Early entry tricks

[PaucaTerrorem]

Just wondering what some common early entry tricks are that won't get a book thrown at me.

[ksbsnowowl]

Cleric 3/Sorcerer 1 with Heighten Spell and Versatile Spellcaster.
You can enter Mystic Theurge at 5th level.

[JaronK]

Earth Sense + Earth Spell + Heighten Spell gives you spell casting one higher than normal. Best used with Shadowcraft Mage, who likes those feats anyway... but it works fine with other classes too.

Binder 1/caster 3 into Anima Mage using just Improved Binding is an easy one, and very obvious.

JaronK

[OldTrees1]

Just wondering what some common early entry tricks are that won't get a book thrown at me.

How many levels early will your DM refrain from throwing a book at you?
Most early entry techniques let you enter 2 levels early.

[Urpriest]

Any early entry trick can potentially get a book thrown at you, unless it's a completely obvious one like dipping a class with good saves to accelerate entry into Master of Shrouds.

What you want to do is get a list of all the available early entry tricks, from least to most resource-intensive, then ask your DM which ones are legal and which ones are not. I suppose there are some that are so broken that your DM probably won't ever allow them, like Dusk Giant cheese, but mostly there are lots of options.

I don't have the encyclopedic knowledge of this sort of thing to help out, but here are some often-used tools:

Versatile Spellcaster: Lets you cast a spell of one higher level out of two lower level spell slots. It has to be a spell you know (and you have to be a spontaneous spellcaster) so you have to combine it with another trick that gets you a spell known at that level.
Heighten Spell: Makes a spell count as higher level. Combine with a source of free metamagic (or arguably spell slots from Versatile Spellcaster) and you're casting higher level spells.
Earth Spell: One way to get free Heighten. Listed just because it doesn't work for other metamagic.
Sanctum Spell: Like free Heighten, but limited in scope so more controversial.
Precocious Apprentice: Gives a first level character a second level spell, but under unusual conditions, and only one, both of which make it controversial.
Bloodline feats, Necrotic Cyst, etc.: Grant spells known, arguably higher level than what you can cast. A similar argument applies to fixed-list casters like Beguilers. Combine with Versatile Spellcaster.

[Chronos]

That depends on what you're trying to enter early, and what your DM's threshold of book-throwing is.

Level-limiting requirements to enter prestige classes tend to take one of four forms: BAB, skill ranks, possession of certain specific abilities usually gotten as class abilities at some level, and spellcasting of some degree (usually specified by the ability to cast spells of some level).

For BAB, there's very little that can be done, and it's generally regarded as very cheesy. So far as I know, the only option is to gain temporary HD in some way, such as a bard's Inspire Greatness, or a Barghest's Feed ability.

For skill ranks, you can use one of the temporary HD methods, or you can gain skills beyond the level cap via the Favored in Guild feat, or by eating the appropriate brain as an Illithid Savant. The feat only raises the cap by one point, and Illithid Savant is another widely-regarded-as-cheesy option (plus then you'd need some other trick to qualify for the class).

For possession of various abilities, it depends on what ability you're looking for. Sometimes, like with the Evasion required for Fochlucan Lyrist, you might be able to substitute an item. Sometimes, such as with the 2d6 sneak attack required for Arcane Trickster, you might be able to do better with dips into multiple classes (rogue 1/spellthief 1 instead of rogue 3), or even a single class with the right alternate class feature (halfling rogue 1). Sometimes you can use a feat, like Magical Training for a class that requires spellcasting (but with low or no requirements on how much).

For spellcasting, there are many options. You can double-count one class's spellcasting for theurge-type classes via Alternate Source Spell or Southern Magician. You can arguably hit 2nd level arcane spells early via Precocious Apprentice. You can use Versatile Spellcaster with either Heighten Spell, or a class such as Beguiler that knows all of their spells automatically. You can use Heighten Spell by itself with metamagic cost reducers (though some don't work with Heighten). You can use Heighten-like effects like Sanctum Spell, or one of the Illumian's improved sigils.

[Vhaidara]

I know Dread Witch from Heroes of Horror is a 5 level that you can enter at 3.
Base Will Save +4 (multiclass 2 with good Will Saves, like Wiz/Clr)
Ability to Cast Scare and Cause Fear (Stat as a Wizard, knowing Cause Fear, take Precocious Apprentice to be able to cast Scare)
Knowledge (Arcana) 3 ranks (...why is that even listed?)
Must have suffered at least 1 fear effect and failed your save (easy to cover with backstory)

So boom, at level 3 you become Wizard 1, Cleric 1, Dread Witch 1. Oh, and you're still CL 1.

[sideswipe]

Cleric 3/Sorcerer 1 with Heighten Spell and Versatile Spellcaster.
You can enter Mystic Theurge at 5th level.

wizard 1/ cleric 3 with at first level taking Precocious Apprentice as your feat can allow you to enter mystic theurge early. though this is up to DM discression as its up to them if being able to cast a single 2nd level arcane spell allows as able to cast second level arcane spells.
the advantage to this is wizard is usually the preferred choice over sorcerer. and you get an additional 2nd level spell slot that does not dissapear.

or use the versitile spellcaster, heighten spell cheese which no DM will ever allow if they are sane. to be sorcerer 1/ favoured soul 1/ and as long as the 3rd level is in something to qualify for the skill ranks you can enter at level 4.

[Dr. Azkur]

http://brilliantgameologists.com/boards/index.php?topic=7061.0

/thread

[PaucaTerrorem]

I don't get how Heighten Spell helps. It allows you to cast lower level spells at a higher level, but don't you need access to that higher level first?

[JaronK]

I don't get how Heighten Spell helps. It allows you to cast lower level spells at a higher level, but don't you need access to that higher level first?

Earth Spell gives you a bonus to Heighten Spell, so it always gets Heightened by one extra level (when you stand on earth). Other tricks can also do similar things to it.

JaronK

[Urpriest]

I don't get how Heighten Spell helps. It allows you to cast lower level spells at a higher level, but don't you need access to that higher level first?

Yes, that's why you combine it with tricks that give free metamagic or otherwise higher level slots, like Versatile Spellcaster, Earth Spell, Improved Krau Sigil, etc.