Arcane spell failure outmoded ?

[satori01]

I am glad they did away arcane spell failure for Bards in light armor in 3.5 but why not remove arcane spell failure entirely?
Not having wizards cast in armor is an artifact of earlier editions of D&D, and this was somewhat rightly so as their were little to no stacking rules then, but now of course there is.

Frankly if a Wizard takes armor feats or multi-classes, they have sacrificed enough to then have to worry about a percentage chance of failure. The justification for arcane spell failure being that it requires more extensive somatic movements then divine magic has always seemed a bit weak to me.

Casting a spell isnt like doing gymnastics, and while gloves might impede your wizard or sorc from flashing those mystic gang signs, a breastplate isnt really going to impede his or her arms or movement that signifigantly.

This is one of those sacred cows that in my opinion can be eleminated.

 

[Darklone]

Right. But from a balancing POV... my bbn1/bard would have rocked even more without arcane spell failure. For a long time, he had the best AC in the group (breastplate, dex 16 and large wooden shield) and not less hitpoints than the fighter.

 

[Technik4]

I think Arcane Spell Failure should be based on the spell being cast. For instance, a 0-level spell should not be hindered by armor at all, its a simple cantrip. Due to the complex gestures, a 9th level spell should be nearly impossible to cast in full plate or extremely cumbersome armor, and hence should have a high penalty (low success rate).

Thats my .02

Technik

 

[Li Shenron]

I think that some stackable feats to decrease the % chance would be enough for those uncommon arcane spellcasters who want to cast in armor.

There are probably some around already.

 

[jodyjohnson]

They should make it so spell with no somatic components are not effected by arcane spell failure and then add a feat that removes the somatic component from a spell.

 

[hong]

I really don't think balance would be screwed up plenty by doing away with ASF. The weak point for wizards and sorcs isn't AC, it's hit points. A buffed wiz could often have an AC rivalling that of the fighters anyway, when spells like shield and haste (3.0E) are thrown in.

In fact, now that they're toning down shield and haste, there's even less potential for breakage if you remove ASF.

 

[Darklone]

Holy cow. Moooh.

 

[Garmorn]

They should make it so spell with no somatic components are not effected by arcane spell failure and then add a feat that removes the somatic component from a spell.

From the SRD:

Arcane Spell Failure: Armor interferes with the gestures that are needed to make to cast an arcane spell.
Casting an Arcane Spell in Armor: When casting an arcane spell while wearing armor, a character must make an arcane spell failure roll. The number in the Arcane Spell Failure is the chance that the spell fails and is ruined. [B}If the spell lacks a somatic (S) component it can be cast without making the arcane spell failure roll.[/B]

Note the area I put in bold face. Add still spell.

Garmorn

 

[jodyjohnson]

As a 3rd level mage with decent strength I would wear MW Full Plate armor without the proficiency, suffer a -5 (masterwork) to touch, ranged touch, and other attacks, plus move skills (which I suck at anyway), carry a large shield for when Shield spell isn't available and save the 72,000gp I would have otherwise had to invest in Bracers +8.

I can avoid spells requiring to hit rolls.
At 5th Fly to counter the movement penalties.

It wouldn't be necessary to burn any feats to get the benefits to AC if the Arcane penalty cow were to be slain.

 

[hong]

As a 3rd level mage with decent strength I would wear MW Full Plate armor without the proficiency, suffer a -5 (masterwork) to touch, ranged touch, and other attacks, plus move skills (which I suck at anyway), carry a large shield for when Shield spell isn't available and save the 72,000gp I would have otherwise had to invest in Bracers +8.

I can avoid spells requiring to hit rolls.

A 3rd level mage is not going to have 72000 gp to get bracers +8, nor the spells to avoid having to use a crossbow. And even if you're AC 20 with full plate, you have 3d4 hit points (+ Con). If you want to hold off the orcs single-handed with your 5 magic missiles per day, go right ahead.