(Psi)SeveredHead
Adventurer
Shard O'Glase said:I was just reminded by a post about the persistent being +6 spell levels now and that reminded me of the general trend to low duration spells in 3.5. Now that it has been in play for a while, my opinion is the same as is was back when it first came out. Most of the duration changes suck. For exmaple the buff spells are almost never cast, they are there purely to enchaant items now in my games. Oher 3.5 changes though did not get always get a negative review.
I disagree. I like a lot of the duration for buff spell changes - and my current DnD character just reached 10th-level (wizard!). Greater invisibility and fly were begging for duration nerfs. The stat-boost spells would need to be higher level to last all day and still be balanced. And there are some decent long-lasting buffs, like false life, which wasn't in the 3.0 core rules. Also, there's moment of prescience for me to look forward too

Though the class changes to the monk and ranger are positive(monk needs more work though).
Yes, but the monk was broken to begin with.
I like animate dead being 4th level for arcane casters.
I'd rather see it as a first level spell with a duration, as well as the current incarnation.
Prestige classes seem beter designed overall.
I agree when it comes to the ones in the DMG.
Some weak feats got some needed boosts.
And there were a few backslides, but I'd say overall it's a positive change.
Some feat exploits were removed, to some extent I lie this in other ways I don't. The whirlwind attack, great cleave exploit for exmaple sure its fixed now, but um I think getting a cleave off it is legitimate in many cases. Using it against a bucket of slugs ins't legitimate though. I'd rather of gotton a warning and tell the DM's not to let there players abuse this.
Some DMs are spineless. The trick still works, but is harder to pull off. WotC should not have let Great Cleave apply an infinite number of times. Capping it at BAB would have solved a lot of problems.
Reducing the effect of save or die spells I like the concept but maybe not the delivery. Hold person works for me as a fix, maybe not perfect but its ok. Sleep the static HD and the 1 round duration make it a sucky spell IMO. I never really had a problem with the wizard having acouple times a day big boom at low levels. I guess now its color spray.
Well, I always thought sleep sucked anyway due to the HD cap, so I've never cast it in 3.0 or 3.5. If there's a nerf, I really wouldn't notice it.
And the situation hasn't been fixed. Enervation and waves of fatigue don't give saves, and Mord's disjunction can still strip off all your buff spells without even using an opposed check. Busted!
eschew materials being a general feat is a good choice.[/quoite]
I like. I think Natural Spell is overpowered, however.
Improved crit and keen not stacking a bad choice.
No, I liked this one. IME it was begging to be added to the rules.
I have to say I hate the size-boosting spells in 3.5. Except for animal growth, which for some reason adds extra DR, I just find I can't stand them. We're house-ruling righteous might back to the 3.0 version, for instance. (We appreciated the divine favor nerf, however - the campaign isn't all about clerics.)
I also hate the new Power Attack. Apparently it's balanced if you look at the math, but IME it's what it does in the game that's important.