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A question about Pathfinder's casters.
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<blockquote data-quote="Hexmage-EN" data-source="post: 4799868" data-attributes="member: 79428"><p>Basically, the Pathfinder crew's view is that Vancian magic is one of the most important features of Dungeons and Dragons. I can't find a quote, but I seem to recall reading James Jacobs' comments on alternative spellcasting systems in 3.5 as being "interesting, but not D&D".</p><p></p><p>Personally, I find it strange that despite the importance of Vancian casting to the Pathfinder developers they have decided to grant more at-will magical abilities. I don't quite understand why Fourth Edition's at-will/encounter/daily treatment of spells isn't Vancian and Pathfinder's at-will/x per day/daily treatment is. Maybe it's because Pathinder's at-will abilities aren't named for existing spells (even if they are similar, such as the spell <em>Mage Hand</em> and the at-will <em>Hand of the Apprentice</em> Universal school power) and Fourth Edition's are (such as the at-will <em>Mage Hand</em> power not being named something different and alternatively castable as as a daily spell)? Maybe it's okay to have at-will magical abilities as long as you don't call them spells? Does that mean that Fourth Edition's casting would have been Vancian had at-will and encounter powers been called "spell-like abilities" instead of spells?</p><p></p><p>I'm a newcomer to RPGs in general (started playing in 2005), and while I acknowledge the history of Vancian magic in D&D I find it odd that the game uses one particular system of magic based on one particular author's writings, especially since from what I gather the Dying Earth series' setting is quite different from your standard fantasy setting. </p><p></p><p>I know when I first learned about Third Edition D&D's system of casting I found it odd, although I've grown to like the idea of preparing spells in advance and triggering them later by performing the last bit of the spell. I also don't feel that having Encounter spells invalidates this system of magic; it just means that less potent spells don't take nearly as long to prepare as more powerful ones.</p><p></p><p> I've since learned that pre-3E's magic system consisted of spellcasters learning spells, "firing and forgetting", and re-learning the same spell everyday. I had never previously heard of magic working in such a way in fantasy media, and even now the idea of it is alien to how I had always imagined magic to function.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Hexmage-EN, post: 4799868, member: 79428"] Basically, the Pathfinder crew's view is that Vancian magic is one of the most important features of Dungeons and Dragons. I can't find a quote, but I seem to recall reading James Jacobs' comments on alternative spellcasting systems in 3.5 as being "interesting, but not D&D". Personally, I find it strange that despite the importance of Vancian casting to the Pathfinder developers they have decided to grant more at-will magical abilities. I don't quite understand why Fourth Edition's at-will/encounter/daily treatment of spells isn't Vancian and Pathfinder's at-will/x per day/daily treatment is. Maybe it's because Pathinder's at-will abilities aren't named for existing spells (even if they are similar, such as the spell [I]Mage Hand[/I] and the at-will [I]Hand of the Apprentice[/I] Universal school power) and Fourth Edition's are (such as the at-will [I]Mage Hand[/I] power not being named something different and alternatively castable as as a daily spell)? Maybe it's okay to have at-will magical abilities as long as you don't call them spells? Does that mean that Fourth Edition's casting would have been Vancian had at-will and encounter powers been called "spell-like abilities" instead of spells? I'm a newcomer to RPGs in general (started playing in 2005), and while I acknowledge the history of Vancian magic in D&D I find it odd that the game uses one particular system of magic based on one particular author's writings, especially since from what I gather the Dying Earth series' setting is quite different from your standard fantasy setting. I know when I first learned about Third Edition D&D's system of casting I found it odd, although I've grown to like the idea of preparing spells in advance and triggering them later by performing the last bit of the spell. I also don't feel that having Encounter spells invalidates this system of magic; it just means that less potent spells don't take nearly as long to prepare as more powerful ones. I've since learned that pre-3E's magic system consisted of spellcasters learning spells, "firing and forgetting", and re-learning the same spell everyday. I had never previously heard of magic working in such a way in fantasy media, and even now the idea of it is alien to how I had always imagined magic to function. [/QUOTE]
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A question about Pathfinder's casters.
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