Varisan Tattoo and Bloatmage Initiate.

[Derek Dalton]

Pretty sure the answer is No but thought I'd ask anyway. Have a Bloatmage concept based off an old Marvel Villain. Mojo from the old XMen comics. The question is with Bloatmage Initiate his caster level is one higher for one particular school of magic. Now Varisan Tattoo does the same. They don't stack do they? Pretty sure they don't but love the idea of it.

[Java Man]

Untyped bonuses from different sources, that is a flagship example of what does stack. Enjoy.

[CMantle]

I don’t know enough on the topic to give a perfect answer, but untyped bonuses from different sources stack... both of these bonuses to caster level are untyped, both are from different sources (2 distinct, separate feats). So in my mind it works unless I’m missing a more specific rule about caster level bonuses.

The real question is are you also grabbing the magical knack trait (+2 trait bonus to caster level up to total hit die for multiclassing) or the gifted adept trait (permanent +1 caster level with a single spell chosen at the time of the trait)?

Edit: if all of these do stack, you’re gonna have some good fun with the feat Spell Perfection.. “In addition, if you have other feats which allow you to apply a set numerical bonus to any aspect of this spell (such as Spell Focus, Spell Penetration, Weapon Focus [ray], and so on), double the bonus granted by that feat when applied to this spell.”

Doubles all those caster level bonuses for one spell... that’d be noice.

[Meirril]

Java Man wrote:

Untyped bonuses from different sources, that is a flagship example of what does stack. Enjoy.

One is a feat that doesn't expressly give a type. The other is a feat that doesn't expressly give a type. Isn't this the endless quagmire that people constantly argue over?

[Derek Dalton]

So the consensus seems at best ask my GM.

[LordKailas]

magical knack is usually a poor choice outside of trying to make up caster levels from multi-classing. Since usually the goal of taking these kinds of feats is so that you can cast spells at a caster level higher then your actual level. Even then it's not great since +caster level doesn't increase your spell progression.

As others have said, Varisan Tattoo and Bloatmage Initiate do stack. Since they are untyped and come from different feats. The same way power attack stacks with weapon specialization.

Common Terms wrote:

Bonuses are numerical values that are added to checks and statistical scores. Most bonuses have a type, and as a general rule, bonuses of the same type are not cumulative (do not “stack”)—only the greater bonus granted applies.

The important aspect of bonus types is that two bonuses of the same type don’t generally stack. With the exception of dodge bonuses, most circumstance bonuses, and racial bonuses, only the better bonus of a given type works. Bonuses without a type always stack, unless they are from the same source.

The reason you don't see these feats together in builds very often is because Bloatmage initiate carries a lot of extra baggage (in every sense).

As for gifted adept, I'd recommend picking it up via the extra traits feat. This is because by the RAW traits can't be re-trained but feats can be, meaning that if you take it as a normal trait you're locked in to the spell you've chosen, making the trait worthless after a certain level for any spell that caps out. However, retraining the extra traits feat would let you repick what spell it applies to, letting you get more mileage out of it as it becomes useful both at low and high levels.

[Derek Dalton]

BloatMage seems a Prestige Class most would avoid. It really isn't bad all things considered. With the blood pool you get extra spells and with corpulence you get natural armor. With Flying Disc Trick you take care of the movement penalties easily flying at thirty at an hour per level.
The concept I had was either a Tiefling or Human basing it off Mojo from the older Xmen comics. I could always retrain my Strix and not need the Magic Trick Feat but it just seems wrong having a fat flying feathered character.

[blahpers]

Meirril wrote:

Java Man wrote:

Untyped bonuses from different sources, that is a flagship example of what does stack. Enjoy.

One is a feat that doesn't expressly give a type. The other is a feat that doesn't expressly give a type. Isn't this the endless quagmire that people constantly argue over?

Do they? This doesn't have the ability score nonsense that ended up getting FAQ'd. This is plain old untyped bonuses. "Feat" is not a bonus type. They stack.