Item Familiar Question

[Doc_Klueless]

My Community Supporter account expired (I just paid for renewal) so I can't search at the moment, so be patient if this has been answered already:

On page 171 of the Unearthed Arcana by WotC, in the Item Familiars section, it states that, if your character invest one slot of her highest spell level that she can cast, that a bonus slot two spell levels lower is gained.

My question is: why would you want to sacrifice your highest spell slot for one two levels lower? The only reason I can think of is that she doesn't lose access to the highest spell slot as long as she retains her item familiar (she can still cast that spell using that slot) AND gains the bonus slot two spell levels lower. Is this correct? Or do she lose the ability to cast that highest spell slot because it is "replaced" by the new bonus slot two spell levels lower?

 

[Kaleon Moonshae]

The way I understood it, and I could be wrong (been a rash of that lately I think), she still retains the old spell slow as long as she has the familiar. Basically it is a case of getting something for nothing as long as you retain your item, but it means that if it is stolen or destroyed it's going to hurt you bad. I like the idea.

 

[Doc_Klueless]

Cool. That's what I thought.

 

[Pax]

Yeah; "Invest" != "sacrifice" ... so if you move one of your highest-level spells-per-day slots into the item, the item *also* gives you the described bonus slot. ^_^ Note, that's also, not instead. ^_^