Spellcasting ability modifier

[GreatEagle]

I am looking at getting a spell for Sosiel (cleric) and in the description it says that the DC for the fortitude saving throw is 10+half the caster level+spellcasting ability modifier. Where do I find the spellcasting ability modifier?

[Soul]

its based on their casting class... in case for Sosiel being a cleric.... its wisdom based....

as for locating it in the character sheet.... I forget how lol....

basically the general rule is divine casters are mostly wisdom based.... and arcane casters are int based.... with the exception of spontaneous casters.... those are charisma based.....

there are some exceptions based off of archetypes.... such as sage sorcerer using int instead of charisma...

[GreatEagle]

OK Sosiel is level 16 and his current wisdom bonus is +8. So is +8 his spellcasting ability modifier or is there other things to add to it?

[canuck250]

Originally posted by GreatEagle:

or is there other things to add to it?

If you have +WIS (from items/buffs) or things that boost spell level like items/metamagics/feats/buffs sure.

Then there are debuffs from spells, auras, items and hexes.

[FunkyMonkey]

Originally posted by Soul:

as for locating it in the character sheet.... I forget how lol....

I think it's on the spellbook page, but could be wrong.

I'm just amazed that OP has played the game up to 16th level and doesn't know what ability modifier the casters use o.O Hopefully they have had a great time with the game regardless.

[Elizabello]

Originally posted by FunkyMonkey:

Originally posted by Soul:

as for locating it in the character sheet.... I forget how lol....

I think it's on the spellbook page, but could be wrong.

I'm just amazed that OP has played the game up to 16th level and doesn't know what ability modifier the casters use o.O Hopefully they have had a great time with the game regardless.

My friend finished the game as a wizard and didnt know what metamagic is. (he played on Core) Said he didnt encounter any problems. I m still shocked. No metamagic...just how...

[FunkyMonkey]

Originally posted by Elizabello:

Originally posted by FunkyMonkey:

I think it's on the spellbook page, but could be wrong.

I'm just amazed that OP has played the game up to 16th level and doesn't know what ability modifier the casters use o.O Hopefully they have had a great time with the game regardless.

Finished the game as a wizard and didnt know what metamagic is. (he played on Core) Said he didnt encounter any problems. I m still shocked. No metamagic...just how...

Then they are a true hero :D Impressive.

[Drake]

Originally posted by FunkyMonkey:

Originally posted by Elizabello:

Finished the game as a wizard and didnt know what metamagic is. (he played on Core) Said he didnt encounter any problems. I m still shocked. No metamagic...just how...

Then they are a true hero :D Impressive.

On core you don't need metamagic.
People are just formatted by meta builds and think you always need the same spells with the same metamagics to do the same damage to be able to kill the same mobs.

Well, you don't. You can do the game just fine by using different tactics.
On core mobs have high stats, but they are not that high that you need to min max everything to be able to survive, there is still room for creativity.
I did some playthroughs on core with no metamagic, because I didn't need them for my build.

[Elizabello]

Originally posted by Drake:

Originally posted by FunkyMonkey:

Then they are a true hero :D Impressive.

On core you don't need metamagic.
People are just formatted by meta builds and think you always need the same spells with the same metamagics to do the same damage to be able to kill the same mobs.

Well, you don't. You can do the game just fine by using different tactics.
On core mobs have high stats, but they are not that high that you need to min max everything to be able to survive, there is still room for creativity.
I did some playthroughs on core with no metamagic, because I didn't need them for my build.

Excuse me, what makes you think i m formated by metabuilds? lol
Metamagic is a a core mechanic of a caster, one of the things that makes them powerful, versatile and so interesting. Not using metamagic is not using a different tactics - its just omitting a huge chunk of character mechanics. In my experience its done overwhelmingly due to not wanting to deal with this slightly complicated mechanic. This was the case with my friend. He just didnt care and didnt want to read and figure out all the feats he ll need to make it work etc. Didnt even use metamagic wands.
As in to whats missing.
Quickened Metamagic - lets you cast a spell as a swift action, essentially giving you 1 more cast of a spell per round.
Maximized - as the name suggest makes your spell roll maximum possibl damage.
Empowered - makes your spells do 50% damage.

Now you can combine maximized and empowered. And quickened on top. And you end up with doing not just twice, but up to 5 times more.

As for Core, lets take an example. I want nenio to be an illusion based wizard focusing on Phantasmal Killer. Which needs to pass both Will check and Fort check. Even on Core it will be ridiculously hard to get consistency from that spell unless you use Persitent Metamagic which makes enemies roll checks twice and take the worst results. Then ofcourse you can add Heighten Spell metamagic to increase the DC of Phtantasmal Killer. And now it works more or less consistently on CORE.

[Drake]

Don't take it personally. But it's not a secret that a lot of gamers use builds made by others.

I didn't say not to use it, I said that it's not a necessity. You can, it's effective, but you can do fine without it.

[Elizabello]

Originally posted by Drake:

Don't take it personally. But it's not a secret that a lot of gamers use builds made by others.

I didn't say not to use it, I said that it's not a necessity. You can, it's effective, but you can do fine without it.

Well no question here, thats quite true.

[hilburnashua]

Originally posted by GreatEagle:

I am looking at getting a spell for Sosiel (cleric) and in the description it says that the DC for the fortitude saving throw is 10+half the caster level+spellcasting ability modifier. Where do I find the spellcasting ability modifier?

Ok, so first of all, that stat block is incorrect for a spell.

The DC of a spell is 10+ the base spell level + casting stat modifier + all other modifiers (school focus, magic items that give a bonus to certain schools, etc). When I say base spell level, I mean the spell's level before it is modified by metamagic with the exception of Heighten metamagic which does increase the DC.

And example. A cleric (wisdom caster) is casting Banishment on a demon. The cleric has a 30 wisdom (+10 modifier), Spell Focus - Abjuration (+1) and Greater Spelll Focus Abjuration (and additional +1 for a total of +2) and Mythic Spell Focus-Abjuration (+1) making the DC (10 base +7 for spell level +10 for Wisdom +3 for spell focus modifiers) 30. If the cleric used Heighten Metamagic to increase the spell's level to 9, the DC would be 32. If the spell was under the effects of a Reach Metamagic the DC would still be 30 despite having to use an 8th level spell slot.

The casting modifier for classes roughly breaks down to
Int - Wizard, Alchemist, Witch, Magus, Arcanist
Wis - Cleric, Druid, Inquisitor, Ranger
Cha - Sorcerer, Paladin, Oracle

There are a few classes that have archtypes that change the class's casting stat. Ember's class, Stigmatized Witch uses Charisma and Empyreal Sorcerer uses Wisdom instead of Charisma.

What it sounds like (since you posted half caster level as part of the DC) is you are getting a Domain ability. Non-spell abilities that have a DC are 10+half the levels you have in the class that gives you the ability plus stat modifier. Like Witch and Shaman Hexes, Alchemist bomb infusions (curse, tanglefoot), Kineticist infustions on blasts, etc.

[GreatEagle]

Originally posted by canuck250:

Originally posted by GreatEagle:

or is there other things to add to it?

If you have +WIS (from items/buffs) or things that boost spell level like items/metamagics/feats/buffs sure.

Then there are debuffs from spells, auras, items and hexes.

First off thank you for your response but I guess I should rephrase my question. I want to know what spellcasting ability modifier is, not what is added to it to make it higher. I understand that part of it.

[GreatEagle]

Originally posted by FunkyMonkey:

Originally posted by Soul:

as for locating it in the character sheet.... I forget how lol....

I think it's on the spellbook page, but could be wrong.

I'm just amazed that OP has played the game up to 16th level and doesn't know what ability modifier the casters use o.O Hopefully they have had a great time with the game regardless.

I don't usually pay too close attention to the finer details of spells when I play games like this. I just happened to read the entire description of this particular spell and started looking for something that told me what my spellcasting ability modifier is and I could not find anything.

[GreatEagle]

Originally posted by hilburnashua:

Originally posted by GreatEagle:

I am looking at getting a spell for Sosiel (cleric) and in the description it says that the DC for the fortitude saving throw is 10+half the caster level+spellcasting ability modifier. Where do I find the spellcasting ability modifier?

Ok, so first of all, that stat block is incorrect for a spell.

The DC of a spell is 10+ the base spell level + casting stat modifier + all other modifiers (school focus, magic items that give a bonus to certain schools, etc). When I say base spell level, I mean the spell's level before it is modified by metamagic with the exception of Heighten metamagic which does increase the DC.

And example. A cleric (wisdom caster) is casting Banishment on a demon. The cleric has a 30 wisdom (+10 modifier), Spell Focus - Abjuration (+1) and Greater Spelll Focus Abjuration (and additional +1 for a total of +2) and Mythic Spell Focus-Abjuration (+1) making the DC (10 base +7 for spell level +10 for Wisdom +3 for spell focus modifiers) 30. If the cleric used Heighten Metamagic to increase the spell's level to 9, the DC would be 32. If the spell was under the effects of a Reach Metamagic the DC would still be 30 despite having to use an 8th level spell slot.

The casting modifier for classes roughly breaks down to
Int - Wizard, Alchemist, Witch, Magus, Arcanist
Wis - Cleric, Druid, Inquisitor, Ranger
Cha - Sorcerer, Paladin, Oracle

There are a few classes that have archtypes that change the class's casting stat. Ember's class, Stigmatized Witch uses Charisma and Empyreal Sorcerer uses Wisdom instead of Charisma.

What it sounds like (since you posted half caster level as part of the DC) is you are getting a Domain ability. Non-spell abilities that have a DC are 10+half the levels you have in the class that gives you the ability plus stat modifier. Like Witch and Shaman Hexes, Alchemist bomb infusions (curse, tanglefoot), Kineticist infustions on blasts, etc.

Thank you for this response. It helps me understand a bit more. As for the description. The spell is called Jolting Portent (level 7 spell) and in the desription it says that the DC for the fortitude saving throw is 10+half the caster level+spellcasting ability modifier. Besides the two domains that Sosiel comes with I added Animal domain and Healing domain. I am at the understanding that the domain spells are all highlighted yellow and this one is not highlighted so either you are wrong or the description in the game is wrong. Either way it doesn't matter as all I want to know is "what is spellcasting ability modifier?"

[canuck250]

Your spell casting (Wis) modifier (+8).