ESA and levelling

[the_seeker]

I have read the information regardin ESA and how it affects certain stats and abilities. Does that mean that, for instance, when I choose a priamry stat of Int 12 and a subrace with Int +2 i still weill be able to cast only 2nd level spells, not 4th?

This seems a bit unequal with a character who might have taken basic Int 4, then a subrace with -2 Int, which would still allow him to take 4th level spells as a wizard and grant him more skill points per levelling. So my question is, what is the policy here regarding the issue, adn how is it handled?

[minerva]

Feats, skills and spells are based on the NWN coded values for your Character.  Characters are created in NWN and the subrace skin is applied INGAME.
 
 So if you have a basic Wisdom of 10, a subrace giving you a +2 bonus to Wis will not allow you to cast Level 2 spells... It will however give you the extra spell slot bonus just like you had a piece of Wis altering jewelery or armor on.
 
 A Subrace bonus to Int does not give you bonus skill points at level up, but it does give you bonus points in skill checks just as if you were wearing a piece of jewelry.
 
 It is my understanding that the subraces are "applied" or if it's easier to think of ..."worn" in game like an item, just you can't take it off

[the_seeker]

Does is work the other way round? And is it forbidden to make use of it? For instance, with Int 15 and - 2 Int from subrace selection, am I allowed to still learn the spells up 5th lvl, or should i restrain myself from it?

[minerva]

I think it works the same the other way round as well, you could cast up to the 5th level BUT the DC of your spells would be adversely affected by the -2 penality I believe.
 
 One of the coding gurus would have to jump in here to confirm

[IceDragonDuvessa]

you would be able to learn the spells however when the -2 INT applied to your character from the skin you would be unable to prepare the spells, therefore its not a viable way of getting around the subrace adjustment.

[Dorganath]

While the game might give you the option to choose level 5 spells, the ESA reduction will effectively make you unable to cast any level 5 spells because all your slots of that level will be removed unless you can get your adjusted attribute score up to/over 15.

So as far as determining whether or not your character is elligible to cast a certain level of spell, it looks only at your base, unadjusted stat. As far as determining if your character is able to cast a certain level of spell, it uses your adjusted stat.

The reason it works this way is that NWN has no real support for subraces, so any subrace adjustments have to happen at game time.  As such, the engine sees these adjustments as artificial and does not take them into account for things like spell casting elligibility, requirements for feats, etc.

Hope that clears things up.