Simplifying Spell Durations...

[Pbartender]

I just had an interesting thought...

Most spell durations, with a very few exceptions, can be boiled down into four general catagories...

Instantaneous, Encounter-long, Day-long, and Permanent.

It seems as if there are very few of us who actually worry about keeping strict track of (time period)/level. DM judgement is just as often the arbitrator of when spells fade out.

Would there be any serious ramifications to simplifying spell durations in such a manner?

 

[Gez]

The Miniature games uses only instantaneous and encounter-long.

What you're missing here is those spells whose duration is lesser than day-long, but allows for several encounters in an action-packed setting (such as, a dungeon-crawl).

Otherwise, this reminds me of the World of Darkness games. Lots of magic effects have their duration expressed as "the whole scene"...