4E encounter spells for AD&D

[Nikosandros]

You can do this within the 1e system; just give him a wand. Something like a wand of magic missiles would work well. Other players could also receive a minor magic item to balance things out.

House rules tip: Don't keep track of charges, the DM's much too busy doing important DM-like things (such as drinking the beer that's so important to his concentration, or laughing cruelly at the players' latest mistake) to do math.

Instead, with wands, make the player roll a d% each time he uses it. If he rolls 00, it's out of charges and crumbles to dust.

You can adapt this technique to any charged item, which reduces the associated record-keeping.

I agree about the wand of magic missiles, but I really dislike the idea of the random roll. The players usually keep track of the charges and re-charging magical items leads often no nice side adventures.

 

[Irda Ranger]

Instead, with wands, make the player roll a d% each time he uses it. If he rolls 00, it's out of charges and crumbles to dust.

You can adapt this technique to any charged item, which reduces the associated record-keeping.

yoink Seriously, that's awesome.

One of my players has expressed an interest in allowing the magic user to have some spells be 'encounter' or 'at will' per 4E rather than the 'fire and forget' traditional system. I'm curious if anyone has experimented with this at all?

I think there are several good suggestions up-thread on how to balance this. To my mind though I think this takes the magic out of magic. It just doesn't feel different enough from melee attacks if you can do it at will, with a predictable chance of success for low, predictable damage. That's how longswords work.

The idea I'm considering (if MUs want something to do) is to make them better at melee (like Gandalf with Glamdring). Not too good of course, just not a second left foot. I like Philoptomy Jurement's suggestions too.

You could also combine your original idea (a self-crafted wand) with Papers & Paychecks idea, and have different qualities of wands. Maybe the one he made himself is kind of crappy and disintegrates on a 96% or higher.

 

[rkwoodard]

trade ya

The players usually keep track of the charges and re-charging magical items leads often no nice side adventures.

I will trade you 2 of my players for one of yours. My players are great and I have been friends with them for over 20 years, but they barely keep track of the fact they have wands, much less the charges.

RK

 

[Treebore]

Give them something akin to arcane blast first. Make damage scale with level. To me, even when I played 1e or older editions, it was ridiculous to have a magic user that would resort to a crossbow. If they are going to use one anyways, make it a neat in game effect that is 'magical'.

That is an excellent point. I'll have to remember this line of thought.

 

[FATDRAGONGAMES]

Thanks for the great input all, I really appreciate it!

 

[Mustrum_Ridcully]

The idea I'm considering (if MUs want something to do) is to make them better at melee (like Gandalf with Glamdring). Not too good of course, just not a second left foot. I like Philoptomy Jurement's suggestions too.

I like this idea too. Uselessness is bad. But I don't neccessarily need to be able to constantly fire spells. Though it's nice if I do.

 

[Brother MacLaren]

I think there are several good suggestions up-thread on how to balance this. To my mind though I think this takes the magic out of magic. It just doesn't feel different enough from melee attacks if you can do it at will, with a predictable chance of success for low, predictable damage. That's how longswords work.

I agree. The idea in 1E is that magic options are more effective than mundane ones, but limited in their use. Still, if you want to have low-level MUs be able to use magic more frequently (not necessary in my mind, but some players would want that), there are ways to do it without making magic feel just like swinging a sword. Maybe MM still always hits, and you can try to re-cast "forgotten" spells, but in doing so you roll the percentile dice. There might be risks to the caster (lose some HP or XP, lose the ability to cast that spell until it is re-learned, some kind of Sanity check), or risks of spell misfire (targeting ally, healing enemy, causing wild surge).

The idea I'm considering (if MUs want something to do) is to make them better at melee (like Gandalf with Glamdring). Not too good of course, just not a second left foot. I like Philoptomy Jurement's suggestions too.

Great idea. Nothing wrong with wizards using swords -- besides Gandalf, Thulsa Doom springs to mind. The thief's attack table, weapon selection, and HD wouldn't be unbalancing.

Here's another idea. Give the MU more to do by enhancing his role as Knower of Stuff (like wizards of myth), not just Artillery Platform. Adapt the archivist's Dark Knowledge ability (Heroes of Horror). Add an enhanced Aid Another ability, where the MU can use his action to observe and advise, allowing him to bestow on an ally a +X bonus to an attack, AC vs a single attack, or a single save that round (or one of the latter two on himself). Give the MU the ability to bypass some degree of "+X to hit" defenses due to his knowledge of creatures' weaknesses. This last ability would be most useful at low levels, when the MU does not have a magic weapon. And at those levels, his attack rolls aren't much worse than the fighter's, and he has few enough spells that a physical attack isn't a bad option. Plus, it's useful against golems.