Feat Ideas

[Dancingdeath]

I have 2. They'd be very appealing to gish characters due to the fact they lost caster levels as part of their builds.

Prodigy- Must be taken at level 1. Character gains some of the abilities of the next level of their starting class. They gain BAB, class features, and spellcasting ability from the next level but not saves or HD.

Greater Improved Caster Level- Must have Improved Caster Level. Gain full casting ability instead of just caster level. To fuel this you sacrifice life force. Whenever a level is gained where this feat gives you back a level of casting ability you gain zero hp from hit dice. You are assumed to have rolled a theoretical roll of zero but you still gain hp from your Con bonus if you have one.

What do you think?

[sengmeng]

Prodigy needs clarification I think; not really sure what it means. When do you gain this? At level 2? Or is it the prerequisite for the other one? And the other one... "When you gain a caster level from this feat" ...when don't you?

[Darth Ultron]

A feat that gives a character most of the good things of a level is too powerful.

A feat that grants full casting is too powerful.

[Dancingdeath]

Prodigy needs clarification I think; not really sure what it means. When do you gain this? At level 2? Or is it the prerequisite for the other one? And the other one... "When you gain a caster level from this feat" ...when don't you?

No, for Prodigy you get those benefits at level 1. It's giving you the abilities of a second level character at level one. I should probably make a prerequisite other than "must be taken at level one". Probably require an 18 in the primary stat for whatever class you start off as.

And for the other you know how some PrCs aren't full casting classes? Like they'll give 7 out of 10 but there will be three levels where your spellcasting does not advance. The second feat fixes that at the cost of two feats and 4 levels worth of hit dice.

I know I didn't word those well but hopefully you get the gist of it.

[Dancingdeath]

A feat that gives a character most of the good things of a level is too powerful.

A feat that grants full casting is too powerful.

Even at the cost of two feats and 4 hit dice? I thought that balanced pretty well.

[rferries]

Prodigy - I think you should write out the prerequisites etc. so we have a better idea of how to assess this feat. Be warned that if it gives you access to spellcasting every spellcaster ever will take it (and they'll take it multiple times, if permitted :D).

As for Improved Caster Level, how about this?

Greater Practiced Caster
You have bolstered your magical prowess.

Prerequisites
Practiced Spellcaster^CA, Spellcraft 9 ranks.
^CAComplete Arcane

Benefits
Choose a class you have selected for Practiced Spellcaster. The increase to your caster level from that feat now also applies to your spellcaster level for the purposes of spells per day and spells known.

Special
You may select this feat multiple times. Each time you choose it, you must apply it to a different spellcasting class you have selected for Practiced Spellcaster.

[Southern Cross]

As written, Greater Practised Caster is going to be taken by every caster who has Practised Spellcaster. I'd suggest giving it a stat requirement (Int, Wis or Cha 13). Furthermore, I'd suggest having "Arcane Spell Power 1-4" as an alternate prerequisite for the ultimate magus prestige class.

[rferries]

As written, Greater Practised Caster is going to be taken by every caster who has Practised Spellcaster. I'd suggest giving it a stat requirement (Int, Wis or Cha 13). Furthermore, I'd suggest having "Arcane Spell Power 1-4" as an alternate prerequisite for the ultimate magus prestige class.

Yep! But since they're already multiclass characters who will have to invest 2 feats per casting class they wish to enhance, I wouldn't think it's excessive. Plus you can't get more than 4 levels worth of spellcasting, as Practiced Spellcaster doesn't stack. The most "broken" build I can see would be Wiz 6 / Cleric 4 /Mystic Theurge 10; take both feats twice (4 feats total) and you can get 20th/18th Wizard/Cleric casting but only have 3 feats left (plus 1 if human, plus 1 wizard bonus feat).

Re: ultimate magus - I just copied the prerequisites of Practiced Caster from 3.5.

[NontheistCleric]

Probably require an 18 in the primary stat for whatever class you start off as.

Some classes don't have a definite 'primary stat', though, or it depends on how you build the character. Maybe it would be better just to require at least one ability score at 18 with no other strings attached?

[Dancingdeath]

Some classes don't have a definite 'primary stat', though, or it depends on how you build the character. Maybe it would be better just to require at least one ability score at 18 with no other strings attached?

The stat your spellcasting relies upon.

And for Prodigy, no prerequisite. You're a prodigy at spellcasting and can take the feat once only at first level.