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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Sadras" data-source="post: 5910682" data-attributes="member: 6688277">1stly) I'm gonna come across a little arrogant/obnoxious here (my apologies) or perhaps old, but did you seriously use Harry Potter as your basis for D&D Wizard design?2nd) Since you want to stick to most fantasy fiction, including the popular ones, I have to inform you that "miscast" and "dangerous" magic is quite the norm - and it is not relegated to rituals only. For the best possible result I sincerely believe that the basic Wizard should be just that - purely a simple wizard who casts spells - that does not fit in one particular play style. a) At-will spells should be an optionb) Implements necessary to cast spells should be a feature, not the norm. It may depend on the type of setting.  Spell-casting might be an esoteric skill, it might be the norm, it might be incredibly dangerous to use, perhaps due to some historic incident everybody in the land knows at least a cantrip or two...etcThe options to use spell-casting failures tables, spell casting durations, mishaps and the likes should be available.  I'm not sure what the best method is to incorporate all of the above and more (to cater for everyone's desires) which in addition must allow for the balancing of classes, which is very important to some.  This is why in my personal opinion the more I ponder about all of this, the more I think our greatest problem in reaching an agreement amongst us all, lies in this endless debate of class balance. I believe most of our problems stem from there. The older editions had a simple system with tables and tables of options available. True class balance (specifically in combat) was not something the designers strived for. Their goals were different. You can see that from the books they put out. They gave endless support for various options that players/DMs would be interested in. Realism, High Fantasy, Gritty, Loose, Stream-Lining, Low Magic, Supernatural, Enviromental, Dark, Horror. It seemed like they were more concerned with settings and styles of play than Class Balance. I have played 2E all the way through to 4E and have enjoyed each system for what it is. I think if 5E is to succeed - their core mechanics should really be simple, and not necessarily focussed on Class Balance, because if they do, I'm afraid their core will firstly, not appeal to the older system players and secondly, might enforce a particular style of play which will not suit everyone.  Class balance became more of an issue in the later editions - so I therefore propose that some sort of guidance or system be in place which provides advice how to balance all the dial ups/options available for each class.The people interested in the core basic - wont worry about class balance, they will take whatever suits their style of play/setting/DM preference. They will have a mix and match. (I presume this would be appeal mostly to oldschoolers)The 3.fivers (pathfinders) and the 4thers will have their dial-ups which when options are taken will balance the classes. There might also be options within the dial-ups i.e. Perhaps to balance the wizard with the Fighter he might have to take 2 negatives from a list: Casting Times for Spells, Miscast Spell, Implement Required to Cast, Spell Memory Loss...etc. Anyways. Thats the way I see it. I didnt intend this to be so long.</blockquote>

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