D&D 5E Confession: I Sometimes Miss Vancian Casting

[Sunseeker]

And I miss AEDU powers. I guess we both kind got what we wanted and kinda didn't.

 

[I'm A Banana]

It's weird, I know. It was often so frustrating playing a spellcaster and running out of useful spells for a given situation. The Vancian system was heavily limited, it wasn't that popular once other options became available, it didn't match anything in the way of standard fantasy tropes. In nearly all measurable ways, the pseudo-Vancian system of 5E is superior. It's more flexible, it at least slightly more closely resembles genre standard. Everyone I know likes it better. Under many circumstances, I like it better.

But...

There was something about trying to pick which spells you'd have access to. Some of my most fun experiences playing wizards in past editions was when I had to try to get creative after I'd run out of obvious spells. Using knock offensively? That's not something I'd ever have done under 5E, but I did it back in 2E, and I still talk about it. (Uh, obviously.)

I dunno. I don't really have a point to this, and given the choice, I wouldn't change 5E to go back. But... I do still miss it, for all its flaws and quirks.

I've had a player who was very fond of specifying spell slots.

I think this is probably one of those theory vs. practice things. Sure, it's cool when you use a spell creatively (and 5e certainly lets you use spells creatively!), but it requires good spur-of-the-moment DMing and it can easily go haywire when you hang a whole system on it. You know, the whole "one mage's awesome moment is one fighter's evidence that the designers hate fighters" and "once you use the exploit once, nothin' to stop you using it again" syndromes.

Still, part of me keeps working away at a system where you could specify spell slots and not have it be a mess of DM adjudication. It'd take a different sort of spell than what we have now, but I think it'd be possible.

But you know, dropped mechanics sometimes seem more like a challenge to me than something to walk away from .

 

[Mouseferatu]

I'm a huge fan of creative use of spells. I will always try to allow the PC to gain at least some benefit from it (as long as it truly is creative and cool, not just spamming an exploit), and I get irked playing under DMs who discourage it.

In my game a few nights ago, a PC asked if he could use his (already cast) spiritual weapon to try to kick a magical artifact back toward the party. To use it as a hockey stick, basically. I know the spell says it targets "creatures," but I had to give him a shot, just because it was so creative. So of course, he rolled a natural 20.

Allowable by a strict reading of the rules? No. But it made for a damn cool round in what was already a damn fun game. What else matters?

 

[Li Shenron]

For me vancian casting was pretty much one of the defining features of traditional D&D. Without it, the game feels "less D&D" than it could feel.

And this is the opinion of someone who actually enjoyed playing many Sorcerers in 3e.

Nevertheless, I wish they had kept at least the Wizard fully vancian, as it was until some point during the playtest. Or alternatively, that they had provided a variant spellcasting option in the PHB or DMG to restore full "vancianity" to a spellcaster class, with some compensations for the obvious disadvantages.

 

[The Human Target]

I have a restraining order against vancian magic.

 

[Zak S]

I've never seen any flaw in Vancian casting. Just taste differences.

Newbies are sometimes surprised to find they can't cast the same spell over and over...then they get used to the idea after 10 minutes and have a lot of fun.

Desperation is the mother of invention and invention is the best part of the game.

 

[Azurewraith]

I Hope Vancian casting died a slow and painful death after watching its family tortured now if we can just get rid of prepared spells the world will be sunshine lollipops and unicorns

 

[wedgeski]

I was never a fan, but I understand the design constraints that make prepared casting such an enduring feature of the game. 5E casting is a very cool extension of the old ways, and I enjoy it a lot.

 

[Zak S]

I don't know if everyone has seen this, but it's a wonderful explication of why Vancian casting is far more than just a design constraint (after all, they could just have made weaker spells castable at will):

http://jrients.blogspot.com/2008/06/just-so-you-know-this-is-vancian-magic.html

 

[CapnZapp]

In the context of 5E, any caster operating under Vancian rules should probably be given a substantial boost to her spells to compensate for all those times you will have a square block but the hole is round.