OMG Fireball, Noooooooooooo!

[Szatany]

To be honest, I think saving throws need a huge revisions as well. Too many rolls. Especially bogus when you're a spellcaster and have to overcome DR, make a to hit roll, and then hope the poor smuk fails a saving throw on top of it.

Aye, SR should be simply a bonus to saves against all things magical.

 

[meleeguy]

Wait a minute...

are we certain we still have hit points???

 

[Glyfair]

Aye, SR should be simply a bonus to saves against all things magical.

Very useful against those spells with no saves.

 

[RPG_Tweaker]

Game breaking spells should not die. They should be modified so that they can be managed by the DM. Make them difficult to cast, make the wizard pay a price to use them, make them dangerous (magic is supposed to be dangerous, yet, in D&D it never goes "poof") but do not remove them. It would be a huge loss.

Agreed. Plot-altering magic should come with serious limitations e.g. temporary CON loss, pacts with outsiders, long/costly rituals, etc.

I really don't like the "everything scales at the same rate" feel of games like C&C, where a 1st level character fighting a 1st level monster, saving against a 1st level spell, or trying to disarm a 1st level trap has the same chances of success as a 5th level character fighting a 5th level monster, saving against a 5th level spell, or trying to disarm a 5th level trap, who has the same chances as a 9th level character fighting a 9th level monster, saving against a 9th level spell, or trying to disarm a 9th level trap does (and so on). It makes the game boring, predictable, and samey and at least somewhat defeats the purpose of having levels at all.

By making the default encounter 'scaled,' the DM's job is a whole lot easier during adventure crafting. This method gives the DM a solid baseline for setting challenges up/down/even.

And ultimately, the real reason to rework the whole game for simplicity is so the beleaguered DM can avoid collegiate level homework and airtraffic controller level gameplay.

 

[Szatany]

I really don't like the "everything scales at the same rate" feel of games like C&C,

Not everything mind you. Wish isn't a 1st level spell that improves every level until it reaches it's peak at 30th level. It becomes available at level 28 (just a guess). That's improvement and a reason higher level games differ from low level ones by things other than increased numbers.

 

[Ry]

are we certain we still have hit points???

If they went that far with killing the sacred cows...

Cards instead of dice...
Core mechanics that scale in time and level of conflict...
Stake-setting...

it's so beautiful in my mind.

 

[Szatany]

Very useful against those spells with no saves.

redesign them

 

[Treebore]

It would be interesting to know whether they have decided to do something about healing spells too - why does a CLW bring a 1st level character up to full health, but barely restores some scratches on the poor 10th level hero!

I wonder whether they might do something to harmonise the 'wounds' and the 'healing' (if it is even possible to do that in the land of hit points).

I'm just thinking that if fireballs are not doing xd6 damage but maybe use some other mechanism... perhaps healing might too.

Its simple, have a cure spell for every level. If you cast a 3rd level spell it heals a third level character up to max. For a PC higher than 3rd level it only heals 36 HP's (the max HP's of the Barbarian without a Con Bonus). You can even say that whoever is healed gets their CON bonus per level added.

 

[IanB]

Wizards have already been described as "psions with the serial numbers filed off" in one place, so it could very well just mean that the X in Xd6 is 'however much of your per-encounter-magic-resource' you spend on the fireball rather than just a flat amount depending on your level.

 

[Charwoman Gene]

Wizards have already been described as "psions with the serial numbers filed off" in one place,

No they haven't.
Here is the source of that rumor.

Bruce Cordell played a Psion in a particular 3.5e game under Dave Noonan. They converted to 4th Ed. The particular rules they used had no psion, so to get the idea of "Magical Cool Stuff Guy", bruce made him a Wizard, but the "fluff" is interpreted INGAME as psionic.