Prestige Classes and familiars

[Morgenstern]

You could willingly give up a school or two, like a specialist...

 

[Mordane76]

BVB: I think this would be kosher, as long as the advancement for the familiar was from the level the feat was taken (plus the next two levels), and didn't have the possibilty of being taken late and applied retroactively to the familiar.


Morgenstern: I like this idea even less than a flat XP penalty. All one has to do is toss out Divination and Necromancy, and what has one really lost? Unless one actually is an investigative character or a necromancer type, this is an easy bypass. If you throw out those two schools, you end up with a good familiar, PrC abilities, and all the good blast, buff, and hold spells still intact.

I might do this, if the requirement was three schools. Then, a character could still throw out Necro and Div, but would then have to choose one of the more important schools (Trans, Ench, Evo) as well. Or, as another option, if the caster had to give up one of Divination or Necromancy, and one of the Big Three, then I might be satisified.

I'm just so demanding...

 

[BVB]

In support of the expenditure of a feat, I'd point to an issue of Dragon magazine which had an article focusing on familiars. It included new feats -- changing your familiar to a token, for example, and gaining additional familiars. Each of those feats would seem to be of the same general value and balance as a three-level progression feat mentioned here. A feat-for-three-future-levels trade would also seem to be one of the easiest mechanics to deal with -- I always believe the less complicated a solution, the better.

Unfortunately, I don't remember the issue number. Sorry.

 

[Morgenstern]

Wow... Are people really finding divination to be a complete throw away category of spells? And necromany doesn't have anything to tickle your fancy?

I'd heard that peole didn't think much of wizards beyond blast and buff, but I had hoped DMs where writing adventures where at least Divination was a potent tool... .

 

[Jalkain]

Wow... Are people really finding divination to be a complete throw away category of spells? And necromany doesn't have anything to tickle your fancy?

I'd heard that peole didn't think much of wizards beyond blast and buff, but I had hoped DMs where writing adventures where at least Divination was a potent tool... .

Well, that's only one person's view. My wizard has more Dviination spells than Evocation, and he isn't a diviner. Now that Transmutation isn't the must-have school it used to be, I'd say that Divination is probably the only school I really couldn't bear to give up. Conjuration comes close, seeing as it's got all the Teleport spells now. Abjuration too, if only for Dispel Magic.

If I were a DM, I'd probably let a 3.5 specialist wizard give up Divination as one of their two barred schools, if they really wanted to. Give 'em enough rope to hang themselves I say...

 

[Mordane76]

If I were a DM, I'd probably let a 3.5 specialist wizard give up Divination as one of their two barred schools, if they really wanted to. Give 'em enough rope to hang themselves I say...

Really? I'm fence-posting on this right now.

Jalkain:I can see where WotC is coming from (obviously, because I also feel that Divination is of fairly limited usage in the scope of standard D&D play), but I also think that things need to be more even -- why should Diviners get out of losing two schools? Why should other wizards HAVE to keep Divination?

BVB: I remember that issue of Dragon. It was #280 -- the only one of those feats I wouldn't allow as the Extra Familiar feat; I think Construct and Undead familiar are borderline, but more or less kosher. With the 3.5 revision, though, these two familiar types (especially the Construct) might be a good bit more powerful, and I might have to reconsider that ruling.