DreamChaser said:
I think your assumption is incorrect and based upon a spell vs. ritual dichotomy that no longer seems to exist. With at will, per encounter, per day, and ritual spells, it doesn't make sense to make phantom steed a ritual. I think phantom steed will be a "per day" (i.e. prepared) spell and fireball will be a "per encounter" spell.
Actually, with both per day and ritual spells, it would not make sense that rituals would be quick (though I agree that 1 minute is probably long enough for the simple ones).
And here I was thinking players would be able to pick their at will/per encounter/per day spells, such as: at 5th lvl, you have 1 per day spell picked from the 3rd lvl spell list. At 6th lvl, 2 per day spells from the 3rd lvl spell list. At 7th lvl, 1 per encounter spell from the 3rd lvl list, 1 per day from the 3rd lvl list and 1 per day from the 4th lvl spell list and so on. In this way a wizard could have fireball and phantom steed per day. He doesn't need phantom steed that often, so he keeps it as a per day ability, while he makes fireball his per encoounter when he is powerful enough, but it is his choice, not inherent in the spell how often he gets it per day.
Just my assumption on how things might work with spells advancing from per day to per encounter to at will as the character levels up.
That isn't the issue. The issue is that the wizard / sorcerer is guaranteed to succeed giving the rogue no reason to spend time on Open Locks: it will either be so easy that he can do it with just his Dex bonus plus a few ranks or the wizard will do it. This, however, leaves the danger that the wizard will be incapacitated or out of spells and the rogue will be the only option. The rogues player is aware of this so spends extra ranks, taking away from other fun tricks. Losing these other tricks would be fine if he actually got a chance to make use of the Open Lock skill, which most of the time he will not.
On the other side, the knock spell makes it so that a DM has to contrive doors that are unopenable (cause between knock, dispel magic, etc) the wizard can do it even if the rogue cannot.
DC
If Open Locks and Disable Disvices is being wrapped up in one skill, the rogue still has reason to load up this skill because it does more than open locks. Also, at low levels, the wizard might not have the resources to open locks at all, so it makes sense the rogue will want the skill. If the wizard has to decide between taking knock or taking something else and the rogue is competent as a lock picker, there is really no reason the wizard would pick knock as a spell instead of something else more useful to the group (being that knock, in this group, is not useful because someone else can do the same effect).
Knock only steps on a rogues toes when it comes in wand form, and as such is not consuming the wizard's resources. At that point, the rogue never needs worry about unlocking anything again; anyone with the wand can get through anything.
I'd rather see knock either auto-succeed a certain static Open Lock DC check (a 5th lvl caster automatically gets an Open Lock roll of 20 as though he "took ten" on the roll) or it allowed the wizard to make a check versus the DC of the lock (Knock gives a +2/caster lvl + int mod Open Lock roll vs the lock's DC or something like that). While emulating a rogue with the Open Locks skill, it eats the wizard's spell resources to do so and doesn't make him better than the rogue - he still needs to make a check. And the rogue might have ways to modify the roll (special picks, feats, what-have-you) while the wizard would not.
Magic's knack for auto-success (particulary in low level spells like Knock and Invisibility) has always annoyed me. I hope they reduce that quality.
