Did I just break the wild mage?

[Mouseferatu]

So, a question for you all to ponder. I believe I've just discovered a fairly ugly abuse of the wild mage PrC (Complete Arcane). Now, I want to stress that I have no plans to actually do this in-game--it's clearly a violation of the spirit and intent of the class--but as a purely intellectual exercise, I want to see if you all agree that it's permissable by the RAW.

The wild mage is considered to be at caster level -3, as a base. He then adds 1d6 to his caster level for each spell he casts, but that only applies when you're casting a spell.

So, by the RAW, couldn't a wild mage benefit from the Practiced Spellcaster feat?

As I see it, there's nothing in the rules to prevent it, though there are two possible ways to interpret it.

1) Practiced Spellcaster changes the base caster level from (level -3) to (level). Thus, the wild mage's effective spell level when he casts spells is (level +1) to (level +6).

2) The feat raises the minimum possible caster level, but you apply it after you roll the 1d6 to determine your effective level. Thus, any roll that reduces your caster level below your HD would be modified by the feat, but rolls that put you over would not. This has the effect of making the wild mage's effective spell level when casting anywhere from (level) to (level +3).

So tell me... Am I missing something in the RAW that prevents this from happening? Something that makes it impossible to use Practiced Spellcaster with the wild mage PrC? If so, what have I missed? If not, which of the above interpretations (if not a third one of your own devising) do you think would be the result?

 

[Sithobi1]

this was discussed in another thread recently, and the general consensus was that the wild mage -3/+1d6 applies only when you CAST a spell, and Practiced Spellcaster happens only when you gain or lose an HD, so they do not interact

 

[Mouseferatu]

this was discussed in another thread recently, and the general consensus was that the wild mage -3/+1d6 applies only when you CAST a spell, and Practiced Spellcaster happens only when you gain or lose an HD, so they do not interact

That doesn't match the actual written description of the feat, though. The feat doesn't say you must have levels/HD in a non-spellcasting class. It says that it raises your caster level by 4, up to a max of your HD. The wild mage's caster level is (at least sometimes) less than his Hit Dice.

The feat mentions HD, but it never says that it only applies when you gain or lose HD. It only requires that your caster level not equal your HD.

Don't get me wrong, I agree that you're probably right in terms of the intent of the feat. But as I said, right now I'm just looking at the RAW.

 

[3d6]

I would use interpretation #2, which seems balanced. Half the time, you gain no benefit, and half the time you gain either +1, +2, or +3. That's an average benefit of +1 caster level, which isn't very impressive.

Update: After thinking about it more, it's not even a net +1 benefit. The wild mage already gives you, on average, a +0.5 to caster level, which would mean that Practiced Spellcaster gives an average of +0.5 to caster level.

 

[hong]

What 3d6 said.

 

[Thanee]

Practiced Spellcaster only raises your caster level at two specific times. Once when you get the feat and then whenever you gain a level.

At those times, Wild Magic has no effect on your caster level, so both do not mix in any way.

A pure Wizard/Wild Mage gains no benefit from learning Practiced Spellcaster.

Bye
Thanee

 

[hong]

Practiced Spellcaster only raises your caster level at two specific times. Once when you get the feat and then whenever you gain a level.

At those times, Wild Magic has no effect on your caster level, so both do not mix in any way.

A pure Wizard/Wild Mage gains no benefit from learning Practiced Spellcaster.

Bye
Thanee

I'm confused.

 

[Sammael]

The above interpretation allows the caster to wear a cursed item that bestows a -4 penalty to caster level, level up, and then remove the item, for a net bonus of +4 caster levels.

 

[Mouseferatu]

The above interpretation allows the caster to wear a cursed item that bestows a -4 penalty to caster level, level up, and then remove the item, for a net bonus of +4 caster levels.

Not really, no. You're still limited to your total HD. Someone with a cursed item that reduced caster level could learn Practiced Spellcaster to mitigate the penalty, but he then wouldn't gain anything when taking the item off.

Wild Mage has a specific ability that adds to caster level, which is why I'm wondering how this would work. (For the record, I personally favor the second--and far more balanced--of the two options/interpretations I presented above. And again, I wouldn't actually do this, or allow it, at all. But that's a house rule, and I'm still looking at the RAW.)

 

[RigaMortus]

Practiced Spellcaster only raises your caster level at two specific times. Once when you get the feat and then whenever you gain a level.

At those times, Wild Magic has no effect on your caster level, so both do not mix in any way.

A pure Wizard/Wild Mage gains no benefit from learning Practiced Spellcaster.

Bye
Thanee

That's not what I've read...

Benefit: Your caster level for the chosen spellcasting class increases by 4. This benefit can't increase your caster level to higher than your Hit Dice.

Seems like it would work perfectly well for a Wild Mage...