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[MiniHB] Mage Slayer
- Thread starter Chroma
- Start date
Yes, and it generates a lot of mixed feelings at the gaming table.
On the one hand, the Concentration check for defensive casting was made way too easy for spellcasters, due mainly to every pragmatic mage taking Combat Casting and maxing out their ranks in Concentration. And that's not to mention the fact that defensive casting denies any AoO even if the caster fails the check. This burns a lot of people's biscuits, because they think that makes the whole matter of bothering with AoO's and Concentration checks a moot point. It's just saddles casters with a skill-point-and-feat sink, rather than providing fighters with some reliable way of preventing a harm spell from going off within an arm's reach.
OTOH, the Mage Slayer feat is a pretty ham-handed way to offer characters a means to counter defensive casting, and the +1 to Will saves it grants just seems altogether excessive.
If I'd designed the feat, I'd have it counter the +4 bonus that Combat Casting provides, and have it entitle the attacker to an AoO if the Concentration check fails.
I should add that this debate often amounts to much ado about nothing. Mages can often avoid AoO's with a simple 5-foot step, while conversely any character that really wants to neutralize a caster just drops the sword and grapples.
On the one hand, the Concentration check for defensive casting was made way too easy for spellcasters, due mainly to every pragmatic mage taking Combat Casting and maxing out their ranks in Concentration. And that's not to mention the fact that defensive casting denies any AoO even if the caster fails the check. This burns a lot of people's biscuits, because they think that makes the whole matter of bothering with AoO's and Concentration checks a moot point. It's just saddles casters with a skill-point-and-feat sink, rather than providing fighters with some reliable way of preventing a harm spell from going off within an arm's reach.
OTOH, the Mage Slayer feat is a pretty ham-handed way to offer characters a means to counter defensive casting, and the +1 to Will saves it grants just seems altogether excessive.
If I'd designed the feat, I'd have it counter the +4 bonus that Combat Casting provides, and have it entitle the attacker to an AoO if the Concentration check fails.
I should add that this debate often amounts to much ado about nothing. Mages can often avoid AoO's with a simple 5-foot step, while conversely any character that really wants to neutralize a caster just drops the sword and grapples.
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Derulbaskul
Adventurer
It also seems a lot more powerful than the equivalent Epic-level feat notwithstanding which I like the general idea. Next I would like to see a feat that made tumbling in a threatened area much harder than it currently is.
Creamsteak
Explorer
A feat that just allows an AoO when a caster fails to cast a spell defensively would have been simpler and I would have liked it more.
Pants said:
Are you referring to Spellcasting Harrier? Y'know, I'm kind of wondering if they'll revise it for 3.5e at some point. It kinda needs it now, thanks to Mage Slayer.
Creamsteak said:
But that alone would make for a lousy feat. As stated previously, casters don't fail their defensive casting check often (the odds start getting pretty low around 8th or 9th level), and usually can avoid having to cast defensively in the first place by taking a 5-foot step (and likely it was knowing this that prompted the designers to include the Will save bonus as additional inducement). In a situation where this feat comes into play, it should actually function with some degree of reliability. That's why I'd be content with it providing enough of a bonus to cancel out Combat Casting.
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