New Spell Feat - (Name TBD) - feedback?

[fba827]

Brief background:
Per player request, I need to develop a feat (maybe two?) that would represent a casters supreme focus on a specific spell (not on a specific school, but, on a spell itself). I was preparing my proposal but thought I would gather some outside opinions (if any) first ...


Name: To Be Determined
Prerequisites: Spell Mastery

Option 1 --
Benefit: When choosing this feat, you choose a specific spell for which you currently have Spell Mastery. Once chosen, the selected spell can not be changed. The DC for saves against the chosen spell is increased by +4. This bonus stacks with any Spell Focus or other DC bonuses.
Special: You may take this feat multiple times. Each time you must, however, choose a new spell for which you have Spell mastery.

Option 2 --
Benefit: When choosing this feat, you choose a specific spell for which you currently have Spell Mastery. Once chosen, the selected spell can not be changed. The DC for saves against the chosen spell is increased by +2. This DC bonus stacks with Spell Focus and other DC bonuses. Additionally, any metamagic spell-level penalty is reduced by one. Thus, a Maximized magic missle would only be two spell levels higher rather than the standard three if the caster had this feat applied to his magic missles. If more than one metamagic feat is applied to the spell, the level penalty reduction is based upon the end level penalty, the level penalty is not removed from each metamagic feat. If there is no change in net spell level, then there is no penalty for this aspect of the benefit to remove.
Special: You may take this feat multiple times. Each time you must, however, choose a new spell for which you have Spell mastery.

Option 3 --
Benefit: When choosing this feat, you choose a specific spell for which you currently have Spell Mastery. Once chosen, the selected spell can not be changed. You are considered one level higher for the purposes of detrmining the spell's level-dependant effects. Additionally, the DC for saves versus the chosen spell are increased by +1.
Special: You may take this feat multiple times. Each time you must, however, choose a new spell for which you have Spell mastery.

Option 4 --
Benefit: When choosing this feat, you choose a specific spell for which you currently have Spell Mastery. Once chosen, the selected spell can not be changed. You are considered one level higher for the purposes of detrmining the spell's level-dependant effects. Additionally, the DC for saves versus the chosen spell are increased by +1.
Special: You may take this feat multiple times. Each time you must, however, choose a new spell for which you have Spell mastery.



Which of these options sounds better?

Are there other options that might work instead? (ie other feats that might represent superior mastery over a specific, single, spell) - remember, the goal here is to represent what a caster would be able to gain from extreme study of a spell (new tricks he can do with it).

Any suggestions to improve the above feats?

Maybe I can change two of them around and offer two of them rather than just making this a one feat thing ?

I'm open to constructive criticism ...

Option 1 obviously bumps up the DC a great deal but would not offer much benefit if the spell did not require a save . Option 2 has more variety than simply stacking on numbers and instead reduces a penalty. Option 3 seems a little bland too but would offer benefit to those spells that did not rely on DC so much as level effects.

I came up with the +4 and no other bonus in option 1 because if you can take Spell focus on an entire school and gain +2, it only seemed logical than gaining benefit to a speicifc single spell outta be more. I must admit that staring at the "+4" seems like a lot so I keep thinking I should reduce it to +2 but then I keep going back to the concept that +2 is the same bonus for an entire school and has no prerequisites.

Other things I was trying to keep in mind included: how this would work with Spell Focus (yes, I would let the DC bonuses stack), and how it would interact with Signature Spell (from the FRCS) because that feat allows the chosen spell to be used over and over ....

Finally, suggestions for a name? Worse case scenario, I am going to be looking up synonyms for Spell Mastery ;-)

TIA!!

 

[gamecat]

Name it something to the effect of "Spell Specialization" or something similar. I like the concept that it is only open to wizards, kinda like weapon specialization & fighters.

 

[Crothian]

Option 3 and 4 appear to be the same. At any rate this is the option I'd take. If you just up the DC then it's only good for attack spells. You want something that will be good for all spells.

 

[Magus_Jerel]

There is another - already existing option - I think it is from FRCS

Signature Spell:
Prereq - Spell mastery of the chosen spell.
Benefit: When you take this feat, you choos one spell that you have also taken Spell Mastery on. You may spontaneously cast the given spell by dropping any other spell slot of equal or higher level - in the same fashion that clerics may spontaneously cast cure spells.

 

[Crothian]

There is another - already existing option - I think it is from FRCS

Signature Spell:
Prereq - Spell mastery of the chosen spell.
Benefit: When you take this feat, you choos one spell that you have also taken Spell Mastery on. You may spontaneously cast the given spell by dropping any other spell slot of equal or higher level - in the same fashion that clerics may spontaneously cast cure spells.

He pointed that out in the original post. He wants this feat in addition to that. One of his concerns involved that feat, because it allows casting of the same spell multiple times at an easier rate.

 

[Vhane]

I REALLY like option 2, BUT its meaty if you added the Signiture Spell feat from magic of Faerun to the prereq list I think you have a winner. Why not take it repeatedly with the same spell using option 2? 4 times reduce the meta penalty by 4, your mage is very much a One Gun kinda guy, you've forgotten more about Fireball than other mages will ever know. To bad for you it can still be counterspelled even with 13 levels of meta-magic plug-ins.

 

[fba827]

Option 3 and 4 appear to be the same. At any rate this is the option I'd take. If you just up the DC then it's only good for attack spells. You want something that will be good for all spells.

Doh!

I was going to make #4 almost the same as #3 so I copy and pasted it.. course, my low brain functions seemed to forget to change the few words that needed changing ;-)

Option #4 is supposed to say ...

Option 4 --
Benefit: When choosing this feat, you choose a specific spell for which you currently have Spell Mastery. Once chosen, the selected spell can not be changed. You are considered one level higher for the purposes of detrmining the spell's level-dependant effects. Additionally, the DC for dispelling the spell are increased by +1.
Special: You may take this feat multiple times. Each time you must, however, choose a new spell for which you have Spell mastery.

 

[green slime]

I really, really like your ideas... Except for option #1...I feel that is too powerful. It is too easy to get an enormously high DC as the rules are already.

How about having three feats, which you can take seperately, each for the options 2, 3, and 4, each being applicable to the same single spell?

So feat 1 (option 2)

Superior Spell Mastery

Prerequisites: Spell Mastery, Signature Spell

Benefit: When choosing this feat, you choose a specific spell for which you currently have Spell Mastery.

Once chosen, the selected spell can not be changed. The DC for saves against the chosen spell is increased by +1. This DC bonus stacks with Spell Focus and other DC bonuses.

Additionally, any metamagic spell-level penalty is reduced by one. Thus, a Maximized magic missle would only be two spell levels higher rather than the standard three if the caster had this feat applied to his magic missles. If more than one metamagic feat is applied to the spell, the level penalty reduction is based upon the end level penalty, the level penalty is not removed from each metamagic feat. If there is no change in net spell level, then there is no penalty for this aspect of the benefit to remove.

Special: You may take this feat multiple times. Each time you must, however, choose a new spell for which you have Spell mastery.

Arcane Understanding

Prerequisites: Spell Mastery, Specialist in the school of the spell

Benefit: When choosing this feat, you choose a specific spell for which you currently have Spell Mastery.

Once chosen, the selected spell can not be changed. You are considered one level higher for the purposes of determining the spell's level-dependant effects.

Additionally, the DC for saves versus the chosen spell are increased by +1.

Special: You may take this feat multiple times. Each time you must, however, choose a new spell for which you have Spell mastery.

Mystical Knowledge

Prerequisites: Spell Mastery, Knowledge (Arcana) 10 ranks

Benefit: When choosing this feat, you choose a specific spell for which you currently have Spell Mastery. Once chosen, the selected spell can not be changed.

You are considered one level higher for the purposes of determining the spell's level-dependant effects.

Additionally, the DC for saves versus the chosen spell are increased by +1.

Special: You may take this feat multiple times. Each time you must, however, choose a new spell for which you have Spell mastery.

I'm a bit worried about adding the DC's altogether, as what with the high Int, Spell Focus, and prestige classes, spell DCs exceeding 28 are already possible by 9th-10th level. This is VERY high.

 

[Limper]

Very high, yet counterspellable. At the cost of around 5 feats all spent on one spell. High DC for a high cost, nothing to worry about that I can see.

Now add 3 levels of the Mystic Prestige class and Maybe some Archmage (Faerun), then its powerful.