One for One Exchange

[roguerouge]

My DM in another campaign allows spells from the Spell Compendium with an interesting twist: for every spell that you get from that source, you have to eliminate a spell that you can cast from the PhB. What do you think of that as a house rule? As I'm playing a non-caster, I like it as a compromise that allows variety but prevents power-creep for casters.

 

[Jack Simth]

Well, other than the Divine casters that get their entire spell list automatically, that actually doesn't significantly impact a caster.

Further, there's a lot of spells at all levels in the PHB that are ones you're not going to be using anyway (especially in a balanced party), as they're usually a waste of an action - Hold Portal, Ventriliquism, and Jump come to mind at 1st; Obscure Object and Flaming Sphere at 2nd, and so on.

Also, it doesn't actually prevent power creep - you still get the combinatorial explosion (that is, with more options, you can more reliably do a selected thing) - and as not all spells of the same level are equal, your players will generally end up trading out the less-useful spells for the more useful spells.

 

[Nifft]

I like it, but not because it prevents power-creep (which it doesn't actually do).
I like it because it allows me as a DM to see specifically what I'm going to have to deal with.
I also like it because it allows / forces a PC to have a unique spell list, which defines his theme as a caster.

How does your DM deal with specialist Wizards? Do they get to replace the spells from their barred schools? Do they get all the spells in their specialty school in compensation?

Cheers, -- N

 

[roguerouge]

Only the spells you CAN cast, which means if it's a barred school, you can't swap out those spells for spells from a school that you can cast. For the divine casters, ordinarily every spell allowed from splat books increases their power with no cost. Here, the more spells you swap out forever, the greater the opportunity cost. Eventually, you reach a point of saying, well, is this really worth getting rid of Comprehend Languages for? Moreover, since they're no longer on your spell list, you can't just say, "Well, I'll use a scroll or a wand. No problem." You have to have kickin' ranks in UMD to use those spells you dropped.

 

[Jack Simth]

. Eventually, you reach a point of saying, well, is this really worth getting rid of Comprehend Languages for?

Eventually, yes... but generally, you're only going to be after a handful of choice spells at any given spell level - and in Core, there's usually at least two or three spells so situational as to be essentially useless.

Also - if you collaborate with any other casters in the party, you can arrange so that, even if YOU don't have the highly situational spell, at least one of the other casters does (e.g., Comprehend Languages is on both the Cleric List and the Sor/Wiz list; one can safely dump it provided the other doesn't).

 

[Piratecat]

I've been doing this for years, and I really like it. One of the biggest advantages is that it minimizes analysis-paralysis and decision paralysis at the gaming table. When a player can prep every spell in four different splat books, spell preparation can take forever. Making them make some hard choices ahead of time works very nicely.

 

[Jack Simth]

I've been doing this for years, and I really like it. One of the biggest advantages is that it minimizes analysis-paralysis and decision paralysis at the gaming table. When a player can prep every spell in four different splat books, spell preparation can take forever. Making them make some hard choices ahead of time works very nicely.

... only for the ones crazy enough to make a completely new spell list every day.

The less crazy ones sit down and work out several spell lists in advance for different basic morning plans (e.g., Town, Travel, Dungeon, et cetera) at each level, and maybe swap out one or two of the spells if the situation warrents (e.g., the upcoming underwater dungeon requires a few castings of Endure Elements and Water Breathing, so we remove a Silence, Shatter, Sound Burst, and three copies of Divine Favor to make room).

 

[skelso]

My DM in another campaign allows spells from the Spell Compendium with an interesting twist: for every spell that you get from that source, you have to eliminate a spell that you can cast from the PhB.

*yoink*


Seriously, I'm adding this to my house-rule document right now.