Fanaelialae
Legend
Mages had very powerful spells in 1e, such as uncapped fireballs that would scale to 20d6 at level 20. Later editions diminished this power somewhat (fireball was capped at 10d6 in 2e).
Would you be be willing to accept all, or at least most, of the 1e drawbacks in exchange for a powerful 1e style arcane magic system?
These drawbacks include:
-At low levels, the wizard progressed very slowly due to high xp requirements. Until 2,501 xp, the wizard was stuck with the worst AC, 1-4 hp, and a single spell per day. As such, it took quite a while for a wizard to come in to his own.
-Wizard saving throws, most notably against death magic, sucked.
-Their "Thac0" was only 13 at level 20. (Their ability to hit sucked.)
-Any damage would automatically result in a wasted spell. Since actions were declared before initiative was rolled, and initiative was rolled every round, you never knew how many attacks you might take before finishing your spell.
-Wizards had a measly average of 34.5 hp at level 20. Note that this means he could be killed by an average 20d6 fireball, regardless of whether he makes the saving throw or not. He can kill himself quite easily.
-They had quite severe limits on the number of spells they could learn (from 6 to 18 spells, barring a 19 Int), and had only a percentage chance that they could ever learn a given spell (from 35% to 85%, barring a 19 Int). Since stats were rolled in those days, it wasn't unusual to see a 16 Int Wizard (can only learn 11 spells per spell level, and only has a 65% chance to learn that given spell, and can never cast 9th level spells). If you failed your check to learn the spell, you could never learn that spell (barring not meeting you minimum number of spells limit). Envision yourself as a fire mage but rolled a 89 for fireball? Sucks to be you; you'll never be able to cast fireball.
-They couldn't wear armor at all.
-They couldn't circumvent vocal, somatic, or material component requirements by any means (no Still Spell, etc.).
-Many spells had significant drawbacks. Some had expensive material components (5,000 gp to cast shapechange), while other spells had serious drawbacks, such as polymorph other requiring a system shock roll just to survive it and another roll for the mind to remain intact (useful against enemies, but potentially disasterous if cast upon a party member).
-Magic resistance was a percentage, unlike 3e. It did scale, however, + or - 5% for each level the caster was below or above 11th level. And let's not forget that you were completely boned in an anti-magic field.
-Magic item tables favored other classes. Wizards were less likely to find magical gear suited for them than a fighter was.
Would you be be willing to accept all, or at least most, of the 1e drawbacks in exchange for a powerful 1e style arcane magic system?
These drawbacks include:
-At low levels, the wizard progressed very slowly due to high xp requirements. Until 2,501 xp, the wizard was stuck with the worst AC, 1-4 hp, and a single spell per day. As such, it took quite a while for a wizard to come in to his own.
-Wizard saving throws, most notably against death magic, sucked.
-Their "Thac0" was only 13 at level 20. (Their ability to hit sucked.)
-Any damage would automatically result in a wasted spell. Since actions were declared before initiative was rolled, and initiative was rolled every round, you never knew how many attacks you might take before finishing your spell.
-Wizards had a measly average of 34.5 hp at level 20. Note that this means he could be killed by an average 20d6 fireball, regardless of whether he makes the saving throw or not. He can kill himself quite easily.
-They had quite severe limits on the number of spells they could learn (from 6 to 18 spells, barring a 19 Int), and had only a percentage chance that they could ever learn a given spell (from 35% to 85%, barring a 19 Int). Since stats were rolled in those days, it wasn't unusual to see a 16 Int Wizard (can only learn 11 spells per spell level, and only has a 65% chance to learn that given spell, and can never cast 9th level spells). If you failed your check to learn the spell, you could never learn that spell (barring not meeting you minimum number of spells limit). Envision yourself as a fire mage but rolled a 89 for fireball? Sucks to be you; you'll never be able to cast fireball.
-They couldn't wear armor at all.
-They couldn't circumvent vocal, somatic, or material component requirements by any means (no Still Spell, etc.).
-Many spells had significant drawbacks. Some had expensive material components (5,000 gp to cast shapechange), while other spells had serious drawbacks, such as polymorph other requiring a system shock roll just to survive it and another roll for the mind to remain intact (useful against enemies, but potentially disasterous if cast upon a party member).
-Magic resistance was a percentage, unlike 3e. It did scale, however, + or - 5% for each level the caster was below or above 11th level. And let's not forget that you were completely boned in an anti-magic field.
-Magic item tables favored other classes. Wizards were less likely to find magical gear suited for them than a fighter was.
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