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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Piratecat" data-source="post: 3205254" data-attributes="member: 2">I think you defined the problem incorrectly. Magic doesn't stop my players from thinking critically and from problem solving. However, they often problem solve using magic, and that's fun for us. A good example is divination spells. a lot of people bemoan the fact that divinations make simple mysteries too easy. But create a mystery that has to be solved with clues from a divination, and which still requires critical thought once those clues are gathered, and you've got no 'crutch' whatsoever.An example: in my game, an anonymous rival to the PCs sent them a taunting letter. The PCs used divination to find the actual name of the person who wrote it, then crafted a popular bardic song completely humiliating the guy. The song became popular in taverns for hundreds of miles, and they congratulated themselves for some good revenge. So when the poor embarrassed scribe who actually wrote the letter for someone else showed up to complain, they realized that in order for a divination to work they had to ask the right question. . .There are lots of similar examples out there. Magic by definition breaks the "normal" rules of a universe, sometimes providing shortcuts or circumventing traditional challenges. It gives additional tools to the PCs. the fun is in crafting challenges that require those PCs to use their new magic tools efficiently, too.</blockquote>