I don't think attack cantrip vs dagger or crossbow is necessarily an either/or thing, myself. I like having both options.
certainly not trolling, as it was sincere. Edition warring, well...no, but I am glad you asked. I am expressing a real hate of certain directions in what is called D&D, yes, and the worst of it comes up in the tactical minis game we call 4E. But I don't hate that game unto itself, nor its graphic design, art, or useful RPG products in its line.For some playstyles, this is true. In others, wands are rarely found. In still others- and in 4e- a wand's main purpose is to give a wizard +1 to hit and damage.
So, while it's fine for you to apply this approach to your game, why should everyone else have to adopt your playstyle?
Are you trolling here? This is very much an edition-war callout. FYI edition warring is highly frowned upon on ENWorld.
I have to say that I'm shocked at the amount of love for crossbows in this tread.
certainly not trolling, as it was sincere. Edition warring, well...no, but I am glad you asked. I am expressing a real hate of certain directions in what is called D&D, yes, and the worst of it comes up in the tactical minis game we call 4E. But I don't hate that game unto itself, nor its graphic design, art, or useful RPG products in its line.
What I get that some people are saying is, they want a 1st level mage to be able to kill a common man (or zap within a hp of his life), once per round. They want the Zap, and they want it now.
Ok. But now we've completely lost the classic m-u. They don't exist in 5E. I think that sucks. I certainly don't feel a need to impose that class on any of you, but, my being a fan(and currently playing and DMing) of the original editions makes my m-u the common denominator.
To which, by the way, I give bonus spells, and a pile of Gygax UA cantrips to, so even I am adding stuff to the base, but in 5E, they don't even touch it.
What at-will "power" does a fighter have that is comparable? The sword? The bow? None of those are magic! "Attack cantrip" is an oxymoron! And here we have a thread complaining there aren't enough of them?
Heh. I will see you all (figuratively) at the convention regardless. But picture this: your wizard, who is also the party's mapper, has successfully co-led the group through three levels of dungeon dread, with nothing but a spell or two, his wits, and a ten foot pole. And there in the depths, he finds a wand of magic missiles, with 99 charges, which bumps him up to 2nd level. In the distance, an alarm sounds...
With attack cantrips, we are front-loading some of the mage's power, which dilutes magic in the whole game by essentially flooding it with its currency. The mage is more secure at low level, but the thrill of survival of the classic mage is gone, which I find regrettable, especially because we can arrive at the players' desired power level within the classic rules, but we can't go the other way with the new ones.
What at-will "power" does a fighter have that is comparable?
What I get that some people are saying is, they want a 1st level mage to be able to kill a common man (or zap within a hp of his life), once per round. They want the Zap, and they want it now.
What at-will "power" does a fighter have that is comparable? The sword? The bow? None of those are magic!
"Attack cantrip" is an oxymoron!
Heh. I will see you all (figuratively) at the convention regardless. But picture this: your wizard, who is also the party's mapper, has successfully co-led the group through three levels of dungeon dread, with nothing but a spell or two, his wits, and a ten foot pole. And there in the depths, he finds a wand of magic missiles, with 99 charges, which bumps him up to 2nd level. In the distance, an alarm sounds...
With attack cantrips, we are front-loading some of the mage's power, which dilutes magic in the whole game by essentially flooding it with its currency. The mage is more secure at low level, but the thrill of survival of the classic mage is gone, which I find regrettable, especially because we can arrive at the players' desired power level within the classic rules, but we can't go the other way with the new ones.