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<blockquote data-quote="Doug McCrae" data-source="post: 5898567" data-attributes="member: 21169">There are several possible options:1. Everyone is magic, even the fighter.2. Nerf magic.3. Negative consequences for use of magic.4e's approach is #2 and, arguably, #1 as well. I quite like #3 though imho it hasn't been well handled in previous editions. Most spells don't have negative consequences. In the case of those that do, the drawbacks frequently could be avoided or didn't work properly as a balance mechanism. For example, fireball's backblast was more likely to engulf the front line fighter than the magic-user who cast it, and there's no backblast if it's used in the wilderness.A better version of #3 would be to make magic less Vancian and more as it appears in the works of RE Howard, Clark Ashton Smith or Michael Moorcock. In the tales by Howard and Smith, sorcerers are feared and reviled loners, dabbling in secrets man was not meant to know. The wizard in CAS's The Double Shadow is the victim of a creature he summons but cannot control. In Moorcock, particularly the Elric stories, all magical feats are performed by summoned entities which are hard to sway and often end up doing the opposite of what the caster intends or bringing about other negative, unforeseen consequences.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Doug McCrae, post: 5898567, member: 21169"] There are several possible options: 1. Everyone is magic, even the fighter. 2. Nerf magic. 3. Negative consequences for use of magic. 4e's approach is #2 and, arguably, #1 as well. I quite like #3 though imho it hasn't been well handled in previous editions. Most spells don't have negative consequences. In the case of those that do, the drawbacks frequently could be avoided or didn't work properly as a balance mechanism. For example, fireball's backblast was more likely to engulf the front line fighter than the magic-user who cast it, and there's no backblast if it's used in the wilderness. A better version of #3 would be to make magic less Vancian and more as it appears in the works of RE Howard, Clark Ashton Smith or Michael Moorcock. In the tales by Howard and Smith, sorcerers are feared and reviled loners, dabbling in secrets man was not meant to know. The wizard in CAS's The Double Shadow is the victim of a creature he summons but cannot control. In Moorcock, particularly the Elric stories, all magical feats are performed by summoned entities which are hard to sway and often end up doing the opposite of what the caster intends or bringing about other negative, unforeseen consequences. [/QUOTE]

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