Reply to thread

Message

<blockquote data-quote="FireLance" data-source="post: 3103226" data-attributes="member: 3424">Given:1. The various ways to avoid provoking an AOO or needing to make a Concentration check in the first place (the existence of 5-foot steps, the Shielded Caster feat from Races of Stone, the standard practice of vulnerable spellcasters to keep away from melee combat);2. The increase in resources required or reduction in effectiveness for casting a swift spell (Quickening a spell bumps it up four levels, swift versions of standard spells usually last for only 1 round); and3. The fact that it becomes increasingly easy to succeed at a Concentration check to cast a spell on the defensive (highest spell level goes up at the rate of 1 for 2 levels for primary spellcasters, Concentration modifiers could go up by 1 or more points per level), The ability to cast two spells per round without provoking an AOO or needing to make a Concentration check is not much more valuable than the ability to simply cast two spells per round. The additional advantage is non-trivial, but it is small. Perhaps it is simply down to the way that my group plays the game, but a spellcaster in our games usually has to make a Concentration check to cast a spell on the defensive less than once every four levels (and even then, the Concentration check usually succeeds).If you do not have a problem with a spellcaster casting two spells per round to begin with, objecting to a second swift spell on the basis that it can be cast without provoking an AOO or needing to make a Concentration check seems to me to making out the advantage to be larger than it actually is.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="FireLance, post: 3103226, member: 3424"] Given: 1. The various ways to avoid provoking an AOO or needing to make a Concentration check in the first place (the existence of 5-foot steps, the Shielded Caster feat from Races of Stone, the standard practice of vulnerable spellcasters to keep away from melee combat); 2. The increase in resources required or reduction in effectiveness for casting a swift spell (Quickening a spell bumps it up four levels, swift versions of standard spells usually last for only 1 round); and 3. The fact that it becomes increasingly easy to succeed at a Concentration check to cast a spell on the defensive (highest spell level goes up at the rate of 1 for 2 levels for primary spellcasters, Concentration modifiers could go up by 1 or more points per level), The ability to cast two spells per round without provoking an AOO or needing to make a Concentration check is not much more valuable than the ability to simply cast two spells per round. The additional advantage is non-trivial, but it is small. Perhaps it is simply down to the way that my group plays the game, but a spellcaster in our games usually has to make a Concentration check to cast a spell on the defensive less than once every four levels (and even then, the Concentration check usually succeeds). If you do not have a problem with a spellcaster casting two spells per round to begin with, objecting to a second swift spell on the basis that it can be cast without provoking an AOO or needing to make a Concentration check seems to me to making out the advantage to be larger than it actually is. [/QUOTE]

Verification