NOW LIVE! Today's the day you meet your new best friend. You don’t have to leave Wolfy behind... In 'Pets & Sidekicks' your companions level up with you!

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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Ariosto" data-source="post: 4789252" data-attributes="member: 80487">Splats: Use 'em or not, modified or not, as you like. I don't buy the premise that everything tossed out by every Tom, Dick or Harry with OGL in hand and the cash for a print run was "balanced" with everything else. I don't buy that even about WotC material.The "infinitely expandable" cleric spell list is an "ancient" issue (going back to implications of D&D Supplement I, coming to the fore with the 1st ed. Unearthed Arcana). Formal recognition of it with a set number of spells available seems to me a good idea. That would pave the way for DMs to create distinctive lists for different deities. The concept of "spheres of influence" was implicit in 1st ed. AD&D, but an explicit and very basic limit would be a help. Something like the 2E spheres could also be provided as a guide.Polymorph is something that has always depended on DM adjudication. The notion that versatility should depend on "monster manuals" reflects an attitude at odds with the basic premise of the game.Although I don't recall all the details of the 3.5 spells, I think the 1E versions probably did a better job of posing serious considerations. Polymorph self did not involve system shock, and allowed a series of metamorphoses -- but with more limitations on abilities acquired than polymorph other. The 3.5 version of polymorph any object got more specific about durations, but I think the examples could be more clear.I would prefer guidance for DMs as to how to limit the forms a caster can choose. An appropriate material component is one requirement I happen to like.Others might prefer the breakdown into several spells mentioned earlier.What I would consider ideal is to have the designers not make the choice for everyone but instead offer options. One would be more back-compatible, the other more innately balanced.</blockquote>

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