Spontaneous Casters and Heighten Spell

[Mistwell]

I'd like the opinions of some folks on how the Heighten Spell feat functions with spotaneously cast spells, with some variations based on some other feats and abilities. I'll start with the first three questions, in increasing levels of complexity.

Q1: How does it work when a spontaneous caster, like a sorceror, casts a spell with the Heighten Spell metamagic feat modifying it? Let's say you want to cast Lightening Bolt (a 3rd level spell) Heightened to 5th level. Do you just use a 5th level spell slot to cast the spell (as a full round action)? I assume the answer is yes.

Q2: Assume a Wizard has the Signature Spell feat linked to Lightening Bolt (which lets you spontaneously cast the spell), and Heighten Spell. How does it work when a Wizard using the Signature Spell feat wants to cast that spell modified by the Heighten Spell feat? Does it work just like it worked in Q1, in that you would use the 5th level spell slot to cast the spell as a full round action? I assume the answer is yes, same as Q1.

Q3: Assume a Wizard has the Signature Spell feat linked to Lightening Bolt (as in Q2), and Heighten Spell, and Earth Spell (from Races of Stone). Because Earth Spell is not commonly known, I'll repeat its benefits (it has many prerequisites which I shall not mention here):

As long as you are standing on stone or unworked earth (including normal soil), you can use the Heighten Spell feat to added effect. If you cast a spell using a spell slot one level higher than the spell's actual level, the spell is treated as a spell of two levels higher and your effective caster level is increased by one. If you use a spell slot two levels higher, the spell is treated as three levels higher and your effective caster level is increased by two, and so on. You cannot gain the benefit of this feat when casting a spell with the air, fire, or water descriptor.

How does it work when a Wizard using the Signature Spell feat, and having the Earth Spell feat and meeting it's qualifications (being on soil, casting a non-fire/air/water spell), wants to cast that Lightening Bolt spell modified by the Heighten Spell feat to be a level 5 spell? Does it work just like it worked in Q2, except you would use a 4th level spell slot to cast the spell, your caster level would be considered 1 level higher, and it would be a full round action? I assume the answer is yes, same as Q2 but with the modifications I mentioned.

I have another question, but I will save it for after I hear some opinions on these three questions.

 

[Thanee]

Q1: Yep.

Q2: Yep. Just as a cleric does with cure/inflict spells. Cross off any 5th level slot to convert into and cast the heightened Lightning Bolt.

Please note, that I don't think that this is really a reasonable use of Heighten Spell for a wizard.

Q3: Yep. You just add one spell level and one caster level on top of the standard spell.

Bye
Thanee

 

[Patryn of Elvenshae]

Q1: How does it work when a spontaneous caster, like a sorceror, casts a spell with the Heighten Spell metamagic feat modifying it? Let's say you want to cast Lightening Bolt (a 3rd level spell) Heightened to 5th level. Do you just use a 5th level spell slot to cast the spell (as a full round action)? I assume the answer is yes.

You're correct; the answer is yes.

Q2: Assume a Wizard has the Signature Spell feat linked to Lightening Bolt (which lets you spontaneously cast the spell), and Heighten Spell. How does it work when a Wizard using the Signature Spell feat wants to cast that spell modified by the Heighten Spell feat? Does it work just like it worked in Q1, in that you would use the 5th level spell slot to cast the spell as a full round action? I assume the answer is yes, same as Q1.

If I'm correct, Signature Spell doesn't let you spontaneously cast LB, it lets you convert a prepared spell into LB, right? Are there any restrictions on which spells can be converted?

In that case, I'd run it identically to the way cleric spontaneous conversions work, which - oddly enough - look an awful lot like the way sorceror spells work. So, yes, subject to whatever additional restrictions Signature Spell imposes.

How does it work when a Wizard using the Signature Spell feat, and having the Earth Spell feat and meeting it's qualifications (being on soil, casting a non-fire/air/water spell), wants to cast that Lightening Bolt spell modified by the Heighten Spell feat to be a level 5 spell?

Reading this, it appears that Earth Spell is identical to Heighten Spell, but with extra bonuses. In other words, Earth Spell includes within it Heighten Spell, making the two redundant.

LB:

Heighten 2 = 5th-level spell, 5th-level spell slot

Earth 1 = 5th-level spell, 4th-level spell slot, +1 CL

So, basically, yes - same as above, with mods.

 

[Thanee]

If I'm correct, Signature Spell doesn't let you spontaneously cast LB, it lets you convert a prepared spell into LB, right? Are there any restrictions on which spells can be converted?

Work exactly like the cleric ability, the description even says so.

Bye
Thanee

 

[Mistwell]

For reference, Signature Spell:

PreReq: Spell Mastery
Benefit: Choose one spell that you have mastered with the Spell Mastery feat as your signature spell. You may now convert prepared arcane spells of that spell's level or higher into your signature spell, just as a good cleric can spontaneously cast prepared spells as cure spells.

As for Earth Spell "includes within it Heighten Spell, making the two redundant", that's not quite correct. Heighten Spell is a prerequisite for Earth Spell (along with other pre-reqs such as Con 13, Wis 13, and another new feat called Earth Sense), and Earth Spell enhances your uses of the Heighten Spell feat. You can use Heighten Spell without Earth Spell, but you cannot use Earth Spell without Heighten Spell.

This combination I am asking questions about involves a very long feat chain. So far it's Spell Mastery, Signature Spell, Heighten Spell, Earth Sense, Earth Spell (and Con 13 and Wis 13, class must be Wizard).

 

[Patryn of Elvenshae]

As for Earth Spell "includes within it Heighten Spell, making the two redundant", that's not quite correct. ...

In other words, you'd never Heighten a spell when you could Earth it - which is what I was trying to get at.

 

[IcyCool]

Isn't Lightning Bolt an Air spell?

 

[Patryn of Elvenshae]

Isn't Lightning Bolt an Air spell?

Nope - it's Evocation [Electricity].

The fact that Chain Lightning happens to be on the Air domain list is immaterial.

 

[IcyCool]

Nope - it's Evocation [Electricity].

The fact that Chain Lightning happens to be on the Air domain list is immaterial.

Ah, I must've been going with the whole energy alignment thing:

Air - Electricity
Earth - Acid
Fire - Fire
Water - Cold

Bah!

 

[Mistwell]

Okay, on to the next questions.

Q4. This question does not use the spontaneous caster issue, but just Heighten Spell and Earth Spell. For this question it would be helpful to see the exact wording of the Heighten Spell feat:

A heightened spell has a higher spell level than normal (up to a maximum of 9th level). Unlike other metamagic feats, Heighten Spell actually increases the effective level of the spell that it modifies. All effects dependent on spell level (such as saving throw DCs and ability to penetrate a lesser globe of invulnerability) are calculated according to the heightened level. The heightened spell is as difficult to prepare and cast as a spell of its effective level. For example, a cleric could prepapre hold person as a 4th-level spell (instead of a 2nd-level spell), and it would in all ways be treated as a 4th-level spell.

Assume a 3rd level human Wizard with Heighten Spell, Earth Sense, and Earth Spell wants to cast Color Spray (a 1st level spell that is not an air, water, or fire spell) using her Earth Spell feat. She increases the spell slot to level 2, and the Earth Spell feat makes that spell "treated as a spell of two levels higher", so now it is treated as a 3rd level spell. Ordinarily, this 3rd level Wizard cannot cast a 3rd level spell. This wizard can do this with multiple spells, multiple times a day.

Does this Wizard qualify for prestige classes that require the ability to cast third level spells, given the Heighten Spell feat specifies that the spell is treated "in all ways" as the higher level spell?

I assume the answer is no, but I wanted to hear what other people think of this issue.