D&D 5E D&D Magic: Does it Feel Magical to You?

[MechaPilot]

Ever increasingly, I'm starting to feel that no, magic isn't all that magical. It's just become so commonplace that it might as well not be magic at all. IME, this is due to two factors - 1. The upward spiral of just how much magic a character can use during an encounter and, 2. The number of magic using classes in the group.

Remember, typical groups used to be 3 fighter types, a cleric, wizard and thief. You only really had two spell casters and one of them had virtually no spells that applied in combat. Sure, you might be dropping Cure Lights after a combat, but, in combat? The cleric was far more likely to be a front line fighter than a spell caster. So, you really only had one character casting spells in a given encounter, and even then, probably only one or two spells for the entire encounter.

Compare to now. It's not unreasonable to have a group where 5 out of the 6 characters have spells that they can cast, and every class has spells that directly relate to combat and are widely applicable. Water Breathing might be a great spell, but, it's a pretty limited use choice. Now, every class has several broadly applicable spells at every single level. Plus the ability to jack up lower level spells into higher level slots for increased utility as well.

I've been beating this drum for a while, but, I do think it's a valid complaint (or I wouldn't be beating this drum... durrr). We've gone from a system where you might see a couple of spells cast in an entire encounter to a system where you see multiple spells being cast every single round of every encounter. Plus, with at-will utility spells, we can easily see magic being used in every single encounter period. It's very likely in a campaign to have magic being used in combat and out for every single scenario throughout the entire campaign.

D&D has dialed up magic to about an 8 out of 10 with 5e. And I'm feeling a bit bummed about it.

What about the way magic actually works in the game? Setting aside prevalence, do the remaining aspects of D&D magic feel magical to you? Why or why not?

 

[Psikerlord#]

Ever increasingly, I'm starting to feel that no, magic isn't all that magical. It's just become so commonplace that it might as well not be magic at all. IME, this is due to two factors - 1. The upward spiral of just how much magic a character can use during an encounter and, 2. The number of magic using classes in the group.

Remember, typical groups used to be 3 fighter types, a cleric, wizard and thief. You only really had two spell casters and one of them had virtually no spells that applied in combat. Sure, you might be dropping Cure Lights after a combat, but, in combat? The cleric was far more likely to be a front line fighter than a spell caster. So, you really only had one character casting spells in a given encounter, and even then, probably only one or two spells for the entire encounter.

Compare to now. It's not unreasonable to have a group where 5 out of the 6 characters have spells that they can cast, and every class has spells that directly relate to combat and are widely applicable. Water Breathing might be a great spell, but, it's a pretty limited use choice. Now, every class has several broadly applicable spells at every single level. Plus the ability to jack up lower level spells into higher level slots for increased utility as well.

I've been beating this drum for a while, but, I do think it's a valid complaint (or I wouldn't be beating this drum... durrr). We've gone from a system where you might see a couple of spells cast in an entire encounter to a system where you see multiple spells being cast every single round of every encounter. Plus, with at-will utility spells, we can easily see magic being used in every single encounter period. It's very likely in a campaign to have magic being used in combat and out for every single scenario throughout the entire campaign.

D&D has dialed up magic to about an 8 out of 10 with 5e. And I'm feeling a bit bummed about it.

I agree and this has been part of my return to OSR style games, where magic is rare but powerful, not moderate but common. In hindsight I definitely think at will cantrips is a mistake, as well as so many magic using classes. I do think however that if you are going to have rare magic, you need to give your wizards longswords and some light armour to keep them interested in the battles where no magic is used.

 

[MechaPilot]

I agree and this has been part of my return to OSR style games, where magic is rare but powerful, not moderate but common. In hindsight I definitely think at will cantrips is a mistake, as well as so many magic using classes. I do think however that if you are going to have rare magic, you need to give your wizards longswords and some light armour to keep them interested in the battles where no magic is used.

Rarity aside (please), what are your opinions on how magical D&D magic feels to you?

 

[Rhenny]

Yes, it feels magical to me. Any time a PC can use a spell to do anything that I can't do in real life, it is magic. I think many people who play the game may have become desensitized to the amazing magical effects because they have grown too used to them in their gaming experiences, or they are envisioning that magic should work in a different way, or they are not using all of their imagination to visualize and celebrate the manifestation and/or effects that D&D Magic creates.

5e in general has done a few things that I'd even argue make magic more magical than prior editions. First, in my opinion, making spells that are prepared recipes rather than powers that can be used by all classes (in other words not like 4e) makes them seem more magical. Allowing casters to increase the strength (cast as a higher spell slot) makes them more magical. Having a metamagic and wild surge system (for sorcerers) makes it seem more magical. Allowing for ritual magic makes it seem more magical. I'm sure there are other system components that make the spell casting seem more magical, even though many may argue that the systems themselves could be improved to match other concepts people have as to how magic should work.

As for magical items, I think demphasizing boring +x weapons and armor and emphasizing powers/aesthetics has also made 5e seem more magical even though BA does not assume magical items and the default setting for finding magical items is quite low compared to prior editions.

 

[Warbringer]

It's more alt-tech than a mysterious unknown force

 

[DEFCON 1]

Magic is as magical as my players roleplay it to be.

If they just casually do it, no it doesn't seem all that magical. If they act that it is though, then it is.

By the same token... when my players roleplay their swordfighting as ho-hum... then the swordfighting is ho-hum. And when they roleplay it as exciting and cool and compelling... the swordfighting is exciting, cool, and compelling.

 

[Shardstone]

Magic is as magical as my players roleplay it to be.

If they just casually do it, no it doesn't seem all that magical. If they act that it is though, then it is.

By the same token... when my players roleplay their swordfighting as ho-hum... then the swordfighting is ho-hum. And when they roleplay it as exciting and cool and compelling... the swordfighting is exciting, cool, and compelling.

This. It's all about roleplay. Rules shouldn't impact this.

 

[Hussar]

Rarity aside (please), what are your opinions on how magical D&D magic feels to you?

There's the other issue of how magic works in the game. Part of the problem is using a battlemap. Now you have players fiddling about, fitting an area effect just so. Now you have fireballs that, due to the pixelation of area effects which perfectly catch the baddies but miss the PC 5feet away.

One solution I am seriously considering is forcing attack rolls to place area spells and using a scatter die for misses. It's ridiculous to me to watch people place, shift, replace and then decide exactly where this forty foot wide circle is going to land at a range where the greatest of warriors would have disadvantage to hit.

 

[MechaPilot]

There's the other issue of how magic works in the game. Part of the problem is using a battlemap. Now you have players fiddling about, fitting an area effect just so. Now you have fireballs that, due to the pixelation of area effects which perfectly catch the baddies but miss the PC 5feet away.

One solution I am seriously considering is forcing attack rolls to place area spells and using a scatter die for misses. It's ridiculous to me to watch people place, shift, replace and then decide exactly where this forty foot wide circle is going to land at a range where the greatest of warriors would have disadvantage to hit.

Have you considered making them decide quickly? Give them like a count of three to pick the center-point.

 

[Zardnaar]

Not really. Magic items yes but to much magic on to many classes and an overall nerfing of the spells and firebolt spam gets old fast. Relative to the hit points used firing a crossbow in 3E is actually more effective than a low level caster spamming firebolt. Low level wizardsin 5E feel kinda crappy as even sleep often only gets 2-3 goblins and the fighters can be doing that every round and do not have to worry about them waking up.