO, the RP is not defined by the line items on the character sheet. Rather, it is enabled and supported by them.
I think it can make more RP sense for a character to go pure caster/Spellsword, but I think it's not the path the PrC is built to be most accessible to. Spellsword is a "synergy" class, that takes two different types of training and makes a greater sum than their individual parts. I could see something like "Weapon Focus In Melee Weapon" ala Champion for SS qualifications, instead -- then if you had the proficiency, you could do the weapon, otherwise, not so much, but it does throw off qualify-speed comparison and isn't "general training". Fighters get all the weapon and armor stuff for free, so they'll qualify with that and the caster levels. If you replaced them with just something like WF, fighters still need an extra feat, and one that doesn't have anything to do with the "combining" theme, when the idea is that they've already undergone the broad martial training that will be needed. If you also nixed the armor reqs (I know you weren't suggesting it, but hey, maybe you won't wear armor, either), pure casters would qualify faster than mixed, with only marginally more experience with a particular weapon vs broad experience and training, in what's intended as a "little of this, little of that" class
For a mage-character focused entirely in an important RP way on one particular weapon, a weaponmaster/spellsword would be cool. And an eternity of manual feats!
I'm not married to anything, anywhere, really, but I think it's generally expected that Spellswords will not be pure casters, but have significant martial training (eg Fighter levels) that will grant those feats. Characters going a different (and sometimes more interesting!) route need to invest manually to represent the important parts. I built a test Spellsword once that needed an unusual build (rogue/minimal sorc) and it was murder to get all the feats in time and still have some room for RP choices For this particular class, though, and in a medium that, as Dorg mentioned, is not terribly flexible, it probably makes sense to keep an ideal/most common path in mind and pre-req for that.
I'm drifting off-topic, but in a weird way this is also why I'm more a fan of expanding feat/spells/archetype-things in NWN than adding classes. It seems like once you add a class/PrC, you kinda need fifty more to cover your options that don't fit in that package, and I'm personally more of a Lego type. The only problem I have with extra hurdles for characters not on that path is your exact scenario -- discovering late that you're not on track to meet multiple pre-reqs. Which sucks!
Anyway, back to Sibbicai, if you have any GPs left and remember what feats you took when, you could pick up to three feat levels to swap feats to get the pre-reqs faster without the third class? You're probably better off with fighter levels, really (and are already approved for them!), but I thought I'd mention your options.
Thanks for the response guys.