# Sanctum Spell - why so great?



## WarlockLord (Jan 20, 2007)

As the title says.  Thanks for answering.


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## FireLance (Jan 20, 2007)

Not useful for an adventurer, but works great for the BBEG whose lair the PCs are invading.


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## Stalker0 (Jan 20, 2007)

yep, completely an npc feat in my book. but that's not always a bad thing, dms need love too


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## Felix (Jan 20, 2007)

Since it was not mentioned by the OP:

Sanctum spell raises the caster level and the effective spell level of the spell by 1 when cast within the defined sanctum, and lowers it by 1 when cast outside of the sanctum. A Sanctum spell uses a spell slot of the same level.

---

Why is this feat good?

It raises the caster level and save DC of the spell by 1; this combines (and stacks with) the effects of Spell Focus and Spell Penetration, but adds the restriction of casting it within your sanctum. It's the stacking without using a higher spell level that makes it worth it.


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## Aaron L (Jan 20, 2007)

It's for when Dormammu invades your Sanctum Sanctorum.


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## ivocaliban (Jan 20, 2007)

Sanctum Spell is a great feat for a ship's mage, assuming the DM allows you to consider the ship you serve on as your sanctum (and will allow you to "reattune" to another vessel if something happens to the one you're on). If you're in a swashbuckling/maritime campaign you're going to face plently of battles while aboard ship. Whether it's raiding pirates, the navy of an opposing nation, or gigantic sea monsters, Sanctum Spell can provide the edge a seafaring spellcaster needs to protect his ship.


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## Darklone (Jan 20, 2007)

It's a real nice way to build a cheaper wand of Sanctum Fireball for your local wizards tower defense.


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## RigaMortus2 (Jan 20, 2007)

It is also a good (and cheesy) way to make prereqs for certain class/spell/feat combinations.  Such as the "infamous" 6th level Cleric who can cast Miracle


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## Felix (Jan 21, 2007)

RigaMortus2 said:
			
		

> It is also a good (and cheesy) way to make prereqs for certain class/spell/feat combinations.  Such as the "infamous" 6th level Cleric who can cast Miracle



?

Explain, please.


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## EyeontheMountain (Jan 21, 2007)

Depending on how loosely you read the feat, it can be abused.

But IMHO, you have to read it really loosely, perverting the intent in the process.


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## Jack Simth (Jan 21, 2007)

Hmm....

So if you make a Sanctum Spell of Acid Splash, it's a -1 level spell outside your sanctum.

A wand's market price is spell level * caster level *750 (with a 0th level spell counting as as a 0.5 level spell for the calculation).

So what happens if you try to Craft a Wand of Sanctum Spell Acid Splash outside your sanctum?


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## airwalkrr (Jan 21, 2007)

Jack Simth said:
			
		

> So what happens if you try to Craft a Wand of Sanctum Spell Acid Splash outside your sanctum?




Simple. You spend negative gold. Or put another way, gold is created in the process. This is actually an often overlooked power-gamer trick.


















Yeesh. I'm just kidding. Don't take everything I say seriously.


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## Darklone (Jan 21, 2007)

airwalkrr said:
			
		

> Simple. You spend negative gold. Or put another way, gold is created in the process. This is actually an often overlooked power-gamer trick.



Sheesh dude, now you told them the secret of the Philosophers Stone!

Here we kept it hidden for several thousand years, only to see it revealed on a public forum in the Rules section!!!


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## The Forsaken One (Jan 21, 2007)

airwalkrr said:
			
		

> Simple. You spend negative gold. Or put another way, gold is created in the process. This is actually an often overlooked power-gamer trick.
> 
> Yeesh. I'm just kidding. Don't take everything I say seriously.



The world wasn't ready yet .


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## RigaMortus2 (Jan 21, 2007)

Felix said:
			
		

> ?
> 
> Explain, please.




It is a combination of using Illumian's from Races of Destiny + the power sigil that sort of "mimics" Divine Metamagic + Sanctum Spell feat + Earth Spell feat (I think this is optional) + Heighten Spell feat + Extra Spell feat

I forget the exact way to do it, but these are the feats involved.  The premise is that you are capable of casting 10th level spells, and Extra Spell feat allows you to pick a spell of up to 1 level less than the one you can cast (in this case, 9th level) and you select Miracle (or any 9th level spell for that matter).

I'll have to see if I can dig up the exact instructions.


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## Felix (Jan 21, 2007)

RigaMortus2 said:
			
		

> It is a combination of using Illumian's from Races of Destiny + the power sigil that sort of "mimics" Divine Metamagic + Sanctum Spell feat + Earth Spell feat (I think this is optional) + Heighten Spell feat + Extra Spell feat
> 
> I forget the exact way to do it, but these are the feats involved.  The premise is that you are capable of casting 10th level spells, and Extra Spell feat allows you to pick a spell of up to 1 level less than the one you can cast (in this case, 9th level) and you select Miracle (or any 9th level spell for that matter).
> 
> I'll have to see if I can dig up the exact instructions.



It's going to take a few minutes for my eyes to roll into place, so far back did they go after reading this.

Did someone try to use this, or was it just a let's-see-if-we-can-break-the-game exercise? I hope it was simply a thought experiment...


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## Jack Simth (Jan 22, 2007)

airwalkrr said:
			
		

> Simple. You spend negative gold. Or put another way, gold is created in the process. This is actually an often overlooked power-gamer trick.
> 
> Yeesh. I'm just kidding. Don't take everything I say seriously.



Don't forget the XP.

Hmm... can you spend so much XP that you level up that way?


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## RigaMortus2 (Jan 22, 2007)

Felix said:
			
		

> It's going to take a few minutes for my eyes to roll into place, so far back did they go after reading this.
> 
> Did someone try to use this, or was it just a let's-see-if-we-can-break-the-game exercise? I hope it was simply a thought experiment...




Found the build...

Illumian (Naenhoon) Cleric 6
Feats: Heighten Spell (1), Sanctum Spell (3), Extra Slot (6)

Thats it.

So whats the trick?

That 6th level feat is Extra Spell for a 9th level spell slot

How?

Here goes:

The Illumian Runeword Naenhoon from Races of Destiny gives the character a limited version of divine metamagic, whereby they may spend turning attempts to apply metamagic. Specifically with heighten spell the illumian may spend one turning attempt per level to be heightened, but cannot increase past 9th level.

Sanctum Spell allows us to cast a spell without adjusting its slot level. If this spell is cast in a designated sanctum it functions at one level higher than normal, if cast beyond that, it functions one level lower.

So when we get to taking that level 6 feat, we select extra slot, which tells us that we may choose any spell level up to one less than the highest level spell we can cast.

What is the hightest level spell we can cast. Well if we cast in our sanctum, and use our runeword, we can actually cast a 10th level spell. Now, its actually a 3rd level spell, but it counts as a 10th level spell (save DC is 20+casting mod and everything). By the wording of extra slot, we can select an extra 9th level spell slot, taking us to a grand total of 1 in that regard.

Now if we have 19 wisdom, we can prepare spells like miracle, gate, implosion, mass heal, energy drain. You know, the fun stuff.


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## hanniball (Jan 22, 2007)

Wow, nice work RigaMortus2.  I think you might be able to do it faster than 6th level, though.  It'll take a flaw, but tjeck this out:

Illumian (Naenhoon) Cleric 2/Human Paragon 2

Feats: Heighten Spell (1), Human Heritage (flaw), Sanctum Spell (3), Extra Slot (Human Paragon 2)

I'm AFB, so I'm not sure if Extra Slot requires 3 or 4 caster levels.  If it's 4, than you're casting Miracle at 5th level.  Either way, it's a level sooner.

Just my 2 cp


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## ivocaliban (Jan 23, 2007)

What's an Illumian?


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## Joker (Jan 23, 2007)

ivocaliban said:
			
		

> What's an Illumian?




Open for abuse.


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## hanniball (Jan 29, 2007)

ivocaliban said:
			
		

> What's an Illumian?




It's an interesting race from the Races of Destiny sourcebook.  Overall, I'd say it's quite balanced and very playable.


As an aside, I did a little research on this topic and determined that the Character Optimization boards have a thread  detailing the various (ab)uses of the Sanctum Spell feat.  Interesting stuff, for sure.

Either way...just my 2 cp


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## ivocaliban (Jan 29, 2007)

hanniball said:
			
		

> It's an interesting race from the Races of Destiny sourcebook.  Overall, I'd say it's quite balanced and very playable.




Yup, I have the book. I was being sarcastic, but I do appreciate the fact that you bothered to answer my question.  

I intensely dislike the Illumians, personally. I can't think of any reason I would allow them in my campaigns so...I never need worry about Sanctum Spell abuse as far as they're concerned.


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## Bad Paper (Jan 30, 2007)

ivocaliban said:
			
		

> I intensely dislike the Illumians, personally. I can't think of any reason I would allow them in my campaigns



SO YOU CAN KILL THEM


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## Wilphe (Jan 31, 2007)

And Take Their Stuff


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## frankthedm (Jan 31, 2007)

ivocaliban said:
			
		

> What's an Illumian?



 A race with day-glow runes floating around their heads.


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