Quicken Spell and Spell-like now swift action!?

[Lord Pendragon]

I think it's actually clearer than before. Instead of "you cast it as a free action, but you're only allowed 1 of these per round" you have "it's a swift action". Once you know what a swift action does you won't have to read the whole thing again. Same with immediate. Instead of reading that it counts as your one free action to cast a spell, but that you can also cast it out of turn, you only have to read that once, and then only read immediate action.

Not me. Now instead of Full, Standard, Move, and Free actions. We have Full, Standard, Move, Free, Swift, and Immediate Actions, where Swift and Immediate Actions are both almost exactly like Free Actions, but each with a slight difference. It's annoying. I'd rather they kept the four actions, and the two exceptions. In the Core rules, the exceptions aren't that hard to keep track of. Quicken Spell, and Featherfall.

 

[Olgar Shiverstone]

I just wish these good-idea cookoffs would stay in the sourcebooks that generated them, rather than migrating over to elsewhere. If a rule is in the MHB, XPH, and MM3, is it now a core rule?

And with PHB, DMG, MM, MM2, MM3, XPH, FRCS, MHB, CW, CD ... do we have enough abbreviations? IYKWIMAITYD.

 

[Kae'Yoss]

And with PHB, DMG, MM, MM2, MM3, XPH, FRCS, MHB, CW, CD ... do we have enough abbreviations? IYKWIMAITYD.

MfG! ;-)

 

[AuraSeer]

The problem with "fewer action types plus an exception" is that the exception tends to get really complex.

Before, a full explanation would have to go something like this:
A Quickened spell is a free action that you can use only once per round.
A Quickened spell-like ability is a free action that you can use only once per round, and not in the same round that you use a Quickened spell.
Activating certain psionic abilities is a free action that you can use only once per round, and not in the same round that you use a Quickened spell or spell-like ability.
Featherfall can be cast as a free action once in a round, but not in the same round in which you cast a Quickened spell, spell-like ability, or psionic power.
...and so on.

With the new "swift action" label, the full list of explanations goes like this:
Using a Quickened spell is a swift action.
Using a Quickened spell-like ability is a swift action.
Using a Quickened psionic power is a swift action.
Featherfall can be cast as a swift action.

Much simpler this way, don't you think?

 

[CRGreathouse]

The problem with "fewer action types plus an exception" is that the exception tends to get really complex.

Yeah -- just try to add Multispell into the mix....

 

[Lord Pendragon]

With the new "swift action" label, the full list of explanations goes like this:
Using a Quickened spell is a swift action.
Using a Quickened spell-like ability is a swift action.
Using a Quickened psionic power is a swift action.
Featherfall can be cast as a swift action.

Much simpler this way, don't you think?

No, because I explain it like this.

You can only Quicken anything once a round.
Featherfall is a free action you can use whenever you start falling.

See my point?

 

[Thanee]

What Lord Pendragon means is, that now there are more "exceptions" as the "exceptions" is made into a "rule". Prior to that, there were exactly two, one "swift" and one "immediate".

Bye
Thanee

 

[Deset Gled]

No, because I explain it like this.

You can only Quicken anything once a round.
Featherfall is a free action you can use whenever you start falling.

See my point?

But in your explanation, you've changed things again. With the current way things work, you can't cast Featherfall in the same round you used a Quickened spell. Your explanation fails to point that out.

I think you just made a point for your opposition.

 

[Lord Pendragon]

But in your explanation, you've changed things again. With the current way things work, you can't cast Featherfall in the same round you used a Quickened spell. Your explanation fails to point that out.

I think you just made a point for your opposition.

I don't think so at all. All I have to do is add "and it counts as a Quickened Spell" to the end of the featherfall exception.

The point is still that there are/were four action types and two exceptions. Period. Now there are Six action types, three of which are virtually identical. I think that's more confusing than 4 + exceptions.

I will make one concession, though. I don't use the XPH, so perhaps that book creates many more examples of "Swift" and "Immediate" actions, to the point where the designation is more useful than listing off the exceptions to the Free Action rules. But playing without the XPH, I find it more hassle than it's worth.

 

[Scion]

It strikes me just as an easy to use simplification.

Much like they say 'shaken' instead of -2 to attack rolls, saves, ability checks, and skill checks.

If you are looking through the description and it says free action one has to wonder what exceptions it might have, and then read the rest to find the exception somewhere in the rules text.

Or they can have a simple, one word description that instantly tells you what it does.