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<blockquote data-quote="patrick y." data-source="post: 5910468" data-attributes="member: 6691987">With respect, the vast majority of adventuring magic - whether it be spells or items - is just another tool in the toolbox, and has been from the beginning. Whether from a player's standpoint, or from a character's standpoint in the average campaign setting, there's nothing particularly spectacular about a magic missile spell, or a potion of cure light wounds, especially after you've seen it once or twice. The guy who wiggles his fingers and puts monsters to sleep once a day is consistently going to be that guy, every day, until he gains a bit of experience and becomes the guy who can also waggle his thumbs and shoot fire out of his palm. The guy who can brandish a symbol and cause a skeleton to run away might be an impressively holy man, but after he's cleared rooms of undead in a few successive crypts, using the exact same method every time, he's just a guy with a useful skill. The mechanics of player controlled magic, regardless of edition, have never lent themselves particularly well to feeling, well, magical. They're very codified, and a fireball is a fireball is a fireball. Only when you start getting into things like relics and artifacts, or oddball stuff like wands of wonder is there much of a sense of magical wonder. To consistently find &quot;magical&quot; magic in D&amp;D, you have to start looking at creatures and locations. I think D&amp;D excels in those areas, and always has. Player controlled magic, though? Not so much.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="patrick y., post: 5910468, member: 6691987"] With respect, the vast majority of adventuring magic - whether it be spells or items - [I]is[/I] just another tool in the toolbox, and has been from the beginning. Whether from a player's standpoint, or from a character's standpoint in the average campaign setting, there's nothing particularly spectacular about a [I]magic missile[/I] spell, or a potion of [I]cure light wounds[/I], especially after you've seen it once or twice. The guy who wiggles his fingers and puts monsters to sleep once a day is consistently going to be that guy, every day, until he gains a bit of experience and becomes the guy who can [U]also[/U] waggle his thumbs and shoot fire out of his palm. The guy who can brandish a symbol and cause a skeleton to run away might be an impressively holy man, but after he's cleared rooms of undead in a few successive crypts, using the exact same method every time, he's just a guy with a useful skill. The mechanics of player controlled magic, regardless of edition, have never lent themselves particularly well to feeling, well, magical. They're very codified, and a [I]fireball[/I] is a [I]fireball[/I] is a [I]fireball.[/I] Only when you start getting into things like relics and artifacts, or oddball stuff like [I]wands of wonder[/I] is there much of a sense of magical wonder. To consistently find "magical" magic in D&D, you have to start looking at creatures and locations. I think D&D excels in those areas, and always has. Player controlled magic, though? Not so much. [/QUOTE]

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