D&D FAQ gets it wrong?

[wildstarsreach]

If by "official" you mean often wrong with respect to the RAW or often gives contradicotry answers/rulings then CustServ is who you'll have to ask, or the FAQ is where you'll have to look. If you are alright with accepting an "official" answer that may be wrong according to RAW, well there you have it.

When I run again, I have my own decision which I have will run by. I would like to know what WotC part of ADND give as their official ruling. Where do I contact them? The url please?

 

[irdeggman]

Well, "official" does not always mean accurate or correct now...

Quoted for truth.

 

[amethal]

Caster Level = The level at which you cast your spells.
Spellcaster Level = The level of the actual spellcasting class you have.

So a 5th level Paladin would be a 5th level spellcaster (he is capable of casting spells, so that makes him a spellcaster) and his level in that spellcasting class (which is Paladin) is 5th.

However, his caster level would only be 2, since the Paladin has a caster level of 1/2 his level (rounded down).

This seems to be an excellent way of looking at this ambiguous area.

Do people agree with this, or is it not that simple?

Is there any evidence that WotC knows the difference, or do they use the two terms interchangeably?

 

[Vyvyan Basterd]

This seems to be an excellent way of looking at this ambiguous area.

Do people agree with this, or is it not that simple?

Is there any evidence that WotC knows the difference, or do they use the two terms interchangeably?

According to irdeggman p. 72 of Complete Arcane explains the difference between Caster Level and Spellcaster Level.

 

[Vyvyan Basterd]

CustServ isn't an official or authoritative source, though. As to the Sage and the FAQ, the Sage rulings pretty much are what becomes the FAQ, and they are thus equally contradictory. Which is to say, the FAQ is unreliable because it sometimes conflicts with itself or the actual text. CustServ, on the other hand, is even more unreliable, and conflicts with itself on a large number of occasions (though not quite half) for a sufficiently difficult question.

CustServ is official, they represent WoTC (although they are of lowest hierarchy to the RAW, errata, and the FAQ). I don't claim that they are correct (that's why I came here to see what unofficial sources such as ENWorld posters thought about CustServ response), just that CustServ is the only official source that has spoken towards this rules question. We could all come to a concensus that CustServ is wrong, but our answer would not be official.

 

[Vyvyan Basterd]

When I run again, I have my own decision which I have will run by. I would like to know what WotC part of ADND give as their official ruling. Where do I contact them? The url please?

I've posted their response that I received above, otherwise the link to CustServ is on the WoTC website.

 

[wildstarsreach]

This seems to be an excellent way of looking at this ambiguous area.

Do people agree with this, or is it not that simple?

Is there any evidence that WotC knows the difference, or do they use the two terms interchangeably?

I guess page 72/73 of the complete arcane solves most of my disagreement caster level vs spellcasting level.