Mirror Move

In D&D, it can be tempting to try and do everything. You want to have all these spells, and these prestige classes, and these feats, and even these various skill ranks... yes, it can be tricky to fit everything that catches your eyes into a single build. But what if you were able to sub in what you want when you want it now and then? You might not be able to trade out class levels on the fly, but whenever you see someone using a cool feat, do you not think to yourself "I wish I could try that"?

Well if you're willing to look way back to a dubious little corner of an unofficial web article, you just might be able to try that.

Mirror move is a 2nd level bard/wizard spell that allows you to make like Taskmaster and copy any physically demonstrable feat that you see. If you're wondering why you haven't seen nor heard of this admittedly funky spell, it's because it's from a somewhat dubious source - a web article published in 2001 that was never subsequently included in a book, updated for 3.5, or otherwise mentioned again. Yes, the same source as guidance of the avatar and other suspect tidbits. Still, it was published by Wizards, so if your DM doesn't mind you can have some fun with this one.

If it wasn't obvious already, I have a deep love for open-ended feats and spells. Having a single option that can be tooled to the current situation rewards creativity and inventiveness without demanding perfect foresight or having an overabundance of niche options prepared "just in case." After all, you can rarely be certain of what you'll come across in any given day of your adventuring career, let alone while adventuring in general, so having a multi-tool can keep you from being caught with your pants down. Unlike a lot of the usual "cast this and pick what you want" sorts of spells, though, mirror move functions a little differently.



To be precise: for one minute per level, you can learn up to one feat (with observable, physical evidence) per point of Intelligence bonus, that you've seen someone use in the past minute. So a run-of-the-mill optimized wizard with 18 Intelligence could gain as many as four feats with a casting of this spell. That got your attention, didn't it?

Now, the spell's description includes a list of feats that are viable choices to copy with mirror move. Being a piece of 3.0 copy, some of those listed have changed names (a la Expertise) while others plain don't exist anymore (a la Ambidexterity) but for the most part it should hold up. The thing is, this list is immediately followed by the line "The DM may allow mirroring of feats from sources other than the Player's Handbook, as long as they are feats with observable physical effects." Yes, very interesting. As a result, mirror move is another one of those open-ended spells that simply got better the more material was printed, only ever getting more options that could (arguably) qualify. The choice of feats being at the behest of the DM might make some worry, but don't forget that this is the same DM who could claim you live in a dead-magic world or something else equally arbitrary. As long as you aren't trying to emulate something like Vow of Poverty, you should be fine.

Another issue to bear in mind with mirror move is that it requires somebody else who already has the feat you want in front of you before you can copy said feat for your own use. In a sense, this means that your build depends on the builds of your party members. Chances are you won't be exactly keen on picking up your fighter buddy's Weapon Focus, so you might need to sculpt the situation a bit. A casting of heroics can give the subject any fighter bonus feat you might be interested in, which you can then copy with mirror move. Yes, heroics can also be cast on yourself and lasts for 10 minutes per level, but mirror move can also pick up a bushel of other feats you might want while you're at it - and since 10 minutes/level isn't going to last all day either, chances are you were planning to make it a Persistent Spell anyways! If you want to be completely independent, you can also consult the summon monster tables for what creatures you can summon that will have the racial bonus feats that you want. For instance, if you wanted Combat Casting (not a Fighter bonus feat and not something your fellow party members are likely to have had anyway) you could cast summon monster VII for a Djinni, or summon monster VIII for a Lillend. Even the lowly summon monster I can net you access to Weapon Finesse.


So now the question you're all probably tired of hearing me rhetorically ask by now: what can you do with it?

Right off the bat, Martial Study and/or Martial Stance are going to be top contenders. It's important to keep in mind that you can only copy someone who actually has these feats - observing a warblade use his maneuvers isn't technically the same as watching a character with Martial Study use his maneuvers, so the feat has to be explicitly there. That said, while the spirit of the spell strongly implies you can only copy a maneuver you observe, the wording states that you would only copy the feat itself - and Martial Study lets you pick any maneuver you qualify for when you get it. So arguably you could watch someone perform a maneuver and then "copy" any maneuver of your choice. Even if that's not allowed, though, chances are people are going to know the best maneuvers if they can help it, so it's likely you'll be able to copy someone else's White Raven Tactics or Iron Heart Surge on demand.

Exotic Weapon Proficiency is another great toolbox feat that can let you switch between specific weapons for the situation so long as you have mirror move and someone else who's running Exotic Weapon Proficiency somehow. Of course, this is similar to the "copy the feat or copy the feat as well as its selection" problem with Martial Study, in that it's up to your DM if you can learn how to use any exotic weapon or only the one you observed being used.

Does Trickery Devotion have the right kind of "observable physical effect" required by mirror move? I mean it's sure as hell observable, that's the whole point, but whether the effort of the user is enough is really a matter of debate. The description of mirror move states that it cannot copy "Special Feats," but what that means is anyone's guess. Is Magical Training "Special"? Are reserve feats observable? It gets a little confusing when you try to implement feats that go beyond "makes you better at hitting things," but I think there's still a lot of potential here.

Mirror move is of a dubious source and likewise gives you access to dubious choices, but the range of effects it can offer from a single casting is nearly unique. Heroics may last longer and be less ambiguous, but mirror move can potentially give you an entire feat tree in one fell swoop, letting an Intelligence-based gish use all of his feats to improve spellcasting while matching the fighter's entire chain of combat feats with a single level 2 spell. If all else fails, everyone can appreciate Improved Initiative!