Grim Tales Magic Question

[one-end]

I was hoping I could get some help on a couple questions I had concerning the Grim Tales magic system. Sorry if these have been asked before.

1. At what level can a player take the Magical Adept skill?

To me it reads as if a Smart character would need 5 levels in that class before they can take it as they need at least 3 levels of Smart befiore they can take and Advanced Talent. Is this correct?

2. If a character casts Fireball (a 3rd-level spell) successfully is the damage to whomever they cast the spell against 3d6 or is it 1d6 (as the character's caster level is 1).

Thanks in advance!

 

[Piratecat]

I know that Wulf is currently with his fiancee on a cruise. Of course, I think he might have just cruised through a hurricane, in which case I call dibs on his miniatures collection. If not, though, he'll be back in about a week. Whether or not other folks respond, you may want to bump this about then.

 

[Turanil]

1. At what level can a player take the Magical Adept skill?
To me it reads as if a Smart character would need 5 levels in that class before they can take it as they need at least 3 levels of Smart befiore they can take and Advanced Talent. Is this correct?

The question was asked already, so I know the answer of Wulf being: the Smart character can get it at 3rd level.

2. If a character casts Fireball (a 3rd-level spell) successfully is the damage to whomever they cast the spell against 3d6 or is it 1d6 (as the character's caster level is 1).

Damage is 1d6 I think. Personnally, I have houseruled that spell is cast at a level equal to nb of magical adept talents + spell level. As such, a fireball would be cast at least at 4th level.

 

[sinmissing]

1. At what level can a player take the Magical Adept skill?

Whenever they meet the prerequiste of 10 in Int, Wis, or Cha (based on whether you take the talent from you Smart, Dedicated, or Charismatic Class) and are at least 3rd level in that class.

2. If a character casts Fireball (a 3rd-level spell) successfully is the damage to whomever they cast the spell against 3d6 or is it 1d6 (as the character's caster level is 1).

1d6 per caster level, just like the spell description says. Note, caster level is 1 for each level of Improved Caster Level the caster has taken +1 from Magical Adept. So a character who has Magical Adept and Improved Caster Level (x3) has a total caster level of 4.
Since page 129 says, "Untrained characters have a caster level of zero," this makes the casting of any spells pointless. (A fireball would do no damage.) I'm guessing that the caster level is actually dependent on the result of the caster level check. ie 1d20 + Caster Level - 10 - Spell Level. So if your guy rolls a 16 when casting fireball, the effective caster level is 3.

 

[Fenris]

I know that Wulf addressed this in a previous post. I believe he said that any spell should take effect at it's minimum caster level. In other words a fireball will do 3d6 of damage regardless of caster level 0,1,2 or 3. Obviously at casterlevel 4 it does 4d6. What I can't recall is whether he said it would was a good guideline (ie a rule) or a house rule. But I know he agreed with the sentiment.

Edit: Aha, found it. From the GT Errata
"It has been recommended that all spells take effect at a minimum caster level equal to the level of the spell. Thus, a 1st level caster who manages to cast a 3rd level spell can still count on it taking effect at 3rd level."

So not set in stone, but recommended.

 

[one-end]

Thanks all. I could not find any previous posts, nor could I find errata on the subject.

Much appreciated.

Can anyone point me to the above mentioned posts?

 

[Old One]

Here is one...

Thanks all. I could not find any previous posts, nor could I find errata on the subject.

Much appreciated.

Can anyone point me to the above mentioned posts?

one-end,

Here is one of the posts in question. Although not set in stone, the suggestion is that the caster level be adjusted to the minimum caster level needed to cast the spell.

http://www.enworld.org/forums/showthread.php?t=101812

Obviously, if the actual caster level is higher (through additional feats) you would use that. I think the main rational here is that you take a spell burn die for each spell level, so a single higher level spell could potentially incapacitate a low-strength magical adept.

If you prime casting stat is +3, you cast a 5th level spell and roll a bunch of sixes and/or ones, you could be hurtin' !

~ Old One

 

[Wulf Ratbane]

one-end,

Here is one of the posts in question. Although not set in stone, the suggestion is that the caster level be adjusted to the minimum caster level needed to cast the spell.

http://www.enworld.org/forums/showthread.php?t=101812

Actually, my preference is that spells take effect at either actual caster level (gained thru Talents) or spell level, whichever is higher.

(If you follow my usual advice to throw out all of your D&D preconceptions of spellcasting, there's no such thing as "minimum caster level" you can back-reference.)

Wulf

 

[Old One]

Duh...

Actually, my preference is that spells take effect at either actual caster level (gained thru Talents) or spell level, whichever is higher.

(If you follow my usual advice to throw out all of your D&D preconceptions of spellcasting, there's no such thing as "minimum caster level" you can back-reference.)

Wulf

Wulf,

Oops...that is what I meant.

~ OO

 

[one-end]

The question was asked already, so I know the answer of Wulf being: the Smart character can get it at 3rd level.

I could not find the post where this had been asked. Not to question you on this Turanil I just want to double check that this is correct.

Wulf, I see your back. Can you confirm?