Unpopular opinions go here

[deganawida]

Magic-users are far more interesting in both RPGs and stories when they don’t have “pew pew die” spells. Not only are they more mysterious, but when they’re limited to non-damaging and utilitarian magic, they engage in more creative problem solving.

 

[cavalier973]

Magic-users are far more interesting in both RPGs and stories when they don’t have “pew pew die” spells. Not only are they more mysterious, but when they’re limited to non-damaging and utilitarian magic, they engage in more creative problem solving.

A couple of examples from the podcast “3d6, Down the Line” (their Dolmenwood campaign):
1. They needed to talk to a group of knights, who were dining in a fancy inn, but the hotel staff would not let them enter. The mage cast “ventriloquism” to make one of the knight’s dinners speak. The knights invited them over to talk.
2. They came across a band of crookhorns (tall goat-men), who had taken some moss dwarves as prisoners. One of the crookhorns was singing a song. The mage (or the cleric) cast “silence” on the singer, and the other crookhorns immediately began to try to figure out what happened. The band was able to sneak the prisoners free while the crookhorns were distracted.

 

[soviet]

I think it doesn't help that spellcasting is so reliable. Think about how many people were disappointed by the ranger's autosuccess in certain conditions power - actually, if I'm playing a ranger, I want more mechanical interaction with wilderness survival, not less. Wizards should be wrestling with unknowable forces at great personal peril to cast their spells, not just clicking Ctrl-Alt-Delete and executing a macro.

 

[cavalier973]

“Raising Arizona” is funnier than “Caddyshack”.

 

[cavalier973]

“Flight of the Navigator” is more entertaining than “E.T.”

Edit: If Paul Reubens had been the voice for E.T., the movie would have been a lot better.

 

[cavalier973]

“Mystara” is a better campaign setting than “Forgotten Realms”

 

[deganawida]

“Flight of the Navigator” is more entertaining than “E.T.”

Edit: If Paul Reubens had been the voice for E.T., the movie would have been a lot better.

YOU are the navigaTOR!

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

See: WHFRP dwarves

They're just hung over.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

I think it doesn't help that spellcasting is so reliable. Think about how many people were disappointed by the ranger's autosuccess in certain conditions power - actually, if I'm playing a ranger, I want more mechanical interaction with wilderness survival, not less. Wizards should be wrestling with unknowable forces at great personal peril to cast their spells, not just clicking Ctrl-Alt-Delete and executing a macro.

Shadowdark has really convinced me that spellcasting checks are better all around than Vancian magic. Less bookkeeping while still preventing spellcasters from casting unlimited spells. And it makes the most powerful spells ones that casters have to really weigh using, since they have the biggest chance of failure.

 

[Nikosandros]

Shadowdark has really convinced me that spellcasting checks are better all around than Vancian magic. Less bookkeeping while still preventing spellcasters from casting unlimited spells. And it makes the most powerful spells ones that casters have to really weigh using, since they have the biggest chance of failure.

I'll never give up Vancian magic for AD&D or 5e (I guess that it is pseudo-Vancian for 5e), but spellcasting checks are indeed a very cool mechanic. I enjoy them in Shadowdark and in the brief games of DCC that I've played.