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I know that the PDFs are still going out, so my questions may not be answerable by everyone. Still, my players and I are very curious on a few of these and would love opinions.
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1A. A Cleric of Calistria (with the Charm and Trickery domains) decides to go into the Exalted prestige class. At Cleric 5/Exalted 6, she gains access to her second boon, improving her Dazing Touch into Stunning Touch! However, the Touch itself scales off of Cleric level, meaning that at 11th level, she still can't use it on anyone higher than 5 HD. Or can she?
The Divine Boon ability in Exalted says "When a divine boon grants a spell-like ability, the exalted's caster level for the spell-like ability equals her total character level". Stunning Touch is, as listed, a Supernatural ability. However, it modifies a Spell-Like Ability. As Stunning Touch is one of the three main boons this class gets, shouldn't it scale with the Exalted levels (plus Cleric)?
I think that by RAW, this is a flat no, but RAI... maybe yes? Question 1B touches more on this.
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1B. Here's some logic to why the Stunning Touch (Su) ability needs to scale with character level, instead of cleric. A fighter (of Calistria) could take the feat Deific Obedience if he had the requisite ranks and worshipped her. At 16 HD, he'd gain the second boon. The boon states that if the user does not have Dazing Touch, then he gains it 3+Wis/day. However, as the ability itself is based off of Cleric level, this is completely useless to the fighter unless he's able to treat his character level as the cleric level.
Again, this seems like it should be intended, but it is not at all allowed by pure RAW.
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2. Still in the Exalted prestige class. The Expanded Portfolio ability allows the character to take an additional domain of their god, getting full use of it and its spells as spell-like abilities. While I initially saw this as a third domain for a cleric, one of my players asked if he could just take a domain he already had again, allowing his Exalted and Cleric levels to stack for its abilities (and also gaining the spells as SLAs). As the ability doesn't specify that the domain needs to be new, this seems possible.
Essentially a cleric can either have three domains (two powered by Cleric level, one powered by Exalted level) or two domains (one powered by Cleric level, the other powered by Cleric + Exalted).
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3. Evangelist and Aligned Class. Oh man. Obviously, this is quite possibly one of the best abilities I've ever seen on a prestige class. You take a one-level hit to your chosen aligned class, then you start getting class features again. A Bard 10/Evangelist 10 still counts as a Bard 19 for all of their class abilities, on top of the abilities an Evangelist 10 gets. So.... huge.
Balance issues aside, I did have one question that I think I already know the answer to:
Does the Aligned Class ability grant Spellcasting? Technically, it's a class ability, so it makes sense. I'm so used to seeing prestige classes just include that extra column that says "Spells per day" and "+1 of spellcasting class" or something. However, maybe the designers just figured it was already included in the Aligned Class ability, so it didn't need to be called out.
It does make this already amazing class even more so, though.
By RAW the Exalted and Cleric Domains don't seem to stack at all, which is quite frustrating for a Cleric who wants to take the class.
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He does? I don't disbelieve you, but how do you figure? If we assume Kensai 5 that goes into Evangelist, then at 8th level (5/3), he unlocks Fighter Training. At that point, his magus levels -3 (which include evangelist) count as fighter levels for purposes of feats, so he's essentially a level 4 fighter (as he has 7 levels of virtual magus by this point). A fighter at the same progression would be Fighter 5, Evangelist 3, and treated as Fighter 7 for purposes of feats. Right?
Still curious about the Exalted questions though, but this is interesting as well.
Evangelist seems pretty crazy awesome for Clerics. Finally...after all the waiting...CLASS FEATURES!
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Yeah, I'm not sure about the Exalted. It seems fairly clear that normal Cleric domains don't stack with it... however, at least in regards to Calistria's Stunning Touch, I ruled that as soon as she hit that level, her Exalted levels would stack with Cleric just for the purposes of the Dazing Touch/Stunning Touch HD limit.
It does say that Spell-Like Abilities gained from the Boons stack. However, Stunning Touch is a Su, where-as Dazing Touch is Sp. It's a weird bit.
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Here's the crazy thing about Evangelist's Aligned Class ability: it doesn't state that the class has to be a core or base class. So, conceivably, you could be Wizard 3, Cleric 3, take 1 level of Mystic Theurge, and THEN start on Evangelist--choosing Mystic Theurge for your Aligned Class. And this is how you end up double-dipping (or is that triple-dipping?), in a sense, on class abilities.
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Here's the crazy thing about Evangelist's Aligned Class ability: it doesn't state that the class has to be a core or base class. So, conceivably, you could be Wizard 3, Cleric 3, take 1 level of Mystic Theurge, and THEN start on Evangelist--choosing Mystic Theurge for your Aligned Class. And this is how you end up double-dipping (or is that triple-dipping?), in a sense, on class abilities.actually this create a tiny problem: what if you use Aligned Class on the Exalted or Sentinel prestige class? you get boons for both classes?
I think by RAW, you would get both sets of boons.
Running evangelist off of a prestige class in general seems extremely powerful, and almost a "no-brainer" option (*). I wouldn't be surprised to see an errata/FAQ limiting Aligned Class to non-prestige classes in the near future.
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Well, yeah, there's a downside to using it like that, Sparky. But for any class or prestige class that has a wizard's BAB progression, it's all gravy.
Keep in mind that you don't get Aligned Class until the 2nd level of Evangelist, so you sacrifice a level of progression in that previous class.
Alleran, you definitely could do that. There's a whole document that someone wrote up on how to use SLAs to qualify for prestige classes early: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1ZFnvgbhjMibHJRft0dl_4gbcMw0-dAMUFYFlsyS 7d60/edit It's possible to start on Mystic Theurge as early as 4th level, instead of the typical 7th level.
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================================================================2. Still in the Exalted prestige class. The Expanded Portfolio ability allows the character to take an additional domain of their god, getting full use of it and its spells as spell-like abilities. While I initially saw this as a third domain for a cleric, one of my players asked if he could just take a domain he already had again, allowing his Exalted and Cleric levels to stack for its abilities (and also gaining the spells as SLAs). As the ability doesn't specify that the domain needs to be new, this seems possible.
Essentially a cleric can either have three domains (two powered by Cleric level, one powered by Exalted level) or two domains (one powered by Cleric level, the other powered by Cleric + Exalted).
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Really interested to see how that one shakes down.
2. Still in the Exalted prestige class. The Expanded Portfolio ability allows the character to take an additional domain of their god, getting full use of it and its spells as spell-like abilities. While I initially saw this as a third domain for a cleric, one of my players asked if he could just take a domain he already had again, allowing his Exalted and Cleric levels to stack for its abilities (and also gaining the spells as SLAs). As the ability doesn't specify that the domain needs to be new, this seems possible.
Essentially a cleric can either have three domains (two powered by Cleric level, one powered by Exalted level) or two domains (one powered by Cleric level, the other powered by Cleric + Exalted).
ad·di·tion·al
əˈdiSHənl/
adjective
adjective: additionaladded, extra, or supplementary to what is already present or available.
Now sure, if you have a slice of cheese and you take an additional slice of the same cheese, you have two identical slices of cheese, but in this case there is only one slice of different cheeses available. You can't take more than one slice of each cheese in the first place, giving you the ability to take another slice doesn't change that. So, you can take a slice of Limburger and Roquefort. Then, you can take a slice of Brie. You cannot however take another slice of Limburger or Roquefort, because only one slice of each cheese is available.
TL;DR or not a fan of cheese: The cleric entry nowhere says you can't take the same domain twice, but we all know you can't. The exalted prestige class does not fundamentally change that base assumption by giving you an additional domain.
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2. Still in the Exalted prestige class. The Expanded Portfolio ability allows the character to take an additional domain of their god, getting full use of it and its spells as spell-like abilities. While I initially saw this as a third domain for a cleric, one of my players asked if he could just take a domain he already had again, allowing his Exalted and Cleric levels to stack for its abilities (and also gaining the spells as SLAs). As the ability doesn't specify that the domain needs to be new, this seems possible.
Essentially a cleric can either have three domains (two powered by Cleric level, one powered by Exalted level) or two domains (one powered by Cleric level, the other powered by Cleric + Exalted).
ad·di·tion·al
əˈdiSHənl/
adjective
adjective: additionaladded, extra, or supplementary to what is already present or available.
Now sure, if you have a slice of cheese and you take an additional slice of the same cheese, you have two identical slices of cheese, but in this case there is only one slice of different cheeses available. You can't take more than one slice of each cheese in the first place, giving you the ability to take another slice doesn't change that. So, you can take a slice of Limburger and Roquefort. Then, you can take a slice of Brie. You cannot however take another slice of Limburger or Roquefort, because only one slice of each cheese is available.
TL;DR or not a fan of cheese: The cleric entry nowhere says you can't take the same domain twice, but we all know you can't. The exalted prestige class does not fundamentally change that base assumption by giving you an additional domain.
I think you misunderstood. My use of the word "additional" was my own definition for it, not the actual quote from the book. I've included that below:
The exalted can also can use each of the chosen domain’s spells once per day as a spell-like ability, with a caster level equal to her exalted level. The exalted can use each spell-like ability only if she is able to cast divine spells of that level. If the exalted has any domain spell slots, she is also able to cast the chosen domain’s spells in those slots as normal.
As I see it, a Cleric 5 going into this would have two domains at 5th level Cleric. Those wouldn't increase with the Exalted levels. At 5th level Exalted (now Cleric 5/Exalted 5), that character could choose a new domain and have all three be at 5th level power (two using Cleric level, one using Exalted) or pick one of the domains they already had (now one domain using just Cleric level, another using both levels).
It doesn't seem unbalanced, and I think that could be intended. Just didn't think of it on first read. I can totally get behind why a character would want to though, as some domain powers scale with level. Granted, the "to which she gains access" part could mean it has to be new... but I'm not sold on it.
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2. Still in the Exalted prestige class. The Expanded Portfolio ability allows the character to take an additional domain of their god, getting full use of it and its spells as spell-like abilities. While I initially saw this as a third domain for a cleric, one of my players asked if he could just take a domain he already had again, allowing his Exalted and Cleric levels to stack for its abilities (and also gaining the spells as SLAs). As the ability doesn't specify that the domain needs to be new, this seems possible.
Essentially a cleric can either have three domains (two powered by Cleric level, one powered by Exalted level) or two domains (one powered by Cleric level, the other powered by Cleric + Exalted).
ad·di·tion·al
əˈdiSHənl/
adjective
adjective: additionaladded, extra, or supplementary to what is already present or available.
Now sure, if you have a slice of cheese and you take an additional slice of the same cheese, you have two identical slices of cheese, but in this case there is only one slice of different cheeses available. You can't take more than one slice of each cheese in the first place, giving you the ability to take another slice doesn't change that. So, you can take a slice of Limburger and Roquefort. Then, you can take a slice of Brie. You cannot however take another slice of Limburger or Roquefort, because only one slice of each cheese is available.
TL;DR or not a fan of cheese: The cleric entry nowhere says you can't take the same domain twice, but we all know you can't. The exalted prestige class does not fundamentally change that base assumption by giving you an additional domain.
I think you misunderstood. My use of the word "additional" was my own definition for it, not the actual quote from the book. I've included that below:
** spoiler omitted **...
I'm actually just as interested in seeing how this would work for a Druid or Oracle... let's say I have a Druid of Gozreh who has an animal companion instead of a domain. I start taking levels in Exalted at 6th level, gain a domain at 5th level of Exalted, and suddenly have a bunch of spell-like abilities that I can cast once per day. In fact, in some cases I'll be casting spell-like abilities with a caster level that is LOWER than the minimum to be able to cast the spell.
Example: at 13th character level I'd have 5 levels of druid and 8 levels of Exalted. I chose the Animal domain (which would let most of my Exalted levels stack for my animal companion, pick up Boon Companion to get it to full character level). My druid caster level would be 13, so I'd have access to 7th level divine spells. This means I could cast animal shapes and all the other lower-level Animal domain spells once per day each as a spell-like ability, but my caster level for these spell-like abilities would only be 8 (my levels of Exalted)! Now I'm casting a 7th level spell-like with caster level of 8.... totally not intended by the rules, I would think!
Weird, right?
I think you misunderstood. My use of the word "additional" was my own definition for it, not the actual quote from the book. I've included that below:** spoiler omitted **...
Ah, yeah I see now, since I don't have the actual book I was working off only what you said... Hmm... reading over the actual ability a few times, I can kind of see it both ways... That's definitely something for the FAQ I think...