Should Wizardry Require Player Intelligence?

[GMMichael]

GM: Stephen, you're up.
SH: I c a s t m a g i c m i s s i l e .
GM: And?
SH: O h s o r r y . I d i d n ' t c a l c u l a t e t h e f l u x c a p a c i t a t i o n y e t .
GM: No problem. Everyone, Stephen's wizard starts casting a spell. Stephen, let me know when you're ready. Gronk, you're up next . . .

Is magic very magical when you order it from a picture menu like you're at McDonald's? What if you had to do some thinking while your character was weaving magical energies? I assume Ars Magica magic is like this. The whole book was too smart for me; I could only figure out about ten pages. Lots of other games have rules above and beyond "swing and damage" for spells, so there's a good bit of precedent for spells-as-player-challenges.

I realize that us nerds are up to the challenge. But is a magic puzzle a good way to make things feel magical? Should players of brainy characters be rewarded for doing something brainy, like seeing a magical effect happen after navigating a geometric puzzle? Would this just make barbarians more attractive for players like Gronk?

 

[Count_Zero]

Short answer - no, it slows down the game.

 

[BookTenTiger]

Honestly I think every role should have the potential for god-brain tactics and also beer-and-pretzel play. There should be room for spellcasters that just press the Eldritch Blast button over and over again, and spellcasters who have calculated how to cast three fireballs in the perfect geometric pattern to hit all the enemies and avoid all their allies.

But I think the same should apply to combat classes too. There's no reason an "intelligent player" can't play a Barbarian tactically.

 

[dbm]

I don’t think Rincewind’s player needed a superior intelligence to play him. Or any of the wizards on the Discworld for that matter!

 

[Reynard]

I think menu-magic is something that improves gameplay but makes the fiction boring and rote. Adding more uncertainty and/or variability to magic makes it harder to play, but more interesting. It is a trade off that different games have always approached differently.

For 5E, I would like to implement the Shadowdark system, where there are activation rolls and potential mishaps. I would also like a system for open ended magic (probably as rituals as opposed to on the fly casting) that looks like building VPPs in Hero. But those things comes with costs to gameplay as well as widening the gulf between martials and casters.

 

[Celebrim]

Player intelligence is always an advantage for all classes. It's not required, but Wizard is a much harder class to play than almost any other class. Even my smart players tend to avoid it, because it's stressful and difficult. Sorcerer is well loved because it's easier to manage and you don't have to plan ahead as much. I'm sure however there is a player that Wizard with its ability to prepare for anything would be the perfect choice for them and they'd love it.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

Short answer - no, it slows down the game.

The Ars Magica-derived Mage: The Ascension has rotes -- pre-designed spells as an option to use rather than making stuff up on the fly for this reason. (Ars Magica may do it as well; I don't own the game.)

That said, once mages get used to combining elements -- and no mage will have access to all elements of magic at all power levels -- things do speed up. In the example, Stephen would know that he has power over matter and distance, but not time, energy or entropy, for instance, and would be planning to dissolve an enemy's armor or rusting it solid, for instance, or spying on them at a distance.

The magic style allows more flexibility than Vancian casting, but it's still constrained.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

I'm sure however there is a player that Wizard with its ability to prepare for anything would be the perfect choice for them and they'd love it.

The wizard-as-Batman was the playstyle most promoted by optimizers by the end of the 3E era, but those folks were coming to the table with character optimization spreadsheets already. Extremely powerful, but you definitely need to do your homework and ideally have a lot of ability to get the spells you want.

 

[The-Magic-Sword]

Oh hey, I was the first yes, my viewpoint is more or less that while I don't think I'd want an arbitrary minigame, I think that the mechanics of the class should let players in on the fantasy of being a wizard a little bit. So I kind of appreciate that spell prep mechanics for wizards reward research and other thematically appropriate skills, kinda like how I also appreciate needing to be at least a little outspoken to get the most out of a charisma character.

 

[Tonguez]

All spellcasting in DnD should be subject to a skill check, so maybe just expand the spell attack rules out to cover every attempt. I allow more flexibility with any skill being usable (eg a bard dance can use perform)

That said Verb-noun systems like Ars Magica can be a fun minigame investing creativity in the mix n match.