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<blockquote data-quote="Alzrius" data-source="post: 9271111" data-attributes="member: 8461">Sure, I just think that it's better (from a design standpoint) to build the system so that buffs are either A) not presumed, or B) presumed to operate as magic items that PCs can build/acquire for themselves. The latter being how the d20 System was built. Tweaking things so that magic items are sub-optimal, and the rules presume that buff spells (which will be optimal) will be used, doesn't strike me as the best way to go.I say that because in addition to putting (even more of an) expectation on the spellcaster(s) in the party, it also means that things become harder for the entire party if their spellcaster decides to buck the trend, with encounters becoming that much more difficult than was assumed. Now, that's already the case for the presumptions built into magic item usage (as noted above), but at least in that instance things don't go to pot for everyone in the party because one player decided that he was fed up with being the buff-bot, and wanted to throw fireballs or cast summon monster spells.One of the major complaints leveled against 3.X is that it's &quot;caster edition.&quot; Making it so buff spells from casters are baked into the game's engine plays into that even more.EDIT: Also, would you mind citing where Pathfinder 1E builds the expectation of buffs into its encounter design rules? I'm coming up blank on my searches so far.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Alzrius, post: 9271111, member: 8461"] Sure, I just think that it's better (from a design standpoint) to build the system so that buffs are either A) not presumed, or B) presumed to operate as magic items that PCs can build/acquire for themselves. The latter being how the d20 System was built. Tweaking things so that magic items are sub-optimal, and the rules presume that buff spells (which [I]will [/I]be optimal) will be used, doesn't strike me as the best way to go. I say that because in addition to putting (even more of an) expectation on the spellcaster(s) in the party, it also means that things become harder for the entire party if their spellcaster decides to buck the trend, with encounters becoming that much more difficult than was assumed. Now, that's already the case for the presumptions built into magic item usage (as noted above), but at least in that instance things don't go to pot for everyone in the party because one player decided that he was fed up with being the buff-bot, and wanted to throw [I]fireballs[/I] or cast [I]summon monster[/I] spells. One of the major complaints leveled against 3.X is that it's "caster edition." Making it so buff spells from casters are baked into the game's engine plays into that even more. EDIT: Also, would you mind citing where Pathfinder 1E builds the expectation of buffs into its encounter design rules? I'm coming up blank on my searches so far. [/QUOTE]

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