School / Domain powers, attributes and save DC

[Evil_Wizards]

Hi!

Currently, Charisma is used to calculate the Save DC's for SLAs gained by Wizard Schools / Cleric Domains (PRPG, p. 65, 69).

Wouldn't it make more sense to use the casting attribute, i. e. intelligence/wisdom?

[Seldriss]

Well, Charisma is usually used for spell like abilities and powers DCs.
The same way Constitution is used for poison or breath DC.

This being said, i agree, it looks weird to get a special abilitiy from a spellcasting class, not being linked to the casting ability.
Like an enchanter using charm spells under her Int and her special abilities under her Cha.

In a goal of uniformisation, i assume that's simplier to keep the Cha modifier.
But it's up to a DM to rule otherwise.

[Volsung]

I think it makes more sense to tie domain and school spell-like abilities to the classes primary casting ability.

1. The spell-like abilities are replacing spells tied to those abilities.

2. Thematically, the primary casting stats fits better. A wizard shouldn't study a spell to the point were he can cast it as an SLA and then become worse at casting it.

3. It keeps the class granted spell-like abilities more viable at high levels, making it less desirable to jump into a prestige class.

4. The advantages of having a handful of spell-like abilities (and access to barred schools) seems to be balanced well enough by loss of spell selection, and the limits on increasing the abilities caster level through feats or modifying them with metamagio.

[Brett Blackwell]

What is more interesting is that the sorcerer's abilities are tied to Constitution???

To me it appears they are trying to force characters to no longer have a "dump" stat, or at least minimize the number of "dump" stats that a character can get away with.

Personally, I'm against this approach. To me, the wizard should be just as good (if not better) with his SLA than with the same spell when he casts it.

Further, by improving his CON, a sorcerer not only improves his SLA abilites, but also his Fort save and HP. A wizard improving his CHR improves his SLA, but CHR doesn't affect anything else except skills, of which the wizard doesn't have a single "class skill" based on CHR.

Seems to me that the Sorcerer gets a lot more for improving his SLAs than a wizard does. Clerics at least get the benefit of a boost to Diplomacy (their only CHR-based class skill), increased save DC for channelling energy, and extra attempts to channel energy.

Overall, I think the wizard gets "shafted" with this setup while the cleric and sorcerer make off pretty well. Heck, if they had just made the wizard's abilties based off of Wisdom, that would solve my issue with it. Then they would get improved SLA DCs and a better Will Save (though they still don't have any class skills based off Wisdom either). Obviously, the decision to use CON for sorcerer's means they aren't sticking to idea that "SLAs are based off of Charisma" anyways....