It should be made clear - this is a half-elf racial ability. It is not a trait.
What are you responding to in my post Darksol? Did you mean to quote someone else?
You're just so quotable. ;-)
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It should be made clear - this is a half-elf racial ability. It is not a trait.
Unfortunately, that is not how clear it is. This is a Racial Trait, as opposed to a Race Trait. That has been a source of some minor problems before. It would have been nice if the Racial Traits were Racial Abilities instead
So, as you're saying it's maybe 5 HP or SP over a 20 level build. Or it's +50 HP for every CLW wand, + ~3.5 DMG x 50 for a MM Wand, + 3.5 DMG x 50 for a Fireball Wand, +1 round x 50 for a Greater Invisibility Wand, etc.
That's better than either 5 HP or 5 SP.
Being able to cast Raise Dead from a scroll a full level before anybody else can is a solid benefit for a Half-Elven Cleric. Being able to cast Haste at 4th level for a Wizard isn't anything to sneeze at, either. That's more on par with missing out on 5 HP over 20 levels.
I mistakenly called Arcane Training a trait. Even still, if you parse out what the ability actually says, you can't really interpret it the way that Darksol does. Take a look at this feat:
Cypher Magic
Your intimacy with runes and the mysteries of ancient arcana has taught you secret ways to draw greater power from magical writings. These unusual methods were initially devised by the Cyphermages of Riddleport, but they have since spread far and wide through the Inner Sea region.
Prerequisites: Intelligence 15, Scribe Scroll.
Benefit: You cast spells from scrolls at +1 caster level higher than the scroll’s caster level. This benefit extends to scrolls that you have created. In addition, you gain a +2 bonus on caster level checks made to activate a scroll with a higher caster level than your own.
And now look at Arcane Training:
Arcane Training Half-elves occasionally seek tutoring to help them master the magic in their blood. Half-elves with this racial trait have only one favored class, and it must be an arcane spellcasting class. They can use spell trigger and spell completion items for their favored class as if one level higher (or as a 1st-level character if they have no levels in that class). This racial trait replaces the multitalented racial trait.
Notice the difference in how those two things are worded. If it worked as Darksol suggests, it would just say that you cast it at a higher caster level than the item. It is saying that you can use spell completion items as if you are one level higher, meaning caster level checks are easier to make for scrolls you are not high enough level to cast.
Being higher level doesn't make you cast from a scroll at a higher caster level than the scroll. It is treated you as one level higher for the purposes of making a Spellcraft check or UMD. The parentheses even confirm this by saying that they cast it as a first level character if they have no levels in their favored class. Crunching numbers and claiming that it is balanced means nothing. It is not a question of whether or not it is balanced. All that matters is how the rules are written and how they are intended to function. This is the rules forum after all.
I have a level 9 PFS half-elf with this trait and have never considered it to work in the way Darksol describes.
The parentheses is included for people who do not take levels in an arcane casting class of their choosing. Also, it was never stated that all magic items are spell trigger/spell completion items, it's the inverse; all spell trigger/spell completion items are magic items.
They can use spell trigger and spell completion items for their favored class as if one level higher (or as a 1st-level character if they have no levels in that class).
If the first portion of that statement relates to the magic item being increased by +1 CL, you wouldn't set off non-spell casters with a parenthetical, because the benefits for the two classes would not be the same thing.
Spell casters, under your interpretation, have magic items' power levels increased. On the other hand, non-spell casters have their own power level increased. Those aren't related benefits. If that's what's intended, it doesn't make linguistic sense to set one off in parentheses.
I don't just disagree with you because I think your interpretation is overly powerful, particularly in relation to what it replaces, but also because I don't think the language supports it. "They can use spell trigger and spell completion items for their favored class 1. as if one level higher, or 2. as a 1st level character if they have no levels in that class." The structure of 2 mirrors 1. 2 would make no sense if 1 refers to the magic items rather than the character because 2 clearly refers to the character. Plus, "as" is describing how the items are used. And "use" is the action being done by the subject of the statement, which is "they", meaning characters who take this particularly racial trait.
This language can be stretched to refer to magic items and doing so creates a benefit far greater than that which it replaces.
So, as you're saying it's maybe 5 HP or SP over a 20 level build. Or it's +50 HP for every CLW wand, + ~3.5 DMG x 50 for a MM Wand, + 3.5 DMG x 50 for a Fireball Wand, +1 round x 50 for a Greater Invisibility Wand, etc.
That's better than either 5 HP or 5 SP.
Being able to cast Raise Dead from a scroll a full level before anybody else can is a solid benefit for a Half-Elven Cleric. Being able to cast Haste at 4th level for a Wizard isn't anything to sneeze at, either. That's more on par with missing out on 5 HP over 20 levels.
Don't forget the Racial FCB, which can be pretty darn sweet depending upon race.
MM Wands increase every odd CL; made at CL 1, it provides no bonus. Made at CL 2, it's providing a 1D4+1 per charge, which is hardly much. The Fireball is probably the largest benefit, granting an extra 1D6, but still remains the same average as MM.
5 HP saves you from a scroll or a charge or 2 depending on rolls, and Skill Points can provide benefits that the wands and scrolls can't.
Also, as the rules say it only applies to wands and scrolls; taking WBL into account, they won't have too many wands or scrolls around, and if they do they're shorting themselves from stat items and the like.
This language can be stretched to refer to magic items and doing so creates a benefit far greater than that which it replaces.
This should say "This language can't be stretched to refer to magic items". Frackin' typos.
Don't forget the Racial FCB, which can be pretty darn sweet depending upon race.
MM Wands increase every odd CL; made at CL 1, it provides no bonus. Made at CL 2, it's providing a 1D4+1 per charge, which is hardly much. The Fireball is probably the largest benefit, granting an extra 1D6, but still remains the same average as MM.
5 HP saves you from a scroll or a charge or 2 depending on rolls, and Skill Points can provide benefits that the wands and scrolls can't.
Also, as the rules say it only applies to wands and scrolls; taking WBL into account, they won't have too many wands or scrolls around, and if they do they're shorting themselves from stat items and the like.
You're correct on a Wand of MM, I got sloppy there. Regardless, in the grand scheme of things we can disagree on whether your interpretation is overpowered (I think it is, you don't - though you did refer to it as a "very powerful racial trait for spellcasters"). That's fine. But the overpoweredness, from my perspective, is really an also-ran. I don't think you can legitimately read the language of the racial trait to be referring to the magic items being used, as opposed to the character using the magic items.