Magic Missile + Elemental Spell + Admixture = Cold Descriptor Magic Missile?

[Jack Amy]

Hi all,

The question of the interaction between these abilities has come up for a player at our local PFS lodge, and there is some disagreement among the GMs there as to how it should be ruled, thus I'm bringing it here.

Abilities in question

Elemental Spell (Metamagic Feat):

You can manipulate the elemental nature of your spells.

Benefit: Choose one energy type: acid, cold, electricity, or fire. You may replace a spell's normal damage with that energy type or split the spell's damage, so that half is of that energy type and half is of its normal type. An elemental spell uses up a spell slot one level higher than the spell's actual level.

Special: You can gain this feat multiple times. Each time you must choose a different energy type.

Admixture School - Versatile Evocation (Wizard Class Feature):

When you cast an evocation spell that does acid, cold, electricity, or fire damage, you may change the damage dealt to one of the other four energy types. This changes the descriptor of the spell to match the new energy type. Any non-damaging effects remain unchanged unless the new energy type invalidates them (an ice storm that deals fire damage might still provide a penalty on Perception checks due to smoke, but it would not create difficult terrain). Such effects are subject to GM discretion. You can use this ability a number of times per day equal to 3 + your Intelligence modifier.

The character in question has a sorcerer level with the draconic bloodline (white) to increase the damage of his cold spells.

Bloodline Arcana:

Whenever you cast a spell with an energy descriptor that matches your draconic bloodline's energy type, that spell deals +1 point of damage per die rolled.

Using magic missile as an example (an evocation spell with the [force] descriptor)
Step 1 Apply the elemental spell metamagic feat to magic missile to change the damage to fire. The elemental spell feat doesn't care about about the spells energy descriptor, nor the type of damage so this should work. elemental magic missile is now a [force] spell that deals fire damage.
Step 2 Versatile evocation can now be used to change the damage type of elemental magic missile as it doesn't initially check for the descriptor of the spell, just that the spell deals acid, cold, electricity, or fire damage. We chose to change the damage to cold, and as per versatile evocation, the spells descriptor changes to [cold].
Step 3 Apply the bonus damage from the draconic bloodline, as elemental magic missile is now a spell with the [cold] descriptor.

Are there any reasons that this interaction doesn't line up with the RAW and should be disallowed at a PFS table?

[Azten]

Yeah, that's one way to get up t 5d4+10 damage.

[Tiny Coffee Golem]

You can skip the admixture part of you just have Elemental spell(cold)

[Scrapper]

I could be wrong, but isn't a force effect out side the typical Elemental/energies effect category?

[Firebug]

I think you are thinking of the sorcerer bloodline arcanas, which specify that the energy damage of your spells is changed. Also the wizard admixture school, which specifies 4 damage types that can be changed into one of the others.

Elemental Spell just says "replace a spells normal damage".

[Agodeshalf]

Elemental doesn't change the descriptor, so an ice fireball has the fire descriptor while doing cold damage. Admixture is needed to get the descriptor to be changed so the bloodline addition can happen.

[Nixitur]

Scrapper wrote:

I could be wrong, but isn't a force effect out side the typical Elemental/energies effect category?

Even if it is, Elemental Spell does not care whether the spell was originally elemental, only that it does damage.

Tiny Coffee Golem wrote:

You can skip the admixture part of you just have Elemental spell(cold)

No, because Elemental Spell does not change the spell descriptors, only the damage type. Jack even pointed that out in Step 1. The Draconic bloodline (white) specifically only works with spells with the cold descriptor, not just spells that do cold damage.

To answer the question, I think that's entirely fair. Everything checks out. Versatile Evocation doesn't state that the damage type has to match the descriptor, only that the damage needs to be elemental and that there has to be some descriptor indicating a damage type for it to be changed. And since [force] is a descriptor indicating damage type, that seems fine.

To be quite honest, I think Elemental Spell not changing the descriptors is an oversight. Because going purely by the rules about descriptors, "Force spells affect incorporeal creatures normally", so your Elemental (Fire) Magic Missile with the [force] descriptor would still do full damage against incorporeal creatures even though its damage type is fire. The determining factor whether a damage-dealing spell is a "force spell" is, oddly, not whether it deals force damage, but whether it has the [force] descriptor which Elemental Magic Missiles do.