Highest possible ratio of caster level to effective char level?

[Brother MacLaren]

Because to a certain mindset, Lawful == oppression and Chaotic == freedom. Hence, Lawful Evil seems more menacing than Chaotic Evil.

Eh, to us Basic D&D players, Chaotic is more likely to be evil and Lawful is more likely to be good (a few exceptions existed IIRC).

 

[FireLance]

Eh, to us Basic D&D players, Chaotic is more likely to be evil and Lawful is more likely to be good (a few exceptions existed IIRC).

Indeed. Nonetheless, there is no denying that there are people who tend to associate Lawful more with Evil, and Chaotic more with Good.

 

[blargney the second]

Don't forget Pious Spellsurge for CD! It adds 1d6 to caster level.

 

[Arc]

If you can argue well with your DM, then there's an even better solution. The big problem is the interpretation of whether a staff requires a "class feature" aka. having a spell on a spell list. If you consider a spell list a class feature, and can slip this by your DM without a lot of detailed scrutiny (and therefor individual interpretations) then enjoy the ride:

Artificer 13+ or Rogue 10+ or Exemplar 1+ (for Skill master of UMD) = the ability to take 10 on a UMD check
Max ranks in Use Magic Device = 23
+30 competence item of Use Magic Device (or a Rod of Mimicry, if you can't get custom items) = 30 (or 10)
Skill Focus: Use Magic Device = 3
Charisma (we'll call it a 30 or so, difficult but not impossible by 20th level) = 10
1 level of Marshal for Motivate Charisma = 10

This is all before the bevy of cheesy items, feats and races/templates that add to charisma and skill checks). Given enough effort, total bonuses upwards of 70 or 80 are more than possible.

So far, we have a bonus of +56 on Use Magic Device checks, assuming the custom items get shot down. If you can get custom items, have as many that give bonuses to UMD as possible. Then look at the artificer infusion Item Alteration.

Now, assuming you take 10 on the check (Skill Mastery), that's a 66 total.

Next, look at the fine print of Use Magic Device:

Emulate a Class Feature: Sometimes you need to use a class feature to activate a magic item. In this case, your effective level in the emulated class equals your Use Magic Device check result minus 20. This skill does not let you actually use the class feature of another class. It just lets you activate items as if you had that class feature. If the class whose feature you are emulating has an alignment requirement, you must meet it, either honestly or by emulating an appropriate alignment with a separate Use Magic Device check (see above).

Remembering that we're saying a spell list is a "class feature", this gives a caster level of 46. Get a staff of Holy Word or Blasphemy (remember, UMD can also emulate alignments), and let the carnage begin. Say goodbye to anything with 36 or less hit dice (It's just a shame that the Tarrasque has 48)

Disclaimer: This is based on a hazy rules interpretation. It's open to argument. However, the argument is plausible enough that some DM's might allow it (if they didn't think about the ramifications first). Yours might not. I take no responsibility for injuries caused by dice hurled across the table upon unveiling this monstrosity.

 

[John Q. Mayhem]

Don't forget Pious Spellsurge for CD! It adds 1d6 to caster level.

IIRC, that (and all the [faith] feats) are listed as a variant rule, so they're not necessarily usable.

 

[moritheil]

I see a lot of neat builds to a staggeringly high level at 20, which are really cool. However, I'm curious as to what some builds would look like along the way. I mean, if played from level 1, would such builds suffer from sub-optimal power until the "mother lode" of Holy Word (or the "mother lode" of level 20)?

Along these lines, I'm curious as to whether or not a build can be made such that Holy Word is abuseable right off the bat when you get it. At level 13, clerics get Holy Word. Is it possible, then and there, to already have built up to at least +11 to CL so that you can kill things with more HD than you right when you get the spell? (Including items.)

 

[moritheil]

No one has any juicy ideas not related to being level 20 already?

 

[Jack Simth]

Well, let's see.... at minimum to cast, Herophant is out (can't afford to lose the spell progression) as are most prestige classes (Loremaster can still work, but it doesn't really help, as it doesn't give any bonus caster level). An Orange Prisim Ioun stone gives +1 (30,000 gp), a bead of Karma gives +4 caster level, once per day, for 10 minutes a day, at roughly 20,000 gp (+5 total so far), several castings of Death Knell (Clr 2 / Death 2 - you can fit a lot of them in - probably 6, if you stretch a little and have a high Wis) on prepared sacrifices (chickens, maybe? Captured lvl-1 kobolds?) you can manage that +11 for a bit under 10 minutes. Of course, going that route, you can't use Holy Word....

 

[Taren Seeker]

Let's see:
Cleric 15/Hierophant 5 with 5 x Spell Power (25)
Good Domain +1 (26)
Prayer Bead of Karma +4 (30)
Orange Ioun Stone +1 (31)
Divine Spell Power (Complete Divine) and a really good roll +4 (35)

Caster level 35 for Holy Word at 20th character level. What have I missed?

Add to that Hymn of Praise from CA and Inspire Spellpower from Races of stone...that's 4 more. Candle of Invocation for another 2.

41 and counting...

 

[RigaMortus2]

The Sage also addressed the Wild Mage/Practised Spellcaster interaction. Since the bonus from Practised Spellcaster is applied where it is most useful, this typically means that a wild mage subtracts 3 from her caster level, adds 1d6, and then increases her caster level by 4 for Practised Spellcaster, up to a maximum equal to her character level.

Uh, wouldn't "the most useful" one be that the 4 from PS is applied after the -3 from Wild Mage and before the +1d6 to caster level roll is made?