Splitting the Weave Metamagic Feat

[CuriousBard]

I have an idea for a Feat that allows a caster to cast two similar or separate spells at the same time. The benefit is being able to do things like hitting a target with Lightning while putting on Mage Armor. The concept is similar to the WoT books, although I don't have the game book and can't look to see if they have anything similar in there.

The limit is that the combined spell levels cannot exceed the maximum castable spell level for the caster (i.e. A wizard of 5th level cannot cast any two spells whose combined total levels is greater than 3). Also, casting requires a full-round action at least.

The cost to this I figured was to bump each spell up by 1 slot. So casting a 1st and 2nd level spell would burn up a 2nd and 3rd level slot at the same time. In a round about way, I base this off of the cost for a Quickened spell.

A 4th level spell that is Quickened would burn an 8th level slot. Using the formula similar to finding EL, you could say that 2 6th level slots are as important as 1 8th level slots. This means that two 4th level spells cast at the same time would cost 2 slot levels higher. So why only the 1 level bump? I figure Quickening a spell gives alot of freedom. You cast a spell as a free action and have a whole round to play with still. Whereas Splitting the Wave spells will use up your whole round and leave you with nothing but a 5ft step most likely.

Thoughts?

 

[CuriousBard]

*Shameless Bump*

Any feedback? I'm interested in if anyone thinks this is fair or unbalanced.

 

[Heretic Apostate]

Alternatively, it allows someone to get effectively Quicken Spell without having to do a four level jump in power. That means that a wizard can Quicken a spell that, after the bump in power, would normally be outside his ability to cast.

However, you might want to check out the Forgotten Realms campaign setting. There's a Metamagic Feat that lets wizards cast the same spell twice. I don't have the book with me right now, but that would be a good comparison in terms of power level.

 

[Magus_Jerel]

Twin Spell is the name of the feat in question. It is also in the wizard "class book" IIRC.

I would me more prone to suggesting the ability to cast two lower level spells out of the SAME slot as a possible power.

eg - I could cast fireball and dispel magic simultaneously as a full round action if I used a 7th level spell slot to do so (3 from fireball, 3 from dispel magic +1 for the feat)

This version of the feat is most useful for characters who don't have the ability score needed to cast the higher end of their spell progression.

 

[CuriousBard]

I'm familiar with the Twin spell Feat. A Wizard in the party was interested in being able to throw on a few defensive spells like Shield and Cat's Grace without spending the whole battle prepping. Twin spell wouldn't help him in this. So I was considering a Feat that would allow you to cast two different spells. It doesn't have the bump in slot levels that Quicken requires, but then it doesn't allow you to cast anything as a free action like Quicken does (which then leaves you with a whole round to cast, move, fight, run, whatever you want). Instead it did a smaller bump (which does effectively let you cast higher end spells) but doesn't leave you that liberty of having a whole round left to spend somehow. Instead it eats up the whole round.

I was also basing it off of the EL concept that you add 2 when doubling the strength. Assuming that were true, you could say that a single 7th level slot is as important as two 5th level slots. Now some may agree or disagree with this. It's a pretty relative statement. But if we use that formula....consider the following:

A quickened 3rd level spell requires a 7th level slot. Two Split-Weaved 3rd level spells should then cost two 5th level slots. So the bump of 2 slot levels might be more fair instead of just a 1 level adjustment. This is assuming the trade off between feats is fair:

Quicken lets you cast a spell for free and leaves you with a whole round to act. Split-Weave lets you cast augmented spells at lower levels but burns up the whole round.

Better?