DM_Jeff
Explorer
If there is another thread on this topic, I could not find it, so kindly direct me if there is!
Counterspelling in my 2002 Kalamar campaign was great. I even had a player, a gnome, who specialized in it, and he DID save the party a ton of heartache and doom by zapping away the bad guy's enchanted smackdown. It was fun and added to the game.
Now it's 2007, and there are about 30 bajillion spells. The stock answer "don't allow them in your game" is just that, stock, and not helpful. I only allow pre-approved WotC spells. So each of my arcane and divine players have dabbled in Spell Compendium, Complete Arcane, Complete Mage, Miniatures Handbook and many others to supplement their spellcasting cababilities. And we LIKE it.
As a diligent DM who likes keeping players on their toes, when I get an SRD spellcaster from a 3rd party module whose tactics just beg for a unique spell I recalled from Dragon Magic (for example), I swap out one of their SRD spells for the new one. Sometimes I do this a few times.
It's come down to there's so many good, useful and balanced spells my group likes using, that counterspelling just isn't possible anmore because the chances you'll have that spell is getting wider and wider with every book.
So, I'm not complaining about the diversity of spells, my group and I love that. I'm complaining that this text from the SRD: "To complete the action, you must then cast the correct spell. As a general rule, a spell can only counter itself. If you are able to cast the same spell and you have it prepared (if you prepare spells), you cast it, altering it slightly to create a counterspell effect. If the target is within range, both spells automatically negate each other with no other results."
Is this just a sign of the times? My group enjoys counterspelling and finds it useful on occassion, just neigh impossible to pull off these days. Has anyone experiemnted with a way to open up the possibilities a little? Like "any same-level spell with the same descriptor can be used to counter another"?
Thanks for any insight or ideas!
-DM Jeff
Counterspelling in my 2002 Kalamar campaign was great. I even had a player, a gnome, who specialized in it, and he DID save the party a ton of heartache and doom by zapping away the bad guy's enchanted smackdown. It was fun and added to the game.
Now it's 2007, and there are about 30 bajillion spells. The stock answer "don't allow them in your game" is just that, stock, and not helpful. I only allow pre-approved WotC spells. So each of my arcane and divine players have dabbled in Spell Compendium, Complete Arcane, Complete Mage, Miniatures Handbook and many others to supplement their spellcasting cababilities. And we LIKE it.
As a diligent DM who likes keeping players on their toes, when I get an SRD spellcaster from a 3rd party module whose tactics just beg for a unique spell I recalled from Dragon Magic (for example), I swap out one of their SRD spells for the new one. Sometimes I do this a few times.
It's come down to there's so many good, useful and balanced spells my group likes using, that counterspelling just isn't possible anmore because the chances you'll have that spell is getting wider and wider with every book.
So, I'm not complaining about the diversity of spells, my group and I love that. I'm complaining that this text from the SRD: "To complete the action, you must then cast the correct spell. As a general rule, a spell can only counter itself. If you are able to cast the same spell and you have it prepared (if you prepare spells), you cast it, altering it slightly to create a counterspell effect. If the target is within range, both spells automatically negate each other with no other results."
Is this just a sign of the times? My group enjoys counterspelling and finds it useful on occassion, just neigh impossible to pull off these days. Has anyone experiemnted with a way to open up the possibilities a little? Like "any same-level spell with the same descriptor can be used to counter another"?
Thanks for any insight or ideas!
-DM Jeff
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