Is the Spell Addict from "Plot & Poison" too powerful?

[Waylander the Slayer]

A player of mine wants to pick up this prestige class. I have serious concerns with it since it gives the character advanced spell progression (+1 lvl, +2 lvl, +1 lvl, +2 lvl, +1 lvl) at the cost of loosing the spell on a failed concentration check, plus a D2 hit dice and almost no skill points and poor saving throw progression.

My biggest concern is abuse of the improved progression when it comes to item creation and noncombat casting.Please let me know what you guys think.

 

[Crothian]

That's some serious spell power. And with magic many things can be over come. Is this for a wizard/sorcer, cleric or bard? All all the saves bad progression, and what do you mean by almost no skill points? What is the failed concentration check mean? Do they have to make it for each spell and how tough is the check?

 

[Waylander the Slayer]

Requirements

Align: Any Chaotic
concentration: 8 ranks
knowledge arcana: 5 ranks
spellcraft: 5 ranks
Feats: Skill focus- spellcraft, skill focus knowledge arcana

skillpoints: 1+ int mod
skills: concentration, knowledge aracana, scry, spell craft.

lvl spellcasting
1 0 0 0 0 +2 lvl
2 1 0 0 0 +1 lvl
3 1 1 1 1 +2 lvl
4 2 1 1 1 +1 lvl
5 2 1 1 1 +2 lvl

abilites:

1. Wild casting:
everytime a spell is cast, make concentration check dc12+ 2*spell level or loose spell. if check is failed by 5 or more take 10 points of damage.

2. crippling casting: cast spell even if the above check is failed by taking damage equal to spell level

3. engorged spell: make spells more difficult to dispel by sacrificing other spells higher than cast spell ( increase dc by 2 for each level sacrficed spell was higher).
4. bonus feat
5. Power casting: sacrfice a spell of equal or higher level when wild casting check is failed to sucessfully cast spell.

 

[Darklone]

It's sick and broken. Downgrading a d4 to d2 does nothing to a player with con 20 and toad familiar

Same for the concentration checks. You simply need high con and the flaws of the class is non existant.

 

[Waylander the Slayer]

funny you should mention that since the PC is question has a 20 Con (half orc). My biggest concern is the non combat scenario with this PC, especially regarding item creation feats; The character can keep trying until a spell succeeds.

 

[Sniktch]

There were a couple of things in Plot & Poison that gave me pause, and that I will not offer to my players as options (although I may use for a unique NPC here and there). The Spell Addict was one of these - I doubt I'll let my players near this one...

 

[Crothian]

Well, first of all never allow him to creat a an item that gives him a bonus to concentration checks. I'd also want to have nat 1's fail on skill checks automatically. I think the DC on the checks should be a bit higher, and the class should be harder to get into.

 

[drnuncheon]

I'll let you know in a few weeks, after my players encounter one.

I think it's definitely on the edge. The NPC I converted to the class wasn't too bad because he wasn't made to maximize its potential (and he was an elf, making the Con problem a little less thorny)

On the other hand, the hit on saving throws makes them especially vulnerable to all manner of things. I predict that most characters with this class will be the proverbial eggshells armed with hammers - they will hit hard and go down easy.

Consider a Wiz5/SA5. He can cast 7th-level spells, sure, but he can have a max of 13 ranks in concentration, and say +4 from Con due to good stats and/or an amulet or something. His Concentration DC for casting that spell is a 26, meaning he needs to roll a 9 or better to cast it.

Think about that. When he uses a 7th level spell, it's almost like every target has SR 22. He's going to lose almost half of his 7th level spells. Or he can take 7 points of damage - but on average he's only got 60 hp, so he can't afford to keep that up for long. His Reflex save is a miserable +2, his Fort save is not much better, and he's even going to have trouble resisting enchantments and other Will-based effects.

I wouldn't worry about items. The earliest you can get into the class is 5th level, by which time most of the item feats are available to you already. You'll be able to get Craft Ring a whopping 2 levels early, it's true, but I don't think that will kill anything.

J

 

[Psion]

From my review:

"The spell addict is a conceptually edgy concept. It is a short (5 level) class that gains not one but two spellcasting levels at some class levels, and one at even levels, giving the class a faster than normal spellcasting advancement. However, the spell addict has a class ability that makes their spellcasting dangerous to the addict. I find this conceptually iffy, as gaining three extra spellcasting levels is far too profound a boon to be compensated for by a weakness that can be minimized by maxing out the characters concetration bonus. The concept could possibly work if the character received other benefits (such as effective casting level of spells and DC) instead of true spellcasting levels. "

So in answer to the title question, I think so.

 

[megamania]

Several things in that book seem "over the top" and I have decided to keep that book as a NPC Drow villian ONLY book.