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View Full Version : Adjusting a Reserve Feat [3.5]



HOVA
2008-08-07, 07:49 PM
Hello all,
I have a question dealing with adjusting the "Acidic Splatter" reserve feat from Complete Mage (p.37).

First off, a little background:
We are a four person party, consisting of: a halfling druid/halfling outrider, a gnome swordsage, an elven beguiler, and me: a gray elf wizard/divine oracle/loremaster. We are in the beginning stages of Red Hand of Doom and are all about level 8.

I just picked up my first level of Loremaster and decided to use my "Secret" to get a free feat (with my sweet 24 Int). I was looking over some of the reserve feats in Complete Mage and the one I really liked was "Acidic Splatter." Now, what I would like to adjust would be to instead make it a force effect rather than an acid one. The only thing I would change would make it "Force Splatter" instead of "Acidic Splatter", but I'll work on a better name for it in the meantime. I ran this past my DM and said he'd look it over. In order to change it to force, I offered to give up the reserve feat's secondary benefit "+1 to acid (force) spells". Is this a fair trade? Any other suggestions on how to modify it to be a force effect instead of acid? I read thru "Blade of Force" and "Invisible Needle" (other reserve feats from CM), but I liked the way the Acidic Splatter worked better.

I'm just looking for a way to free up some spell slots, while still retaining damage output potential. My mage isn't really a themed character, but I've been quite fond of most of the force spells I've used (magic missile, mage armor, shield, etc) and if I could find a way to adjust this feat to my and my DM's liking, I would be most grateful.

Thanks in advance!

CASTLEMIKE
2008-08-08, 09:22 AM
Sounds good. Force Bomb/Grenade.

You might want to see if your DM will let you take the Chameleon PRC "Open" bonus feat for a little more versatility since you could still use it for a Reserve Feat.

MammonAzrael
2008-08-08, 10:18 AM
Frankly, I don't see why you don't just go with Invisible Needle. Mechanically it behaves the exactly how you want it to (both it and Acidic Splash are ranged touch attacks). Dealing a d4 damage instead of a d6 is the single most common way to balance force (and sonic) damage. Changing Acidic Splatter to force damage makes it better than Invisible Needle in pretty much every way (which is not good).

If you want to hit incorporeal, you've got to sacrifice a little damage.But honestly, how often in your campaign will you really need to be dealing consistent round-by-round force damage?

monty
2008-08-08, 01:14 PM
As a side note, have you considered the Argent Savant PrC? It loses a caster level, but it would definitely fit your character thematically.

Chronos
2008-08-08, 03:13 PM
Frankly, I don't see why you don't just go with Invisible Needle. Mechanically it behaves the exactly how you want it to (both it and Acidic Splash are ranged touch attacks).Actually, Invisible Needle is a ranged regular attack, and does not ignore armor. Still, that gives a baseline to compare to for purposes of balance: Force damage is a lot more useful than acid.