Menu
News
All News
Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
Pathfinder
Starfinder
Warhammer
2d20 System
Year Zero Engine
Industry News
Reviews
Dragon Reflections
Columns
Weekly Digests
Weekly News Digest
Freebies, Sales & Bundles
RPG Print News
RPG Crowdfunding News
Game Content
ENterplanetary DimENsions
Mythological Figures
Opinion
Worlds of Design
Peregrine's Next
RPG Evolution
Other Columns
From the Freelancing Frontline
Monster ENcyclopedia
WotC/TSR Alumni Look Back
4 Hours w/RSD (Ryan Dancey)
The Road to 3E (Jonathan Tweet)
Greenwood's Realms (Ed Greenwood)
Drawmij's TSR (Jim Ward)
Community
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Resources
Wiki
Pages
Latest activity
Media
New media
New comments
Search media
Downloads
Latest reviews
Search resources
EN Publishing
Store
EN5ider
Adventures in ZEITGEIST
Awfully Cheerful Engine
What's OLD is NEW
Judge Dredd & The Worlds Of 2000AD
War of the Burning Sky
Level Up: Advanced 5E
Events & Releases
Upcoming Events
Private Events
Featured Events
Socials!
Twitch
YouTube
Facebook (EN Publishing)
Facebook (EN World)
Twitter
Instagram
TikTok
Podcast
Features
Top 5 RPGs Compiled Charts 2004-Present
Adventure Game Industry Market Research Summary (RPGs) V1.0
Ryan Dancey: Acquiring TSR
Q&A With Gary Gygax
D&D Rules FAQs
TSR, WotC, & Paizo: A Comparative History
D&D Pronunciation Guide
Million Dollar TTRPG Kickstarters
Tabletop RPG Podcast Hall of Fame
Eric Noah's Unofficial D&D 3rd Edition News
D&D in the Mainstream
D&D & RPG History
About Morrus
Log in
Register
What's new
Search
Search
Search titles only
By:
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Menu
Log in
Register
Install the app
Install
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*Dungeons & Dragons
Putting The Awe Back In Magic
JavaScript is disabled. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding.
You are using an out of date browser. It may not display this or other websites correctly.
You should upgrade or use an
alternative browser
.
Reply to thread
Message
<blockquote data-quote="Fenris-77" data-source="post: 7998068" data-attributes="member: 6993955"><p>Sure, I even said this was possible above. However, it's a lot of work as the DM. Not so much the occasional fireball at a pillar (although that does have issues, and which I'll come back to) but rather the idea of overcoming the inertia of the normal spellcasting system having zero risk and zero variation.</p><p></p><p>As far as the pillar goes, there's risks because of the way D&D damage scales. A fireball does an average of 28.5 damage. If that enough to topple a stone column, would a good blow from an axe that did the same damage also topple the column? That's the sort of thing I don't want to have to deal with on a constant basis. If you handle the whole thing outside the damage system it easier to avoid that sort of issue, which is probably how I'd handle it.</p><p></p><p></p><p>That's correct, to make it risky you also have to make it more powerful, up to a point. There are different ways of making more powerful of course. A system that allowed unlimited castings, but gated that using a different mechanic should probably be balanced to return an outcome more or less roughly in line with the current system. However, if by more powerful you mean each individual spell, the the balance would have to be achieved in other ways.</p><p></p><p>Part of the reason magic is considered 'too powerful' now is the reliability and consequence-free nature of the system. It makes for a system that's very easy to game (not in a bad way). By that I mean the acquisition of the 'right spells' is trivially easy, as well as the complete reliability of those spells in any encounter. Add in a handful of spells that really are OP, and you are where we're at now. I don't think it's broken, but it does have some issues.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Fenris-77, post: 7998068, member: 6993955"] Sure, I even said this was possible above. However, it's a lot of work as the DM. Not so much the occasional fireball at a pillar (although that does have issues, and which I'll come back to) but rather the idea of overcoming the inertia of the normal spellcasting system having zero risk and zero variation. As far as the pillar goes, there's risks because of the way D&D damage scales. A fireball does an average of 28.5 damage. If that enough to topple a stone column, would a good blow from an axe that did the same damage also topple the column? That's the sort of thing I don't want to have to deal with on a constant basis. If you handle the whole thing outside the damage system it easier to avoid that sort of issue, which is probably how I'd handle it. That's correct, to make it risky you also have to make it more powerful, up to a point. There are different ways of making more powerful of course. A system that allowed unlimited castings, but gated that using a different mechanic should probably be balanced to return an outcome more or less roughly in line with the current system. However, if by more powerful you mean each individual spell, the the balance would have to be achieved in other ways. Part of the reason magic is considered 'too powerful' now is the reliability and consequence-free nature of the system. It makes for a system that's very easy to game (not in a bad way). By that I mean the acquisition of the 'right spells' is trivially easy, as well as the complete reliability of those spells in any encounter. Add in a handful of spells that really are OP, and you are where we're at now. I don't think it's broken, but it does have some issues. [/QUOTE]
Insert quotes…
Verification
Post reply
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*Dungeons & Dragons
Putting The Awe Back In Magic
Top