[3.5] Academic Spellcasting feats - discuss

[faeryn]

So... I had a few ideas for a series of homebrew feats for spellcasters... I call them Academic feats... the idea behind them is essentially an alternative to Theurge/Gestalt/Ultimate Magus... etc... So let us begin...

Academic Research
[Academic]
You just can't put down your spellbook even after preparing your daily spells.

Prerequisite: INT 13, Must Prepare spells from a spellbook (or similar), caster level 3rd, Scribe Scroll

Benefit: As a full round action you may search through your spellbook for a known spell that is not currently prepared, up to 1 level lower than your current highest known spell level, and prepare it to cast at the start of your next turn. This action always provokes an attack of opportunity, you must make a concentration check DC 11+Damage Dealt+Level of the spell you are preparing or lose your place and have to start over.
Special: You may take no further actions until after you have cast the spell. This feat does not qualify you as a spontaneous spellcaster. This feat may not be taken along with Academic Study.
Note: You do not gain any additional spells per day from this feat. This feat cannot be applied to 9th level spells, even with epic spells.

Academic Study
[Academic]
You're dedication to the academic arts has granted you a brief understanding of spellbooks.

Prerequisite: CHA 13, Must be a spontaneous spellcaster, caster level 3rd, Scribe Scroll

Benefit: You gain the ability to use a spellbook to a limited extent. Each day you may prepare 2 spells of each level, up to 1 level lower than your current highest known spell level, from your spellbook. You may add spells to your spellbook in the same manner as a wizard, however all spells must be found on the qualifying class's spell list.
Special: This feat does not qualify you as a prepared spellcaster. This feat may not be taken along with Academic Research.
Note: You do not gain any additional spells per day from this feat. This feat cannot be applied to 9th level spells, even with epic spells.

Dedicated Study
[Academic]
Constant study of your spellbook has committed various spells to memory

Prerequisite:Academic Study or Academic Research

Benefit: You commit a number of spells from your spellbook to memory.
Academic Study: Add up to 2 spells per level from your spellbook to your list of spells known. The selected spells may be cast spontaneously from now on.
Academic Research: Commit 1 spell per level from your spellbook to memory. You may spontaneously convert any prepared spell of the appropriate spell level into any of the selected spells from now.
Special: Apply the benefit of this spell to each new level of spells as you gain access to them from your spellbook. This feat does not qualify you as a spontaneous spellcaster if you were not one already.
Note: This feat cannot be applied to 9th level spells.

Academic Dedication
[Academic]
Dedicated study has expanded your ability to memorize spells

Prerequisite: Dedicated Study

Benefit: You commit a number of additional spells from your spellbook to memory.
Academic Study: Commit 2 more spells to memory.
Academic Research: Commit 1 more spell to memory.
Special: You may gain this feat multiple times. This feat does not qualify you as a spontaneous spellcaster if you were not one already.
Note: This feat cannot be applied to 9th level spells.

[Bronzebeard]

I'm having a hard time understanding the idea behind the feats and why one should take them.
Especially when I read the Dedicated Study entry.

Could you, please, explain the reasons or the brainstorming process behind this path?

Thank you.

[Stratovarius]

It gives the spellcasters more versatility. The spontaneous caster gets access to spells he could never cast before, and the prep caster gets a small amount of spontaneous casting (like the Druid's SNA conversion, for instance). I'm not sure the feats are worth it in, say, a CharOp build, but you could have an interesting character with them, if nothing else.

[faeryn]

Stratovarius pretty much hit the nail on the head there...

The first 2 feats are mutually exclusive to each other and offer close to the same benefits but from opposite starting points...

Academic Research being for prepared spellcasters granting them a limited degree of spontaneous spellcasting at the cost of a full round action to look up the spell, essentially preparing the spell for one round.

Academic Study offering a limited spellbook to spontaneous spellcasters permitting them to prepare 2 spells per level per day and learn a larger number of spells through use of scrolls and other spellbooks... however, their understanding of spells is still limited by what can be learned by their casting class.

Neither of these options are meant to directly increase a spellcaster's power, but rather provide a boost to their versatility.

The second 2 feats are meant to build off of either of the first 2.

Dedicated Study provides a spontaneous spellcaster with 2 more known spells per level than they normally would have had access to... think expanded knowledge but granting 14 new spells... whereas a prepared spellcaster gains only 1 spell per level that they may spontaneously cast... think spontaneous domain spells...

The reason for the difference here is as follows:
A spontaneous spellcaster is well trained in casting spells from memory, so being able to commit more spells to memory isn't a far stretch for them, plus they aren't really gaining a new level of versatility with this. While a prepared spellcaster is not accustomed to casting spells purely from memory, they study their spells daily to memorize them for a day at a time, committing a spell to permanent memory takes quite a bit more effort, however it is far more rewarding, for each spell they commit to memory that's potentially 1 fewer spells that they need to prepare on any given day and 1 fewer rounds spent combing through their spellbook for a spell they either didn't prepare or didn't prepare enough of.

Academic Dedication builds even further off of Dedicated Study by granting an extra spell (or 2 if your a spontaneous spellcaster) committed to memory and may be taken multiple times, unlike the other feats.



As for why someone might choose these feats in a build... As has already been mentioned, the versatility that comes from combining Spontaneous & Prepared spellcasting... however this is not meant to be at the same sort of level as Ultimate Magus or a Gestalt Spellcaster... in fact it's not even really meant to be used in conjunction with any dualcaster progressions, but rather as an alternative... The idea is to provide some dualcaster versatility to singlecaster builds.