Unless someone see's something I'm not, then yes. I used the same formula in a multiclass character. For all intents and purposes you count as a caster of two levels higher as long as it doesn't exceed character level. It's a huge boost for rangers and paladins, and makes certain multiclass builds very viable.
By RAW yes i find it correct.
I always thought that particular trait was quite broken imo, in its existance it is mandatory to be acquired for a multiclass character or a character with levels in a caster class and a prestige class that penalizes her caster level.
I give no wrong to any DM that doesnt allow it in his story out there.
Magical Knack: You were raised, either wholly or in part,
by a magical creature, either after it found you abandoned
in the woods or because your parents often left you in the
care of a magical minion. This constant exposure to magic
has made its mysteries easy for you to understand, even
when you turn your mind to other devotions and tasks. Pick
a class when you gain this trait—your caster level in that
class gains a +2 trait bonus as long as this bonus doesn’t
raise your caster level above your current Hit Dice.
Craft Wondrous Item (Item Creation)
You can create wondrous items, a type of magic item.
Prerequisite: Caster level 3rd.
Benefit: You can create a wide variety of magic wondrous
items. Crafting a wondrous item takes 1 day for each 1,000
gp in its price. To create a wondrous item, you must use up
raw materials costing half of its base price. See the magic
item creation rules in Chapter 15 for more information.
You can also mend a broken wondrous item if it is one
that you could make. Doing so costs half the raw materials
and half the time it would take to craft that item.
Through 3rd level, a paladin has no caster level. At 4th level and higher, her caster level is equal to her paladin
level – 3.
Does this mean classes that get spells at level 4+ would qualify for craft wondrous item at level 4 and not level 6?
Level 4 paladin = caster level 1
+Magical Knack = caster level 3
Magical Knack only effects the power level of your spells, and does not effect your actual caster level for anything else.
It is like the +1 level of existing spellcasting class from prestige classes, but you don't gain any extra spells per day.
Short answer, Magic Knack will not help you qualify for feats.
Magical Knack only effects the power level of your spells, and does not effect your actual caster level for anything else.It is like the +1 level of existing spellcasting class from prestige classes, but you don't gain any extra spells per day.
Short answer, Magic Knack will not help you qualify for feats.
ah...well, no. it actually does improve your caster level, for all intents and purposes.
furthermore, +1 level of existing spellcasting class does a little more than just improve your caster level. it potentially grants acces to higher spell levels and magical knack doesn't do that. that, i would consider broken.to sum it up, magical knack does help you qualify for item creation feats, since, for them you need a certain caster level, which magical knack can help provide
;)
The trait helps you qualify for feats and prestige classes, and increases your spellcasting ability (damage, range, duration, etc.), but does NOT grant you additional spell slots and spells known as though you were higher level.
By RAW yes i find it correct.
I always thought that particular trait was quite broken imo, in its existance it is mandatory to be acquired for a multiclass character or a character with levels in a caster class and a prestige class that penalizes her caster level.
I give no wrong to any DM that doesnt allow it in his story out there.
I never quite understood this reasoning, could you expound? How is it 'broken'?
I mean is Point Blank Shot 'broken' for archers? Is that even more mandatory for archers?
As a wizard that elects to go say Pathfinder savant and lose a caster level, would you take magical knack as mandatory over say magical lineage? Always?
What I think I'm seeing is that you think that this should be something built into those multiclasses/PrCs as a general rule. That's fine just like you could decide the same thing about Weapon Finesse (for example) that it shouldn't require a feat but rather be an elected way to fight with certain weapons.
Certain class combinations are already comparatively weak. Denying them a way to be competitive seems punitive. But then again I think I would be in favor of a general feat that you could take multiple times (applying to a different thing each time) that raised something by 4 (i.e. Boon Companion the companion level, Practiced Spellcaster the caster level, etc). But then again I don't think that there should be over a dozen 'extra _____' feats out there either.
But if you're saying that let's deny the only way for these combinations to mitigate the horrible hit they take, then I disagree and I *certainly* can't see how you would call such things 'broken'.
-James
Let me quote APG:At its core, a character trait is approximately equal in power to half a feat, so two character traits are roughly equivalent to a bonus feat. Yet a character trait isn’t just another kind of power you can add on to your character—it’s a way to quantify (and encourage) building a character background that fits into your campaign world. Think of character traits as “story seeds” for your background; after you pick your two traits, you’ll have a point of inspiration from which to build your character’s personality and history.Alternatively, if you’ve already got a background in your head or written down for your character, you can view picking his traits as a way to quantify that background, just as picking race and class and ability scores quantifies his other strengths and weaknesses.
First considering multiclass or prestige class characters this trait is by no means equivalent to half a bonus feat.
Second, to me traits should be all about roleplay and flavor. Where is the diversity and the uniqueness of different characters if they all share the specific trait?
Dont get me wrong i just dont treat traits as feats. Feats are special tricks or abilities a character has acquired through training, luck, or as a quirk of his or her birth. Traits are and should be ways to make your character unique and strengthen his backround. It kinda ruins the feeling when 9 out of 10 multiclass or prestige class characters pick up this trait doesnt it?
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This leads me to a question about the Magical Knack trait - if I understand correctly, a single-class character would gain no benefit from this trait. A sixth-level paladin with Magical Knack would cast spells as a sixth-level paladin unless the paladin had levels in some other class.
Through 3rd level, a paladin has no caster level. At 4th level and higher, her caster level is equal to her paladin level – 3.
(emphasis mine)
The Magical Knack trait requires the character to select a spell-using class, in this case paladin. The trait allows the character to increase his CL by 2, as long as the increased caster level does not exceed the character's total hit dice. Since the CL is based on the character's paladin level, I think that a single-class sixth-level paladin could not use 5 as his caster level, since that would require 8 total hit dice.|
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The Paladin has a caster level three levels below her hit dice. A level six Paladin has six hit dice and a Caster Level of three. Magical Knack would make that a level six Paladin with six hit dice and a Caster Level of five. The Caster Level is not raised above her hit dice, so Magical Knack gives the full bonus.
It's similar to if the character took three levels of Cleric and three levels of Fighter (at least for the purposes of this demonstration), where she'd have a Caster Level of three before Magical Knack and a Caster Level of five after. Just because she's not multiclassing does not mean that Magical Knack cannot work. The Paladin class is not a full progression casting class. It NATURALLY has a Caster Level below hit dice. Magical Knack raises that Caster Level as soon as spellcasting is granted by the class through appropriate level gain (but does not grant earlier access to spellcasting or any level of spells).
I must disagree. The paladin description specifies that caster level is based on paladin level, not character level (hit dice).
Your analogy to a fighter/cleric doe not apply here. That character's spell casting class is cleric. The character has levels in another class, so can apply two levels from the other class to his caster level as a cleric.In the case of the paladin, his caster level is based on his paladin level - not his character level - so he would need levels in another class to raise his effective paladin level from 6 to 8, not his caster level from 3 to 5.
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Yes, the Paladin's Caster Level is based on her Paladin level. The Paladin's natural Caster Level is below her hit dice.
The raise in Caster Level is based on the resulting Caster Level not going above the character's hit dice.
It is not based on any character level (aside from character level being very closely linked with hit dice). It is based on Caster Level and hit dice. The level six Paladin has six hit dice and a caster level of three. The level six Paladin with Magical Knack has six hit dice and a caster level of five. It's legal.
You can disagree, but you'd be wrong. Read the rules and abilities again.
Ah...
I finally see how our logic differs. I thought that the trait would be applied first and then the caster level would be calculated. Thus, if the sixth-level paladin had no levels in any other class the trait would be worthless. You (and apparently the rest of the Paizo community) say first calculate caster level then apply the trait, thus a sixth-level paladin has a caster level 5.
Yep same as if you were to take boon compaion as a ranger except in this case you would cap out before the full bonus from the feat.