Greenfield
Adventurer
In our game we have a player character with a racial trait that grants a +1 Caster Level to spells with the Water descriptor (aquatic race).
The PC also has the Practiced Spellcaster feat, which allows the PC to count up to four levels in non-caster classes towards the Caster Level. That feat has a caveat, however: Your Caster Level can't exceed actual total levels.
The character is primarily a Cleric, with some fighter levels. 8th level total.
When casting Water spells, the player wants to call it Caster Level nine. He counts it as Practiced Spellcaster taking him to 8 (his hit dice) and the Racial trait taking him to nine.
One of the group reads that differently, saying that the PS limit tops him at his hit dice, period, and that if something else tries to increase beyond that then the bump from PS is reduced to keep it at that limit.
I don't generally like this guy's character, but it seems kind of cold to say, "You gave up the Human edge in feats and skills for this class feature, but we're not going to let you use it."
That sentiment, however, is independent of the actual rules.
How would you judge this one?
The PC also has the Practiced Spellcaster feat, which allows the PC to count up to four levels in non-caster classes towards the Caster Level. That feat has a caveat, however: Your Caster Level can't exceed actual total levels.
The character is primarily a Cleric, with some fighter levels. 8th level total.
When casting Water spells, the player wants to call it Caster Level nine. He counts it as Practiced Spellcaster taking him to 8 (his hit dice) and the Racial trait taking him to nine.
One of the group reads that differently, saying that the PS limit tops him at his hit dice, period, and that if something else tries to increase beyond that then the bump from PS is reduced to keep it at that limit.
I don't generally like this guy's character, but it seems kind of cold to say, "You gave up the Human edge in feats and skills for this class feature, but we're not going to let you use it."
That sentiment, however, is independent of the actual rules.
How would you judge this one?