At Will Casting

[Rowanomicon]

I had an idea for a class that casts at will, but only has access to low level magic. So before I start the actual work I want to ask some question of you, my fellow Playgrounders.
I'm thinking of making the class mostly a skill monkey or meat shield (probably the former) with the casting as a secondary, but prominent tool.

Should I use an existing spell list or make a new one?

If an existing one, which one? I was thinking Wiz/Soc.

If make a new one what spells do you think I should make sure do or don't get on the list (no cure spells comes to mind)?

At what level would it be apropriate to grant unlimited 0 level spells? I think early, 1st, 2nd?

What about unlimited 1st level spells? Or 2nd level spells?

I guess that depends on how many spells they know and what those spells are. For now I guess assume it's the Wiz/Soc list and they know all SRD spells.

[Mee]

Well, this sounds a little powerful, so I'd say 0th level, other then that, this sounds kinda like a sorcerer.

[Rowanomicon]

At what level should they cast unlimited 0 level spells?

Are you saying no one should ever be able to cast unlimited 1st level spells?

[Mee]

No, just start with 0th level, maybe every 5 or so levels give an unlimited next level. So a level 10 would have unlimited 0th, 1st, and 2nd.

[Parvum]

So... you want a warlock, with skill monkeying/meat sheild abilities instead of most of their normal class features?

[HKJones]

Just wondering, would this class work similarly to a Warlock? If so you could just remove the item crafting and resistances, and add extra skills and invocations... uh.... spells.

EDIT: Parvum you ninja you.

[Rowanomicon]

I'm not really planning on making this similar to the Warlock except for the fact that spells are unlimited.

[The_Snark]

I would follow the warlock's example and set your own spell list. You don't want to give people unlimited access to existing spell lists, or abuses are almost certain to turn up; and it lets you tailor the class abilities to what you want them to be. It's far easier to make your own list than it is to try to look at all the spells from, say, the sorceror/wizard list and figure out which ones are too powerful to allow at will.

Essentially, think of it as an invocation-using class rather than a spellcasting class. Doesn't need to be like the warlock in any other way, but it's a better baseline than trying to use an existing spell list and base it completely off spell level; spells are balanced partly by how long they last, after all, and having them at will completely removes that balancing factor.

[Rowanomicon]

OK, I'll call it an invocation using class. Then I should class the invocations into, what, 4 power groups?

[EvilElitest]

Seems like a cool idea, but you have to be really careful with the balance
from
EE

[MorkaisChosen]

You might have to fiddle the balance on caster levels- for example, compare Magic Missile and Mage Armour as Caster Level increases. MM gets more powerful, MA gets longer duration. If they're at will, MM gets much more of an increase as caster level increases.

[Triaxx]

I had a feat that basically allowed Sorcerors to do this, but in return they had to ban schools. They gained one level for each school banned.

[Yakk]

Spells Known:

     0   1   2   3   4
1    2   -   -   -   -
2    3   -   -   -   -
3    4   -   -   -   -
4    5   -   -   -   -
5    5   1   -   -   -
6    5   2   -   -   -
7    5   3   -   -   -
8    5   4   -   -   -
9    5   5   -   -   -
10   5   5   1   -   -
11   5   5   2   -   -
12   5   5   3   -   -
13   5   5   4   -   -
14   5   5   5   -   -
15   5   5   5   1   -
16   5   5   5   2   -
17   5   5   5   3   -
18   5   5   5   4   -
19   5   5   5   5   -
20   5   5   5   5   1

Caster level: class level/2, rounded up.

Specials:

1    Item of Power: +1
2    Metamagic Burn, Metamagic Feat
3    Item of Power: +2
4    Item Creation Pool, Item Creation Feat
5    New Spell Level
6    Item of Power: +2, 2 spells
7    Metamagic Feat
8    Item of Power: +3
9    Item Creation Feat
10   New Spell Level
11   Item of Power: +3, 3 spells
12   Metamagic Feat
13   Item of Power: +4
14   Item Creation Feat
15   New Spell Level
16   Item of Power: +4, 4 spells
17   Metamagic Feat
18   Item of Power: +5
19   Item Creation Feat
20   New Spell Level

Megamagic Burn: Can apply metamagic to a spell by taking damage. Take 1d6 damage for every level of the base spell, plus 1d6 damage for the total level of the spell you are metamagicing. Ie, if you Maximize fireball, you take 3d6+6d6 = 9d6 damage.

Item of Power: Grants a bonus to caster level for a particular set of specific spells. Creating an item of power takes 1 week of work, and requires raw materials equal to your caster level*highest level of spell you can cast*100 gp. (or caster level*50 gp if you can only cast 0 level spells). Existing items of power automatically "level up" as you do: it is only when you retune, get a new, or replace an item of power that it costs gold. Each item of power requires one hand to wield, can be put away/equipped as part of another move action, and works on a single spell.

Items of power can be recognized via a spellcraft check of DC 15. The spell they amplify can be recognized on a spellcraft check of DC 20+spell level+class level of the owner, +10 DC if you want to do it quickly from a 30' distance (+5 DC if only one of the two restrictions occurs).

Metamagic Feat: Bonus metamagic feat.

Item Creation Pool: Gain a pool of class level * 10 xp that can only be used to create magical items from your class list. These magical items are incomplete, and can only be used for yourself: however, an additional burn of 1/2 of the XP required to make them can fully activate them.

Item Creation Feat: Bonus item creation feat.

...

All instant spells that have a sustained effect are changed to spells with a duration of hours/level. The effect created is magical, and can be dispelled.

While a spell you cast is active, you cannot recast it unless you have an Item of Power that boosts it: in which case, you can keep as many additional copies of that spell active as you have caster level boosts from your item of power.

...

d6 HD, +3/4 BaB, strong will save. No armor proficiency. Is proficient 4 simple weapons at level 1, plus 1 at level 5, 10 15 and 20.

Bonus spells known:

Int  0   1   2   3   4
12   -   -   -   -   -
14   +1  -   -   -   -
16   +2  -   -   -   -
18   +2  +1  -   -   -
20   +2  +2  -   -   -
22   +2  +2  +1  -   -
24   +2  +2  +2  -   -
26   +2  +2  +2  +1  -
28   +2  +2  +2  +2  -
30   +2  +2  +2  +2  +1
32   +2  +2  +2  +2  +2
34   +3  +2  +2  +2  +2
36   +3  +3  +2  +2  +2
38   +3  +3  +3  +2  +2
40   +3  +3  +3  +3  +2

etc

Spell resists are based off of Wisdom.

Requires a Charisma of 10+spell level*2 to cast a spell of a particular level.

4 skill points/level, uses class skill list of both sorcerer and wizard.

[Rowanomicon]

Yakk,
that looks cool, but I think Metamagic Burn does too much damage.
I would say either reduce it to d4 (I hate using d3s) or simply make it Xd6 where X is the spells effective level after being metamagiced.