Physical stats casting

[Mr.Kraken]

Is it possible to use Str, Con or Dex for casting? Is there any class or feat that allows you to do so? It would be interesting having a gish-type character with such option.

[nyjastul69]

Bastards and Bloodlines by Green Ronin (3rd party) has the Lost Traditions feat which does exactly what you want.

[Omoikane13]

Illumian sigils allow you to cast from other stats

[Extra Anchovies]

Illumian sigils allow you to cast from other stats

Illumian sigils only let you calculate bonus spells from physical stats. An Illumian wizard with the Aeshkrau sigil calculates bonus spells based on Strength, but still needs a 19 in Intelligence to cast 9th-level spells.

[NotARakshasa]

If Pathfinder material is allowed, the Scarred Witch Doctor is a Con based Caster.
http://www.d20pfsrd.com/races/other-races/featured-races/arg-orc/scarred-witch-doctor-witch-orc

[Psyren]

The upcoming Kineticist class in Pathfinder (currently in playtesting) will also have Con and Dex-based casting.

[Mr.Kraken]

Nothing in 3.5?

[HolyCouncilMagi]

Nothing in 3.5?

Incarnum uses Constitution for most things, but like, Wisdom or something for Saves.

Hellfire Warlocks use their Con more than Cha... By burning through the former and not caring about the latter.

There really aren't any true casters who do this, and even the non-casters are kinda dodgy about it. And it makes sense, if you ask me. Some Supernatural Abilities with, say, Saves and/or uses/day keyed off Str/Dex/Con works, because adventurer logic. But there's really very few ways I can think of to fluff casting off physical stats (except maybe Con, and most instances of that would still make more sense with Wis or Cha) that I couldn't submit to a comedy game for their outlandishness. Maybe magical dances for Dex-based casters? I'm not even going to try suggesting something serious for Str-based, because I can't stop thinking about Armstrong from FMA punching somebody so hard they Polymorph into a Hydra.

[Extra Anchovies]

Dragonfire Adept and Binder both have a good number of Constitution-based abilities.

[Psyren]

Totemist and Soulborn (hisss!) DCs are also Con-based.

[KillianHawkeye]

3.0 psionics worked that way (more precisely, each of the six psionic disciplines used a different key ability score) but it's entirely incompatible with 3.5 psionics and not nearly as good.

[Zanos]

If Pathfinder material is allowed, the Scarred Witch Doctor is a Con based Caster.
http://www.d20pfsrd.com/races/other-races/featured-races/arg-orc/scarred-witch-doctor-witch-orc
Scarred Witch Doctor actually doesn't get bonus spells off of their Constitution score, which I've had several players miss.

[Psyren]

Scarred Witch Doctor actually doesn't get bonus spells off of their Constitution score, which I've had several players miss.

Ohhh neat, I didn't notice that omission. I'm actually not against this.

[Abithrios]

Scarred Witch Doctor actually doesn't get bonus spells off of their Constitution score, which I've had several players miss.

Now we just need a way to combine it with 3.5's illumian. The fact that the casting is based on two stats should not be too much of a problem if you already want to go into melee.

[Irk]

As others have said, Illumian is the generally the best option. If you go for STR/DEX based casting, you're likely a gish of some kind, and the spells you will be casting generally won't have saves, they'll either be no-save touch spells or buff spells. This is a general statement, but if yo.u give us an idea of what exactly you're going for, we might be able to find something that could replicate it.

[weckar]

There really aren't any true casters who do this, and even the non-casters are kinda dodgy about it. And it makes sense, if you ask me. Some Supernatural Abilities with, say, Saves and/or uses/day keyed off Str/Dex/Con works, because adventurer logic. But there's really very few ways I can think of to fluff casting off physical stats (except maybe Con, and most instances of that would still make more sense with Wis or Cha) that I couldn't submit to a comedy game for their outlandishness. Maybe magical dances for Dex-based casters? I'm not even going to try suggesting something serious for Str-based, because I can't stop thinking about Armstrong from FMA punching somebody so hard they Polymorph into a Hydra.I am currently running a Dex-based beguiler. I justify it by having him not be terribly smart, but his extreme aptitude for learning somatic components makes up for it. The guy can bend his fingers in ways you've never even heard of!

[Killer Angel]

Is it possible to use Str, Con or Dex for casting? Is there any class or feat that allows you to do so? It would be interesting having a gish-type character with such option.

If I remember correctly, in Races of Stone, there's an option for a dwarf sorcerer, to gain bonus spells via Con.

[darksolitaire]

If I remember correctly, in Races of Stone, there's an option for a dwarf sorcerer, to gain bonus spells via Con.

Yes. And the good thing is that they still get bonus from Cha, so they have two stats for bonus spells. Now, if we only had sub race for dwarves that didn't have charisma penalty, like Desert, Dream or Gold Dwarves. Having one of those with Draconic template which increases both Con and Cha while having only +1 LA would be smashing.