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Message: <blockquote data-quote="I'm A Banana" data-source="post: 5485983" data-attributes="member: 2067">Yeah, I see your case. I was just plucking Wish out of a barrel labeled "high level wizard abilities." Maybe a +5 Vorpal Sword is more equal to a hypothetical Death spell or something (both kill things right away with a good chance of success). But your last point matches up to what I was saying. Those mythic fighters often relied on plot points for their power -- Achilles dipped in the Styx made him invulnerable. Wizard in classical D&D have never depended on plot points -- they get plot points as class abilities. They get to be invulnerable because they picked the Invulnerability spell. This legacy probably came from attempts to emulate fiction, where wizards just had power, and fighters often had to do something like eat the heart of a dragon, or pull a magic sword out of a rock of destiny, for them to have those powers. The equalization mechanism is thus to remove some of the plot-point ability from wizards (no, you don't get to grant your own wishes) and give some plot-point ability to fighters (sure, you can kill things with a vorpal sword without having to have the DM drop one for you, at about the same level that a wizard can kill things with their death spell), and keep some plot-point ability only in the hands of the DM, for them to hand out, that apply equally across all character classes (free the genie, get a wish, whether you're Merlin, Aladdin, or Conan; you can't plane shift except when the DM allows it, etc). The 4e solution is a step in the right direction, but it just puts every plot-point ability in the hands of a DM and makes wizards and fighters equal in their ability to do jack-all to affect the plot. Which isn't my ideal solution, though it does equalize. I want to give wizards scry and teleport, but I don't want to give it to them without giving fighters magic mirrors and pegasi. I like the idea of making both of them treasures, rather than making both of them class abilities, meaning that at some point, someone gets an ability like scry or teleport, but they don't get to pick it when they level up, and it's not relegated to a particular character class. They get it as a matter of adventure -- a plot point. A magic item. A supernatural creature. Even a tome of mighty magic (that doesn't require you to be a mighty mage to read the thing).</blockquote>

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