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<blockquote data-quote="Gadget" data-source="post: 7549544" data-attributes="member: 23716">Well, the spells make the wizard.&nbsp; My point is that there are far too many spells that fit this category, and they tend to be damage spells, sometimes with additional, minor benefits.&nbsp; Really, most damage spells tend to fall into this category, particularly at higher levels.&nbsp; Sure Fireball and lightning bolt are 'overclocked' and decent, but it does take a bit of system mastery to realize that avoiding damage spells for the most part might be the way to go.&nbsp; WOTC bears responsibility for putting out so many crappy damage spells to choose from.&nbsp; Look at all the Necromancy spells that do crappy damage and nothing else; or in the unlikely event you kill the target, you get a free, uncontrolled zombie; or, the target is burned to ash if they reach zero HP.&nbsp; I get the feeling that WOTC thinks these largely inconsequential 'ribbons' are what makes these spells worthwhile; or worse yet, WOTC subcribes to the notion I've heard mentioned more and more online lately: the &quot;DM spell.&quot;&nbsp; Being burned to ash when you reach zero HP carries more bite when used against a PC.&nbsp; Lesser damage is not as big a problem when applied to the generally lesser HP of PCs in the Bounded Accuracy paradigm.&nbsp; It just creates a system mastery puzzle for PC spell casters to overcome that I don't think was an intentional part of the original design of the system; or at least shouldn't have been, IMHO.*EDIT* So I can see how a potential player can be frustrated when playing a wizard, depending on the campaign style, DM, and system mastery involved.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Gadget, post: 7549544, member: 23716"] Well, the spells make the wizard. My point is that there are far too many spells that fit this category, and they tend to be damage spells, sometimes with additional, minor benefits. Really, most damage spells tend to fall into this category, particularly at higher levels. Sure Fireball and lightning bolt are 'overclocked' and decent, but it does take a bit of system mastery to realize that avoiding damage spells for the most part might be the way to go. WOTC bears responsibility for putting out so many crappy damage spells to choose from. Look at all the Necromancy spells that do crappy damage and nothing else; or in the unlikely event you kill the target, you get a free, uncontrolled zombie; or, the target is burned to ash if they reach zero HP. I get the feeling that WOTC thinks these largely inconsequential 'ribbons' are what makes these spells worthwhile; or worse yet, WOTC subcribes to the notion I've heard mentioned more and more online lately: the "DM spell." Being burned to ash when you reach zero HP carries more bite when used against a PC. Lesser damage is not as big a problem when applied to the generally lesser HP of PCs in the Bounded Accuracy paradigm. It just creates a system mastery puzzle for PC spell casters to overcome that I don't think was an intentional part of the original design of the system; or at least shouldn't have been, IMHO. *EDIT* So I can see how a potential player can be frustrated when playing a wizard, depending on the campaign style, DM, and system mastery involved. [/QUOTE]

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