RP Ability Descriptions - How much leverage do you give?

[Equalibrium]

I've been mulling over some of the PHB/DMG, and working with a group for the last 2 years in 3.x that's a big fan of character personalization through RP. Now that your mage's "Magic Missile" can be flying skulls with chattering teeth, instead of just a few beams of energy, where do you draw the line in your game?

The skulls thing is a less-than-verbatim example given in one of the core books, but it will encourage me to tell my players they can modify this text. So the question is:

Has anyone run into problems with implied changing effects, or modifications to abilities that have spilled over into the game-altering category?

An example I'm thinking of using: A priest who worships a fire god that, upon healing party members, occasionally has the visual effect of a flame, and perhaps a speedily-cauterizing wound. It wouldn't change anything about the healing spell, but it's certainly different from what a player would expect a healing spell to look like

All feedback appreciated!

 

[Runestar]

No problems I have encountered, so long as the players understand that any changes are purely aesthetic and will not affect the way the ability in question interacts mechanicswise.

 

[Kzach]

No problems I have encountered, so long as the players understand that any changes are purely aesthetic and will not affect the way the ability in question interacts mechanicswise.

What he said.

 

[LostSoul]

One PC in my game lamented the lack of Cold spells for Wizards.

So I let him replace all elemental keywords with Cold for all his spells - Scorching Burst, Cloud of Daggers, etc.

It seems okay so far.

 

[Nifft]

One PC in my game lamented the lack of Cold spells for Wizards.

So I let him replace all elemental keywords with Cold for all his spells - Scorching Burst, Cloud of Daggers, etc.

It seems okay so far.

You won't regret this until 11th level. Then, you really will.

Cheers, -- N

 

[Sound of Azure]

The elf "laser" cleric in my Ragnorok game fires all of his attack spells from a specially made bow (i'm treating it as a special implement, similar to a warlock's pact blade), similar to the character Ishida in Bleach. Other spells take the form of runic circles.

 

[Lizard]

I had a cleric of the spider goddess in my 3x game heal herself by summoning swarms of tiny spiders which spun webs to close the wounds. Her inflict wounds manifested as the tips of her fingers turning into yawning spider mouths, and so on.

Individualization of spell effects should be strongly encouraged, but mechanical changes -- like the above-mentioned Cold keyword -- should be treated with more care. "My magic missiles look like icicles" is cool (no pun intended), but if they actually do Cold instead of Force damage, you run the risk of introducing unexpected imbalance (they gain extra damage from whatever feat it is that pumps up cold, they are ineffective against some creatures and more effective against others, etc.)

In short, in terms of "What it looks like", there should be no limits[1] -- and the DM should neither penalize nor benefit the spell mechanically. (If you say "I fire all my spells from a summoned bow", this should not mean you suffer OAs if you're in melee, for example.)

[1]Other than good taste and campaign theme, of course. A wizard who defines Magic Missile as "I give 'em a few rounds from my Mac 10 and bust a cap in their ass![2]" *probably* is going too far, though in some campaigns, it's pretty much par for the course....

[2]Is that what the kids are calling it these days? I can't keep up.

 

[Ander00]

Individualization of spell effects should be strongly encouraged.

I agree with this. I find it very pleasing when a player really wants to make a character his own in some way, and unfortunate when a DM disallows it for no good reason. As long as it makes some amount of sense in the context of the game world, I wouldn't want to impose a limit on the player's creativity, when it comes to aesthetics.


cheers

 

[Saeviomagy]

You won't regret this until 11th level. Then, you really will.

Cheers, -- N

That's really only because (most of) the other elemental feats are so terminally bad.

I mean really - the best they could think of for fire was reducing fire resistance?

 

[RyvenCedrylle]

You almost have to allow customization of powers to get a real sense of character identity in 4E, IMHO.

F'rinstance, I'm playing a gnomish ironsmith-turned-artificer undergoing a midlife crisis that prompts him to go adventuring. All of his adventuring tools are rune-inscribed household goods: kitchen knives (daggers), a lampstand (mace), frying pan (implement, good for mixing various weird herbs and spices for Caustic Rampart and the Admixtures), handkerchief (Arcane Springboard) and half of a hatrack (to be determined later)