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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Celtavian" data-source="post: 6655934" data-attributes="member: 5834">Changing forms of others in Greek mythology was quite common. D&D doesn't emulate Greek mythology perfectly. It takes a piece of it and integrates. I'm sure Circe could do quite a bit more, but that is what she is best known for. Sorcery was generally created to suit the moral of the story. Mythology was not written for entertainment, but often for education. Most of what magic within it was done to punish. There is no specific limit as to what they can do other than the needs of the story or the imagination of the author. Yep.So your defining artillery as cast from a distance? If that is your definition, hard to argue against such a wide breadth.I don't agree. Spells were meant to simulate different things. Summoners, enchanters, changing the form of targets, putting things to sleep, and the like. All are possible. Adventures must be catered for such a wide field. The main driving component of their artillery type nature is because groups are most easily satisfied with group combat. It's must easier to run combat than create  side plots that leaves nothing else for other characters to do while another character is accomplishing his non-combat goal.No. The whole disparity is based on the argument that martial hero is equal to the caster hero in fiction. I haven't found that to be the case in the majority of books and stories. Quite the opposite. The only arguments are the often included caster-martial like an Anomander Rake who is both. That can be specifically emulated in D&D if you wish. That is a type of campaign setting where everyone would be playing some type of martial as far as combat is concerned. It is handled by level. A low level caster is pretty easy for a martial to kill. From level 1 to maybe 7 or 8, martials can kill casters quite well in games where they don't have access to tons of magic items disposable or otherwise. In 5E martials can kill casters for far longer and even have a great chance in the high teens. But they don't have the breadth of power of a caster, at least a wizard. True. I've always advocated for more skills for warriors. In my experience fighting men learn a lot of skills to ply their trade because they do not have magic to rely on to get them by doors, over castle walls, or interrogate prisoners. They learn how to do this using mundane means.As far as mythical figures, a DM could easily work in a God watching over someone. Or provide the character with mythical abilities. I did this all the time when I was younger. If someone wanted to make Hercules or some demon's son, we made it up. Nothing is stopping anyone from doing this. It's also hard to run as a DM. You can't force a DM to allow this. Martials have extremely high DPR in D&D, add a bunch of magical powers to their repertoire and you have some real problems as a DM.Probably so. The caster villain is still a great deal stronger than the hero in those stories. The hero just happens to be the guy that takes the 1000 year old wizard or whatever caster, demon, etc. out, usually with the luck of the gods or just because he's a badass and the writer wants him to win. You'll read a book where a caster villain is controlling the world, wiping people out with waves of his hand, suddenly the hero shows up and defeats him using some loosely plausible method dreamed up by the writer usually involving a quest for an item, a group working together, catching him unaware, or some similar thing. Even Lord of the Rings, a book I love, required you buy into the idea that a group of hobbits could evade the Dark Lord who was a lesser angel in spirit form who could create rings of power capable of seeing from afar, controlling the will of others, and creating magic that manipulated the world in some fashion. You went with it because it was entertaining to do so. Most stories are this way. D&D is no different. Heroes are often measured by the villains they fight. Sauron and even the Witchking of Angmar was a great deal stronger than majority of The Fellowship of the Ring, yet he still lost after three thousand plus years of ruling or existing in some fashion. That's the illusion you try to create in your games.</blockquote>

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