Marshall said:
Then why isn't Extra Slot taken?
Its useful, but the extra +2 STAT isnt likely to come into play often enough to matter.
Extra Slot isn't often taken for several reasons:
1. It always grants you a low-level spell slot (it can't give you a spell slot at your highest castable level).
2. It doesn't scale. If, at 6th level, you take extra slot and can cast another 2nd level spell, at 20th level, you'll have a feat that gives you an extra 2nd level spell.
Spellcasting Prodigy doesn't suffer from either limitation at high levels. Without an 18 (or better) casting stat, it doesn't do anything at first level, but a lot of builds can stand a wasted feat for a while. I've seen highly effective 14th level characters who have toughness (a wasted feat after third level or so) so, you can quite clearly be powerful and effective even without a full complement of feats. I've also seen effective characters with Combat Casting. Combat Casting contributes very little to their effectiveness but they do have it so, once again, perfectly optimized feats aren't necessary for a character to be viable.
I have no problem with my character being "viable" for several levels and before becoming "perfectly optimized."
You need an 18 stat at 1st level to get ANY benefit from the feat.
Or an 11. It's possible that a multiclass caster (who will not focus on spellcasting) in a low-stat game might select Spellcasting Prodigy in order to have ANY bonus spells.
I've considered the feat to give a 25 point buy paladin some spellcasting ability.
At 3rd you need a 20 - Possible if you had that 18 at first and found a +2 item.
Also possible if you are a race with a +2 caster stat bonus--Grey Elf in Greyhawk, or Ardakene in Arcanis for instance.
Again, you also benefit from it as a 3rd level caster if you've a 12 wis.
At 5th you need a 22 - +1 for fourth and a +2 item isnt going to cut it.
But the +2 item, an 18 starting stat, and a bonus race will do it.
Alternatively, a 14 starting stat benefits from it at 5th level. This is not unusual for low-point buy multiclass casters.
At 7th you need a 24 - likely got a +4 here and at 8th youll up your stat to get the ad outta it
Again, it's possible with a +2 race and a +2 item as well as the 8th level statbump.
The 14 stat character also benefits here since two stat bumps bring the character to 16 and spellcasting prodigy brings it to 18.
At 9th you need a 26 - gotta have that +6 item now
Or the +2 race. But that's boring.
What's interesting is that the 14 stat caster can pretty reliably have a +2 item by now. Total stat=20 (14+2 lvl+2 item+2 feat)
At 11+ you're stuck, you cant keep your stat up to the point where you have an advantage from the feat in your highest level slot.
Actually, the 14 starting stat character can keep on benefitting from the feat.
11. +4 item, +2 lvl, +2 feat=22 stat
13. +6 item, +3 lvl, +2 feat=25 stat
16. +6 item, +4 lvl, +2 feat=27 stat
At 17, a +1 inherent bonus would have the feat giving a bonus 9th level slot (as well as a bonus 4th level slot)
At 20, no inherent bonus is required (but obviously inherent bonusses are harder than usual to come by in a campaign where that is relevant).
What roleplaying? If you want to play a prodigy, play a prodigy. This feat has nothing to do with being a prodigy, and shouldnt have the "must take at 1st level" tag. Rename it Extra Spells, drop the tag, and then come back with a REAL ScP feat.
+1 CL, +1 to all DC's, Cast a spell in a lower slot, SOMETHING that actually resembles a PRODIGY.
Actually, I think the above analysis demonstrates that the feat does actually do a lot of good for a spellcaster with a middling to weak primary spellcasting stat--it enables him to perform as well as most characters that start with a significantly above average casting stat. It might be reasonable to call that a prodigy since the character doesn't otherwise have the capacity to support his spellcasting ability.
