Focused Caster: WIP

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Gerzel's picture
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factotums
Joined: 2004-05-10
Focused Caster: WIP

This is very much a work in progress and is more an exersize in making a class that allows for a caster that slings a lot of spells but at the exclusion of their higher level spells and to make it balanced. I'm thinking about having it grant one normal caster level at 3rd.

Remember this is a work in progress.

Focused Caster
Some practitioners of the arcane arts prefer quantity over quality. A Focused Caster is an arcane spell caster, such as a bard, sorcerer or wizard, who chooses to focus their training on casting more spells in a day rather than casting more powerful spells.
HD: d4

Requirements: Arcane Caster Level 10+

Extra Spells Per Day: These spells work just like as if they were given from the base class and must be selected from that spell list and prepared as if they were from that class. Lower level spells may be used in higher level spell slots. These do not actually allow a caster to cast spells of any higher level than their caster level would allow. If a caster cannot cast spells of the level provided by this class they still have access to the spell slots and may use them for lower level spells. If the caster advances further later on to be able to cast those higher level spells then those slots are still open for them. For example: A wizard 10/Focused Caster 5 would be able to cast spells up to 5th level as per his caster level. He could still use the 6th, 7th, 8th, and 9th level slots provided by this class, but he could only memorize 5th level spells in them. If he were to add another level of wizard he would then be able to fill the higher level slots with 6th level spells.

Level  Extra Spells Per Day
       0th 1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th 7th 8th 9th
1st     4   2   2   1   -   -   -   -   -   -
2nd     8   4   4   2   2   1   -   -   -   -
3rd     8   4   4   4   4   2   2   1   -   -
4th     8   8   8   4   4   4   4   2   2   1
5th     8   8   8   8   8   4   4   4   4   2

eldersphinx's picture
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Joined: 2004-12-06
Focused Caster: WIP

The concept is potentially balanceable in non-Epic, though there may be some metamagic effects that unbalance it somewhat (I'm not sure).

It blows game balance wide open in epic play, by providing lots and lots of extra spells and as many highly powerful spells as usual. Take Practiced Spellcaster, and you don't even suffer from caster level loss...

Gerzel's picture
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factotums
Joined: 2004-05-10
Focused Caster: WIP

"eldersphinx" wrote:
The concept is potentially balanceable in non-Epic, though there may be some metamagic effects that unbalance it somewhat (I'm not sure).

It blows game balance wide open in epic play, by providing lots and lots of extra spells and as many highly powerful spells as usual. Take Practiced Spellcaster, and you don't even suffer from caster level loss...

Practiced Spellcaster? Is that an epic feat? I'm not familiar with it. A feat that gives all levels as caster levels would be unbalanced no matter what the situation.

eldersphinx's picture
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Joined: 2004-12-06
Focused Caster: WIP

Practiced Spellcaster is in Complete Arcane. Adds a flat +4 to caster level (though not spells known or spells per day) in one class, not to exceed total character level. It's generally meant for the characters who take multiclassing options like Ftr4/ClrX as a way to compensate for lost spell duration and spell penetration, but it'd work very well indeed with this PrC.

I guess in the larger sense of things, you'd want to balance this PrC against the Hierophant PrC. How many spells per day are the listed special abilities worth?

Gerzel's picture
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factotums
Joined: 2004-05-10
Focused Caster: WIP

"eldersphinx" wrote:
Practiced Spellcaster is in Complete Arcane. Adds a flat +4 to caster level (though not spells known or spells per day) in one class, not to exceed total character level. It's generally meant for the characters who take multiclassing options like Ftr4/ClrX as a way to compensate for lost spell duration and spell penetration, but it'd work very well indeed with this PrC.

I guess in the larger sense of things, you'd want to balance this PrC against the Hierophant PrC. How many spells per day are the listed special abilities worth?

Well here is how I look at it. Yes that feat would up the caster level, but a strait wizard could also take that feat correct? The caster level is still missing for those levels. The feat helps repair it but at the cost of an Epic Feat slot, which can do some other impresive things. I don't think it woudl be too much of a break even at epic levels.

As far as balanceing against the Hierophant. Well Low level spell slots at levels 15+ really are nice but not unbalancing. C'mon there is only so far 1st level spells can go even if you can cast them 10 or 20 times a day. For some mages, especialy NPCs, being able to churn out 30 1st level spell s in a day could be very useful (City Lights anyone?) and could be a good source of income.

The class I see really getting use out of this Prc is the Bard.

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:: facepalms ::

Practiced Spellcaster is not epic. It's general. And straight wizards get no benefit out of it because its benefits cap at your character level. A Wiz20 with Practiced Spellcaster still casts as a 20th level character, because that's his character level and Practiced Spellcaster can't help. A Wiz16/Ftr4 with Practiced Spellcaster casts as a 20th level wizard, but only has the spells per day of a Wiz16.

My simple impression is that this concept is just too powerful as written, especially in epic play (which most players taking this class will be gunning for - the extra 9th-level spell slots available as this class tops out are the real prize, after all). Ponder that five levels in this class plus Practiced Spellcaster is probably balanced against owning and wearing four rings of Epic Wizardry (one V, one VI, one VII, one VIII) - a kit which requires two epic feats on top of using up two inherent item slots and spending more than 1.5 million gp on magic items.

I'm not sure of anything else in the game that grants that kind of power and versatility, short of Salient Divine abilities. My $0.02.

Gerzel's picture
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factotums
Joined: 2004-05-10
Focused Caster: WIP

"eldersphinx" wrote:
:: facepalms ::

Practiced Spellcaster is not epic. It's general. And straight wizards get no benefit out of it because its benefits cap at your character level. A Wiz20 with Practiced Spellcaster still casts as a 20th level character, because that's his character level and Practiced Spellcaster can't help. A Wiz16/Ftr4 with Practiced Spellcaster casts as a 20th level wizard, but only has the spells per day of a Wiz16.

My simple impression is that this concept is just too powerful as written, especially in epic play (which most players taking this class will be gunning for - the extra 9th-level spell slots available as this class tops out are the real prize, after all). Ponder that five levels in this class plus Practiced Spellcaster is probably balanced against owning and wearing four rings of Epic Wizardry (one V, one VI, one VII, one VIII) - a kit which requires two epic feats on top of using up two inherent item slots and spending more than 1.5 million gp on magic items.

I'm not sure of anything else in the game that grants that kind of power and versatility, short of Salient Divine abilities. My $0.02.

Allright. Would perhaps cutting the number of spell slots granted make it more balanced?

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factotums
Joined: 2004-05-10
Focused Caster: WIP

Basically my goal is to make a general PRC for Arcane Spellcasting Characters that trades the quality of their spells(caster level, and level of the spells) for greater quantity(Spells per day) and to make it balanced.

Do you have any suggestions on how to do this other than the way I've done it?

One way I've considered is a class which grants the ability to double the number of bonus spells you get for your ability bonus, again at the cost of normal casterlevel. This would grant say 1-2 at 1st, then moving up to 4th next level and so on until 9th is covered.

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