Crazy Jerome
First Post
Huh. And druids and clerics aren't the same thing at all. (I also find 3.X a better game when the most powerful caster is the Bard).
Yep. You can solve a good chunk of 3E caster problems, or at least put them off into much higher levels, by requiring all "full caster" classes to multiclass into a non-caster every third level. Or rather, about every third level. You might want to put it off until around level five, and then tweak to taste as you go, as it's easy at particular points to go too far the other way. But on average, if you turn all the full casters into about two-thirds casters by around level 15, you'll still be in the ballpark of a functioning campaign. Most of the problems with this tactic will be because of the funky nature of 3E caster level with spell DCs--a problem that I expect Next to neatly nullify in its basic structures.
When "tone the power" down is such an obvious first step, and works even in the ruleset with the most caster issues, then it becomes fairly clear that any solution that doesn't tone the power down has got a lot more ground to cover by way of compensation. Not saying that it can't be done some other way, but the solutions for "full powered casters" in 3E terms and "toned down casters" otherwise are necessarily callibrated differently.
I did rather like the local solution our group adopted in high school, put rather bluntly by the halfing rogue to the wizard late in one particular adventure:
Rogue: Hey Wizard, you get the torch and go down the hall to see if you set off any traps.
Wizard: Why me? I've got the fewest hit points!
Rogue: You are also nearly out of spells, and have a low Str. So you can't carry much treasure out. Until we get out, you are basically a glorified link boy that we don't even need to pay.
Wizard: So I'm expendable?
Rogue: Right.
After that, the wizards always held back a few spells for some reason ...