Frayn's page

I’m aware we’re discussing the exploiter wizard, but for context let’s compare a school wizard and an arcanist of equal level at some fairly key character levels (5th-8th). This example ignores bonus spells from stat scores, and also assumes since the wizard is a school wizard he or she will have 1 extra spell per day from his or her school.
Fifth character level
Both have 4 first-level spells and 3 second-level spells. The wizard has 2 third-level spells whereas the arcanist has none. The wizard has a moderate advantage.
Sixth character level
Both have 4 first-level spells and 4 second-level spells. The wizard has 3 third-level spells whereas the arcanist has two. The wizard has a modest advantage (i.e. one additional third-level spell).
Seventh character level
The wizard has 5 first-level spells whereas the arcanist has four. Both have 4 second-level spells and 3 third-level spells. The wizard has 2 fourth–level spells whereas the arcanist has none. The wizard has a moderate advantage.
Eighth character level
Again the wizard has 5 first-level spells whereas the arcanist has four. Both have 4 second-level spells and 4 third-level spells. The wizard has 3 fourth-level spells whereas the arcanist has two. The wizard has a modest advantage (i.e. one additional fourth-level spell).
So when compared to a school wizard, the arcanist experiences a noticeable “lag” in spells per day, with odd numbered levels being greater than even numbered levels. (Other threads have noted this.) For the player the question is whether the access to exploits and increased casting flexibility compensate up for this? (Also factoring in the loss of arcane bond etc.)
Important: The exploiter wizard does not get the bonus spells of the school wizard, which makes the difference between the two less significant, at least in terms of spells per day. Plus he or she has lost arcane bond (as noted above), and does not have the consume spell feature to refill his or her reservoir. Arcanists and wizards (school, generalist, and exploiter) are arguable all top-tier caster classes. But I think it can be argued that they all have strengths and weaknesses.

Deep Magic is great! I'm very glad I got it!

On page 35 there is a table with the text "...the following spells belong to the Illumination school...". However, there are a handful of spells later on that have their school listed as Illumination, but don't appear in the table:

• Consume light (pg 146)
• Misleading shadows (pg 207)
• Shadow's blessing (pg 232)
• Scintillating lights (pg 230)
• Nova (pg 211)
• Shadow plane adaptation (pg 233)
• Wall of darkness (pg 268)

For organizing and selecting spells (e.g. school specialization) should those spells be added to the table?

Oceanshieldwolf: Just emailed you with a Word attachment. Hope you can use it!

I just got this today and it looks really good! Lots of possibilities...

I do have one question about the "Fade From Existence" Spell, in case one of the developers happens to stop by. Part of the text reads "While in this extra dimensional reality you can perceive the normal world around you and you can move through creatures or solid objects as if you were incorporeal, but creatures within normal reality can perceive you or affect you."

I don't want to give away too much of a spoiler, but based on the next sentence it seems that that sentence should read "but creatures within normal reality can't perceive you or affect you."

Thoughts or comments?

Thanks! And again, great work on Zobeck and Midgard!

I'm really enjoying both the city of Zobeck and the Midgard setting as a whole! I have a question regarding Illumination Mages and their use of "Shadow Familiars".

The Zobeck Gazetteer (pg 99) notes that a shadow familiar requires the Improved Familiar feat, and also notes that "This shadow familiar has the usual statistics and abilities of a sorcerer or wizard familiar, but is a creature of shadow and is thus incorporeal."

By my interpretation, an Illumination Mage with the Improved Familiar feat can therefore select either a conventional familiar (e.g. owl, cat) or an unusual one (e.g. pseudodragon) as a starting point. Is this interpretation reasonable?

I'm curious about this as well.

I asked about this earlier, and I recieved a couple of responses that agreed that this Discovery had synergy with UMD: Staff-like wand question

If people have other views I'd be happy to hear them as well.

Cheapy wrote:

Another one is that Lesser Restoration has a three round casting time.

But not from a Wand...

Are you sure? This is what I'm seeing in the Core Rulebook

Activation: Wands use the spell trigger activation method,
so casting a spell from a wand is usually a standard action
that doesn’t provoke attacks of opportunity. (If the spell
being cast has a longer casting time than 1 action, however,
it takes that long to cast the spell from a wand.)

Much appreciated - thanks!

Let's say an arcane caster activates a wand by making a Use Magic Device (UMD) check. For sake of argument, let's say it's a wand of Cure Light Wounds.
The Arcane Discovery "Staff-Like Wand" says, in part, that "you can use your caster level when activating the power of a wand if it's higher than the caster level of the wand."
Question: Would this Arcane Discovery synergize with UMD such that a succesful wand activation would use the arcane caster's level for the Cure Light Wounds?
Thanks!