D&D (2024) Less (and different) spellcasting?

[Bill Zebub]

But in all cases you are trying to do that by taking away from existing classes, more 'options' at the cost of existing ones. Which many times does away with what people like from those classes like about the classes. And your choice of which classes get spared and which classes are 'prescindible' is skewed towards messing up with the interesting stuff while keeping the wizard and cleric intact. Which isn't very palatable.

The same Vancian mechanics for every caster class is "the interesting stuff"?

Huh.

 

[fuindordm]

A while back, there was a poll on this board (which heavily skews grognard these days) and three out of the top four classes people wanted added were magic based (psion, a caster with spell points. Gish, an arcane half caster, and shaman, a summoner/spirit primal class). The warlord, was the only non-magical class people asked for. That tells me there is still a healthy appetite for magic classes.

I think that the underlying problem is the perceived lack of design space for martial classes.
Modern D&D devotes an enormous amount of attention to spells and spellcasters, so it is easy to see their variations and failings.
If they devoted as much space to diversifying the martial classes with combat, exploration, and social abilities then we would get more feedback on martial archetypes from fiction that are badly represented.

 

[cranberry]

Just a couple of thoughts

Converting spells into abilities makes them immune to counter spell or dispel magic. That may be too powerful.

Too much downside IMO for the sorcerer. Personally, if those were the mechanics, I would avoid playing that class.

 

[Emberashh]

Counterspell shouldn't exist and imo chokes out the design space to allow for more interesting and dynamic defensive magic.

 

[Bill Zebub]

Just a couple of thoughts

Converting spells into abilities makes them immune to counter spell or dispel magic. That may be too powerful.

Too much downside IMO for the sorcerer. Personally, if those were the mechanics, I would avoid playing that class.

That's a problem with monster abilities, too. Magical abilities that should be treated as spells should be marked as such in their descriptions. E.g.:

Namaste (spell): You shout at a creature who has lost a limb and it reattaches or grows back.

 

[Bill Zebub]

Counterspell shouldn't exist and imo chokes out the design space to allow for more interesting and dynamic defensive magic.

Really it should be a class ability, not a spell, but come with serious risks.