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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Mustrum_Ridcully" data-source="post: 1710596" data-attributes="member: 710">I think the diverse spells of D&D are both a great strength and weakness.The first roleplaying game I encountered was Shadowrun. The magic works extremely simplified in there - it was extremely easy to understand what a spell would do, and even with the advent of "Magic in the Shadows" there was no problem in knowing what a spell did. When I played my first D&D character, I was extremely surprised by the strange spell lists - the spells description were incredibly long (compared to Shadowrun), and also very complicated.But the spells were also much more diverse - they contained effects that were plainly impossible in Shadowrun, because it simply wouldn´t fit into the spelldesign and casting system. (I am not speaking of Teleport, which would be easy to adjucate, it just doesn`t fit into the world, but from spells like Augury, Meteorstorm or whatever else you might think of - or spells like Identify with a casting time below a fullround action...)It is difficult to know all spell effects, even if you do only use the core rulebooks - but you can achieve many different and interesting effects, and I wouldn`t want to give it up. These effects are also those that make it difficult to create a "spell-construction"-system. It might work for Epic Levels (though I don`t think so and are extremely sceptical to the epic level rules), but for all spells, it is very difficult. There are to many different patterns .The key to handling these things is preparation.If you want to play a spellcaster, look the spells up you know. Keep in mind where you can find them. Maybe create your own spellbook with the spell descriptions (one of the players in our group did so). And don`t do this once. Do it everytime before you play. If you want to play a character benefitting from all those buff spells, plan with the casters what spells you will get, and write down the effects. Preferably write down different combinations of spells cast at you, and don`t forget your own special abilities (Rage?)If you want to run a game, you will have the same work. That`s a good reason to use standardcreatures and monsters, and reserve handcrafted NPCs to the important ones. It`s a lot of work. If you think it is too much, you can attempt shortcuts like some present them here, but also remember: All these spells and effects can also help to create a fun and interesting game...</blockquote>

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