Innate Spell - Prerequisites?

[Centaur]

There is some discent amoung our group as to the interpretation of this feat from the Tomb & Blood Source Book.

It indicates that to gain a spell as an "Innate Spell" you permanently loose one spell slot of 8 levels highter than the spell becoming Innate.

My interpretation of this is that you must have the slot available to you in order to make the sacrifice of the slot. Therefore, in order to gain say "Magic Missile" as an innate spell, a wizard must be at least 17th level and be able to cast 9th level spells.

Then when Magic Missile is taken as the Innate spell, One of the characters 9th level spell slots is permanently lost.

Some of my players (Who Also GM other games) belive that It can be taken at any time (as long as the other prereqs. are taken), and when you finaly get to the level where the lost spell slot would be gained, it is not available.

Which is the proper interpretation? Or is there a third Interpretation that I am not seeing?

 

[Naar]

I would say that you have to have the spell slot available to spend. The feat requires you to give up a spell slot to gain your innate spell. But if you're less than 17-18th level, how can you give up something that you don't yet have to give? Allowing you to borrow power, as it were, by taking the feat before 18th level when there's no guarantee that the campaign you're in will ever last that long is, in my view, a mistake.

 

[Staffan]

IMO, you can't give up what you don't have. Therefore, you need to have a 9th level slot available before you can make a 1st level spell innate. You could make a 0th level spell innate as soon as you had an 8th level spell, though.

 

[Centaur]

Consensus is Bliss

Thanks for the quick replies!

 

[Hypersmurf]

And if he subsequently loses a level, and loses access to that slot, he can't use the Innate Spell until he gains the level back and takes the feat again...

-Hyp.

 

[Number47]

I wanna play in your campaign! I can take Innate Spell for a really groovy first level spell like True Strike and then just switch to fighter. Since I will never get ninth level spell, it costs me nothing! Even better, do you play Epic levels? If so, then I will Innate a sixth or seventh level spell right away!

 

[Dimwhit]

Some of my players (Who Also GM other games) belive that It can be taken at any time (as long as the other prereqs. are taken), and when you finaly get to the level where the lost spell slot would be gained, it is not available.

Holy $%&#@! That's some serious generousity on the part of your fellow players. I would have to completely side with you. If you don't have the spell slot to give up, you don't get innate spell.

 

[Kae'Yoss]

I wanna play in your campaign! I can take Innate Spell for a really groovy first level spell like True Strike and then just switch to fighter. Since I will never get ninth level spell, it costs me nothing! Even better, do you play Epic levels? If so, then I will Innate a sixth or seventh level spell right away!

One innate meteor swarm for me, please (the spell doesn't use caster level except for SR)!

 

[Dr. Zoom]

Look at the last line of the feat description under Special:

"You have to pay the costs in spell slots, focuses, and material components for each innate spell you acquire."