Wizard Q&As

[Pippin]

Hi playground,

1. If a 14th-level wizard casts Spell Enhancer then Consumptive Field via Limited Wish, what is the max. bonus to caster level he gets from Consumptive Field? +7 or +8?

2. How does Celerity interact with Twin Spell and Repeat Spell? Also, can I use Celerity when the enemy casts a spell as a swift or immediate action?

3. I use Planar Bubble to mimic a plane where arcane spells are automatically twinned, repeated, widened, maximized and empowered. Assuming I cast an arcane spell inside the bubble and stay there until my next turn, are the twinned and repeated spells widened, maximized and empowered too?

[Pippin]

I'd like to bump this and hopefully get someone's opinion.

[AvatarVecna]

First of all, if these are purely questions about the RAW effect, you'll probably get answers quicker by asking in the RAW Questions thread stickied at the top of the 3.5 board page. If you're asking what would happen in a game...

1. I'm not sure what the RAW would be on this. If I were DMing, I'd probably say +8, because Limited Wish is completely duplicating the effects of Consumptive Field. I don't know if that's what happens by RAW, though.

2. Celerity is cast using an immediate action, meaning it can be cast when it's not your turn. However, you can't take immediate actions if you're surprised (which is why Celerity is so often Contingency'd). Thus, if you cast Celerity with Twin Spell, you would immediately get two standard actions to spend as you pleased; because Twin Spell casts the spells simultaneously, you would get to spend both standard actions before the spell's after effect affected you (and you would only be dazed for a single round, because the aftereffects don't explicitly stack). Similarly, casting Celerity with Repeat Spell would grant you one standard action when you originally cast it, and another at the immediate beginning of your next turn; thus, you would cast the original spell, gain a standard action, and then be dazed until the start of your next turn, at which point you immediately gain a standard action; after that, you would be dazed until the beginning of your next turn.

3. The effects of twinned/repeated spells are based on the conditions the original casting took place under; if you were within the planar bubble when you originally cast the spell, then when the effects re-trigger, they will carry with them the original effects, even if the thing that caused the effects is no longer capable of doing so.

[Pippin]

1. My main concern was whether Consumptive Field takes the spell's caster level as the "original level," or the caster level the caster had when the spell was cast. I do hope there is no problems with Limited Wish mimicking Consumptive Field.

2. Okay. Regarding the surprise thing, I'd suggest persisting Foresight and be done with it. I'm still wondering if Celerity can be used when the enemy casts a spell as a swift or immediate action, though!

3. So to sum up, the twinned and repeated spells would be widened, maximized and empowered as well.

Thanks.

[AvatarVecna]

1. My main concern was whether Consumptive Field takes the spell's caster level as the "original level," or the caster level the caster had when the spell was cast. I do hope there is no problems with Limited Wish mimicking Consumptive Field.

2. Okay. Regarding the surprise thing, I'd suggest persisting Foresight and be done with it. I'm still wondering if Celerity can be used when the enemy casts a spell as a swift or immediate action, though!

3. So to sum up, the twinned and repeated spells would be widened, maximized and empowered as well.

Thanks.

2a. There's enough ways to never be surprised that they're not worth listing here. Foresight is a pretty easy one, but there's plenty of others. As for when the enemy is casting, I'd probably say no; you can state that you'd like to cast Celerity whenever you want, but if the character X says they use their immediate action, and character Y says they use their immediate action when they hear character X say that, character X gets to take their action first. Of course, this is what readying actions and Contingency are for: interrupting the enemy spellcaster.

[Pippin]

First of all, if these are purely questions about the RAW effect, you'll probably get answers quicker by asking in the RAW Questions thread stickied at the top of the 3.5 board page. If you're asking what would happen in a game...
Well I noticed that tough questions usually get ignored in that thread.


Of course, this is what readying actions and Contingency are for: interrupting the enemy spellcaster.
Alright. About Contigency though, what trigger would you use? I don't think you can set a condition that would be met in every case.

[AvatarVecna]

Well I noticed that tough questions usually get ignored in that thread.


Alright. About Contigency though, what trigger would you use? I don't think you can set a condition that would be met in every case.

Kinda depends on the level of optimization and spell levels available. Basic rocket tag? Contingency (if initiative is rolled): Celerity. Use Teleport, Plane Shift, Time Stop, or just some powerful offense spell, depending on your level and inclination. Super-high-op play? Contingency (anything happens that I haven't foreseen and prepared for). Cast any spells you want, with any metamagic, because you're just that high-op.

If you've got Contingency, having it trigger when you roll initiative means you get to go first; having backup Contingencies (via Craft Contingent Spell) that are "if my opponent also has Contingency: Celerity, give me another one" mean you still go first even if your opponent did the same thing. At any level where combat is effectively rocket tag, whoever goes first wins, and Celerity (especially combined with Contingency) lets you act first.