Complete Arcane - What's in it!!

[Psion]

I agree about the bending but I think it's probably late to change it.

Really? I haven't seen too many references to it post T&B... until now. Indeed, they have the energons (was it Planar HB or FF?) and didn't force the square pegness of their energy into the round holeness of the four elements. They seemed to be shying away from that association to me.

Is it sorcerer-only? That sounds really weird :\

It's Wu Jen only.

See what kinds of problems adding new core classes causes, guys.

 

[Gez]

That feat is just, like Boccob's Blessed Book, WotC designers realizing that the spellbook scribing cost is totally illogical. And, in the old tradition of the "multige classes" (you know, arcane trickster, mystic theurge, etc.), rather than fixing the problem, they're proposing patches.

 

[Psion]

They already halved spell scribing costs.

I really don't find the feat that objectionable. Wizards should have, AFAIAC, a wide variety of spells.

 

[green slime]

This feat from today's preview seems TOO GOOD imo...

I already use something similar. Not a biggy if you ask me. In what way do you see it as being overpowered? Really, the wizard cannot prepare more spells. Just has a slightly larger repetoire. It costs a feat. Seems fair to me.

 

[Li Shenron]

Here's an odd bit: Split Ray is now +2 spell levels, but it no longer splits the damage dealt and you can focus both rays on one target.

Oh no... So basically it's almost like Twin Spell, but you can apply it only to rays? +2 only instead of +4 for Twin Spell? That seems IMHO a bad design mistake. How does it match with all the times that wizards' authors toned down a feat (or actually increased the slot cost for a metamagic feat, see Persistent Spell) exactly because the feat was abusable with a few specific spells?

 

[Felon]

Here's an odd bit: Split Ray is now +2 spell levels, but it no longer splits the damage dealt and you can focus both rays on one target. Enervation as a 6th level spell that does 2d4 neg levels, or Scorching Ray as a 4th level spell that does 24d6 at 11th caster level. I haven't checked the new ray spells in CA yet.

I thought split ray only provided one extra ray per spell. To do 24d6, it would need to provide three.

 

[Li Shenron]

I already use something similar. Not a biggy if you ask me. In what way do you see it as being overpowered? Really, the wizard cannot prepare more spells. Just has a slightly larger repetoire. It costs a feat. Seems fair to me.

41 more spells a "slightly larger repertoire"?

 

[Felon]

I may be wrong but to me it sounds like spontaneous casters keep getting more and more the shorter stick (see metamagic)... and it didn't seem to me that people thought wizards were worse than sorcerers, right?

It seemed to me that some people didn't and some people did. Sorcerers can still cast any spell a wizard can from a spell-activation item.

I agree though that spending a feat to get only one extra spell is a bit lame.

 

[Gez]

It's Wu Jen only.

See what kinds of problems adding new core classes causes, guys.

Yup. That's why I use only four spell list. Esoteric, spiritual, telluric, theurgic; for arcane, psionic, divine (natural) and divine (religion).

It is much better that way. Because it's not just base classes, it's true also with any prestige classes with their own spell-list (assassin, blackguard, a lot of the DotF ones...).

With four magic types, the eight schools, and the various descriptors, I give classes a definition-based spell list rather than an enumeration-based spell list, and all works better. It makes it easier to plug in or out new material.

 

[Felon]

Yeah, after reassessing my initial statement, I concur with these conclusions. Part of the issue was that my brain decided to kick out the "a spell-like ability is a standard action" thing. I had an image of a warlock with 4 attacks dishing out 36d6 damage in a round...

Oh, so you basically thought they were capable of rogue damage, eh?

Yeah, that would be broken.