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anonystu: (Referring to Modify Spell (Double Target) and War Template)

I think this is probably the most reasonable interpretation: using the war template as a guide, it specifically says that spells which can have their targets increased don't have area effects.


Monte:
Right.


(PS: By Area effects, as the war template makes clear, it means spells with Area in the spell block, not any spell with anything resembling an area effect (see that Attack From Within Heightened can still be doubled, even if overlapping damage areas don't stack).)

Sheps (paraphrased):
What happens to a magister (especially a low-level magister) who loses his staff, but has the psionic template?

Anonystu:

Unless I'm missing some fundamental change in the way caster level is treated (or have just been missing this rule all the time, since negative caster level penalties are kind of rare in 3e), caster level doesn't influence what spells you know, or what spells you can cast. If a magically poor area has an effect of -1 caster level, spellcasters don't forget spells, or start knowing less: spells just come out less effective.


This solves at least one part of this: you can't be made unable to cast spells simply because your CL went down (although going down to CL 0 will cause a number of spells to be quite worthless).

This doesn't solve the second part, but because the psionic template explicitly says to ignore focus requirements, I think it is safe to say that the 1st-level magister sans staff casts psionic spells at CL 1. The lack of focus applies to spells and checks as they are made, not retroactively. If I lose my staff, ongoing spells don't shrink in duration to match my new caster level.

So, when casting from the psionic template, you simply ignore the question: do I have my staff, or do I need to apply -1 CL and x2 casting time?

Monte:
Yup.