CapnZapp
Legend
I strongly feel "archmages" should be able to gain some or all of the following:
... metamagic
... multi concentration
... voiding other limitations
At the absolute minimum, all of these should be epic boons. But that's really scraping the bottom, and I would not be opposed to the game adding something like an Archmage prestige class which you could take as early as level ~13 or thereabouts, which looks something like this...
Five level prestige class
1. - (you just study for no immediate benefit)
2. Expertise in Arcana
3. Minor arcane secret
4. Minor arcane secret
5. Major arcane secret
You keep your spell progression (gaining spells), at all five levels.
You gain no new hit dice in this class, at any level.
Minor secret could be something involving a 1st level spell: ability to cast it at will, ability to concentrate on both that spell and another concentration spell, limited metamagic (perhaps "choose two metamagic options and gain 3 sorcer pts")
Major secret is hitting the gold mine, the reason you skip five hit dice (even if they're d6es).
If you absolutely insist Wizards should be nothing special, feel free to allow "any spellcaster capable of casting a level 7 spell" to enter this class. Myself, however, I have zero problems with at the very least setting a multiclass ability requirement of Intelligence, if I won't just go ahead and tell it how it is: "a wizard capable of casting a level 7 spell".
Note: since you need five levels, you can't pick every secret there is. Not unless you enter the class two or five times...
... metamagic
... multi concentration
... voiding other limitations
At the absolute minimum, all of these should be epic boons. But that's really scraping the bottom, and I would not be opposed to the game adding something like an Archmage prestige class which you could take as early as level ~13 or thereabouts, which looks something like this...
Five level prestige class
1. - (you just study for no immediate benefit)
2. Expertise in Arcana
3. Minor arcane secret
4. Minor arcane secret
5. Major arcane secret
You keep your spell progression (gaining spells), at all five levels.
You gain no new hit dice in this class, at any level.
Minor secret could be something involving a 1st level spell: ability to cast it at will, ability to concentrate on both that spell and another concentration spell, limited metamagic (perhaps "choose two metamagic options and gain 3 sorcer pts")
Major secret is hitting the gold mine, the reason you skip five hit dice (even if they're d6es).
If you absolutely insist Wizards should be nothing special, feel free to allow "any spellcaster capable of casting a level 7 spell" to enter this class. Myself, however, I have zero problems with at the very least setting a multiclass ability requirement of Intelligence, if I won't just go ahead and tell it how it is: "a wizard capable of casting a level 7 spell".
Note: since you need five levels, you can't pick every secret there is. Not unless you enter the class two or five times...