Epic Spellcasting

• Type of feat: Spellcasting
• Prerequisite: 21st level, Spellcraft 30, the ability to cast 9th level spells or Dark invocations.
• Required for: None
• Specifics: You've heard about spells that transcend the commonly understood arts, scribed in the margins of ancient tomes and whispered among the acolytes of mage guilds. In various times and places, epic spells have been personified as "the Serpent," codified as Trite Dweomers, and encoded as part of an ancient lore called the Language Primeval. Whether epic spells really are straight from the Serpent's maddening whispers or are revealed to you over countless curious volumes of hidden lore, you are ready to grasp the ultimate level of mortal magic.

Casting epic spells is nothing less than the direct manipulation of reality itself, and epic spellcasters begin to understand how magic really works. Through application of formidable intellect, vast wisdom, or sheer force of personality, a spellcaster can manipulate cosmic and personal energy directly. Such a spellcaster is released from the shackles imposed by level-dependent spell casting. The classification of power by level loses all meaning to the caster of epic spells.

The tradeoff for such transcendent power is time and resources. Developing and casting epic spells is a time-consuming process and costly undertaking. Only spellcasters who have already mastered the ability to cast 9th-level spells can hope to read the road of epic spellcasting.

What are Epic Spells?

Epic spells are spells developed from the ground up using a list of magical ingredients called seeds. Despite their power, spells still follow the basic rules for casting spells, except as specifically noted otherwise.

Epic casters can manipulate the seeds of true magic, but knowing the seeds and how to manipulate them does not instantly grant ultimate power. Each epic spell must be laboriously developed before it can be used. The process of development can be a time-consuming and expensive process. It is during development that a caster determines whether a given epic spell lies within her abilities or beyond them. The basis of that determination lies in an epic spell's Spellcraft requirement.

Every epic spell a spellcaster develops must be purchased with a feat, representing the time spent on developing a new epic spell. Few spellcasters learn more than a handful of epic spells in their magical career.

Epic Spellcasting

Once an epic spell is developed, the caster knows the spell. A developed epic spell becomes an indelible part of the caster and may be prepared without a spellbook (if a wizard is the caster). Characters who cast spells spontaneously, such as sorcerers, can cast a developed epic spell by using any open epic spell slot. Druids, clerics, and similar spellcasters can likewise prepare epic spells using epic spell slots. A spellcaster can prepare or cast any epic spell she knows as many times per day as she has available epic spell slots.

A spellcaster who can cast epic spells has a number of open epic spell slots per day equal to one-tenth her ranks in the highest of her Lore (Arcana), Lore (Nature), or Lore (Religion). In addition, epic spellcasters gain one additional epic spell slot for each epic spell they know. Thus, a spellcaster with 30 ranks in Lore (Arcana) and two epic spells could cast five epic spells in any 24-hour period. The rules for rest between casting a day's allotment of epic spells are the same as for rest required to prepare standard spells. If the caster doesn't use up a day's allotment of epic spell slots, the unused slots remain available whether or not the spellcaster receives appropriate rest.

• Use: Automatic

Notes:

This feat is received for free the first time you select an epic spell.