All thoughts welcome.
Your ability to command fire and bardic music has created a strange blend of both magics.
Prerequisites: Spellcraft 5 ranks, ability to cast bard spells, ability to cast an arcane fire spell from some other spellcasting class.
Benefit: When you cast a bard spell that deals damage, you may replace the spell's normal damage with fire damage or split the spell's damage so that half of it is the normal damage type and half is fire damage.
If you cast a summon monster spell as a bard spell, you may choose to give the summoned creature a fiery appearance, which gives it fire resistance 5 and adds +1 fire damage to all of its natural attacks. The creature sheds dim light in a 5-foot radius. This aspect of the feat has no effect if the creature already has the fire subtype.
When you use this feat, the affected spell gains the fire descriptor.
My issue is with the specific Requirement: ability to cast an arcane fire spell from some other spellcasting class
There are a couple of ways to achieve this:
1) Have a spell in your list which is also found on another spell list, such as Pyrotechnics (Bard 2, Sorc/Wiz 2). It is a fire spell (note that the requirements do not specify that the spell must deal fire energy damage, just that it deals with fire), and which is an Arcane spell that is from some other spellcasting class (is also found on their spell list).
2) Shadow Evocation. This allows you to cast a quasi-real, illusory version of a sorcerer or wizard evocation spell of 4th level or lower. Which is the ability to cast an arcane fire spell from some other spellcasting class.
3. Take a level of Wiz/Sorc etc.
I'm curious about consensus on these three possibilities, and I am NOT married to any one of them. This is just for the sake of clarity :)
The other bit about this spell which isn't entirely clear is can the Bard's Animal Speaker archetype benefit from this Feat. For example, the Rat Packs are summoned, do they gain the fire damage. Also, it grants the Bard Summon Nature's Ally I-VI, would those summons gain the benefit as well.
The reason that I am not sure is because the synopsis reads:
"Replace bard spell damage with fire damage, summoned monsters gain fire attacks." Which speaks of the designer's intentions. Did he not think about the Animal Speaker archetype when he submitted this? Would this apply to the summons granted by this archetype as well :)?
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In my opinion nothing listed about would count. When a cleric casts detect magic it is a divine cleric spell and when a wizard casts the spell it is an arcane wizard spell. Just because they have the same name and same mechanical game effects does not mean that the wizard is casting a divine spell.
When I first read Fire Music I read it as "able to cast an arcane fire spell that isn't on the bard spell list". So taking a level of Wiz/Sorc or maybe being a Samsaran would be the ways to qualify, if it were my game. And yes it's just a spell with the fire descriptor, not necessarily a damage spell.
I can see how you could allow point 1, honestly, since a bard has limited spell slots and spending one on a fire spell could be considered an investment in a feat prereq. Although by this logic I could say someone qualifies for Mystic Theurge if they simply have access to a 2nd level spell on both divine and arcane spell lists (not that they'd WANT to qualify but beside the point)
Point 2, Shadow Evocation isn't in itself a "fire" spell when it's just sitting there on the spell list, so I'd be disinclined to allow that as the prereq. Doesn't feel like RAI.
Point 3, that's the one I'd go with. Finding some way to get a spell that's not on the bard list.
Yeah, my buddy just pointed out Improved Eldritch Heritage for the Fire spell.
Although by this logic I could say someone qualifies for Mystic Theurge if they simply have access to a 2nd level spell on both divine and arcane spell lists (not that they'd WANT to qualify but beside the point)
;) Both good points, lul.
In my opinion nothing listed about would count. When a cleric casts detect magic it is a divine cleric spell and when a wizard casts the spell it is an arcane wizard spell. Just because they have the same name and same mechanical game effects does not mean that the wizard is casting a divine spell.
I agree with your premise; however, the Bard is an Arcane caster so Pyrotechnics would also be an Arcane fire spell. If you were referring to the second bit about Animal Speaker granting summons, I'm not sure I follow.
Though I'm still curious about arguments for or against applying Fire Music to the Animal Speaker's Summon Nature's Ally. After reading the spell a bit more, it does say that the spell must be cast as a bard spell, and so the Bardic Performance (Summon Rats) doesn't qualify on that clause. Poo.