Dispel Magic

[frankthedm]

Dispel Magic may not have been a prime suspect, but, it certainly was a usual one.

Dispel was one of the few ways to combat the uberbuffed. The fault was not dispel, but the buffs that caused character wide changes, like stat boosts.

 

[Deep Blue 9000]

Wow, talk about splitting hairs. Nit pick much?

They took a spell which caused the game to come to a screaming halt whenever it got used beyond a certain level, and turned it into a spell that can be used to great effect, but doesn't make the rest of the group go outside for a smoke.

I dunno about anyone else, but, I'm no longer all that happy about the 20 minutes of fun packed into 4 hours. Dispel Magic may not have been a prime suspect, but, it certainly was a usual one.

Saying it can be used to great effect is completely unfounded. As a previous poster stated, of all the monsters released, we have only seen a single monster ability that can be dispelled. The evidence we have is that this will be a weak and situational spell.

Perhaps it's for the best. This way every wizard won't be forced to take Dispel Magic. However we should be under no illusions as to what is happening.

 

[Falling Icicle]

Another concern I have about dispel magic is that it's a daily power. Most monsters can use their abilities repeatedly thanks to the "recharge" rules. So even if you dispel a Black Dragon's cloud, it can just use it again in a couple of rounds. I think this is more of a problem with "recharging" than it is with dispel magic, though. It's just not fair that monsters get to use powerful spells multiple times per battle while PCs can use them only once.

 

[hong]

Saying it can be used to great effect is completely unfounded. As a previous poster stated, of all the monsters released, we have only seen a single monster ability that can be dispelled. The evidence we have is that this will be a weak and situational spell.

Perhaps it's for the best. This way every wizard won't be forced to take Dispel Magic. However we should be under no illusions as to what is happening.

... that they fixed dispel magic?

 

[Imban]

... that they fixed dispel magic?

Like a cat.

 

[Hussar]

Saying it can be used to great effect is completely unfounded. As a previous poster stated, of all the monsters released, we have only seen a single monster ability that can be dispelled. The evidence we have is that this will be a weak and situational spell.

Perhaps it's for the best. This way every wizard won't be forced to take Dispel Magic. However we should be under no illusions as to what is happening.

I would say that it could be used to great effect. If the combat features one or more of the applicable spells, this automatically gets rid of it. That only one creature that we've seen so far has abilities that this would apply to is irrelevant. For one, since this is a 6th level spell, it would be safe to say that few if any creatures below 6th level would have any abilities that this would apply to. That takes out a fair chunk of the creatures that we have seen.

Add to that the fact that we've seen what, about 5% of the total monsters that are supposed to be in the MM, I'd say that claims that it is a weak situational spell are perhaps less than founded.

Is this going to be THE spell? Nope. It's going to be a limited spell that gets used once in a while.

What it won't be though is a giant speedbump in the middle of your game.

 

[hong]

Like a cat.

It is amazing how many solutions can be found if one simply thinks outside the square.

 

[MaelStorm]

I like it. It's nerfed and it's cool. I like that they use keywords.

 

[Imban]

I would say that it could be used to great effect. If the combat features one or more of the applicable spells, this automatically gets rid of it.

Not automatically; the spell still has to hit the creature that put it up's Will defense.

Is this going to be THE spell? Nope. It's going to be a limited spell that gets used once in a while.

What it won't be though is a giant speedbump in the middle of your game.

I, for one, almost like the new dispel magic, because it removes the issues that made the 3e version a horrible time sink. I am of the opinion that it should be able to target buffs like fly, mirror image, or greater invisibility, or debuffs such as sleep. I don't see this adding complexity, and I would prefer it because a spell called dispel magic should be able to, well, dispel magic.

I'd also be quite dissatisfied with it if it turns out that dispel magic can dispel totally non-magical effects even in the core. Since currently, it seems as if I will need to rewrite significant chunks of 4e's mechanics in order to make the system something my gaming circle would enjoy, adding "yeah, you can dispel affects too" to dispel magic is just another minor change on the pile.

 

[Spatula]

I would say that it could be used to great effect. If the combat features one or more of the applicable spells, this automatically gets rid of it.

Nope.

That only one creature that we've seen so far has abilities that this would apply to is irrelevant. For one, since this is a 6th level spell, it would be safe to say that few if any creatures below 6th level would have any abilities that this would apply to.

Well, the one creature we have seen with an affected ability is level 5.