Caster Level and Spells

[Grog]

Ok,

Working on another prestige class.

The prestige class has a separate spell list from the base class. The prestige classes spells are determined by adding the base caster level to the prestige class caster level. The character is an ex-member. The character loses all of the spell casting ability from the old class.

Was: Druid 6
Is: Prestige Class 2

Character receives 0 druid spells, and uses the prestige class' 8th level spell list.

I used this to set the caster level to the combined value:

hero.childfound[cHelpBgh].field[cCasterLev].value += 
hero.childfound[cHelpDrd].field[cCasterLev].value

After some tinkering with the timing, caster level appears as 8 on the prestige class' tab. However, the spells to memorize always only shows the 2 levels worth of prestige class.

Are spells are determined by the class level, not the caster level? (Causing my update to accomplishing nothing.) Or can some other timing edit resolve this?

Any ideas on the best way to tackle this? Personally, I think the definition for this particular 3.5 prestige class is kind of janky. I'm almost at the point of personalizing it and redoing the spells the way I see fit. The problem is what to do with the old class levels that were in Druid.... But that is a game balance issue more than a code question for y'all.

Totally off-topic: It is funny how inputting these classes into Hero Lab has exposed so many typos in the source material from 3.5. In this prestige class alone, I found duplicated spells, missing spells, spells at the wrong level, etc.

[Mathias]

cMagicLev is the magic level of a class, which is what prestige classes like Elditch Knight add to, and what determines the spells you have access to.

cCasterLev is the caster level - that starts at cMagicLev, but can be modified. It's used for the vs. spell resistance and concentration checks.

So, change your script to use cMagicLev, rather than cCasterLev.

Timing: Level/10500 - that's between cMagicLev's calculation (so you can look up the druid's level) and cCasterLev's calculation (so this change affects the caster level, too).

I've found HL to be a great editing tool for RPGs - it forces you to study the rules text and the rules interactions of what you're writing (now we just need to get some companies to work with us during the editing process).

[Grog]

Originally Posted by Mathias

I've found HL to be a great editing tool for RPGs - it forces you to study the rules text and the rules interactions of what you're writing (now we just need to get some companies to work with us during the editing process).

Making data files is a hardcore form of proofreading.

I'll try the suggestions you have made. Thanks.

[Grog]

Quick question on the proper practice...

The prestige class I'm working on goes to 10th level only.

The calculation left the characters CL at 11. There was not a record for the 11th level spell list so the character was getting 0 spells available.

I tinkered with an if > 10 then for a bit, then decided to simply copy the 10th level spell progression record through the rows 11-20th levels.

It works now. Is this an Ok solution or should I handle it in another manner?

Just want to make sure I'm doing the right thing and not setting myself up for future issues, etc.

[Mathias]

I would have expected the authors of the prestige class to handle the situation of what happens if you exceed 10 total levels. They ought to have told you how to extend the progression.

(If their answer was to cap it at that point, your method is fine).

Another alternative would be to use minimum(x,y) to cap the cMagicLev at 10:

 
hero.childfound[cHelpBgh].field[cMagicLev].value = minimum(hero.childfound[cHelpDrd].field[cMagicLev].value + hero.childfound[cHelpBgh].field[cMagicLev].value, 10)

This is the correct way to handle it if the class isn't able to exceed magic level 10, and things like the chance to overcome spell resistance and the concentration check top out at 10 effective levels.

[Grog]

Originally Posted by Mathias

I would have expected the authors of the prestige class to handle the situation of what happens if you exceed 10 total levels. They ought to have told you how to extend the progression.

Thanks again for the quick reply. Your support is awesome. My interpretation of the class is the spell casting progression should stop at 10th but the CL for effects, size, damage, etc. should continue to grow. Who knows what the intent was? lol

So, the progression ends at 10 but they may cast a fireball with 20th level effect if they were 10th in base class and 10th in prestige class. I'll just stick with my appended level progression with 10-19 being the same as it is working. Honestly, I may fix the character to be more believable. Having a spell class level where you don't gain any new spells or spells per day is really lame. I cannot imagine taking that level as a PC. (but I'm kind of a munchkin....)

I'll save your bit of code for future reference. I can think of other instances where that may be useful.

This is fun to work on nonetheless. It is nice to have a fully populated character sheet for the big-baddy NPC. Now I hope the players have the sense to not fight this guy.