Sha'ir and practiced spellcaster (3.5)

[Zweisteine]

How game-breaking would it be to say that a Sha'ir with Practiced Spellcaster gets to add the CL bonus bonus to the amount of time their spells are retained for (in hours, of course)?

It's still capped by HD, but the time limit seems like the Sha'ir's best limiter. The real problem with the class is that it doesn't allow you to go into PrCs freely if you expect to not have a few hours to rest every day.

And how do Sha'ir survive at low levels? You can't always take a break to prepare spells...

(As a side note, is it frowned upon to make multiple threads in rapid succession? I've been building up a reserve of unrelated questions, and I'm not sure what to do with them.)

[Psyren]

Maybe make a "Some Random Zweisteine Questions Thread?" Anyway...

At very low levels, try to anticipate trouble and fish for spells just before. One of the key ambiguities to work out with the Sha'ir is whether a spell that leaves your memory ("dissipates harmlessly") is treated as cast or not - i.e. is the slot still available for more? If the slot stays "fresh," then simply send your gen out in the morning, and repeatedly send him again 1 round before your hour is up (sticking to Known Arcane Spells, of course.)

If your DM instead treats the slot as expended, that's going to be a lot harsher on you early on as you'll have to time your retrievals as close to combat as you can. Leave all your slots empty at the start of the day and keep your eyes peeled for likely ambushes. Often the DM will switch from "travel time" where you are on horseback or some other conveyance for leagues, to "danger time" where you enter a clearing and he starts caring about things like your marching order. It's a little metagame-y, but only a little - after all, entering a clearing or a dark dungeon would be cause for heightened caution in-character too.

In either case, as your level rises and the spells stay in your head longer, soon you will be able to just retrieve in the morning like any other spellcaster, as well as rely on items while your gen gets the spell you need.


My personal suggestion is that you multiclass into something that always gives you a course of action even if your head is empty and your gen gets delayed. Warlock is excellent for this - Cha synergy, fluff synergy, eldritch blast as your crossbow, and at-will invocations (particularly Beguiling Influence, which will greatly help your gen's retrieval.) Best of all, Sha'ir can get into both Eldritch Theurge and Eldritch Disciple, giving you access to Dark Invocations, 9th-level spells and a host of useful/flavorful class features.

[Zweisteine]

Warlock doesn't sound half bad on a Sha'ir, but I was actually considering Ur-priest for the "steal magic from everyone I can" flavor. Then I realized (just now) that the Sha'ir's divine spells are still divine...

I don't actually have plans to use this character, but my next not-low-level character will probably be a Sha'ir, so it could come in handy to know ahead of time.

What I think we need is a "Simple D&D questions that aren't RAW" thread. Of course, it couldn't take RAI questions, but it could take things like "is Lesser Fey'ri considered too cheesy for use?"

[Psyren]

Well, the problem I think is that subjective questions that aren't about getting a simple RAW answer will go one of two ways: (1) there'll be general consensus on the issue so there won't be a whole lot to discuss (e.g. "Are Azurins a balanced race?") or (2) they're controversial or contentious and so invite multiple pages of debate (e.g. "What is a caster?"). That second type is fine when they each have their own self-contained thread, but multiple conversations of that nature all in one place would create a lot of clutter I think. And once the thread gets bloated with debate, the first type of question will quickly get lost in the shuffle.

So my advice is that if you have multiple topics to discuss, group together the ones that it makes sense to do so and for the rest, just make multiple threads.


Back to Sha'ir(lock):

As you noted, they are actually ineligible for Ur-Priest. I wouldn't call what they do "stealing" anyway - they're more like blue mages from Final Fantasy, i.e. "That looks cool, I'll copy it." And all the power they get is freely given (well, bargained for) - it's not like they're siphoning anything, and they definitely have to kowtow for it at least a little, which is anathema to most Ur-priests. This subservience may be part of the reason they get divine magic too.

Anyway, once you hit Sha'ir 8 or so, you should have no problem keeping your head stocked all day. Indeed, more Sha'ir levels than this might actually be counterproductive - if your DM goes for the "slots stay fresh" interpretation, then you actually want your powers cycling on a regular basis, as that gives you semi-spontaneous casting during the day. For example, if you've been adventuring for 3 hours and that Bull's Strength you prepped for the Fighter is about to expire, then your team comes across an Arcane Locked door, you can say "give me a minute and I'll have a Knock ready." You can even send off your gen a little early so that the slot comes ready as it returns.

[Zweisteine]

Then my last question for this thread, unless the respond raises more, is this:

If my "expired" spells don't count as spells for the day, do I keep my Gen around, or do I keep it out all day grabbing me divine spells?

[Just to Browse]

Your gen is useful for two things:
1) Getting your spells
2) (At low levels) stealth and recon

If your Gen dies, you have no way of getting spells back. Plus you lose XP and feel like a sucker. So basically, if you're not sending your Gen out for recon, he should be out collecting spells.

Sending your Gen off for a divine spell at bedtime is a great way to stop assassins from sneaking into your campsite and assassinating your squishy spellbook friend.

[Doc_Maynot]

Depending on your DM's ruling if they are considered spontaneous enough for Versatile Spellcaster (Races of the dragon; spend 2 equal level spell slots to cast a spell you know of one level higher) get it, and that feat will make you qualify for Arcane Preparation (Complete Arcane; You can use any number of your spell slots to prepare your spells known like a wizard) Both of those feats I have found are extremely useful for the Sha'ir, so they can use the spells they have known as useful fallbacks, while still giving them their ability to use their useful inate class features.

[Xuldarinar]

How game-breaking would it be to say that a Sha'ir with Practiced Spellcaster gets to add the CL bonus bonus to the amount of time their spells are retained for (in hours, of course)?

It's still capped by HD, but the time limit seems like the Sha'ir's best limiter. The real problem with the class is that it doesn't allow you to go into PrCs freely if you expect to not have a few hours to rest every day.



RaW? No. Game-breaking? I don't think so. If you had a DM who was willing to go with it, then go for it. The drawback of PrCs when it comes to the Sha'ir is not dissimilar to the problem the Erudite has. Both have a mechanic that doesn't advance with +1 level of existing arcane/divine/manifesting/ect. class.



And how do Sha'ir survive at low levels? You can't always take a break to prepare spells...


Caution, thinking ahead, fight with a crossbow or some related means for a couple of rounds in combat when they need a spell they hadn't prepared as they wait for their familiar to get back.