Dragon heart mage Sorcerer

[chrisgray86]

Hey guys I have a question. I am new to this game and this is my first character that I have played. I am looking at taking the Draconic Power feat now does that give you a complete caster level with spell known and all so instead of being a Level 4 sorcerer and level 1 dragon heart mage I would be a level 5 sorcerer? or does this just effect my spells so I would cast say magic missle as a level 5 instead of being level 4? thanks for your time

[eggs]

Hey guys I have a question. I am new to this game and this is my first character that I have played. I am looking at taking the Draconic Power feat now does that give you a complete caster level with spell known and all so instead of being a Level 4 sorcerer and level 1 dragon heart mage I would be a level 5 sorcerer? or does this just effect my spells so I would cast say magic missle as a level 5 instead of being level 4? thanks for your time
It's the second one.

The big things Caster Level determines are spell effects (like how many damage dice are in a fireball, what sort of movement a phantom steed has), dispel DCs, durations and caster level checks (punching through spell resistance is the most common).

The bonuses that grant more spells, spells known or higher-level spell access are explicit about those things (like prestige class entries or the Greater Rite of Passage (http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/we/20060420a)).

The distinctions between Character level/Class Level/Spell Level/Caster Level/Level in [a Spellcasting Class] are some of those really annoying pieces of game jargon that really need to be paid close attention.

EDIT:
Also, if this is your first character, you might want to doublecheck how the skill rank cap works - without shenanigans, most Sorcerers can't get enough skill ranks to enter Dragonheart Mage until level 6.

[chrisgray86]

EDIT:
Also, if this is your first character, you might want to doublecheck how the skill rank cap works - without shenanigans, most Sorcerers can't get enough skill ranks to enter Dragonheart Mage until level 6.

Entry Requirements
Spellcasting: Ability to spontaneously cast arcane spells.
Skills: Knowledge (arcana) 8 ranks.
Feats: Draconic Heritage*.
Languages: Draconic.

This is all it said did I miss something. Like I said I am new so fill me in I have 8 ranks in Knowledge arcana so I think I have all the requirements

[eggs]

Normally a character can only put [their Hit Dice + 3] ranks into a skill, so a level 4 Sorcerer caps out at 7 ranks. A level 5 Sorcerer can get that last point in, and qualify for dragonheart mage at level 6.

Since someone's probably going to pop in to snipe that statement, there are a couple ways of getting around that cap, but they tend to either rely on abusive rules-lawyery tricks or use rarely-used/poorly-worded variants, and probably won't fly in most games.

Another confusing bit is that skill ranks are just the skill points invested in one skill, not the total modifier - so a level 4 Sorcerer could have 14 Intelligence and 7 skill points invested in Know(Arcana), for a total +9 modifier, but still not qualify.

I hope this helps. :smallsmile:

[lord pringle]

Entry Requirements
Spellcasting: Ability to spontaneously cast arcane spells.
Skills: Knowledge (arcana) 8 ranks.
Feats: Draconic Heritage*.
Languages: Draconic.

This is all it said did I miss something. Like I said I am new so fill me in I have 8 ranks in Knowledge arcana so I think I have all the requirements

You can only have ranks in a skill equal to Level+3, so you would have to take Dragonheart mage as your 6th level.

[chrisgray86]

You can only have ranks in a skill equal to Level+3, so you would have to take Dragonheart mage as your 6th level.

Yep your right.... I just talked to my dnd Advisor. ( my friend who has played alot) and what happened was I leveled up to level 5 and wanted to take the class not thinking that it I went from a level 5 sorcerer back to level 4 I would not have the approprate skill points necessary. Ooopps. He said not to worry about it cause its only one skill point and we have already played at least 2 games with my "new powers" but you are right thanks for the tips this game has alot of stuff to remember/learn. but I like it