That's it Psion, you go too far!
Psion said:
Not perfect =/= a travesty of balance.
I never said it was a TRAVESTY of balance. Not perfect is wide open, it means anything but perfect
If you want to nail me down, fine, I will say it's somewhere between Not quite perfect and a travesty of balance.
Oh, I've seen plenty of grousing. But like yours, most of it is relatively meaningless windage.
Just because *you* cannot perceive the meaning, does not mean it is meaningless.
ColonelHardisson politely asked me to explain my opinion and so I have.
And those many people also blithely dismiss the role of the rangers skills and spellcasting as they advance levels.
And you have blithely dismissed my argument that a ranger's caster level is half his level, cutting the duration of his spells in half, not to mention he is only getting 4th level spells at 15th level (which means his save DC is shot), and his selection is quite limited. Furthermore, you've probably heard many people don't find spell casting within their concept of "ranger".
So? They also have to pay XP to make items. And the cost may seem paltry for 1st level spell effects/items, but it escelates rapidly.
Sorry, NON issue.
Issue. The fact that they have the option to create magical devices means they can acquire items (of their choosing) that may be inaccessable to most other classes, or at least acquire them at half price even if they are widely available. Furthermore, every book that is released adds more power to the king of spell casters. Flip through the Stronghold Builder's Guide. Notice all the new things wizards can make?
How often can you use those spells?
Well, let's see, polymorph self into a flying creature can last close to 24 hours at medium level. So one 4th level slot is worth 100 ranks in climb.
You have quite obviously never played a high level game. Even a high level wizard is in serious jeopardy when being wailed on in combat by high level fighters.
Yes, I have played a high level game. Have you ever thought about how to play a wizard? Any wizard worth his salt is going to cast Haste, Fly, and be 90 ft in the air on the first round, in addition to having contingency + stoneskin active at all times.
Just like new feats, they are new options. They still cost you, either counting against your 2 new spells/level or costing you money. Sorry, no great travesty here.
HUGE travesty! How can you downplay potential power because it costs money? If a fighter could acquire free feats by paying for training, I would say a wizard's access to infinite spells only restricted by money is a non-issue.
And this is a problem WHY? So don't choose toughness unless you need to... or you really need the points.
Because it is poor game design, and a waste of space in my player's handbook. Let's say half the spells are useless and half are good. What is the point of having the former half exist at all? By your reasoning, if half the core classes are pathetically imbalanced, just don't choose to play them. Don't fix anything, just be cheerful that every 5 pages out of 10 are being used.
Not in the least. There is a rather strict prerequisite on these feats.
If you don't see the problem with these guys, it would take far too much explanation on my part, moving right along...
I do see this as something of a problem, enough so that every time the character gains a power level I let them re-designate one of their lower level slots. Is this a travesty of balance? No. If the character was concerned about the redundancy of the power, they could have selected a different power.
You really like that word, don't you? Travesty! The don't like it, don't choose it argument is a bad one. All powers should have appeal (at least to most), otherwise there is no point in it existing.
Sorry, really beg to differ. Dragons are a well known hiccup in the CR system. But for general purposes, I find the CR system does a fairly good job. However what it won't do is adapt to your party's specific capabilities and tactics, as your black pudding example illustrates. It is not a substitute for the GM having a brain.
Psion, Black Pudding has an Intelligence of 0, a Wisdom of 1, and a move of 20'. If I made it adapt to my party's tactics, I would be accused of wholesale cheating. The party easily adapted to the pudding by out running it and going back to town for fire. CR 7 indeed.
Okay, so? Can inflict 5 points to up to 5 targets (or more on one target) at 9th level. At 5th level burning hands can inflict up to 20 points of damage to MULTIPLE targets. Not too shabby.
You miss my point. Burning hands is decent, no argument there. Shocking Grasp is a different story.
So in short, I think you are out to lunch. Is it perfect? No, but I think the idea of a perfectly balanced game is ludicrous, as too many people do too many different things, and there are too many different factors to balance around. But I think 3e comes close enough that it makes it reasonably easy to create scenarios with the proper level of challenge, unlike all editions of the D&D game that have gone before, and for that matter, most other RPGs.
And I think you are a fan boy (I hope I am using that phrase correctly). Balance can be achieved much better than it is now, and designers should strive for it instead of repeating the mantra, "it's better than it was before!"
-7th
