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<blockquote data-quote="gizmo33" data-source="post: 3445759" data-attributes="member: 30001">What's the expected AC of a wizard in a low-magic campaign world?&nbsp; IME it's not very good.&nbsp; Basically, I think the chance exists that alot of assumptions made in trying to compare apples-to-oranges aren't really valid.&nbsp; In the case of a 7th level wizard burning up a 4th and 3rd level spell just to begin to engage a rogue - it becomes a question of whether or not you can really take down a 7th level rogue with the remaining spells.&nbsp; There's a chance that a few unbalanced spells, like magic missle and web maybe, would have to be house-ruled.&nbsp; Aren't spellcasters always unique in that ability normally?&nbsp; I'm not sure what the foundation is for this - maybe we need to agree on what &quot;low magic&quot; means.&nbsp; It could mean that magic items are more expensive to craft (and/or some are impossible to craft), or that spells are harder to find for your spellbook - which, BTW, consider that in a low-magic world a wizard might not even be able to find the Improved Invisibility and Fly spell in the example.IME it mostly strains credibility that creatures don't respond to adventurer's forays into their lair.&nbsp; Most adventures that I can think of involve battles against intelligent, organized foes.&nbsp; Plus, there's the element of surprise, which PCs lose if they go outside and camp.&nbsp; I think most DMs just don't take advantage of this because it would involve them having to think and make changes to the adventure on the fly.&nbsp; IME it's usually about midnight by the time this is happening and most DMs would just rather wave the magic time-wand and get the PCs back in the dungeon as written, not really realizing the somewhat unrealistic tactical advantage that they're giving the PCs.&nbsp; Plus there's no real codified set of rules for NPCs searching an area in a way that keeps the DM in an impartial role.IME spell casters dominate to some degree regardless of whether it's a low magic world or not.&nbsp; The wizard in the &quot;wizard vs. rogue&quot; hypothetical above is already forcing the rogue to deal with the fly/invisibility.&nbsp; Presumably you're thinking that in a high-magic world that the rogue would have some item that would see invisible.&nbsp; But in an apples to apples comparison, while the rogue is activating that item, the wizard is probably summoning some monsters or using his repeated wand of quickened fireballs, or whatever.&nbsp; Unless you're thinking that magic items are completely redundant to spellcasters (and I don't think they are, consider a wizard's AC issues, or example), then I don't really see how magic items equalize anything.&nbsp; If wizard &gt; rogue, then wizard+items &gt; rogue+items, it seems to me.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="gizmo33, post: 3445759, member: 30001"] What's the expected AC of a wizard in a low-magic campaign world? IME it's not very good. Basically, I think the chance exists that alot of assumptions made in trying to compare apples-to-oranges aren't really valid. In the case of a 7th level wizard burning up a 4th and 3rd level spell just to begin to engage a rogue - it becomes a question of whether or not you can really take down a 7th level rogue with the remaining spells. There's a chance that a few unbalanced spells, like magic missle and web maybe, would have to be house-ruled. Aren't spellcasters always unique in that ability normally? I'm not sure what the foundation is for this - maybe we need to agree on what "low magic" means. It could mean that magic items are more expensive to craft (and/or some are impossible to craft), or that spells are harder to find for your spellbook - which, BTW, consider that in a low-magic world a wizard might not even be able to find the Improved Invisibility and Fly spell in the example. IME it mostly strains credibility that creatures don't respond to adventurer's forays into their lair. Most adventures that I can think of involve battles against intelligent, organized foes. Plus, there's the element of surprise, which PCs lose if they go outside and camp. I think most DMs just don't take advantage of this because it would involve them having to think and make changes to the adventure on the fly. IME it's usually about midnight by the time this is happening and most DMs would just rather wave the magic time-wand and get the PCs back in the dungeon as written, not really realizing the somewhat unrealistic tactical advantage that they're giving the PCs. Plus there's no real codified set of rules for NPCs searching an area in a way that keeps the DM in an impartial role. IME spell casters dominate to some degree regardless of whether it's a low magic world or not. The wizard in the "wizard vs. rogue" hypothetical above is already forcing the rogue to deal with the fly/invisibility. Presumably you're thinking that in a high-magic world that the rogue would have some item that would see invisible. But in an apples to apples comparison, while the rogue is activating that item, the wizard is probably summoning some monsters or using his repeated wand of quickened fireballs, or whatever. Unless you're thinking that magic items are completely redundant to spellcasters (and I don't think they are, consider a wizard's AC issues, or example), then I don't really see how magic items equalize anything. If wizard > rogue, then wizard+items > rogue+items, it seems to me. [/QUOTE]

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