D&D (2024) New Wild Shape

[mellored]

Re: temporary hit points
Given the alternating forms, and the hours long durring. I'm thinking having a per-turn THP would be better than a bucket of them when you shift.

If that were a requirement for posting in this forum there would be nothing but OGL threads.

:-/

Fun thing about spells though, they can litterally do anything you can imagine.

Including any kind of wild shape.

 

[Bill Zebub]

Fun thing about spells though, they can litterally do anything you can imagine.

That’s a perfect summary of why I think the D&D magic system is so terrible. It’s like Harry Potter magic.

 

[Benjamin Olson]

That’s a perfect summary of why I think the D&D magic system is so terrible. It’s like Harry Potter magic.

Harry Potter is the best know fantasy setting that has a comparable base level of magic to what D&D assumes. Which is fine, I just wish the market leader in fantasy gaming made setting assumptions in line with more typical fantasy storytelling.

 

[James Gasik]

Harry Potter is the best know fantasy setting that has a comparable base level of magic to what D&D assumes. Which is fine, I just wish the market leader in fantasy gaming made setting assumptions in line with more typical fantasy storytelling.

I mean, let's be honest, Harry Potter wizards are a lot stronger than D&D wizards for the most part; not only do they have an endless array of spells (some very specific and niche), children can learn how to use a decent selection of them and can basically use them at will (I've seen references to the idea that magic use drains stamina, but it's rarely shown).

 

[Bill Zebub]

What I meant by Harry Potter magic is that there's no internal logic/consistency for how it works, or what it's capable of. It's just, "If you can think of it, magic can do it."

 

[James Gasik]

What I meant by Harry Potter magic is that there's no internal logic/consistency for how it works, or what it's capable of. It's just, "If you can think of it, magic can do it."

Got it, ok. Well, to be fair, that's not impossible to balance, though the best ways I've seen to do it wouldn't be good fits for D&D.

Examples-

Zelazny Style: you can cast any kind of spell you want, but it takes a lot of time to cast in advance (save for one or two linchpins that you supply later), so you have the constant choice of "do you go on an adventure, or rack your spells?".

Mage Style: you can do anything (maybe), but the chance of success is low and flagrant magic can blow up in your face.

Earthdawn Style: you can do anything, but you can only have a very small number of spells available at a given moment, and it takes effort to change them on the fly.

Ars Magica Style: everyone plays a spellcaster, martials are NPC minions.

 

[mellored]

What I meant by Harry Potter magic is that there's no internal logic/consistency for how it works, or what it's capable of. It's just, "If you can think of it, magic can do it."

DnD came out before Harry Potter.

And there was never any internal consistency or explanation of how it works. Maybe some hints about carrying around bat guano to throw a fireball, but not really.

 

[James Gasik]

DnD came out before Harry Potter.

And there was never any internal consistency or explanation of how it works. Maybe some hints about carrying around bat guano to throw a fireball, but not really.

Yeah, basic references to magical laws like contagion or sympathy. Kept for flavor reasons, not really balance reasons. Like it's cool to know what hand gestures, words of power, or focus items a spell might need for roleplaying, but this is a game where almost every type of sword is "one handed, does d6 or d8 damage".

If we're going to be in depth about magic spells, how about expounding on the virtues of epee vs. foil vs. saber, or how Venetian Fencing stands up to Neapolitan Fencing?

 

[Benjamin Olson]

If we're going to be in depth about magic spells, how about expounding on the virtues of epee vs. foil vs. saber, or how Venetian Fencing stands up to Neapolitan Fencing?

I mean that sort of detail might make sense in a game about humanoids fighting humanoids in a pseudo-medieval fantasy world. What makes bringing in much of the subtleties of real world fighting technique a terrible fit for D&D is that neither the Venetian school or the Neapolitan school have much to say about fighting dragons.

 

[Bill Zebub]

Got it, ok. Well, to be fair, that's not impossible to balance, though the best ways I've seen to do it wouldn't be good fits for D&D.

Oh, I don't mean from a balance perspective. I just mean from a narrative perspective.

For example, if the 'schools of magic' were designed with more intentionality (for example, if they started with the schools and designed from there, as opposed to just made up cool spells and then decided which school was the closest match) I would like to see a game where Wizards could only cast spells from one school.