First Sight:
Looks like a well designed power - easy to adjudicate, written to the point.
How useful it actually is remains to be seen. They only mentioned PC class powers as examples for conjurations and zones, so we don't know how many monsters will have such abilities. Though they seem to be likely for Leader and Controller type monsters, so it will probably come into play at higher levels in many encounters with spell-casting foes.
On Buffs:
I really wondered how the 4E buffs compare to 3E buffs in managability. I noticed a few things:
- 3E buffs are caster level dependent. Unfortunately, caster level isn't always fixed, and I (and the rest of my group) are often unorganized enough to not having the buff effects prewritten.
- 3E buffs often effect base statistics, which tend to adjust many effects.
- Many 3E buffs often last long enough to hold over at least one combat encounter. This usually means people don't have trouble to know what their statistics are when the buffs are active, but if something ends them, it gets complicated.
- Long term Buffs tend to be "fire & forget". The caster casts the buff spell, and then doesn't need to track it anymore. The recipient has to track its effect, until the time it is negated/dispelled and he is forced to figure out things like "which buff is on me? Which spell & caster level is it? What exact bonus did it have?"
- Other 3E buffs are only activated during combat (like Inspire Courage).
This all leads to you not having a clear "base" for your statistics. Do you use the pre-buffed stats? Do you use the un-buffed stats, and add up on that?
If I try to prestat all the possibilities, I usually end with a large matrix that doesn't really help at all, since I still have to go to the steps of determining row & column if something changes (which can happen each round). And usually the matrix doesn't cover all effects.
4E buffs - at least the ones I saw so far seem a lot simpler. They last one round, and provide a fixed benefit. Every round, the
buffer leader has to decide which buff to apply, and to who, so it's next to guaranteed that everyone knows that he's buffed, and what benefit it grants him. The major benefit here seems to be that the amount of buffs active on each individual character is lower, and there are always two people thinking of the buff, and they only need to remember the information for one round.
Nostalgia for Long Spell Description:
One thing I liked about D&D (or at least 3E D&D) spells where the obscure and varied spells. I started gaming with Shadowrun, and the spells there are extremely formulaic and offer little room for special effects. A spell like Evards Black Tentacles (a spell made by a specific person?! Wooot!) would look strange - but in a very fascinating and compelling way. Spells that offered multiple effects, had several uses, spells like Mordekainens Faithful Watchdog or Private Sanctum are awesome.
Maybe I'll miss this stuff. But maybe I won't. The "Bigby's" spell are still in, and the effects of these spells might be described short and concise, but the flavor is still a lot stronger then
"Manabolt Level 6""Stunbolt Level 5"*, "Trideo Illusion 4" or "Armor 2".
*) fixed for 3E Shadowrun power-gaming purposes.
)
