Sanctified Spells... possible splat?

[mirivor]

I only just, after owning the book since its release, realized that there were Sanctified Spells on page 84 of BoED. For some reason, these things are simply awesome.

One of my biggest bugs with core magic is the lack of flexibility. Sure the wizard knows a billion spells, but he can only memorize so many, thus characters are beholden to memorizing the powerful spells, something for which they cannot be blamed. There should be a core list of spells/abilities that support the "magic user".

For instance, I feel that any caster should be able to sacrifice some spell(s) in order to attempt to disprupt/dispel/negate magic. Why does one need to know a certain spell to disrupt others? Thus, casters can "see" the weave of magic around them. They can alter it or destroy it if they are powerful enough. This would greatly aid counterspelling, arguably one of the least used mechanics in the game.

The Sancitified Spells are a GREAT way to rectify this, in a way. Basically, you have a short list of spells/abilities that a cleric can spontaneously sub in during an emergency. The cost is steep (ability damage), but if it saves your butt.... Overall I am very impressed with this tiny aspect of what I otherwise do not care for in a magic system.

This post is meant for a WoTC employee to see as well as for comments and insight. I am hoping that Wizards will choose to place some more of this material in future books, maybe even a whole splat devoted to magic like this.

Later!

 

[Nail]

Opinion:

WotC is unlikely to continue design like that of sanctified spells. In the future, they will expand the [Reserve] feat system, to allow spell-casters lesser abilities that don't require expending spell slots.

Because really, few people enjoy the mechanic of taking (ability) damage to cast a spell.

 

[mirivor]

Nail, I agree with you. I should have made it clear that it is not that mechanic of ability damage, necessarily, but rather the idea that all magic users have a list of "spontaneous spells" that they have access to that would greatly expand their general abilities.

Clerics can spontaneously heal, druids spontaneously summon allies. Both of those abilities are wonderful. In fact, you could argue that they make the cleric playable from a not-so-boring perspective.

Why not with the other casters? Wizards should be able to sub the basics.... detect magic, read magic (maybe), dispel magic (perhaps a weakened version, since you don't want to goof the normal spell), shield, etc. Just a nice assortment of utility spells that the wizard could spontaneously cast. Their cost could be higher (such as ability damage), but on the other hand they do not have to fill their precious slots with spells that will most likely not be used.

Sorcerers, rather than spontaneous subbing, should receive some bonus feats like the wizard, and I believe that their ability to cast metamagic on the fly is a great representation of a sorcerer's talent.