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<blockquote data-quote="mmadsen" data-source="post: 1542526" data-attributes="member: 1645">Gandalf only casts a handful of spells in the entire Hobbit-Lord of the Rings saga -- a few flaming pine cones, some light, a failed attempt to hold the portal vs. the Balrog, a beam of light vs. the Nazgul -- and he clearly only casts spells when he really, really has to.&nbsp; He is the good, wise Wizard, the Wizard who only uses spells he can control, and only when absolutely necessary.Ah, because you have no bias at all.Perhaps you misunderstand my use of should.&nbsp; If we want wizards in the game acting like wizards in a novel -- that is, not casting spells willy-nilly -- then magic shouldn't be free, reliable, etc.In Vance's Dying Earth stories, great wizards can cast minor spells safely, but not-so-great wizards, like Cugel, can easily mess up a spell -- with dire consequences.In D&amp;D, &quot;high level powerful stuff&quot; doesn't &quot;get dangerous&quot;; you can't try it until you're able to cast it flawlessly.How?</blockquote>

[QUOTE="mmadsen, post: 1542526, member: 1645"] Gandalf only casts a handful of spells in the entire [i]Hobbit-Lord of the Rings[/i] saga -- a few flaming pine cones, some light, a failed attempt to hold the portal vs. the Balrog, a beam of light vs. the Nazgul -- and he clearly only casts spells when he really, really has to. He is the good, wise Wizard, the Wizard who only uses spells he can control, and only when absolutely necessary. Ah, because you have no bias at all. Perhaps you misunderstand my use of [i]should[/i]. [i]If we want wizards in the game acting like wizards in a novel[/i] -- that is, not casting spells willy-nilly -- [i]then[/i] magic shouldn't be free, reliable, etc. In Vance's [i]Dying Earth[/i] stories, great wizards can cast minor spells safely, but not-so-great wizards, like Cugel, can easily mess up a spell -- with dire consequences. In D&D, "high level powerful stuff" doesn't "get dangerous"; you can't [i]try[/i] it until you're able to cast it flawlessly. How? [/QUOTE]

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