OMG Fireball, Noooooooooooo!

[DaveMage]

At 30th level 3e fireball deals 35 damage, and this new fireball deals 70.5

At 30th level in 3e, you've maximized and empowered your fireball to do 77 points of damage.

 

[Gryffyn]

Well, if fireball doesn't do 1d6 per level anymore, that's great! That allows for higher-level fireball spells that do more dice of damage. No longer will those 3rd-level slots be the main ones used for big explosions. Now you can have a whole range of fireball spells, just like you do with cure spells.

 

[Zurai]

The average of 1d6 is 3.5. So, 3d6 +2/level means that fireball are even less a threat than with 3e.

Really? So you know how hitpoints and saves are going to work in 4e? Please enlighten us lesser beings!

Less snarky version: Speculating that things are going to be underpowered or overpowered, with the next-to-nil information available to us, is quite literally worse than useless.

 

[Szatany]

I'm not sure there will be no more level cap. This was an "improvement" of 3e. I guess we have already forgotten why they were there... Hum, something about higher level spells being more powerful than lower ones.

Spell levels as we know are gone, so some rules no longer apply. There will not be separate slots for each level you prepare spells in (I'm making an educated guess because if there were, the game would be almost unplayable).
That means that you prepare spells of any level you want in the same pool of slots.
That in turn means that if a caster has two spells of varying power but otherwise the same, he will always pick the better one.
That means that there is no point in making a better spell version. It's easier and more elegant to just let the original spell scale all the way up.
I hopy my logic is flawless

 

[Eldragon]

One thing I like about D&D over other RPG systems is that the gameplay fundamentally changes as you progress in levels.

At low levels its all about wearing down their HP.
At mid levels you need to worry about damage reduction and immunities,
by the time you hit high level, HP dont even matter anymore, its all about Save or Die spells and getting the the drop on your opponent.

I'm concerned that at high levels, we are just throwing more dice around, but players continue to use the same tactics over and over again.

Most CRPGs have this problem. At low level, you swing and smash monsters. At high levels, you are still swinging and smashing monsters, and you dont need to adjust your tactics one bit.

 

[JVisgaitis]

You know, getting rid of a lot of the "sacred cows" is going to piss off a lot of people. Honestly, I don't care. I hope WotC isn't afraid this time to do whatever it takes to make the game better. There are a lot of things that I would do away with it. Magic Missile, I'm looking at you!

 

[Aloïsius]

Heck, this is the part I['m more interested in.

Game breaking spells need to die and die horrible deaths.

Huh ? No scrying ? Seriously ? No cackling wizards spying the heroes with a cristal ball while his minions are setting the ambush ?

No teleportation ? No such thing as the marvelous sight of an unknow world after just a few step under a strange portal ?

No etherealness ? Come one ! I want my hippie/new age trip when the shaman pas between the worlds to explore his surrounding.

Game breaking spells should not die. They should be modified so that they can be managed by the DM. Make them difficult to cast, make the wizard pay a price to use them, make them dangerous (magic is supposed to be dangerous, yet, in D&D it never goes "poof") but do not remove them. It would be a huge loss.

That means that you prepare spells of any level you want in the same pool of slots.

Hum, I'm not sure they don't find another way. My guess is that there will be far less spells to cast than before. Maybe even 1 per level (thus a 7th level wizard will have one 7th level spell, one 6th, one 5th...) plus his "always on" various magic ability. I can be wrong, however. In fact, I'm certainly wrong

 

[Agamon]

Save or die failed its save! D&D is dead! Long live D&D!

 

[Aus_Snow]

There are a lot of things that I would do away with it. Magic Missile, I'm looking at you!

Damn, sounds like my house rules again.

It's true, too. But anyway, I'm honestly liking the way they're taking [they've taken] 4e, more each day.

Never thought I'd say that. But there it is.

 

[Masquerade]

If this effort to expand the sweet spot using the magic of mathematics works, it alone will warrant the purchase of a new set of books.

Magic Missile, I'm looking at you!

4e could have a talent available for sorcerers which functions similar to Eldritch Blast but is called Magic Missile.