I've often wished there was a feat out there to compensate for slightly lower Charisma as a Sorcerer or slightly lower Intelligence as a Wizard. And/or a feat to make Mystic Theurge or True Magus more slightly more viable. Anyway, I'm wondering if a feat like this would break the game.
Arcane Prodigy
You are able to supplement your magic research with a natural knack for the arcane or better harness the power of your eldritch heritage with mystic study.
Benefit: You can add Intelligence to your Charisma or vice versa when determining the DC of a spell or to meet the minimum requirement to learn, prepare, or cast a spell. The bonus granted by this feat may not exceed 1/2 the base ability modifier a spell is normally dependent on.
Examples:
Wizard
Int 16
Cha 13Ability modifier for spell DC: 4
Sorcerer or Bard
Int 14
Cha 17Ability modifier for spell DC: 4
Wizard
Int 18
Cha 18Ability modifier for spell DC: 6
Sorcerer or Bard
Int 16 (+4 Headband of Vast Intellect) = 20
Cha 18Ability modifier for spell DC: 6
Sorcerer or Bard
Int 16 (+4 Headband of Mental Superiority) = 20
Cha 18 (+4 Headband of Mental Superiority) = 22Ability modifier for spell DC: 8
As you can see calculating this could get a little confusing, especially in the last case. But I don't see where using this feat would give you more than an extra +2-3 DC on spells since it's based on base ability modifier only--not total ability modifier.
Any thoughts?
Spell Save DCs bonuses are some of the most valuable points in the game.
Any feat granting a +2 to spell save DC is too good (that's why they split up Spell Focus so much in 3.5 vs. 3.0). That it scales to grant even more under special circumstances is ripe for abuse. Yeah, I think it breaks the game.
Or rather — it might be fine, but there is no way in hell I would let my Wizard player take this feat in my campaign. He would be getting a +3 SSDC from a single feat. That's a 15% increase in his effectiveness against saving throws, and he's already the key player in the party dynamic.
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Regarding the Mystic Theurge / Ultimate Magus thing, I could see a feat that allowed a dual-spellcasting-PrC person like that being eligible to take a feat that allows them to use the higher of their two relevant ability scores for spellcasting DCs and stuff for both classes (so, the higher of Wis or Int, for a Cleric/Wizard/Mystic Theurge, or the higher of Int or Cha, for a Wizard/Sorcerer/Ultimate Magus).
Such a feat would require a level in a dual-spellcasting progression PrC, like Mystic Theurge or True Necromancer, to keep it out of the hands of a Paladin/Wizard/Eldritch Knight or whatever.
Regarding the Mystic Theurge / Ultimate Magus thing, I could see a feat that allowed a dual-spellcasting-PrC person like that being eligible to take a feat that allows them to use the higher of their two relevant ability scores for spellcasting DCs and stuff for both classes (so, the higher of Wis or Int, for a Cleric/Wizard/Mystic Theurge, or the higher of Int or Cha, for a Wizard/Sorcerer/Ultimate Magus).
Such a feat would require a level in a dual-spellcasting progression PrC, like Mystic Theurge or True Necromancer, to keep it out of the hands of a Paladin/Wizard/Eldritch Knight or whatever.
I've definitely thought about creating some more stipulations for the feat to keep it out of unintended hands... the downside is that the feat gets complicated and that's not something I want.
I'll keep brainstorming.