Mercule
Adventurer
Either way works for me. One thing I'd like to see, though, is that many spells have an assumed effect and the die roll is just there to see if the target got lucky.
Take fireball, for example. Most players assume fireball does 10d6 damage, at 10th level. In practice, it doesn't. It does 5d6 damage to about half the targets, depending on circumstances. You can do some math to get an average of 7d6, or so. I like that the PCs get a chance to dodge the evil warlock's strike, but it shouldn't be as reliable as it is in 3e/4e. It's been a long time since I played 1/2e, but I recall the acrobat's "bite me" dodge as a pretty amazing and uncommon thing.
I don't want to take away the chance of avoiding damage (especially for save or die/suck effects) or even turn it into a long shot. I just don't want it to be the coin flip I've seen in my current 3e game. For that reason, I think I come down more on the side of having saves -- they're easier to stack in the wizard's favor.
Also, I find the wizard attacking a defense to be more aesthetically pleasing for single target attacks, but a bit of a misfit for area affect spells. Since things like charm, hold, and finger of death (SoD/S) are more likely to be targeted, maybe that's a good way to split it.
How does this sound? Keep the 4e defenses and use them against most targeted effects. Targeted effects would generally fall into one of two categories: 1) heavy-duty effects that tend to take an opponent out, but are expendable (Vancian); 2) level appropriate damaging effects that are not expendable (4E at-will/encounter and 3E reserve feats) and don't tick off the wizard player if they miss.
For area effect spells, like fireball, the spell and/or caster level sets a skill level, as per the musings in Legends and Lore (master, novice, et al.). Have skills analogous to classic saving throws. So, if the standard fireball creates a journeyman effect/hazard, the cleric who has neglected her reflex skill takes it in the face. The rogue has been maxing it and his mastery allows him to automatically halve the damage and roll to completely evade. Finally, the fighter has put a couple spare points into Reflex and, being a journeyman himself, has to roll a 15 or better to halve the damage.
If the skill system is appropriately balanced, it should be a real choice on whether to advance a save or another skill. I would also assume there will still be in-class and out-of-class skills.
Take fireball, for example. Most players assume fireball does 10d6 damage, at 10th level. In practice, it doesn't. It does 5d6 damage to about half the targets, depending on circumstances. You can do some math to get an average of 7d6, or so. I like that the PCs get a chance to dodge the evil warlock's strike, but it shouldn't be as reliable as it is in 3e/4e. It's been a long time since I played 1/2e, but I recall the acrobat's "bite me" dodge as a pretty amazing and uncommon thing.
I don't want to take away the chance of avoiding damage (especially for save or die/suck effects) or even turn it into a long shot. I just don't want it to be the coin flip I've seen in my current 3e game. For that reason, I think I come down more on the side of having saves -- they're easier to stack in the wizard's favor.
Also, I find the wizard attacking a defense to be more aesthetically pleasing for single target attacks, but a bit of a misfit for area affect spells. Since things like charm, hold, and finger of death (SoD/S) are more likely to be targeted, maybe that's a good way to split it.
How does this sound? Keep the 4e defenses and use them against most targeted effects. Targeted effects would generally fall into one of two categories: 1) heavy-duty effects that tend to take an opponent out, but are expendable (Vancian); 2) level appropriate damaging effects that are not expendable (4E at-will/encounter and 3E reserve feats) and don't tick off the wizard player if they miss.
For area effect spells, like fireball, the spell and/or caster level sets a skill level, as per the musings in Legends and Lore (master, novice, et al.). Have skills analogous to classic saving throws. So, if the standard fireball creates a journeyman effect/hazard, the cleric who has neglected her reflex skill takes it in the face. The rogue has been maxing it and his mastery allows him to automatically halve the damage and roll to completely evade. Finally, the fighter has put a couple spare points into Reflex and, being a journeyman himself, has to roll a 15 or better to halve the damage.
If the skill system is appropriately balanced, it should be a real choice on whether to advance a save or another skill. I would also assume there will still be in-class and out-of-class skills.
