D&D General How much Ars Magica is in Dungeons and Dragons 3e?

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

I suspect it was less about compensating for mages feeling kind of underpowered in 2e than removing official rules complications that people tended to throw out anyway. There are a lot of fiddly bits wizards have to deal with in AD&D that were gone in 3e that, if used, tended to put some brakes on the wizards. Add to that magic item creation and things could skew very badly from AD&D experiences.

I was just thinking the other day how long spells took to cast in AD&D, giving everyone a chance to hit a spellcaster before they got their spell off. Nowadays, that's something a spellcaster can avoid being a real issue with a little thought. That alone is a huge power-up.