Species Feat: Creature of Magic

[ArawnNox]

Based on another thread topic, I wanted to submit this for balance appraisal.
Basically, in the setting I'm inventing, the only race (type) that can exert any reliable control over magic are the fey. So, this is a slightly reworked version of the feat that was suggested. Be aware that the setting uses wild magic, so spellcasting threat and error ranges start out with an increase of 2.

Creature of Magic (Species Feat)
Magic is a part of what you are, and as such, you can control the wild forces that bend creation.
Requirements:  Fey Type, 1+ Spellcasting Ranks
Benefit: Your error range with Spellcasting Checks decreases by 1 and you gain a trick.
   Power Surge (Spellcasting Trick): You may expend 5 extra spell points to increase your Casting Level by 2 for determining the spell's effects.


edit: fixed a typo

[Morgenstern]

I might include wild magic in the list of requirements to avoid any confusion, but the persistent benefit seems reasonable in that environment and the cost of the trick comperable with the results.

You might want to put it in the spellcasting tree though. Seems like a good way to burn one of your bonus feats from a casting class and non-caster fey just aren't going to care.

[paddyfool]

Glad you liked it enough to run with it!  I'd agree that wild magic might be worth putting on the list of requirements.  Another small tweak that might be necessary would be specifying the minimum error range this can take things down to (your choice of minimum 1 or minimum 0).

For the record, the original feat I came up with had an alternative cost on that trick of increasing the error range by 3; conceptually, this was meant as choosing to embrace the chaos of magic rather than mitigate it. 

[ArawnNox]

The reason I didn't go with the original suggestion was that the spirit of the feat and my intentions for the flavor was to make it centered around the midigating of the error range. Granting a trick that further increased the error range seemed to be several steps in the wrong direction (and would essentially give a 1-5 error range, which seemed to be just too much).

[paddyfool]

I'd agree that your choice would seem more playable; I just wanted the option to be out there for anyone who wanted it.

Also, I've had another idea for a feat along similar lines, although this might be less suitable for your setting;

Unworldly
The ways of magic come naturally to you.  The ways of the world, less so.
Prerequisites: Fey type, level 1 only, wild magic
Benefits: Your error range with spellcasting checks decreases by 2 (minimum 0) and spellcasting becomes an origin skill for you.  However, your error ranges with all other skill checks increase by 1.

[Crafty_Alex]

I'd agree that your choice would seem more playable; I just wanted the option to be out there for anyone who wanted it.

Also, I've had another idea for a feat along similar lines, although this might be less suitable for your setting;

Unworldly
The ways of magic come naturally to you.  The ways of the world, less so.
Prerequisites: Fey type, level 1 only, wild magic
Benefits: Your error range with spellcasting checks decreases by 2 (minimum 0) and spellcasting becomes an origin skill for you.  However, your error ranges with all other skill checks increase by 1.

Problem with that is, Spellcasting without class abilities like Circle of Power, the "Way of" 1st level abilities, or Caster Levels (which come from your class) simply do not work. The Way of skills effectively make Spellcasting an origin skill, so that part of the benefit is largely non functional.

[paddyfool]

Ah, that would be a problem.  How about this instead?

Unworldly
The ways of magic come naturally to you.  The ways of the world, less so.
Prerequisites: Fey type, level 1 only, wild magic
Benefits: Your error range with spellcasting checks decreases by 2 (minimum 0) and you gain a +2 to Will saves against magical effects.  However, your error range with all skill checks aside from spellcasting and origin skills increases by 1.

EDIT: Incidentally, I've had another thought on this matter.  If you're going to make Creature of Magic a spellcasting feat, I'd suggest changing the name (to reflect it being about what the character does rather than about what they are) to either "Fae Magic" or "Elven Magic".   Alternatively, you could go a step further and change it instead to "Fae Magic Basics" as part of a tree where Supremacy reduces the error range by a further 1, plus other effects along the way.  But if you go this way, I'm not sure what you'd want to fill the tree out with that the other spellcasting feats don't already have covered...