Thank-you everyone for your input - it's been very helpful. After some playing around in a leveller for a bit I'm becoming quite excited about this character - think he could end up being a great roleplaying character who is quite rich in detail. [img]smile.gif[/img]
I'm was wrestling whether to include the Shadow Dancer levels because it does exploit the engine a bit for a more powerful character, but then I was thinking that this creation will be steeped in the dark arts - vanishing into mist in front of your eyes is
exactly the kind of thing you would expect to see from such a being. When I noticed that Hide and Move Silently are both core skills for the Pale Master, I think it's justifiable for the inclusion of (probably one I think) ShadowDancer level for the feat, as clearly Bioware were thinking along the same lines in their vision of the PM.
The other snag is that this character will be created online (for Undermountain) and it's not possible to stack ability points for use later, but I seemed to be able to get around 30 in MS and Hide around level 22, even though I was paying double points to get them. I don't like a lot of the core wizard skills so I don't have to compromise there.
One thing I did notice was two skills that seemed to preclude the tumble skill (beyond the 5 needed for the ShadowDancer levels). I forget the names, but one prevented attacks of opportunity whilst moving around in combat and the other prevented them whilst making an unarmed attack (ie. with my skeletal arm). Would having both of these mean I could leave out excessive tumble levels (which I'm quite keen to do, because my necromancer will not be tumbling anywhere. It would be quite impractical in his robes and totally destroy his menacing air [img]smile.gif[/img] )
You mentioned selecting Wizard levels carefully above level 20 for my epic spells - am I wrong in thinking that as they are feats, I will be offered them regardless of whether I'm choosing a PM or Wizard level? According to
http://nwn.bioware.com/underdark/spe...ml#EpicWarding ,Epic warding is the only one to actually specify 'epic level caster' whereas the rest just say things like 'ability to cast 9th level spells'. Would it therefore be valid to just take a 21st wizard level when my spellcraft hits the required 34? Sorry if I'm missing something obvious...
I feel obliged to take the Mummy Dust Epic Spell, but I've heard it described as the most rubbish Epic Spell available - is this fair to it? Any Epic Spells that just aren't worth it? I was going to leave out at least Dragon Knight because I can't be expert at summoning everything.
And finally, would you take PM levels beyond 10? Is it worth the fact that you will end up with a few less spell slots to gain a small improvement to AC and HP and be able to use your undead graft another couple of times a day. The benefits of going further than level 10 do seem quite small, especially as all the Epic PM bonus feats I would already receive with the Epic Wizard so in a sense I was thinking this is unnecesary duplication?
On a slight aside, I've just noticed that both Mages and PM's get Automatic Still Spell. Does this mean that every spell cast is cast as if it were a level higher (as would normally happen) - and does this
really mean that mages can wear armour with no casting penalty when they hit epic levels?! It seems almost too good to be true....
Thanks for all your help guys, it's much appreciated. If anyone is interested and I get a break from work then I may see about creating a bit of a background for him and posting it up.