Gnome Illusionist Substitution Levels question

[Zhepna]

Hi,

I'll play a gnome specialised in illusion in 3.5

I want to take the Illusionist Variant and take Gnome Illusionist Substitution Levels at lvl 1 and 5

it'll be
lvl 1 Gnome Illusionist Substitution Level
lvl 2 Illusionist
lvl 3 Illusionist
lvl 4 Illusionist
lvl 5 Gnome Illusionist Substitution Level

Question: At lvl 1, illusionist give the following capacity:
At 1st level, Hide is treated as a class skill for the illusionist.

and at level 5, he gains :
At 5th level, the illusionist may add his Intelligence modifier (in addition to his Dexterity modifier) to his Hide skill checks.


If I take the Gnome Illusionist Substitution Level at level 1 and 5, do I still get what the illusionist class is giving at those levels?

Thanks for the information and have a nice day.

[Hiro Quester]

The 5th level benefit replaces some things you would get as an illusionist wizard:

This benefit replaces the bonus feat gained by a standard wizard at 5th level, as well as the two spells a standard 5th- level wizard learns for free.

Edit: IMHO, this is a very useful benefit. double-duration illusions are useful. But getting a silent illusion to last for 1d4 rounds after you stop concentrating can be very useful, if you use illusions well. It's worth a feat, and having to pay to learn a couple of spells.

Edit again: so to be very clear, it does not replace the other benefits of illusionist. The first level ability costs making all spells of another school at -1CL. You keep other benefits like Hide as a class skill.

[Rijan_Sai]

I replied to this on your other post (https://forums.giantitp.com/showthread.php?614485-Gnome-Illusionist-Substitution-Levels-questions), but I will quote myself here (just in case you don't see it):




Hi,

1) At lvl 5, the Gnome Illusionist Substitution Levels allow me to extend the illusions duration. I would like to have the first level capacity but to not take the fifth level capacity capacity that double the illusion duration but don't give me the fifth level feat. Is it possible to keep the feat and to not take the extension of time on illusion capacity?

2) if I can keep the feat, at level 5, instead to be the gnome illusionist substitution level, I would take a lvl of Illusionist Variants. The fifth level of Illusionist Variants give 'add his Intelligence modifier (in addition to his Dexterity modifier) to his Hide skill checks', will I be able to take it?

3) If I ban the evocation school when I enter the incantatrix prestige class, can I still make evocation spell with the Shadow Illusion (Su) ability gained with the Shadowcraft Mage prestige class?
Thanks for the informations.

Hello! :smallsmile:
1) Correct, you do not have to take all of the variant levels. If you only want 1 and not 5, you are free to do so!

2) I believe this would work... However, while Gnome Illusionist from RoS is a set of substitution levels (which IIRC are specifically allowed to be "any-or-none"), the Shadow Shaper variant from UA is entirely a full class "all-or-nothing" variant. Your Gnome Shadow Shaper Illusionist would not even have the 5th level bonus feat to trade out.

3) Yes, Shadow Illusion (effectively) converts your X Image spell into a Shadow Conjuration/Evocation one. As these are both illusion spells, you are free to cast them as you please!

[Zhepna]

A big thanks to both of you. It's really appreciated.