Reply to thread

Message

<blockquote data-quote="Mon" data-source="post: 4344315" data-attributes="member: 71673">First, some design goals:&nbsp;(1) Spell DCs scale with level: So that low level spells see more use in high level games.&nbsp;(2) Casters have some incentive not to go &quot;nova&quot; in the first encounter, preferebly casting their spells from the &quot;bottom up&quot; rather than from the &quot;top down&quot;&nbsp;The system combines scaling spell DC with the concept of reserve feats from Complete Mage. Namely, encouraging casters to keep their most powerful spells in reserve to try and counter this: &quot;go nova, then rest when my top 2 spell levels are depleted&quot;. AKA the 5-minute adventuring day.&nbsp;Instead of Complete Mage's feats that are cooler if you keep your higher level spells in reserve, just apply the same principle to spell DCs.&nbsp;The DC formula is...&nbsp;10 + ability modifier + the level of the highest level spell currently available to cast (from the same class).&nbsp;Thus, a 14th level wizard (7th level spells) with 20 Int (+5) has a DC of 22 for ALL of his spells (10 + 5 + 7); as long as he has at least one 7th level spell left to cast. If he uses all his 7th levels and has only 6th level spells remaining the DC drops to 21 (10 + 5 + 6), and so on.&nbsp;I know it gives casters a boost, over non-casters. That's something I plan to address with a different house rule.&nbsp;Thoughts? Success at meeting design goals? Unforseen side effects? How would this work in a campaign that also uses reserve feats? Or one that doesn't?&nbsp;(please be kind, I am new at this - posting to forums, not playing D&amp;D... been gaming since '88).</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Mon, post: 4344315, member: 71673"] First, some design goals: (1) Spell DCs scale with level: So that low level spells see more use in high level games. (2) Casters have some incentive not to go "nova" in the first encounter, preferebly casting their spells from the "bottom up" rather than from the "top down" The system combines scaling spell DC with the concept of reserve feats from Complete Mage. Namely, encouraging casters to keep their most powerful spells in reserve to try and counter this: "go nova, then rest when my top 2 spell levels are depleted". AKA the 5-minute adventuring day. Instead of Complete Mage's feats that are cooler if you keep your higher level spells in reserve, just apply the same principle to spell DCs. The DC formula is... 10 + ability modifier + the level of the highest level spell currently available to cast (from the same class). Thus, a 14th level wizard (7th level spells) with 20 Int (+5) has a DC of 22 for ALL of his spells (10 + 5 + 7); as long as he has at least one 7th level spell left to cast. If he uses all his 7th levels and has only 6th level spells remaining the DC drops to 21 (10 + 5 + 6), and so on. I know it gives casters a boost, over non-casters. That's something I plan to address with a different house rule. Thoughts? Success at meeting design goals? Unforseen side effects? How would this work in a campaign that also uses reserve feats? Or one that doesn't? (please be kind, I am new at this - posting to forums, not playing D&D... been gaming since '88). [/QUOTE]

Verification