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Using the FCB to get 1 additional spell per level. Looking for thoughts on the spell selection and any ideas to help further improve it-
Arcane bloodline, Tattooed sorcerer archetype (evocation)
1st- 8 spells known
Mage Armor
Magic Missile
Grease
Unseen Servant
Infernal Healing?
Comprehend Languages
Identify
Shield?
????
2nd level- 7 known
Invisibility
See Invisibility
Glitter dust
Web
Rope Trick
Mirror Image
Minor Image
Scorching Ray
3rd level- 5 known
Haste
Slow
Fireball
Dispel Magic
Fly
???
4th- 4 known
Black Tentacles
Dimension door
Scrying
Greater Invisibility
????
5th- 2 known (thanks to arcane bloodlines 9th level power)
Wall of force
Teleport??
The list looks pretty versatile, so it's not too bad. I would say though that invisibility and greater invisibility might be redundant, I would probably get rid of the former, even if it's still has it's use.
Here are my suggestions:
1st level: Protection from evil.
Reasoning: It's useful to temporarily get rid of enchantment, or possession effects used by evil creatures.
3rd level: Stinking Cloud
Reasoning: It's a pretty strong AOE control spell and you lack a good Fortitude based spell for control.
4th level: Charm Monster
Reasoning: You don't have access to any charm spell, and that one is pretty good at that as it has a very long duration (1/day level) and can charm anything that's not immune.
5th level: Telekinesis
Reasoning: It's a fun a creative spell with a lot of utility. You could use it to attack for around 1d6 damage per level (provided you have stuff heavy enough), or to maneuver or even lift yourself if you need it. Although it is not the best spell.
Alternative 5th level: Shadow Evocation.
Reasoning: It is super versatile, and being a sorcerer versatility is always welcomed.
Hope this helps!
Edit: Since it appears you edited teleport, it's also a good choice, it's a good ''get out of jail'' spell and it's overall pretty great utility-wise.
Protection From Evil is a good one.
I like having Echolocation, but Shadow Evocation is probably better to grab first.
Charm Monster is a smart one to have... I was going to say Animate Dead, just in case you want to enter a certain cool kid club later.
I'd make sure to always have an attack spell no more than one level lower than the max you have, not counting one which relies on a combat maneuver check; CMB = caster level + cha mod just isn't enough to be reliable and feats don't usually apply.
Mage armor and shield are good if and only if you have spent some effort to keep your AC up with magic items, ability scores etc. Otherwise you will likely find that ~20 AC doesn't cut it at all at 10th level and you might as well get spells which help you otherwise (like heightened awareness) instead.
There are several spells which hide the party. Invisibility sphere & aura of the unremarkable that I remember right now. It's often better to hide everyone than just one scout.
Acid pit is a decent 4th level spell but remember it has little effect on huge+ creatures or creatures which can fly; it can't be your only serious attack spell. Also other PCs get annoyed when you dissolve their treasure. Black tentacles is one of those weak CMB-based spells which also shouldn't be your main attack spell.
Rope trick, tiny hut, secure shelter etc; these all have the primary purpose of giving you a safe place to sleep. Tiny hut (and obviously phantom chariot) have other uses, but if your primary purpose is just the safe place to sleep then rope trick is sufficient.
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Drop "Identify". At level 10 you should have enough ranks in spellcraft that it does not matter.
Take "Silent image" instead.
And you don't need both "see invisible" and "glitterdust". But you could need "protection from arrows" or "protection from evil communal". "Locate object" are a much better spell than most people realize. "Alter Self" is a very good sorcerer spell as well. And "False Life" could be another good option.
"Communal resist energy"and Displacement" are good 3 level choices.
And talk to the other players (if this is a character and not an NPC) so you dont all pick haste and dispel magic....
General purpose attack spells (4th-5th level sor/wiz)
Boneshatter; harm and debuff one enemy. Doesn't work on quite everything but close enough.
Dragon's breath; area damage of element of your choice
Obsidian flow; battlefield control, debuff and some damage. Doesn't work on flyers.
Resilient sphere; take one enemy out of the combat. Doesn't work on huge+ enemies.
Hold monster; disable and render vulnerable one enemy. Mind-affecting.
Icy prison; disable 1 enemy
Magic jar/possession; turn enemies into tools
Parchment swarm; merely adequate damage without using a scroll, but has some fun effects with, say, a scroll of frigid touch.
Phantasmal web; battlefield control. Mind-affecting.
There's plenty of other good spells but those are among the most generally useful at 10th level IMO.
Note: if you're getting the persistent spell feat then 2nd-3rd level spells may be able to carry more weight than usual, especially as an arcane bloodline sorcerer. Higher level spells do have greater effects though.
I would say though that invisibility and greater invisibility might be redundant, I would probably get rid of the former, even if it's still has it's use.
Drop "Identify". At level 10 you should have enough ranks in spellcraft that it does not matter.
To make sure everybody realizes, these are the free bloodline spells of the Arcane bloodline:
1: Identify2: Invisibility
3: Dispel magic
4: Dimension door
5: Overland flight
6: True seeing
7: Greater teleport
8: Power word stun
9: Wish
First of all, I would suggest using Pages of Spell Knowledge for all additional lower level spells, e.g. Comprehend Languages, Infernal Healing, See Invisibility, Rope Trick, Fly, .... If you create these items yourself, it's just 500gp for a 1st-level spell, 2000gp for 2nd-level & 4,500 for 3rd-level spells.
Depending on your wealth you can go for even higher level spells; and depending on your race, you can invest the FCB in something more useful at lower levels.
Scrying isn't used that often, but if it is needed I suggest doing it this way: get a Robe of Arcane Heritage, which adds +4 to your sorcerer level for bloodline powers; one of those bloodline powers is your familiar, and therefore your familiar has the stats of a 14th level sorcerer, not just a 10th level. And at level 13 the familiar gets the Scry on Familiar ability.
If a party member has a high UMD skill, you might consider learning a spell that would be particularly useful for that person to cast on himself via your Spell Tattoo power.
As for spells: all the shadow spells have immeasurable versatility and can achieve things that even the original copied spells cannot, so I strongly recommend these.
avr already mentioned it, but Dragon's Breath works very well with your Enhanced Varisian Tattoo power, so it's worth taking it. And combined with a Metamagic Rod (Familiar Spell) you can imbue your familiar with the spell instead of putting yourself in harm's way.
You're missing some of the top notch debuffs.
Ray of Enfeeblement
Touch of Idiocy
Enervation
Enervation is one of the best debuffs in the game, especially when you Empower/Maximize it.
I'd drop See Invis (keep Glitterdust, it's better) and get Touch of Idiocy. Put Ray of Enfeeblement and Enervation in your ???? spots for 1st & 4th lvl spells.
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I'm trying to stick away from necromancy for character reasons. Despite the many useful spells in the higher levels.
As of now, 1st, 3rd and 4th level spell slots are more for my attack spells. (empowered fireball with magical lineage Reduction), fireball/another attack spell for 3rd, and magic missile for 1st.
I'm hoping to get a good selection of spells that cover different areas without too great an overlap. I also would like some more flavorful spells (such as secure shelt/mages mansion) at higher levels.
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Okay, here is an updated list, with suggestions for items as well. Note-
Necromancy is out for the most part. Particularly powerful spells will be picked up later, but that is in character stuff and not related to getting the most potential from the spells chosen.
Also, another note- I tend to try and avoid single target save or suck spells. For two reasons. 1. It invalidates the party if they succeed, and 2. It is a complete waste of an action/spell slot/known if it fails.
Along those lines, I tend to dislike debuff spells, particularly those with no condition applied on a successful save. Spells like Slow, web, phantasmal web, etc are okay because they can affect multiple targets.
1st level- known 8
Mage Armor
Magic Missile
Grease
Unseen Servant
Identify
Shield
Floating Disk
Silent Image
Vanish
1st level pages of spell knowledge-
Infernal Healing
Comprehend Languages
Detect secret doors
2nd level- 7 known
Invisibility
Detect Thoughts
Glitter dust
Web
Mirror Image
Minor Image
Scorching Ray or Burning Arc or Shatter?
2nd level Pages of spell knowledge
See Invisibility- you can't hit an enemy you can't see. Glitterdust doesn't cover that wide of an area ;)
Rope Trick
3rd level- 5 known
Haste
Slow
Fireball
Dispel Magic
Fly- will be swapped out eventually after level 11.
Resist energy (communal)
Lightning Bolt OR diamond spray
Page of spell knowledge-
water breathing
4th- 4 known +2 from expanded arcana (7th level feat slot retrained at level 10)
Black Tentacles
Dimension door
Scrying
Greater Invisibility
Dragon's Breath
Phantom Chariot
Arcane Eye
would hallucinatory terrain be worth a spell known?
5th- 2 known(thanks to arcane bloodlines 9th level power) +1 from expanded arcana (will likely retrain at level 12 for two spells instead of one. Its cheesy, but it costs gold and works RAW from what I can tell)
Wall of force
Teleport
Phantasmal Web or Magic Jar Or break enchantment
Future spells I am looking at picking up, not sure which ones. Input on those would be welcome as well (only going to level 6 spells for now)
5th level- I'll be getting another 5-6 or so I think.
Cone of Cold
Wall of stone
Hungry pit
Major Creation?
Lesser planar binding (replaced once I get planar binding)
Polymorph
Sending
Feeblemind
Phantasmal Web or break enchantment (whichever I don't pick at the start)
Life bubble
6th level spells I am looking at. (Probably will only get about 4-5 total sadly)
Cold ice strike- swift action spell? yes! More than makes up for being only a 30ft cone.
Chain lightning
Planar Binding
True seeing (comes from arcane bloodline)
Disintegrate (a classic, but I already likely have a lot of damage spells, useful outside of damage in niche circumstances)
Elemental body or Form of the Dragon
Move earth
Good choices(Most of the ones you made already are great):
1st- Featherfall
3rd- Heroism, Chain of Perdition, Resist Energy Communal
4th- Confusion, Emergency Force Sphere!(Probably the best 4th level spell), Stoneshape
5th- 2 known(thanks to arcane bloodlines 9th level power)
The Tattooed Sorcerer archetype replaces your 9th level power, so you won't get these additional spells known.
Shatter at 2nd level all the way. Extremely versatile; ranges from useful to neigh encounter-ending.
shoot. you are correct... Hm, I could drop it, which I may. I can still get a familiar from the bloodline. Or I could take the blood mutation for +1 damage per die. And I can later retrain eschew materials into expanded arcana. Or something else.
Tattooed Sorcerer is a good archetype and it works very well with the Arcane Bloodline, since it replaces the weakest bloodline powers (and has an improved 1st-level power).
However, if you have feats available, consider taking the Arcane bloodline via the Eldritch Heritage feat chain, as you can then take the best bloodline powers. I recommend it because you said you're not a fan of save-or-suck spells, i.e. the Arcane bloodline arcana's boost to DC doesn't seem to be important for you. If you want a more blasting type sorcerer the usual way would be a Crossblooded archetype with two +1dmg/dice arcanas depending on the preferred element [Orc, Solar, Draconic, ...].
May I ask which race your character is? Or do you have any other SLAs from somewhere?
Shatter at 2nd level all the way. Extremely versatile; ranges from useful to neigh encounter-ending.
On a Cleric? I would take it in my early levels. Arcane Casters have way better options though.
My rule of thumb for sorcerer is take spells you expect you might use on any given day, and get wands, scrolls, potions and oils for the more corner case stuff.
I agree see invisibility is absolutely worth it. Glitterdust without see invisibility or another way to target invisible creatures is really just a shorter duration, no SR blindness/deafness.
On a Cleric? I would take it in my early levels. Arcane Casters have way better options though.
Eh. I don't know. It isn't the first spell I go for, but it ticks several boxes, can be pretty potent early on and continues to be a legit, if less versatile, choice later. I'd take that over plain ol' damage any day.
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Alright, gonna ask for a little more advice outside of spell selection (which I still haven't 100% decided on)
Some of the following is pertinent to said spell selection as well-
Blood line-
I like Arcane, I like all but the first spell you get from bloodline, however I am curious on folks thoughts.
I have 3 different options from here.
Option 1- Keep arcane bloodline as is. Basic one.
Option 2- Take blood mutations- take blood havoc to replace the bond/familiar. Lose a little utility that a familiar gives, but I gain a -decent- boost to blast spells. The characters primary function in combat is control/damage. So this is a nice boon.
Trade out the 9th level level power (so no extra spells known) for blood piercing. This gives my sorcerer, with a charisma of 24, an ability to lower spell resistance by 7 twice a day. the 7 less energy resistance is meh, but welcome. This along with spell penetration should almost guarantee SR wouldn't be a big worry.
Option 3-
Take the tattooed sorcerer archetype.
largest boon- really cool tattoo flavor.
I gain +1 CL on all evocation spells, a familiar (and all the boons from that) and on all bloodline spells. (a nice boon for dispel)
I can create tattoo scrolls, I admit I'm not entirely sure how this functions... but I if I read it correctly it functions as a free scroll. So... one extra cast a day? Not that great...
level 9 I can make one spell a SLA, useful for things like teleport/dimension door etc because you can use SLA without needing to speak or use somatic components. +2 CL is nice as well.
I do however lose the 7th level feat (likely still spell).
Thoughts on these options?
Here is a plan of the feats using option 1 as the base-
1- Spell focus evocation, eschew mats, spell focus conjuration (or) elemental spell?
3- Craft wondrous items
5- Empower spell
7- spell penetration, still spell
9- Expanded arcana (retrained)
11- Expanded arcana(?)
13- Intensify Spell
15+ ??? likely expanded arcana.
Now, metamagic feats actually work great for sorcerers, especially arcane. The small price of spontaneous metamagic is a full round action. Thats amazing! Arcane also adds +1 to the DC of spells whose level increases by 1 when used with metamagic.
One of the signature moves I plan to make for this character is an intensified, empowered fireball (5th level spell slot) with a rod of maximize (If I understand correctly, a lesser rod of maximize would work, as the spell is 3rd level) Which would come together around level 15. Which would equate to 135 damage on a failed save. Not great, but not shabby, and I'm not particularly looking to get super gamey with it. (that would almost KO most 15th level casters)
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I suggest trying to work in Liberating Command (unless there's already a spontaneous caster in the game with it).
Uh no I think you need a metamagic rod corresponding to the spell slot used. A lesser rod of maximize spell doesn't work for a spell using a 5th level slot.
I don't think still spell is likely to matter to you. If you can fit in spell penetration and use a pinch of dweomer's essence that gives you +7 to beat SR when you need it - blood piercing shouldn't be necessary with any version of the character. Blood havoc is pretty good when you can squeeze it in though.
IME you can get by without every possible spell known, unless you're making a character who has to help carry a bunch of other weaker characters. I'd probably go with option 3.
Option 2- Take blood mutations- take blood havoc to replace the bond/familiar. Lose a little utility that a familiar gives, but I gain a -decent- boost to blast spells. The characters primary function in combat is control/damage. So this is a nice boon.
Remember that you can take bloodline mutations with your bloodline bonus feats as well. For example, you can take the familiar as normal and then take Blood Havoc as your bloodline feat at level 7.
Trade out the 9th level level power (so no extra spells known) for blood piercing. This gives my sorcerer, with a charisma of 24, an ability to lower spell resistance by 7 twice a day. the 7 less energy resistance is meh, but welcome. This along with spell penetration should almost guarantee SR wouldn't be a big worry.
Have you settled on a race yet? If you're any kind of elf, you likely won't need more spell penetration anyway. And anything that raises your caster level, of which there are many ways, also makes it easier to beat spell resistance.
I gain +1 CL on all evocation spells, a familiar (and all the boons from that) and on all bloodline spells. (a nice boon for dispel)
"all evocation spells" might not be that many in the end. When looking at your spell selection, are there that many evocation spells where a +1 on CL makes a difference (apart from Fireball obviously)? For if there are not that many, it might not be that much of a boon. The only bloodline spells to profit from this special Varisian Tattoo would be Dispel Magic [caster level check] while the others either don't use caster level or have negligible effects: Invisibility [1min longer], Dimension Door [40ft more range], Overland Flight [1h longer].
I can create tattoo scrolls, I admit I'm not entirely sure how this functions... but I if I read it correctly it functions as a free scroll. So... one extra cast a day? Not that great...
It's better than you think, and worse than you think...
Better: It's extra casts of (potentially) your highest level spell slot!Better: Spell tattoos are silent spell completion items, so you can use it to cast spells as if modified by the Still Spell metamagic (with an additional standard action, so not good for combat unless prepared).
Better: And you can bestow the spell tattoo on anyone, even your own familiar.
Worse: You have to expend a spell slot to use the ability, so it's only useable for an extra cast if you have a spare spell slot of the desired level at the end of the day.
Worse: Others need to fulfill the typical spell scroll requirements to use the tattoo, so using it on your familiar or others might be useless (unless they have UMD or a similar ability).
level 9 I can make one spell a SLA, useful for things like teleport/dimension door etc because you can use SLA without needing to speak or use somatic components. +2 CL is nice as well.
This power is much better than just "nice", because it's not just a mere +2 CL. It says the spell "functions at +2 caster levels above your sorcerer caster level", which is different: As this is your 9th level bloodline power, it would be empowered if you wear a Robe of Arcane Heritage [and every sorcerer should!], because the robe's bonus would stack and then it's actually a +6 CL!
There's also another reason to use the aforementioned Robe of Arcane Heritage: You can only change the spell it works with when you get a bloodline power, which would be levels 15 and 20. However, the robe can help here as well, since by donning [& doffing] your robe, you can raise your level by 4 [& lower it again to normal], which allows you to change the used spell at any level 11+.
Another good thing about this power: You only have to know the selected spell at the moment when you take/change this bloodline power, i.e. you are free to forget/exchange the spell afterwards. So it's like an additional spell known 1/day.
1- Spell focus evocation, eschew mats, spell focus conjuration (or) elemental spell?
3- Craft wondrous items
5- Empower spell
7- spell penetration, still spell
9- Expanded arcana (retrained)
11- Expanded arcana(?)
13- Intensify Spell
15+ ??? likely expanded arcana.
Feats:
1/
Spell Focus Conjuration is completely worthless; summoners only take it as prerequisite for subsequent feats.
Eschew Materials is good, but False Focus is 100 times better.
Elemental Spell is better done via metamagic rod, since you're unlikely to use it more than 3 times a day and you don't want to raise your spell levels even higher on your signature move or Cone of Cold. However, if you want to use the Maximize rod on Fireball and change the element simultaneously, it's still a good option; though choose your element carefully, depending on all your blasting spells known.
Spell Focus Evocation is a decent option, but since most evocation spells target Reflex saves and those aren't hat high on enemies, only take it if you see them pass the saves too often.
My recommendation: False Focus.
3/
Craft Wondrous Item is a feat you can buy for 20k gold (via Ampoule of False Blood Impossible bloodline), so have your party members chip in and you're set.
My recommendation: Eldritch Heritage*, Inscribe Magical Tattoo (see below), or a previous leftover
5/
Empower Spell is good, but usually you take it at later levels (you can only empower 1st-level spells with your precious Fireball spell-slots at level 5).
My recommendation: a previous leftover
7/
Spell Penetration depends on other things, so not sure.
Still Spell is rarely used, and I'd recommend you make a Caster Tattoo instead, as it is much better for flavor, so take the Inscribe Magical Tattoo feat instead and create tattoos.
My recommendation: Empower
9/ Echoing or Intensify, depending on spells known and possible lack of spell slots
11/ Eldritch Heritage*
*: I still suggest considering the Eldritch Heritage line, since that's stronger than Expanded Arcana.
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"The wearer treats her sorcerer level as 4 higher than normal for the purpose of determining what bloodline powers she can use and their effects."
This may work, however the archetype does not count as a bloodline IIRC. So doesn't work. Unless I missed something somewhere.
Why exactly is eldritch heritage so highly rated? what bloodline power are you suggesting?
"The wearer treats her sorcerer level as 4 higher than normal for the purpose of determining what bloodline powers she can use and their effects."
This may work, however the archetype does not count as a bloodline IIRC. So doesn't work. Unless I missed something somewhere.
It would create a huge rule mess if it weren't working: Because wearing the robe would then mean you could use the original bloodline powers for 3 levels and then they suddenly vanish and get replaced; e.g. from level 5 to 8 you could use your original 9th-level bloodline power [since it hasn't been replaced yet] but once you hit level 9 this bloodline power would disappear and get replaced with the archetype version.
That's just weird and opens a whole new can of worms imo.
Why exactly is eldritch heritage so highly rated?
Because many bloodline powers are much stronger than normal feats. This is offset by Eldritch Heritage's 3 main drawbacks:
a) one specific [bloodline-dependent] Skill Focus feat as a prerequisite, andb) a high charisma requirement [13, 15, and 17 respectively for the 3 feats].
c) you do not get the chosen bloodline's arcana.
a: is an ugly feat tax, since Skill Focus is generally a weak feat.
b: is not a problem for any CHA-based class (e.g. sorcerers, oracles, paladins, ...) since they have such a high charisma anyway.
c: quite some arcanas aren't that good tbh.
There are certain ways to mitigate those problems: (Half-)Humans can take the Draconic Heritage alternate racial trait to avoid the CHA requirements. Half-Elves get the Skill Focus feat for free. And for 20k gold you can take any Skill Focus of your choice as prerequisite instead of a specific Skill Focus.
For example, blasters usually take the Crossblooded sorcerer archetype to get 2 arcanas (e.g. Draconic & Orc) to get a +2 bonus damage per dice.
Then you can take Eldritch Heritage to add the Arcane bloodline's 1st-level power [familiar/bond], the 3rd-level power [Metamagic Adept -> Arcane Apotheosis], and the 15th-level power [School Focus +2 DC].
You can also take Improved Eldritch Heritage a second time to get the New Arcana power to add more spells known [3 spells of highest level], which is much better than Expanded Arcana [1 spell of highest level OR 2 spells of lower levels].
what bloodline power are you suggesting?
The Arcane bloodline is the absolute best one for Eldritch Heritage, since you can get the 20th-level bloodline power that way and get the aforementioned great bloodline powers.
However, many other bloodlines are very good as well, depending on what you want to play. If you want to go with fire, the Phoenix bloodline is flavorful, granting you at-will flight with fiery wings; the 1st-level power is just a glorified identify spell though, but it gives you 2 additional cantrips.With the Exotic Heritage feat instead of Skill Focus, you can also take a wildblooded bloodline instead (e.g. Pit-Touched, or Sylvan for an animal companion).
The Sage bloodline (wildblooded Arcane) has a weird 1st-level power, which counts as a spell of half your sorcerer level, which can be enhanced with the robe; it's useful to circumvent "highest spell you can cast" prerequisites: At level 16 with +4 from robe your highest spell then is a 10th-level spell [e.g. with the Human FCB you could add 9th-level spells to your list of spells known, even though you have no 9th-level spell-slots], and at level 20 it's a 12th-level spell...
And if you don't like the 1st-level bloodline power, take a Bloodline Familiar instead, which stacks in levels with your original familiar.
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It would create a huge rule mess if it weren't working: Because wearing the robe would then mean you could use the original bloodline powers for 3 levels and then they suddenly vanish and get replaced; e.g. from level 5 to 8 you could use your original 9th-level bloodline power [since it hasn't been replaced yet] but once you hit level 9 this bloodline power would disappear and get replaced with the archetype version.
That's just weird and opens a whole new can of worms imo.
I don't see how, you are trading away a bloodline power. You just don't get a 9th level power. Any you keep function at +4, but if you traded it away, then its gone. Its the same for fighters, if you trade away weapon training (such as, spear training from dragoon) you don't get advanced weapon training options.
Also,
You gain an additional power from the bloodline you selected with the Eldritch Heritage feat. You gain a 15th-level (or lower) sorcerer bloodline power that you do not already have. For purposes of using that power, treat your character level as your sorcerer level for all your sorcerer bloodline powers granted by this feat, Eldritch Heritage, and Improved Eldritch Heritage.
Greater only allows for 15th level. You cannot get the 20th level ability for any bloodline through the feats.
The Sage bloodline (wildblooded Arcane) has a weird 1st-level power, which counts as a spell of half your sorcerer level, which can be enhanced with the robe; it's useful to circumvent "highest spell you can cast" prerequisites: At level 16 with +4 from robe your highest spell then is a 10th-level spell [e.g. with the Human FCB you could add 9th-level spells to your list of spells known, even though you have no 9th-level spell-slots], and at level 20 it's a 12th-level spell...
I don't see where this is coming from. The Sage bloodline has the following power-
Arcane Bolt (Sp): Starting at 1st level, you can unleash a ray of magic force as a standard action, targeting any foe within 30 feet as a ranged touch attack. This ray deals 1d4 points of damage + 1 for every two sorcerer levels you possess. This damage is treated as a spell of a level equal to half your sorcerer level, and is a force effect. You can use this ability a number of times per day equal to 3 + your (see FAQ/Errata) Charisma modifier.This bloodline power replaces arcane bond.
I'm almost positive this does not work how you suggest either. while the damage is treated as a spell (and so one theoretically could use meta magic with it?) it does not count as a spell "of highest level you can cast". If you can site something different I'll gladly change my mind.
I don't see how, you are trading away a bloodline power. You just don't get a 9th level power. Any you keep function at +4, but if you traded it away, then its gone.
Yeah, you trade it away, but that trade happens at sorcerer level 9. However, with the robe you get your 9th-level bloodline power 4 levels earlier. That's why you would have the bloodline power from levels 5 to 8, but once you hit level 9, it is traded away.
Greater only allows for 15th level. You cannot get the 20th level ability for any bloodline through the feats.
You have to carefully read the description of the Arcane bloodline's 3rd-level power "Metamagic Adept":
Metamagic Adept (Ex):
At 3rd level, you can apply any one metamagic feat you know to a spell you are about to cast without increasing the casting time. You must still expend a higher-level spell slot to cast this spell. You can use this ability once per day at 3rd level and one additional time per day for every four sorcerer levels you possess beyond 3rd, up to five times per day at 19th level. At 20th level, this ability is replaced by arcane apotheosis.
Metamagic Adept says that it is replaced by Arcane Apotheosis. This replacement is an inherent feature of Metamagic Adept itself, not a part of Arcane Apotheosis (which you cannot select with Eldritch Heritage directly). So once you hit level 16 [or 20 without robe], your Metamagic Adept is replaced by Arcane Apotheosis.
I'm almost positive this does not work how you suggest either. while the damage is treated as a spell (and so one theoretically could use meta magic with it?) it does not count as a spell "of highest level you can cast". If you can site something different I'll gladly change my mind.
The issue with this weird power is that it is treated as a spell, and I think it's the only SLA in the game that is treated as such. Usually, SLAs are not spells but special abilities that you can cast. SLAs have a casting time, spell level, caster level, ... that are all defined either generically or in the description of the SLA; they are subject to antimagic effects and so forth, however, SLAs are not spells.
This one is different, because it says it is treated as a spell. Every other SLA in the game just defines the SLA's spell level, the DC (and whether it is based WIS/INT/CHA/...), caster level, ... but doesn't say that the SLA is a spell.And it wouldn't be a problem, if the Robe of Arcane Heritage didn't exist, because this SLA's level would always lag behind your actual highest level spell, e.g. at sorcerer level 3 you get 2nd-level spells, while the SLA is still a 1st-level spell - due to rounding down it turns into a 2nd-level spell at sorcerer level 4. The robe moves that upwards by 4 character levels, which means the SLA is now 1 or 2 spell-levels ahead: At sorcerer level 4 you only have 2nd-level spell-slots, but the SLA is now a 4th-level spell; at sorcerer level 5 you only have 3rd-level spell-slots, but the SLA is still a 4th-level spell.
The issue would be fixed if the SLA had been written in the usual way, e.g. "the spell level is equal to half your sorcerer level".
There are a few bloodline powers that have such little rule-bending issues; another cool example is the Astral bloodline's 3rd-level power:
[...] Once per day as a swift action, you can cast one cantrip you know as though it were augmented by the Quicken Spell metamagic feat, without altering the cantrip’s level. At 5th level and every 2 levels thereafter, the maximum level of the spell you can augment with this ability increases by 1, to a maximum of an 8th-level spell at 19th level. [...]
This power allows you to quicken even such spells, that cannot usually be quickened due to their longer casting time, e.g. a 15+ level Astral sorcerer can quicken Geas from a 10min casting time to a swift action.
The ability has even other issues: Do you still need to cast the spell after using the ability? Does casting a spell that way use a spell-slot? Depending on the answers the Astral bloodline is worth taking with Eldritch Heritage as well.
The Sylvan bloodline is great for Exotic Eldritch Heritage since it gives you an animal companion, and you can use it as a strong mount to keep moving in combat while casting full-round action spells (usually due to metamagic). Share Spells allows you to cast Overland Flight on your animal companion as well - if you like riding on a flying dinosaur for example... Along with a familiar this also makes teamwork feats much more valuable.
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the ability is not treated as a spell, the damage is. I believe the context was for allowing the ability to have metamagic applied to it. As its not a spell you are casting. One does not "cast" SLAs.
And also no.
Metamagic Adept (Ex):
At 3rd level, you can apply any one metamagic feat you know to a spell you are about to cast without increasing the casting time. You must still expend a higher-level spell slot to cast this spell. You can use this ability once per day at 3rd level and one additional time per day for every four sorcerer levels you possess beyond 3rd, up to five times per day at 19th level. At 20th level, this ability is replaced by arcane apotheosis.
This is stating that once you reach level 20 you gain arcane apotheosis and that ability overrides this one. You don't automatically gain it from the 3rd level ability. Its stating the 20th level ability simple replaces this one.
I am more likely to agree on the arcane bolt power than this one.
Peerless speed is interesting. Although it specific "cast one cantrip" so, you would still be "casting" the spell slot. So no freebie. But that isn't a big issue.
This is stating that once you reach level 20 you gain arcane apotheosis and that ability overrides this one. You don't automatically gain it from the 3rd level ability. Its stating the 20th level ability simple replaces this one.Metamagic Adept (Ex):
At 20th level, this ability is replaced by arcane apotheosis.
What you describe is how things usually work, but in those cases it's written differently.
You are thinking what is written is this:Arcane Apotheosis (Ex):
This ability replaces Metamagic Adept.
But what we actually have is this:
Metamagic Adept (Ex):
Replace this ability with Arcane Apotheosis.
That's a big difference. The replacement is a part of the 3rd-level ability, it's not a part of the 20th-level ability. It's similar to every other scaling ability, e.g. this ability from the Scorpion bloodline:
At 5th level, the ability damage of your poison increases to 1d3.At 7th level, each time you apply your progenitor’s sting, you can choose two ability scores for your bloodline poison to affect.
At 11th level, whenever you apply your progenitor’s sting to a weapon, you can magically apply it onto all willing allies’ weapons within 20 feet as well.
Once you hit the mentioned levels your ability gets the additional effects that are spelled out in this ability. You don't need any other ability at these levels to get those additional effects.
This is why you get Arcane Apotheosis from the Metamagic Adept ability once you reach the level mentioned in Metamagic Adept.tl;dr:
If Metamagic Adept were written like this [I just exchanged "20" for "10"], what do you think would happen?
Metamagic Adept (Ex):
[...] At 10th level, this ability is replaced by Arcane Apotheosis.
Would you get Arcane Apotheosis at level 10 or not?
I think the answer is obvious. I don't think this was intended [RAI], but this is clearly what is written [RAW].
Okay, here is an updated list,
(snip)
Identify
Comprehend Languages
Detect secret doors
Rope Trick
water breathing
These are candidates for scrolls, especially the 1st-level ones. It obviously depends what sort of adventures you're likely to have, your feats and your fellow PCs, but unless you're going to cast these a lot, get something more frequent. Such as
Enlarge Person
Prot v Evil [Communal]
Expeditious Retreat
Liberating Command
Darkvision
Greater Magic Weapon
Displacement