loseth
First Post
[Multi-forum post: RPG.net and ENWorld]
Rewind. It's 2004 and Wizards decide they are going to do a 4e. After a big, super-secret board meeting, they decide that they are going to aim at making 4e 95% or more compatible with 3.5e. In essence, 4e will be a revised, streamlined 3.5e. They've hired you as a freelancer to deal with spell durations. You have to make changes to any spell descriptions necessary in order to re-work them with a focus on simplifying the tracking of durations during combat. Here are the rules WOTC gives you:
1) Whatever changes you make MUST not invalidate existing 3.5e stat-blocks or chagne the effects of spells in such a way that they would confuse an experienced 3.5e DM.
2) The only spell durations you are allowed to use are:
i) instantaneous
ii) until caster's next turn
iii) encounter
iv) 1 day
v) x minutes, hours or days (per level if desired) OUTSIDE OF COMBAT
vi) permanent
3) You are allowed to rebalance spells SLIGHTLY by, for example, adjusting their damage. For example a spell that in 3.5 did 1d6 dmg per round and had a duration of 1 round +1 per caster level might be changed to 1d6+1 dmg per caster level with a duration of instantaneous. However, such re-balancing must be as minimal as possible.
4) WOTC will pay you $200,000 for the finished job (you know how well this biz pays!), so don't make them mad by straying from the guidelines or throwing a hissy fit because you think 'it's not D&D if it doesn't have level-based durations!'
So, how do you do it? What sort of balancing principles would you go for in changing x rounds/level spells into 1-round or 1-encounter spells?
Rewind. It's 2004 and Wizards decide they are going to do a 4e. After a big, super-secret board meeting, they decide that they are going to aim at making 4e 95% or more compatible with 3.5e. In essence, 4e will be a revised, streamlined 3.5e. They've hired you as a freelancer to deal with spell durations. You have to make changes to any spell descriptions necessary in order to re-work them with a focus on simplifying the tracking of durations during combat. Here are the rules WOTC gives you:
1) Whatever changes you make MUST not invalidate existing 3.5e stat-blocks or chagne the effects of spells in such a way that they would confuse an experienced 3.5e DM.
2) The only spell durations you are allowed to use are:
i) instantaneous
ii) until caster's next turn
iii) encounter
iv) 1 day
v) x minutes, hours or days (per level if desired) OUTSIDE OF COMBAT
vi) permanent
3) You are allowed to rebalance spells SLIGHTLY by, for example, adjusting their damage. For example a spell that in 3.5 did 1d6 dmg per round and had a duration of 1 round +1 per caster level might be changed to 1d6+1 dmg per caster level with a duration of instantaneous. However, such re-balancing must be as minimal as possible.
4) WOTC will pay you $200,000 for the finished job (you know how well this biz pays!), so don't make them mad by straying from the guidelines or throwing a hissy fit because you think 'it's not D&D if it doesn't have level-based durations!'
So, how do you do it? What sort of balancing principles would you go for in changing x rounds/level spells into 1-round or 1-encounter spells?
