Point me towards this combo...

[weckar]

So, I vaguely recall once reading a Wizard ACF combo that allowed for ridiculous caster levels on all your spells, among other things. I know it involved a variant specialist and making all your spells be [Evil], but I forget the rest.
I THINK you had to be a Dwarf to get the most out of it, but I am not sure about that part...
Anyone know what I am rambling about and able to help me out?

[Rebel7284]

Chaotic Spell Recall + Planar Spell Casting is the only thing that comes to mind as far as changing spell descriptors for profit.

[Goaty14]

There's an symbiote in HoH that makes all of your evil spells empowered as well... :smallsmile:

[Gullintanni]

Are you perhaps referencing the Taint rules that let you crank up the power of your spells by doing Evil things? I'm not 100 percent sure how that works, as Taint always struck me as being a super cheesy mechanic.

[Thurbane]

Are you perhaps referencing the Taint rules that let you crank up the power of your spells by doing Evil things? I'm not 100 percent sure how that works, as Taint always struck me as being a super cheesy mechanic.

Yeah, isn't tainted Scholar hilariously broken for this exact reason?

[weckar]

After a bit of digging, I have found the specific combo I was trying to remember involves combining Aligned Spellcaster, Malign Spell focus and (focused) Abyssal Specialist.

[Quertus]

Are you perhaps referencing the Taint rules that let you crank up the power of your spells by doing Evil things? I'm not 100 percent sure how that works, as Taint always struck me as being a super cheesy mechanic.

Tainted Sorcerer gives you lots of nice toys, including taking damage instead of paying for expensive components, taking con damage instead of paying for metamagics, and the most commonly used use your Taint score (twice the penalty you take to Wisdom) as your casting stat, only better.

Tainted Scholar and Maho Tsukai are similar.

[Buufreak]

That's something I never understood. How does one operate with high levels of taint without the looming effect of comatose setting in?

[Jack_Simth]

That's something I never understood. How does one operate with high levels of taint without the looming effect of comatose setting in?

Two basic paths:
Undead: Undead are immune to the negative effects of taint, but still have a taint score.
Evil subtype: Ditto.

Most folks who go undead deliberately do so via either Necropolitan or Lich.
Evil Subtype is available via Savage Species rituals.

There's also a PrC or two that puts a cap on your taint score.

[Crake]

Two basic paths:
Undead: Undead are immune to the negative effects of taint, but still have a taint score.
Evil subtype: Ditto.

Most folks who go undead deliberately do so via either Necropolitan or Lich.
Evil Subtype is available via Savage Species rituals.

There's also a PrC or two that puts a cap on your taint score.

The problem is that those creatures have a set taint score (half cha score +1 for undead, +2 for evil subtype), wheras the people who turn them into combos insist that they can raise the taint score.

[Jack_Simth]

The problem is that those creatures have a set taint score (half cha score +1 for undead, +2 for evil subtype), wheras the people who turn them into combos insist that they can raise the taint score.

Would you consider a goblin to have a set number of current hp, and thus be immune to damage? There's nothing that says the taint score can't change.

[gkathellar]

The problem is that those creatures have a set taint score (half cha score +1 for undead, +2 for evil subtype), wheras the people who turn them into combos insist that they can raise the taint score.

I could have sworn that the evil subtype just allowed you to ignore the negative effects of taint, and it was only Undead that granted a set quantity.


Would you consider a goblin to have a set number of current hp, and thus be immune to damage? There's nothing that says the taint score can't change.

That's not an absurd comparison, but it's also easy enough to dismiss on the grounds of the two things not really being the same at all. In practice, this is one of those things that people are going to disagree on.

[Buufreak]

Which generally created my confusion. I've never heard a compelling or supported argument for either side of the taint score can change from the default set value debate, so I've mostly written it off as poorly wrote and ambiguous.

[Jack_Simth]

That's not an absurd comparison, but it's also easy enough to dismiss on the grounds of the two things not really being the same at all. In practice, this is one of those things that people are going to disagree on.
Would you rather I went with the goblin being effectively immune to Bull's Strength as a result of having a particular strength score? You've got a rule that says [game object] has [value a]. You have a different rule that adds [value b] to [game object]. Without something else that explicitly says [game object] cannot be changed... why would you expect [game object] to be static?

[Quertus]

That's something I never understood. How does one operate with high levels of taint without the looming effect of comatose setting in?

Well, I'm in the crazy crowd that actually keeps and enjoys the looming threat of going comatose. Also, hanging out at a 4 Wisdom is fun! :smallwink:

There are ways to lower your Taint (usually only a point or two at a time, max once per day each). Also, it's not much trouble is you're using Tainted Sorcerer for the Alternate source on components or metamagics, rather than maxing out the save DC.

EDIT: lastly, the Sorcerer who must not be named had some scheme about being living, gaining the max possible Taint, then using a spell to gain the benefits of undeath.