Fire & Forget Magic System: Should they replace it?

The real thing is the idea that one must "discard" one system in order to use another. It isn't like magic systems are Highlander Immortals, and there can be only one.

To an extent... It would help if wizards would put out some official alternatives, though, as part of the core rules. IE, DnD 4E (god forbid) should, IMO, also include an optinal mana point system, as well as vancian.

I mean, I use other systems, sure. But a lot of people won't use anything non-offical WotC.
 

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Tsyr said:
To an extent... It would help if wizards would put out some official alternatives, though, as part of the core rules. IE, DnD 4E (god forbid) should, IMO, also include an optinal mana point system, as well as vancian.

I mean, I use other systems, sure. But a lot of people won't use anything non-offical WotC.
Psionics are a mana-point based magic system (just change a few key terms), and they're official.
 

Zappo said:
Psionics are a mana-point based magic system (just change a few key terms), and they're official.

Would help if Psionics didn't suck :D

No, in all seriousness, I realize that... But it's not the same thing as being a core rule. And calling them psionics, esp. with the bad reputation psionics have in DnD, just made it worse. Around here, I'm the only DM that will allow psionics... most people won't even consider it. "Psionics? In DnD? No way." Then comes either "Psionics are for munchkins" or "Psionics don't fit the setting I use".
 

Spells are Feats of Magic (says so in the SRD anyway!)
so anyway after reading that I got an idea - what if a Wizard could get a spell as a Feat and cast it at will

So new Feat

FEAT OF MAGIC
Prereqs: Ability to cast Arcane Spells
Through study and experience a Wizard can begin to Master certain spells so that they become second nature. These spells no longer require preparation to use, do not use a spell slot and maybe cast at will.

A Wizards first Feat of Magic is always a Cantrip (0-level) and then may rise one level per feat used. (eg second feat of Magic can be 1-level spell)


Also I use a Recovery @ Day per Level system which means that a 9 level spell takes 9 days to recover (so can only be cast 3 times per month) which would probably take care of the need to balance out higher level spells
 

Tonguez said:
Spells are Feats of Magic (says so in the SRD anyway!)
so anyway after reading that I got an idea - what if a Wizard could get a spell as a Feat and cast it at will

So new Feat

FEAT OF MAGIC
Prereqs: Ability to cast Arcane Spells
Through study and experience a Wizard can begin to Master certain spells so that they become second nature. These spells no longer require preparation to use, do not use a spell slot and maybe cast at will.

A Wizards first Feat of Magic is always a Cantrip (0-level) and then may rise one level per feat used. (eg second feat of Magic can be 1-level spell)


Also I use a Recovery @ Day per Level system which means that a 9 level spell takes 9 days to recover (so can only be cast 3 times per month) which would probably take care of the need to balance out higher level spells

Actualy, IIRC, there already is a feat much like this... I think it's in Magic of Faerun.
 

EarthsShadow said:
Who else amongst these boards thinks that the fire and forget spell system should be discarded for something else that makes more sense?

I am biased against the system, only because the system absolutely makes no sense at all in game play or in theory. What are your opinions?

I agree and IMC we use a (slightly)modified version of Mongoose publishings "Chaos Magic: Wild Sorcery". But i keep the core mechanic around for certain specialized spelcasters and natural "Sorcerers" like dragons, faeries, and planars ect.
 

Dinkeldog said:
""What a relief, because preparing spells ahead of time isn't how Real Magic (TM) would happen."

"Well, actually, yes, it probably would be preparation ahead of time. The unrealistic part is that D&D shortens the preparation time so that the poor wizard isn't stuck preparing spells for days before casting his 'daily load' of spells. Try checking out Isaac Bonewits' Authentic Thaumaturgy for more detail."

This is a great point. "Real magic," that is, magical practices from the real world (regardless of whether they actually produce quantifiable results), involves a lot of preparation. Some rituals can last days, for results that are often not very obvious, if they even manifest.

A caster may not "forget" a spell after casting it, but then again, a caster in the real world will not be able to cast more than a handful of spells a week. After each spell is cast, a new ritual must be performed in order to use that spell again.

Why not just assume that a caster in D&D does a brief ritual each day for each spell he/she wants to cast, and once cast, the ritual must be done again (basically, just use the present system and rationalize it differently)? That's how things work with "real" magic.
 
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Maybe discarded was the wrong word to use now that I think about it. I use the term "make sense" because, whether or not you don't see preparation as memorization or not, I do and both do the same thing. In the morning you prepare, or meomorize, a spell formula, you cast it, you forget it. Gone. To me, logically, that just does not make sense. Frankly, if you know the spell, you know it, and if you don't, you don't.

You read books, and only official Dragonlance books and FR books simulate magic that way, and even reading those books, when a spell is cast most of the time the caster feels the magic pulsing through their bodies, sometimes getting tired over the course of the day the more they cast spells. In other words, in their own books, the spellcaster feels the effects of manipulating magical energy, casting spells, however you term the usage, and they get tired. If they cast a more powerful spell, they get more tired and feel drained. Dragonlance is big on this, especially in the Chronicle's books.

Other non-DnD books of fantasy using magic simulate magic as something people tap into, using the energy to form spells that tax the body. The more powerful the spell, the harder the spell is on the body because the power of the spell is taxing to the caster.

The DnD system is okay and designed the way it for balance issues, and I understand that. But it could be so much better. I also agree that most people, if its not official in the core rules, will not play with it because it doesn't come from the official company itself. That is the falacy of DnD itself.
 

EarthsShadow said:
Who else amongst these boards thinks that the fire and forget spell system should be discarded for something else that makes more sense?

I am biased against the system, only because the system absolutely makes no sense at all in game play or in theory. What are your opinions?

0,02 $

I believe that the system is fine the way it is.
 
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