Spells you want them to bring back

[wlmartin]

One of the things that annoys me a little about the Wizard is that he is as power-full (meaning the choice of Powers from various corebook and magazine sources) as all the other classes but that is seriously wrong...

Wizards always had oodles of Spells and martial classes had one spell
It was called "Hit them with a big stick till they fall down"

Now when the other classes get oodles of Powers, Wizards are balanced to have around the same and things seem drasticaly uneven.

There are still a great fantastic amount of Spells that existed in previous editions and are missing from 4e and I really think we need a good book release just for the Wizards.

I don't see as many people playing Wizards any more and it is probably because the one class you could micro manage to death is now just as micro manageable as every other class so what is the point... ??

So with that thought I would love to see some ideas about which Spells we should bring back.

Of course we would all want Wish, Power Words and such but is there a spell you are really missing from an earlier edition... one that you clung to like a small child clings to their cuddliest teddy bear and when they forgot to bring it over to 4e you have not stopped crying??

 

[malraux]

Well, Haste and True Strike both stand out as memorable spells that haven't reappeared. That said, nothing good ever came out of either of those. Enlarge Person was also cool at first thought.

 

[Matt James]

Be careful what you wish for

On my end, I was never a fan of Wish or Miracle going way back to when I started in 2e. I remember playing a Fighter/Thief and when we got to the point where the group wizard got that spell, it completely diminished my role to some extent. The spell made its way into 3e and I didn't like it there either. The utility of higher level spells really caused our campaigns to fade out as the melee dudes would lose interest in comparison of our magic-user counterparts.

 

[OpsKT]

You know what I miss? Bleach. Level 0 (or 1, depending on game edtion) spell that turns the item WHITE. That's it.

Just makes it pure, clean, WHITE.

So handy a spell to use after the fight with the dragon ON MY LOIN-SHORTS!

 

[malraux]

You know what I miss? Bleach. Level 0 (or 1, depending on game edtion) spell that turns the item WHITE. That's it.

Just makes it pure, clean, WHITE.

So handy a spell to use after the fight with the dragon ON MY LOIN-SHORTS!

Actually, there's a ritual that covers that. My wizard would cast it on himself every morning. Eladrin are quite the prima donnas.

 

[Kelvor Ravenstar]

Well, Haste and True Strike both stand out as memorable spells that haven't reappeared. That said, nothing good ever came out of either of those. Enlarge Person was also cool at first thought.

We've a spell called Haste (Bard 16, Daily) since Arcane Power, and one called True Strike (Cleric 1, at-will) just got added from the Neverwinter Campaign Guide. I say called the same, because the new versions don't compare to the third ones for power, but they're both useful, and do very similar things flavour wise.

I wouldn't mind Wish coming back as an Epic level ritual, if it followed even stricter guidelines than the 3e ritual. Allow PCs to gain minor benefits (but non-permanent ones), and then leave up the other effects to DM adjudication.

 

[Rechan]

I'm going to go with various Transmutation spells, such as Alter Self.

The only thing it could really do was give you wings or gills, but I just miss the "I can change my physique now". So a utility power that would allow you to pick one benefit from a list might be nice.

 

[Mapache]

You know what I miss? Bleach. Level 0 (or 1, depending on game edtion) spell that turns the item WHITE. That's it.

Just makes it pure, clean, WHITE.

So handy a spell to use after the fight with the dragon ON MY LOIN-SHORTS!

Prestidigitation, which is an at-will utility power Wizards can take for free at first level, covers that. I frequently argue that it's the single most useful power in the entire game. Among its many uses are "Change the color of items in 1 cubic foot" and "Clean or soil items in 1 cubic foot".

 

[wlmartin]

Well, Haste and True Strike both stand out as memorable spells that haven't reappeared. That said, nothing good ever came out of either of those. Enlarge Person was also cool at first thought.

Haste... loved that spell. I suppose the advantage in 4e would translate to +2 speed to all allies within an area and 1[W] damage for any ally for any power that grants 2[W] (so 2[W] becomes 3[W], 4[W] becomes 6[W])

Be careful what you wish for

On my end, I was never a fan of Wish or Miracle going way back to when I started in 2e. I remember playing a Fighter/Thief and when we got to the point where the group wizard got that spell, it completely diminished my role to some extent. The spell made its way into 3e and I didn't like it there either. The utility of higher level spells really caused our campaigns to fade out as the melee dudes would lose interest in comparison of our magic-user counterparts.

I do like what the Dev's did with Deck of Many Things, turning the elemtns into Quests so instead of pulling out 1000s of GP, you get a quest to earn 1000s of GP etc... they could do the same thing with WISH although due to the nature of the Spell it would need to function as a ritual no doubt.

You could always have Wish work on a luck basis and a trigger a result on a roll of D6 say, 75% positive, 25% negative - unsure of what effects we could see, possibly +1 to a Stat Modifier (ie +2 to a stat) temporarily until the next extended rest.. for an ally or yourself. A minus would serve as a good enough negative, perhaps using it to bank an additional Action Point... there are many options

I'm going to go with various Transmutation spells, such as Alter Self.

The only thing it could really do was give you wings or gills, but I just miss the "I can change my physique now". So a utility power that would allow you to pick one benefit from a list might be nice.

I did enjoy the Polymorph and Alter Self spells.
I like the idea of morphing into a larger creature to get extra reach, different movement and many other ideas come to mind.

IMO there are not enough non-combat related fun spells in the game for Wizards or anyone else.

Yes, we want the +2 to hit, the extra 1[W], the combat advantage but sometimes we want things that either serve no direct combat benefit or just look plain awesome to use.

 

[bargle0]

I wouldn't mind Wish coming back as an Epic level ritual, if it followed even stricter guidelines than the 3e ritual. Allow PCs to gain minor benefits (but non-permanent ones), and then leave up the other effects to DM adjudication.

I think wishes should always be powerful and dangerous. Wishes are excellent things to leave as house rule and entirely under the purview of the DM.

Similarly, I think a good way to judge miracles would simply be to answer a devout character's prayer at a story-appropriate time. The idea of wish or miracle as an explicit rule element always rubbed me the wrong way, and I'm glad they're gone.

That being said, I wish Fireball were actually a worthwhile spell. At the very least, it should be a minion auto-killer. I wistfully think back to the days when I calculated the dead goblins by multiplying some goblins/sq ft number by the area under my fireball.