Specialty Feats
In general, feats are not supposed to be hyper-specific. There are plenty of metamagic feats that can be applied to a wide variety of spells, and feats that affect specific schools (or even subschools) of magic, feats that apply to a certain group of weapons, or when you use a certain combat maneuver, or even fighting certain types of creatures, but that’s about as specific as it goes. You would not, for example, expect to see a group of feats that are designed to modify one specific spell each…until now.
The idea behind these feats is that they represent a character specializing in one favorite spell so heavily that he or she can do more with that spell than others can. Their purview is narrow, but has depth. Players who tend not to use one spell regularly will probably find little for them here, but those with a favorite go-to spell for every occasion (especially those with a limited number of spells known), may very well get a lot of value out of them.
At this point, I’m not really sure about feats like these. There’s no question that we’re pushing the boundary as far as how specific feats are, but there is a bit of doubt as to whether or not it’s a boundary worth pushing. Personally, I think that the feats below can be pretty fun, for those who are interested in using the associated spells a lot, but I’d love to hear your feedback. What do you think about these feats? Or, if you’ve actually tried using them at the table, how did it go? Shoot an e-mail to ariggs@necromancers-online.com or drop by our forum and share your thoughts, opinions, and story.
Alarm Specialist
You know how to create an alarm that unnerves those who trigger it.
Prerequisites: Ability to cast alarm.
Benefit: Whenever you cast alarm, if you choose to have it create an audible alarm, then you may also choose to have that alarm be augmented in such a way that it unnerves the creature that triggers it. If you do, and a creature triggers the alarm, that creature must succeed on a Will save (DC equal to the saving throw DC of the alarm) or be shaken for 2d4 rounds. This is a mind-affecting fear effect.
Arcane Lock Specialist
You can create an arcane lock that comes complete with a trap.
Prerequisite: Ability to cast arcane lock.
Benefit: Whenever you cast arcane lock, in addition to the spell’s normal effect, you also create a single trap of your choice whose CR is no greater than 1/4 your caster level (maximum CR 3 at 12th level). This trap is automatically built into the affected object, after which it functions normally (as defined by its type, trigger, and reset information, etc.). Certain traps may not function on certain objects, if they would not make sense (for example, it would be difficult to build a pit trap into a locked chest, etc.).
Fireball Specialist
You know how to create a fireball that has explosive power.
Prerequisites: Ability to cast fireball or delayed blast fireball.
Benefit: Whenever you cast fireball or delayed blast fireball, in addition to the spell’s normal effects, it has explosive pressure, which pushes creatures in the area away from the center of the effect. When you cast the spell, make a special combat maneuver check. The CMB for this check is equal to your caster level + your primary spellcasting ability score modifier. For each creature in the spell’s area that fails its Reflex save, if that creature’s CMD is less than the result of your combat maneuver check, that creature is pushed 5 feet away from the center of the spell’s area, plus an additional 5 feet for every 5 points by which the result of the combat maneuver check exceeded their CMD. Creatures pushed 10 or more feet in this way become prone at the end of their movement.
Invisibility Specialist
Your invisibility spells are hard to pierce.
Prerequisites: Ability to cast invisibility, invisibility sphere, greater invisibility, or mass invisibility.
Benefit: Whenever you cast invisibility, invisibility sphere, greater invisibility, or mass invisibility, in addition to the spell’s normal effects, even if affected creatures or objects are subject to invisibility purge, or similar magic, or are viewed with see invisibility, blindsight, or even true seeing, they appear as translucent outlines, and it is impossible to determine the affected creature’s appearance or identity in any way. Further, the affected creatures still have concealment (20% miss chance), though their exact location can be pinpointed and they are technically visible.
Unseen Servant Specialist
Your unseen servants are capable of doing much more than those of other mages.
Prerequisite: Ability to cast unseen servant.
Benefit: Whenever you cast unseen servant, or another spell that creates unseen servants that are identical to those created by unseen servant (such as mage’s magnificent mansion), the servants that are created are somewhat more capable. Affected servants have a strength score of 6, instead of 2. They can wield weapons and make attacks, but their base attack bonus is 0, and they are not proficient with weapons of any sort, granting them an attack bonus of -6 in most cases. They can perform combat maneuvers, and suffer only a -2 penalty when doing so. Unseen servants affected by this feat cannot score critical hits, and do not automatically hit on a natural 20.