Is Alacritous Cogitation (Complete Mage) worth it?

[Halphinian]

It looks really good, giving me the ability to just spontaneously cast a spell of any of my levels once per day by using a full-round action. However, I can't decide if I should take it or one of the other feats I am interested in.

The character I was thinking about using this on is a level 5 human specialized conjuration wizard with focused specialist (banning necromancy, enchantment, and abjuration, with an intelligence of 20) that focuses heavily on battlefield control and teleportation, with the following feats:

Scribe Scroll
Spell focus (conjuration)
Greater spell focus (conjuration)
Least dragonmark of passage (part of my character's backstory)
Widen spell

I plan on taking feats in future levels:

Sculpt spell
Lesser dragonmark of passage
Greater dragonmark of passage


And I have the following spells (* denotes a conjuration spell):

Grease*, benign transposition*, mage armor*, orb of acid, lesser*, mage hand, greater, wall of smoke*, sticky floor*, floating disk, repair light damage, comprehend languages, obscuring mist*, summon monster 1*, unseen servant*
Web*, baleful transposition*, dimensional leap*, dimensional hop*, fox's cunning, pyrotechnics, cloud of bewilderment*, create magic tattoo*
Sleet storm*, stinking cloud*, fireball, haste, slow, mage armor, greater*, servant horde*, contagious fog*, fly, sending


The campaign is probably going to run until we are ~11th level, so I should be able to take all of the feats listed above, but that doesn't give me enough room for Alacritous Cogitation, which seems too good to pass up, and that is really messing up my plans. So, do you think this feat really worth it for this character, and is it worth it in general?

[Doctor Despair]

You can only cast one spell per day in this way, so unless you're using it for some sort of cheese to qualify as a spontaneous caster, probably not. Uncanny Forethought iss\ a better version, but requires Spell Mastery to work.

Prerequisite
Spell Mastery (PH) , INT 17,

Benefit
When preparing your daily allotment of spells, you can reserve a number of spell slots equal to your Intelligence modifier. As a standard action, you can use one of these slots to cast a spell that you selected for the Spell Mastery feat. The level of the slot used must be equal to or greater than the level of the spell you intend to cast.

Alternatively, as a full-round action, you can use a reserved slot to cast any spell that you know. The spell is resolved as normal, but for the purpose of the spell, your caster level is reduced by two. The level of the slot used must be equal to or greater than the level of the spell you intend to cast.

[Troacctid]

Sure, it's good. It's no Uncanny Forethought, but being one feat rather than two is always a big plus. It's hardly a must-take, though. It's very replaceable.

[Anthrowhale]

Wow, I was never brave enough to consider banning abjuration.

(AC itself is certainly handy.)

[Troacctid]

Wow, I was never brave enough to consider banning abjuration.
If you have another dedicated caster in the party to handle it, it's probably fine. As long as someone can dispel things.

[Epic Legand]

A possible suggestion to consider. Maybe a sorcerer with a dragonmark? You only need to take the feat once, and as you gain levels, your mark grows...and you gain ALL spells on your house list as additional spells known. Its the single easiest way to expamd on a "known" list in 3.5...if you are useing the dragonmarked houses. It is dragon magazine, but since this artical was written by the creator of Eberron, If find any DM trying to say its not legal is really streaching it. This would also give you spontaneous, and allow you to have zero banned schools...But you would have to be CHR based, not Int

[Darg]

It's definitely worth it. It qualifies you to get versatile spellcaster which is worth its weight in gold. Since it is only one feat vs the two for uncanny forethought, it saves you a feat. This combo also lets you cast spells one level higher than you can normally cast if the spell is in your spellbook.

Another bonus is that you don't have to worry about minimum caster levels unlike with uncanny forethought. Not generally a problem, but it is there.

[radthemad4]

Another bonus is that you don't have to worry about minimum caster levels unlike with uncanny forethought. Not generally a problem, but it is there.Practiced Spellcaster can help with that for Uncanny Forethought, but that makes it basically three feats (Spell Mastery, Uncanny Forethought and Practiced Spellcaster). Granted, the benefit is pretty sweet, but it's a lot of investment compared to Alacritous Cogitation being just one feat.

Other ways of getting more flexibility as a Wizard are taking levels in Mage of the Arcane Order, or just leaving some slots empty and preparing them as you need them (not great for ambushes, but it could be handy any time you have 15 minutes to spare).

[Bullet06320]

The character I was thinking about using this on is a level 5 human specialized conjuration wizard with focused specialist (banning necromancy, enchantment, and abjuration, with an intelligence of 20) that focuses heavily on battlefield control and teleportation, with the following feats:


never ban abjuration as a conjuration specialist if you plan on planar binding, https://www.d20srd.org/srd/spells/planarBindingLesser.htm
you need magic circle and dimensional lock

banning necromancy is fine, ban evocation, toss up between illusion and enchantment. illusion you can get evocation back with shadow evocation, and enchantment can be useful for planar binding negotiation, and you need charm person if your gonna do a 1 level dip into mindbender for telepathy

if your playing a specialist, go into master specialist as soon as possible https://forums.giantitp.com/showthread.php?527828-A-special-handbook-for-masters-The-Master-Specialist-Handbook

https://www.d20srd.org/srd/variant/classes/specialistWizardVariants.htm#conjurerVariants
rapid summoning and enhanced summoning, lose familar for faster summon monster and trade scribe scroll for augment summons

you still have battlefield control spells, use summon monster spells for fodder, flanking buddies, sla's, there's nothing a propper summons cant overcome

and some light reading for you

https://forums.giantitp.com/showthread.php?498825-the-Conjurer-s-Handbook
https://forums.giantitp.com/showthread.php?527203-Summoning-Handbook&p=22092940#post22092940
https://forums.giantitp.com/showthread.php?255219-The-Summoner-s-Desk-Reference-D-amp-D-3-5
https://forums.giantitp.com/showthread.php?444042-Legal-3-5-Summonable-Monster-List
https://forums.giantitp.com/showthread.php?528090-Mastering-the-Malconvoker

[NigelWalmsley]

Banning Abjuration is fine if you have a Cleric in the party, as they can be relied on to provide the requisite support spells for Planar Binding. But you do need some access to those spells.

I second the recommendation for Mage of the Arcane Order. It's definitely better than Alacritous Cogitation if you can spare the levels. Personally, I'd go with that instead of the Dragonmarks, but it depends on how attached you are to that aspect of the character.

[Thunder999]

Alacritous cogitation is pretty sweet, I prefer uncanny forethought, but if you're feat starved it's a decent substitute.

Mage of the arcane order is only core spells so isn't quite as good as either feat can be, lots of very very good spells not from the PHB after all.

[NigelWalmsley]

Alacritous Cogitation and Uncanny Forethought are only spells you know. Unless you're on the "learn every spell that exists" train, they're not really better for silver bullet utility.

[Thunder999]

I am definitely of the "buy a blessed book and fill it with as many spells as you can" school of thought.

[GoodbyeSoberDay]

Re: Uncanny/Alacritous, you should ask yourself two questions:
1. How good is the feat (or feats, for Uncanny) I'm trading out? What is that feat doing for me?
2. How am I actually going to use Uncanny/Alacritous in-game, compared to my options without it?

For 1, maybe you can't widen (or, later, sculpt), or maybe your spells have 1 less DC. Neither are build-defining, but it definitely stings.
For 2, the question is when you'll use the feat. The non-cheesy applications are combat scenarios where you know a niche spell but haven't prepared it. For out of combat, you could just leave a slot open and prepare something later if you wanted. Many niche combat spells are banned for you. Others can be scribed onto a scroll without losing much because they don't need a high CL or DC. And still others you may not have time, money, or opportunity to put in your spell book. So the question you have to ask is, what niche spells will you need to cast in combat? And then you have to weigh that use against the cost (question 1).


I am definitely of the "buy a blessed book and fill it with as many spells as you can" school of thought.Or Aureon's Spellshard, for the budget-constrained wizard. The main concern is getting access to the spells in-game without spending build resources being an Easy Bake Wizard.