We started a Dungeons & Dragons 3.5 game at work and I love playing Wizards. The game was with a bunch of people new to the game so, of course, no one wants to play a Cleric. I decided I would play a Wizard/Cleric, but Mystic Theurge has been described as weak because you are 3 levels behind in both classes. The game is once a month so I had time for research and I found that Mystic Theurge’s don’t have to suck so much.

So, here’s my goal: Play a Wizard/Cleric without being 3 levels behind in both classes.

Attributes

My DM did standard 4d6 per stat with us re-rolling the lowest roll (mulligans available). After a mulligan I ended up with: 12 11 18 16 10 8 and re-rolling the 8 gave me a 16 (my dice love me). So starting: S10 D16 C12 I18 W16 C11

Human

I picked human for the extra feat & skill points. To finagle me into an early Mystic Theurge I need feats and I grabbed two more with flaws: 1. Inattentive (-4 to Spot & Listen); 2. Unreactive (-6 to Initiative). We have rogues and I’m not going to be on the front lines, so going first and seeing stuff aren’t that important to me.

Wizard

I started with a Domain Wizard (Unearthed Arcana p57). Specialist Wizards give up two domains to cast an extra spell/day from their chosen school of magic. Domain Wizards don’t give any schools up, but the extra spell list is like a Cleric Domain (1 per level).

Feats

Now that I have my class I need to plan for the future. So with 1 for being human, 1 for first level, and 2 for flaws here are the feats I picked first level:

1. Precocious Apprentice (Complete Arcane p181) – Gives me a single 2nd level spell at level one. And a +2 to Spellcraft which is nice.
2. Apprentice (DMG II p175) – A feat that grants class skills and 2 skill points. In this case Entertainer which grants Perform.
3. Deferred
4. Deferred

I deferred two feats because the two I want I can’t take at Level 1.

Cleric

At Level 2 I gained a level in Cloistered Cleric (Unearthed Arcana p50). It gives me a bonus Domain (Knowledge), Bardic Knowledge (more on this later), and more skills at the cost of Hit Points and Armor Proficiency. I picked  a God (Völundr) that allows for the Healing Domain (good heals and stuff) and the Plant Domain (a second turning pool). At this level I could use those two deferred feats:

• Alternative Source Spell (Dragon Magazine #325 p61) – Allows me to change the source of a spell from Arcane to Divine and vice versa.
• Laborious Training (Legacy of the Blood p91) – Increases the maximum ranks in all Int based skills by 2.

By now you can see where this is leading:

Mystic Theurge

At Level 3 I take Mystic Theurge. Here are the requirements:

• Knowledge Arcana & Religion 6 ranks – Laborious training allows me to exceed the limit of 5 ranks at second level, meeting this requirement in time.
• Able to cast 2nd-level divine spells and 2nd-level arcane spells – This one is a bit complex, so work with me here:
  • Precocious Apprentice allows me to cast a second level arcane spell.
  • Alternative Source Spell allows me to make those spells divine spells.
  • So second level arcane and divine spells achieved.

So there it is, third level Mystic Theurge. This takes away the regular drawback of being behind 3 levels and places you on par with Sorcerers & Favored Souls. But I’m not done yet.

Fochlucian Lyrist

Remember in First Edition you could play a Cleric/Fighter/Mage? I wanna do that again and a Fochlucan Lyrist (Complete Adventurer p47) is that class. Fighter BAB, Arcane/Divine Spell Advancement, and Bardic Abilities to boot. Here are the requirements and how I meet them:

• Skills – This one is complex:
  • Required Skills (62) – In addition to the 12 ranks required for Mystic Theurge (new total 74):
    • 4 class skills (34) – Perform 13, Knowledge (nature) 7,  Decipher Script 7, Diplomacy 7
    • 2 cross class (28) – Gather Information 7, Sleight of Hand 7
  • I’m smart so I got 30 points first level (Wizard 6×4 + Human 4 + 2 Apprentice), 11 second level (Cloistered Cleric), and 7 each level after that (4Int + 2Theurge + 1Human). I need 74 points and I’ll get there at Level 7 (30+ 11 + 7 + 7 + 7  + 7 + 7 + 7 = 76).
  • Get extra ranks through taking Item Familiar (Unearthed Arcana p70) as my 3rd level feat.
    • Invested 32 points (11 + 7 + 7 + 7 = 32) and received 11 bonus ranks.
    • The bonus skill ranks discount my cross class skills at a 2/1 rate.
    • The bonus can be applied to a skill that already has maximum ranks. This allows me to get exceed the maximums (Perform 8, Gather Information 4 & Sleight of Hand 4).
  • Here’s how I spent my points: Theurge Requirements 12 + Lyrist Class Skills 29 (minus 5 from bonus ranks for Perform)  + Lyrist Cross Class Skills 16 (Including the negative 12 from 6 bonus ranks) + Druidic 1 = 58 points. Now I can meet skill requirements at Level 5 (32 + 11 + 7 + 7 + 7 = 62).
• Bardic Knowledge – This is met by Cloistered Cleric.
• Evasion – I was able to obtain a Ring of Evasion through a debacle involving a Beholder (yes at level 2). I made this my Item Familiar.
• Language Druidic – Cloistered Cleric gets Speak Language as a class skill and 1 point buys it.

So at Level 6 I added a level Fochluchan Lyrist. Was that enough?

Nope

At Level 6 I added Still Spell. I also have Turn Undead, the Plant Domain, my Level 4 attribute bonus in Charisma which gives me two turning pools for 8 turning attempts per day. I currently can’t wear armor because it interferes with somatic components. At 6th level I take the Divine Metamagic feat (Complete Divine p80), apply it to  Still Spell, and I can cast 8 spells/day while wearing armor with no spell failure checks. Armored Mystic Theurge with High BAB? Noice.

Arcane Heirophant

Fochluchan Lyrist is only 10 levels so I run out at level 16 and after taking one more level of Mystic Theurge (Level 4 gives +1 BAB) I went for Arcane Heirophant. I meet  all the requirements for this except for one: Trackless Step. At level 12 I gained the Craft Wondrous Item feat and then modified my Boots of Striding & Springing (a fantastic item) by adding an enchantment that granted the Trackless Step feat for an added $10,000 ($5,000 for the feat & x2 for the body location).

Ultimate Mystic Theurge

This all adds up to a Bard/Cleric/Fighter/Mage combination. At level 20 you have 9th level arcane, 9th level divine, and +15 BAB. So I get to be a wizard as well as the healer plus I can surprise people from time to time with other skills (let me charm you with a tune).