D&D 3E/3.5 Casting Defensivly - 3.5 rules

[swrushing]

Well there is that one feat,

which feat? What does it do? Where is it from?

 

[Scion]

which feat? What does it do? Where is it from?

The one that I mentioned in one of my earlier posts in this thread of course I changed it a bit to make it more balanced. As it currently is I cant see anyone allowing it in a campaign. It is in either the mini's handbook or complete warrior, one of the two. Mage Slayer I believe.

I currently have it changed to adding BAB to the dc for casting defensively, might change it to just a flat +10 at some point, but currently it isnt a problem. Just dont allow it in as is

 

[youspoonybard]

You're not talking about the epic Spellcasting Harrier feat in Draconomicon, are you?

 

[Scion]

You're not talking about the epic Spellcasting Harrier feat in Draconomicon, are you?

Nope, not even close.

 

[Spatula]

As for why 9th level is the point where casting defensively no longer really matters, here's the basis:

Skill ranks: +12
Con: +2 (or more, if you've got access to Create Wonderous Items. And who makes a wizard with a bad Con? You've only got a d4 for Hps!)
Casting Defensively: +4
Die roll: Avg of 10

That's a total of 28. So the max for a 9th level spell is 24 - you beat that on average more that 50% of the time. But you can only cast 5th level spells, so your max at 9th level will be DC 20. That means you only need to roll a 2. There's a 5% chance of failure. That's basically meaningless.

It's also a character that has focused on being very good at casting defensively, since he's spent a feat on it (I assume that "Casting Defensively" above is meant to read "Combat Casting"). And it's not a common feat choice, IME. The average 9th lvl spellcaster with a 14-15 Con is going to have 25% chance of screwing up a 5th lvl spell while casting defensively.

under the old rules, there's not much of a chance of a fighter being able to screw up a spell.

That's what readied actions are for.

 

[Jhulae]

So it's fairly easy to cast defensively? Big deal.

So, your mages aren't maxing out their concentration skill? Well, now that's something to exploit.

If the only time they're making concentration rolls is when casting defensively, then that's the DM's fault, isn't it?

Remember, bad guys can hold action to attack a mage when he's casting. That forces a concentration check of 10 + spell level + damage done.

If the enemy caster holds his action then hits the PC mage with a lightning bolt, flame strike, scorching ray, etc., then not having max concentration might hurt.

Your mages take a 5' step before casting when something gets to melee? Have the fighter ready a partial charge. Heck, that works even if the fighter is within 30-100', depending on whether it's a fighter, barbarian, up to high level monk.

Stop crying about a standard rule which doesn't need changing or houseruling, and think of some tactics.

 

[da_deadman]

What about spell casting harrier?

This makes a big difference.

 

[wedgeski]

Anyway, we see a lot of maxing of Concentration in our group, for two reasons. First, we have a house rule: "if you begin your turn threatened, take a 5' step, and do anything that would provoke an AoO, you still provoke the AoO from those that threatened you before you took the 5' step." The in-game reasoning is that they're doing their action while they take the step, and the out-of-game reason is, whe hate how casters can step back and cast a spell, or archers take a 5' step back and loose a volley of arrows without any worries.

Well that's about, what, 80% of the entire reason for the 5-foot step existing at all? That seems like a gross change to the rules to me. You shouldn't think of combat so literally. The character isn't actually stepping back while enemies stand idly by cursing the rules - the 5-foot step represents a character's ability to find a good spot to execute an action which would otherwise leave him vulnerable.

 

[mikebr99]

Your mages take a 5' step before casting when something gets to melee? Have the fighter ready a partial charge. Heck, that works even if the fighter is within 30-100', depending on whether it's a fighter, barbarian, up to high level monk.

Respectfully... the last time I checked, this was a 3.5 rules question. And the partial charge action isn't in 3.5.

SRD stuff...

READY

The ready action lets you prepare to take an action later, after your turn is over but before your next one has begun. Readying is a standard action. It does not provoke an attack of opportunity (though the action that you ready might do so).​

​

​

Readying an Action: You can ready a standard action, a move action, or a free action.​

​

And...​

​

Charging is a special full-round action that allows you to move up to twice your speed and attack during the action.
​

​

​

Mike​

​

​

​

​

 

[DarkMaster]

Modifying the concentration check (or the tumble check) with reflex, bab or whatever from the opponent would also lead to add a DC to the 5 foot step.
Why can anybody take a 5 foot step in combat without provoking an AoO. The answer to this question explain why the other two don't scale. They require a Skill check because for the common folk casting spell or tumbling is not as natural as walking but once somebody develop a good skill in it, it should be as easy as taking a 5 foot step (No check required)