Earth spell and it's workings.

[Ethelesin]

Having a bit of trouble trying to figure out how earth spell scales (the caster level part anyways, I get that it always adds +1 level ontop of the adjustment from heighten spell) also on a related note, would the heighten spell + earth sense + earth spell used to heighten a first level to second level (before adding the earth spell bonus) qualify as being able to cast third level spells?

Thanks in advance.

[Grooke]

If you cast a spell of level X Heightened to level Y (without Earth Spell), then the actual spell level is Y+1, with a caster level bonus of Y-X.

As an early entry trick, its basically the same as using Heighten with a metamagic cost reducer (Easy Metamagic, Practical Metamagic, Metamagic School Focus...). Its generally accepted to work.

[Ethelesin]

So, assuming I could somehow pull off four feats at level 1, I could enter master specialist for example, by heightening a cantrip to level 1?

[torrasque666]

You could, but you'd still have to wait until level 3 to take it. Skills ranks brah.

[Grooke]

No, because of skill ranks. But the 2nd level spell requirement would be met. Also, it takes one feat less to use Heighten + a reducer feat, instead of Earth Sense + Earth Spell.

[ExLibrisMortis]

No, because of skill ranks. But the 2nd level spell requirement would be met. Also, it takes one feat less to use Heighten + a reducer feat, instead of Earth Sense + Earth Spell.
A heightened spell doesn't use up a spell slot X levels higher. I don't think it works with metamagic reducers at all.

[Grooke]

A heightened spell doesn't use up a spell slot X levels higher. I don't think it works with metamagic reducers at all.

Metamagic reducers say nothing about requiring the base spell slot adjustment to be fixed. Heighten certainly causes spell to be cast from a higher spell slot than usual, the actual adjustment value ("X", as you put it) simply varies.

[atemu1234]

Metamagic reducers say nothing about requiring the base spell slot adjustment to be fixed. Heighten certainly causes spell to be cast from a higher spell slot than usual, the actual adjustment value ("X", as you put it) simply varies.

Putting things algebraically usually does help.

[ExLibrisMortis]

Metamagic reducers say nothing about requiring the base spell slot adjustment to be fixed. Heighten certainly causes spell to be cast from a higher spell slot than usual, the actual adjustment value ("X", as you put it) simply varies.
Not about it being fixed (I was unclear, sorry for that), but they do make the distinction between effective spell level and spell slot used. Heighten Spell doesn't.


A heightened spell has a higher spell level than normal (up to a maximum of 9th level). Unlike other metamagic feats, Heighten Spell actually increases the effective level of the spell that it modifies. All effects dependent on spell level (such as saving throw DCs and ability to penetrate a lesser globe of invulnerability) are calculated according to the heightened level. The heightened spell is as difficult to prepare and cast as a spell of its effective level.

Metamagic reducers typically say that you can't reduce the spell slot level used below the spell's normal level + 1. Heighten Spell turns a spell into a higher-level spell, you can't go reduce the spell slot below that higher level later on. A fireball heightened to 9th is a 9th-level spell, and you can't reduce that to anything less than 10th (except perhaps with Arcane Thesis, but then that explicitly doesn't affect Heighten).

[Grooke]

A heightened spell has a higher spell level than normal (...)
By taking this wording, the "normal" level is defined to be the spell level before metamagic. Using this, we look at Practical Matamagic:

(...) to a minimum of one level higher than a spell's normal level
So yes, you are casting the spell from a slot lower than the new spell level, but within the rules of the feat.

Metamagic School Focus refers only to the "cost" of the metamagic effect. You could argue that Heighten's new spell slot comes only from an increase of spell level, but that just means the "cost" is 0, and MSF does not have a limit on how far it can reduce the cost.


I'd definitely say these two feats work with Heighten (as do many people on these boards). I don't have the exact wording of Easy Metamagic at hand.

Edit: Actually, looking for other examples, I've found that the Incantatrix and Dweomerkeeper reduction features are poorly worded. They affect the "spell level increase", which does not exist for any metamagic feat other than Heighten. Metamagic usually only affects the spell slot level.

[ExLibrisMortis]

Hmm, okay, it seems Practical Metamagic will work with Heighten.

Easy Metamagic says: "When preparing or casting a spell modified by that feat, lower the spell-slot cost by one*. You can never reduce the spell-slot cost below one level higher than the spell's actual level". 'Actual level' is modified by Heighten Spell, I should think.

Metamagic School Focus refers to a cost, but Heighten Spell has a cost of -- (NaN). The reason I think it's -- rather than 0 is the lack of the standard description of cost. All other metamagic feats say something like "uses up a spell slot one level higher than the spell’s actual level". Metamagic feats with a cost of 0 have "uses a spell slot of the spell’s normal level" or equivalent - the same terminology, but with a zero in there. Heighten Spell doesn't have anything like that. It says "the heightened spell is as difficult to prepare and cast as a spell of its effective level". It could even be argued that this Heighten Spell peculiarity is more specific than (or applied after) a metamagic reducer, superseding any spell slot level reduction.


The point of this was early entry, originally, so let's go back to that for a bit.

Easy Metamagic doesn't work with Heighten, and Metamagic School Focus doesn't either, under my interpretation. If you take Heighten to supersede reducers, Practical Metamagic doesn't work either. Even if Practical Metamagic does work, I don't think it will allow early entry that that often. After all, it requires third-level spells and 8 ranks spellcraft, plus it doesn't work for prepared casters. You may be able to use kobold cheese, but that's frowned upon, and most casters aren't kobolds.

The incantatrix and dweomerkeeper are even less relevant to the early entry discussion, though I agree the incantatrix is not well-written. It says "the required increase in spell level (if any) is reduced by one", which would suggest you can heighten a spell to 9th, then have it count as 8th-level (worth it, right?). The dweomerkeeper explicitly doesn't work with Heighten (same as Arcane Thesis), but it otherwise shares the same flaw.


*You could read that as: 'it costs one spell slot less'.