Shin Okada
Explorer
Arcane Thesis is for 1 spell. That is the biggest limitation. It will make a one trick pony, especially in case of blasters.
If you choose some force spell, that will not be the spell which inflicts the biggest damages amongst the spells in the same level. If you choose some energy spell, from time to time, you will meet creatures immune or highly resistant to that energy type. Energy Substitution metamagic helps, but not always. Some monsters are immune to multiple types of energies.
Also, unless your DM allow you retraining often, choosing a spell for Arcane Thesis is a painful decision making. There are problems of dice caps and save DCs. Even if empowered and maximized, the spell you have chosen will eventually become your second-late attack or worse, due to lower limit of number of dice you can roll and lower save DC.
In case of Shadowcraft Mage, that can make a very strong spell caster in med to higher level. Still, the class relies on (Shadow) spells and thus, almost useless in inner/outer planes because those planes are not connected to shadow plane. As higher level adventures tend involve some encounters in inner/outer planes (or, often entirely take place in such planes), Shadowcraft Mage is far from versatile.
If you choose some force spell, that will not be the spell which inflicts the biggest damages amongst the spells in the same level. If you choose some energy spell, from time to time, you will meet creatures immune or highly resistant to that energy type. Energy Substitution metamagic helps, but not always. Some monsters are immune to multiple types of energies.
Also, unless your DM allow you retraining often, choosing a spell for Arcane Thesis is a painful decision making. There are problems of dice caps and save DCs. Even if empowered and maximized, the spell you have chosen will eventually become your second-late attack or worse, due to lower limit of number of dice you can roll and lower save DC.
In case of Shadowcraft Mage, that can make a very strong spell caster in med to higher level. Still, the class relies on (Shadow) spells and thus, almost useless in inner/outer planes because those planes are not connected to shadow plane. As higher level adventures tend involve some encounters in inner/outer planes (or, often entirely take place in such planes), Shadowcraft Mage is far from versatile.
