styker said:
Hum... i understand what you are saying but... what´s the difference between a rod of persistent and a rod of quicken spell in terms of power? Because the rod of persistent is more limited to the number of spells that he can be used since the rod of quicken you can use in 98% of the cases...
The difference is that the Rod of Quicken just makes the caster better at casting (his own niche), nothing else; the cleric/wizard can get twice as many level X spells off in the same amount of time, but the day's recources are quickly depleted for later. Persistent, on the other hand, combines with standard spells to eclipse others at their own niche (cleric spells especially) - A knoweledge domain cleric with a Rod of Persistent Spell can, with the expenditure of the daily use of the rod and three spells:
Find traps all day long (as a rogue, but with a decent insight bonus on the search checks). Sure, Search isn't a class skill for Clerics, but a cleric taking Search cross-class then casting a Persistent Find Traps eliminates one of the big reasons for having a rogue - finding and dealing with traps (Cleric can Dispel magic traps, and smash/blast/whatever mechanical traps, rather than simply disabling them). As the normal duration on Find Traps is only 1 min/level, that's normally useful for a hallway or two; if Persistent, it can cover a fair sized dungeon.
Hit better than the Fighter. At lower levels (up to 9th, in this case....), a Persistent Divine Favor grants +1-3 to-hit and damage - which, with the cleric's 3/4ths BAB, means that the cleric has a better chance of landing a blow than the fighter, and is likely dealing as much or more damage (barring Power Attack, which cuts down on the to-hit....). Without persistent, this isn't an issue, as it has a duration of a single minute - one combat, can't readily be cast beforehand, so eats a turn where the Cleric could be doing something else. A Metamagic rod of Persistent Spell removes that limitation. Later on, a Persistent Divine Power gives full BAB to the caster, a +6 enhancement to Strength, and one temporary HP/caster level. The average difference in HP between the d8 (cleric) and d10 (fighter) is one HP/level. Again, it's a short duration spell (1 round/level), by default, so it soaks up an action in combat, and is only good for the one fight; a metamagic rod of Persistent spell removes that limitation. Slightly later, Righeous Might does something similar (+4 Str, +2 Con, size increase to damage and reach, +2 natural armor) with the same default limit - and all three of the above stack. A cleric that gets up in the morning, prays, uses a Bead of Karma to increase his caster level (this is also the time for Greater Magic Weapon and Magic Vestments, of course; possibly Extended), then puts on Divine Favor, Divine Power, and Righteous Might all day with a standard Rod of Persistent Spell (let's say 11th level Cleric, just for laughs) gets: 3 iterative attacks (as an 11th level fighter), +3 Luck to hit and damage, +10 strength (6 enhancement, 4 size; which adds +5 to attack and damage (+7.5 to damage, if using a two-handed weapon)), +2 Con (+11 HP), DR 9/(either Good or Evil), +2 natural armor (enhancement - doesn't stack with an Amulet of Natural Armor), extra damage from increased size, and 15 temporary HP. Now, the fighter is going to have better base combat stats, and have weapon focus/specilization to add a little damage ... but is still likely to be eclipsed when whaling away on a hardened target by a cleric with the above combination.
Now, those are just some of the more obvious cases of nastyness - but I'm referring to nastyness in that it steals the niche away from the dedicated classes for that niche (fighter, rogue); if the Cleric (Wizard/Sorceror can do this too) also takes the divine Reach spell feat (gives a touch range spell a fixed range....) the Rod can also do more minor things like grant a daily +4 Enhancement bonus to a chosen ability (via Reach animal features - Bull's Strength, or Bear's Endurance, say).
