Early Ultimate Magus, Yes?

[Krafen]

Practised Spellcaster gives a bonus to spellcaster level that is limited by HD... I wouldn't allow it to stack with other improvements to spellcasterlevel if that increases the effective spellcasterlevel above the HD.

According to the FAQ, Practiced Spellcaster does stack with other improvements to caster level.

Does the bonus to caster level from the Practiced
Spellcaster feat (from Complete Arcane and Complete
Divine) apply before or after other caster level bonuses
(such as those from the Good or Healing domains)?

The bonus from Practiced Spellcaster applies whenever it
would be most beneficial to the caster. A 4th-level cleric/4thlevel
fighter with the Healing domain and Practiced Spellcaster
would cast Conjuration (Healing) spells as a 9th-level caster
(base caster level 4th, +4 from Practiced Spellcaster, +1 from
the Healing domain). A 4th-level cleric/4th-level rogue with
Practiced Spellcaster who activates a bead of karma (from a
strand of prayer beads) would cast her spells as a 12th-level
caster (base 4, +4 from Practiced Spellcaster, +4 from bead of
karma).

 

[Darklone]

According to the FAQ, Practiced Spellcaster does stack with other improvements to caster level.

Thanks for the FAQ anyhow...

I kinda guessed that but I said: I would not...

I guess I would have to think it through, but I guess I would use rule 0.

Luckily my players wouldn't ask me such things.

 

[rgard]

Dunno if you are aware, but this is the rules forum, not the "I think the designers didnt intend this, but totally forgot about all the feats in Complete Arcane, which is the total precursor book to this one" forum. I have not been to this other forum, but here in the rules forum, using legitimate feats to legitimately up your caster level or attack bonus, or any other optimization, has been the norm, not the exception.

Further, you may consider attempting to make Ultimate Magus playable, instead of uber-suck, to be BadWrongFun, but I'd prefer it, personally, if you didnt insult people and throw terms like "Rulemonkeys" around, in the rules forum. If you dont like the rules, or whatever, thats your thing, but dont insult others, IN the rules forum, for using the RAW.

Well, that FAQ supercedes the books so it goes beyond the 'designers didn't intend this.'

Thanks,
Rich

 

[Seeten]

Well, that FAQ supercedes the books so it goes beyond the 'designers didn't intend this.'

Thanks,
Rich

Is this meant as a rebuttal, or as support? I have no idea.

 

[Lonely Tylenol]

Sigh, when are people going to stop being such rulemonkeys? Practiced spellcaster clearly is only intended to boost your spell's effects when casting, to offset penalties when multiclassing. Simple and clear. Sure they could have worded it better, but that is no excuse to try to break the game in a hundred different ways, or argue endlessly that this orthat odd combination is 'RAW'. Should be 'RAM' --> Rules as Mangled

It is specifically the feat's ability to offset penalties due to multiclassing that causes the problem when combined with ultimate magus.

 

[Lonely Tylenol]

Thanks for the FAQ anyhow...

I kinda guessed that but I said: I would not...

I guess I would have to think it through, but I guess I would use rule 0.

Luckily my players wouldn't ask me such things.

Aside from this particular situation, I don't really see a problem with stacking Practiced Spellcaster and other caster level boosts. Why shouldn't someone who put one of his precious few feats into trying to mitigate his multiclassing drawbacks be able to benefit from the use of an orange prism ioun stone?

 

[EyeontheMountain]

Aside from this particular situation, I don't really see a problem with stacking Practiced Spellcaster and other caster level boosts. Why shouldn't someone who put one of his precious few feats into trying to mitigate his multiclassing drawbacks be able to benefit from the use of an orange prism ioun stone?

Ive got no problems withthat. Say you go to tenth level Ultimate Magus (without the practiced spellcaster trick), you are 11/11 in your two classes. Add on practiced spellcaster in both and you are 15/15 in CL, plus the +4 you get from Ultimate Magus itself and you get 19/19 at 15th level. That is pretty powerful.

And yes, that would be completely within the rules as I adjudicate them, and pretty powerful to boot. Add in an orange ioun stone, or a reserve feat on your major class of spells and don't worry about SR much at all (and rolld huge handfulls of dice) as you cast at 20th level or beyond.

So a middle-of-the -road Ultimnate Mgus build ends up two full spell level behind a straight caster, and 1/2 spell levels behind a Mystic Theurge, but gets a lot of versatility for their buck. I beleive it is a strong class, and one of the best balanced ones I have seen in a while. I particularly like that no matter how you enter normally, either 1/4 a or 2/3, you end up 11/11 at the end. With Warmage, Beguiler, Sorceror or even Dread Necromancer, plus varients of most of these, you get a strong spellcaster with a lot of flavor.