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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Hussar" data-source="post: 5781751" data-attributes="member: 22779">Umm, no.  I don't.  I mean that it forces players to choose effects which have the broadest possible application over any effect with a narrower application.Thus, you get cookie cutter casters.  The Vancian system forces a very narrow set of choices on the player because there is no freedom.  Any spell memorized and not cast might as well not have been memorized at all, particularly if a broader application spell could have been used more often.  So, players most often will choose effects with the broadest possible application regardless of any other considerations.Even those players who choose thematic casters will still choose broad application spells within that theme.  DannyA mentioned earlier playing a wizard specializing in Divination.  Considering this is the broadest specialist school with the least limitations, I'm not really sure that it's a good example of how Vancian creates differentiated casters.Yes, well, choosing a pair of out of print, obscure genre titles and then saying we should emulate that has never really been a great argument afaic.  Again, like you said, D&D has created its own wizards.  But, Vancian magic isn't limited to wizards.  It's EVERY caster in D&D.  Clerics are in a class (no pun intended) all by themselves and druids resemble virtually nothing of their inspiration.Even if Vancian casting can represent a handful of genre titles, it fails to represent many others.  OTOH, I can represent virtually all genre magic users with other systems, such as a point based system, or even 4e's ritual magic (a system that needs a LOT more loving to be a good system).</blockquote>

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