Spellfire Wielder feat - usable?

[Tewligan]

So, there I am, flipping through my new Magic of Faerun book, when I come across the Spellfire Wielder feat. If I had been drinking something when I flipped back to the spellfire section to check the specifics of the feat, I would have Danny Kayed all over my nice new book. Sweet mother of crap, is that right?! That seems pretty powerful for ANY feat, let alone one that you get at first level. Anyway, has anyone used this in a game, and found it not as powerful as it seems to me? It just seems to be open to plenty of abuse, with other spellcasting characters dumping their unused spells into their chum to convert into healing or shooty magic as needed.

 

[Renshai]

Spellfire is a very powerful Feat/Ability. It HAS to be subject to the DM's approval (as listed in the Feat Description). I have not allowed the feat yet, but that is because I think that an entire campaign could be written around it and the character that has it.

It really shouldn't be judged in comparison to other feats....

Ren

 

[MythandLore]

My group have used the feat and it was fine, it is really good for what it is though.

2 things you could do to weaken it are:

Make it cost 2 feats.

or

A character with Spellfire wielder feat can only "discharge" levels of spellfire in a single round equal to her positive constitution modifier plus her character level.
So a 3rd (3) level character with 16 (+3) constitution can only fire a 6d6 Spellfire bolt or heal 12 hp with Spellfire in a single round even if she has 16 levels of Spellfire stored up or a 1st level character with 10 constitution can only fire a 1d6 bolt even is she had 10 levels of Spellfire stored.

Ether of these will DE-power 'Spellfire wielder' enough to make it work fine in any game.

And remember that girl from the books was not a 'Spellfire wielder' she was a 'Spellfire channeller' which is a PrC from the book, that is what gives you the really good powers.
So there really isn't a reason for someone to be chasing the party just because someone in it has the power, if you use the feat in your game it means there should be lots of people with that power.

 

[Darklone]

Hmm

More things to balance spellfire: Don't allow to "refuel" the spellfire wielder with spare spells from the groups sorcerer before the night. Probably let him make saves against the amount of spellfire levels he keeps or he will lose some of them (probably hurting him). As I understood you can only neutralize enemy spells aimed at you with a readied action. Does not help against a fireballs area effect IMHO. So it's not that easy to refuel (except the groups sorcerer... )

 

[UD]

The fact that you have to reserve an action to absorb spells helps some... but not much. I dont allow it for PC's in my FR campaign.

 

[DungeonKeeperUK]

Personally I probably wouldnt aloow this either, but remember.. "Whats good for the goose is good for the wombat", or something like that..
If your players have it they can expect to come across others useing it....

 

[Garmorn]

It is not over powered

One of our players used it and was almost worthless because of it.

She could do more damage with a longbow. Expecialy when ever we met a spell caster she would spend half the battle doing nothing because she was readied to asborb spells cast at her. The only nice thing about it was the healing.

 

[Jezrael]

If you play your villains intelligently then it's actually not too much of a problem, and it's pretty much useless against the most popular spell for just about any mid level wizard, you don't have to target a person with fireball just drop it at their feet. In addition if they go for the Spellfire Channeler PrC then they're sacrficing levels that could go towards levels in a class that can be useful in more situations. Spellfire is pretty much a one trick pony, once the bad guys figure out the trick it's a simple matter to just sap the weilder in the back of the head instead of having mages go toe to toe with them all the time (pretty much the only reason the Spellfire chick from the books is still alive, "Ooh I'm an evil mage pursuing this chick that absorbs magic...maybe it won't work this time!, Well that and the fact that she used her boyfriend as a charging station.). Course YMMV, but it was never really a problem when we used it.

 

[Darklone]

Like I said

Forget the absorbing spells from opponents. Simply use a spellcaster in the group as refueling station and whack away or heal. That makes it quite useful if fighters got a feat too much.

 

[ruleslawyer]

It's good, but it's also meant to be a plot device as much as a character ability. It's expected that a spellfire wielder will be the target of attempts by various groups to either capture the secret of her spellfire, or erase the wielder from existence entirely.

In general, spellfire is a quirky, chaotic concept that is an odd fit with the game-balance priorities of 3e and therefore gets called "broken" or "munchkin" by some of our compatriots on these boards. However, spellfire really is about how you DM it. If your game revolves around carefully-balanced challenges that would be shattered by the once-in-a-blue-moon 18d6 attack that is possible from a spellfire wielder, then don't let the feat into your game. If you're OK with building this kind of random element into your game, and making it an actual part of the RP and combat challenge of your campaign, then include it!

Oh, and yes: the biggest design flaw w.r.t. spellfire is that the best use of the ability isn't to absorb hostile magic, but to be "charged up" by friendly party spellcasters during a rest period. I haven't figured out a solution to this one; suggestions are welcome!