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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Man in the Funny Hat" data-source="post: 5158859" data-attributes="member: 32740">Well, regarding the players assertion that a spell cast by a 20th level caster is essentially the same as that from a 1st level caster, basing that on how saving throws work.  He's correct. The unstated assumption in 1E and 2E is that spells just work.  You cast them and their effects occur.  Unless you disrupt the casting itself the spell effects will happen.  You don't have spells where it successfully cast only if the caster makes a spellcraft roll or somesuch that is modified by his level.  Some aspects can be made to work better by a higher level caster but only the combat-oriented spells with damage effects seem to benefit in a particularly noticeable way from this.  Normally then everyone would be at the mercy of spellcaster - except these versions of D&D then have saving throws. Carried forward from their wargaming roots, a saving throw doesn't really affect the spell in and of itself.  What it does is give the individual character one last hope of not taking it in the shorts.  That chance is based on the skill, luck, divine favor, etc, of the person doing the avoiding, not on the skill, luck, divine favor of the person doing the inflicting.  A DEATH spell cast by a 20th level caster can't kill you any deader than a DEATH spell cast by a 1st level caster.  But a 20th level victim has a better chance of resisting or avoiding the spell than a 1st level victim does. The higher level caster then gets more spells, and spells of higher base power (with accompanying effects) to beat down or get around the potential victims ability to endure, mitigate, or avoid the effects of spells.</blockquote>

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