Class and Level Geekery XVII - When you Wish upon a Stat...

[danielxcutter]

Is there a viable ACF V could have which would allow him to do this whole not being level 17?

Again, if you have an absolute number above 21 that you can make a case for, what is that number and what is your case?

I don't think there are any ACFs for that. Sudden Quicken or Metamagic Specialist(evocation) could help with that, though. Nobody's going to argue that if V uses a Clenched Fist, though.

I think part of the problem is that since Xykon hasn't had that much screentime actually fighting in a way that shows his feats, we can't pin them down. It's unlikely that all of his metamagic feats are of the Sudden variety, but there isn't enough concrete evidence that they aren't, and that's not how this thread works.

Speaking of which, why does Xykon have Dodge listed as a feat? Why can't that just be Darth Vaarsuvius rolling bad enough on their attack roll to miss?

Edit:

Sure. V could have an invisible metamagic rod, or an obscure feat, of the same varieties mentioned in the FAQ about Xykon. I chose this hypothetical because it's an apples to apples comparison, unlike other analogous situations (eg Roy/Miko attacks per round, etc). If V would be considered level 17 based on this, shouldn't Xykon be considered 27+?

My view would be 27+ is the most straightforward level for Xykon. The most straightforward, balance of probabilities assumption under Occam's razor being that they used higher slots to cast higher spells.

Since I answered your question, can you please do the same for mine? If V did this next panel, would you personally advocate him being level 17?

Actually, I wouldn't. Assuming, of course, if V doesn't explicitly mention they have 9th-level slots in that strip. I don't think we're arguing that V using an actual 9th-level spell, such as Disjunction, would still be ambiguous, though.

Personally, I'm not a fan of the "invisible metamagic rod" theory either. The feat theory works good enough for me to accept the possibility, but I don't think it's the most likely scenario. Regardless, there is insufficient concrete evidence to suggest otherwise - just a gut feeling or headcanon isn't enough.

We are not going for "most straightforward" or even "most likely" - we're going for indisputable ranges that cannot be explained in any other way.