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<blockquote data-quote="DreamChaser" data-source="post: 3748185" data-attributes="member: 1190">A very important thing to keep in mind is that any die roll is a potential penalty. The reason Save DCs are so rigidly fixed in 3.5 is that between 3.0 and 3.5 they realized they had given too many ways for casters to increase the DC of their spells and this causes problems for the defenders who possess an element of randomness that can easily ruin the day for them. Additionally, because each defender rolls individually, there is less of a chance of everyone saving.If saves are flipped to defenses, the randomness moves from the defender to the attacker. This movement means that a bad role on a fireball = everyone taking half damage (a 1st level fighter or cleric would still have at least 10, barring a really sucky dexterity). Thus, a +X bonus to the spell attack makes sense. This allows the casters to keep some control over the efficacy of their powers while still streamlining the game to reduce the number of rolls.(I tend to agree with the idea that the wands +X should not apply universally but should be thematically linked, much like a longsword +X gives a fighter a bonus to all attacks with the longsword but not with the longbow. Perhaps a Wand of Rays +2 would affect rays (and ranged touches in general, all of which are really rays), a Wand of Bursts +3 would affect bursts (like fireball) , a Wand of Strikes +1 would benefit melee touch attacks, etc.)DCps. note that I am well aware the the terminology I used is based upon 3e and may become moot in 4e. Fireball may not have a &quot;half damage&quot; factor. (we have heard mention that fireball will no longer deal 1d6 damager per level so that sacred cow is off to the meat market, who knows what else has died with it).</blockquote>

[QUOTE="DreamChaser, post: 3748185, member: 1190"] A very important thing to keep in mind is that any die roll is a potential penalty. The reason Save DCs are so rigidly fixed in 3.5 is that between 3.0 and 3.5 they realized they had given too many ways for casters to increase the DC of their spells and this causes problems for the defenders who possess an element of randomness that can easily ruin the day for them. Additionally, because each defender rolls individually, there is less of a chance of everyone saving. If saves are flipped to defenses, the randomness moves from the defender to the attacker. This movement means that a bad role on a fireball = everyone taking half damage (a 1st level fighter or cleric would still have at least 10, barring a really sucky dexterity). Thus, a +X bonus to the spell attack makes sense. This allows the casters to keep some control over the efficacy of their powers while still streamlining the game to reduce the number of rolls. (I tend to agree with the idea that the wands +X should not apply universally but should be thematically linked, much like a longsword +X gives a fighter a bonus to all attacks with the longsword but not with the longbow. Perhaps a Wand of Rays +2 would affect rays (and ranged touches in general, all of which are really rays), a Wand of Bursts +3 would affect bursts (like fireball) , a Wand of Strikes +1 would benefit melee touch attacks, etc.) DC ps. note that I am well aware the the terminology I used is based upon 3e and may become moot in 4e. Fireball may not have a "half damage" factor. (we have heard mention that fireball will no longer deal 1d6 damager per level so that sacred cow is off to the meat market, who knows what else has died with it). [/QUOTE]

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