Reply to thread

Message

<blockquote data-quote="Cadfan" data-source="post: 3849992" data-attributes="member: 40961">Not necessarily.&nbsp; Right now mid and high level spellcasters have dozens and dozens of spells.&nbsp; This is &quot;balanced&quot; because many of the spells are low level, and when used as combat spells are mostly obsolete.&nbsp; Exceptions exist, like Magic Missile with its auto hit no save damage, but low level spells eventually stop mattering in combat due to non scaling damage, and non scaling save DCs.&nbsp; This has to happen, because if a 1st level spell cast by a level 11 spellcaster had the same power as a 6th level spell, that spellcaster would have dozens and dozens of 6th level spells per day.Now imagine a spellcaster who's combat abilities are a mix of at will and per encounter spells.&nbsp; The at will spells will have to scale, obviously, or else there's no reason to have them.&nbsp; So lets look at the per encounter spells.Chances are he's only going to have a few of these at once.&nbsp; Look at Tome of Battle classes for examples.&nbsp; At level 12, for example, he might have somewhere between 5 and 8.Using the Swordsage as an example, since I think that's the most relevant comparison to a wizard archetype, that's about 8 per encounter spells.&nbsp; And he's got 3 level 6 per encounter spells, 3 level 5 per encounter spells, and 3 level 4 per encounter spells available to him if he so chooses as he levels up.So what is being gained by having these spells not scale?&nbsp; Not a lot.&nbsp; The character is slightly weaker than he'd be if his 4th level spells scaled to equal his 6th level spells.&nbsp; And in exchange, all of the 1st level spells he can access are obsolete.&nbsp; If those 1st level spells are the only way to create the effects they create, that means the effects they create are no longer available.&nbsp; Which is kind of sad, if you think about it.Am I explaining my thoughts well?&nbsp; Right now, Blind is DC 12+int for a wizard.&nbsp; Making it automatically scale trades off with spells like Knock.&nbsp; That's kind of broken, and it gives a spellcaster dozens of spells which are the equivalent of his best spell.&nbsp; But if the spellcaster didn't have dozens of spell slots, if he only had 5 or so spells chosen from any spell level he pleased, a spell like Blind would always be trading off with his best spells.&nbsp; It might as well scale to be about as good.&nbsp; Spell level can then do just one task, the &quot;threshold of availability&quot; task, and can be good at it without messing up other aspects of the game.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Cadfan, post: 3849992, member: 40961"] Not necessarily. Right now mid and high level spellcasters have dozens and dozens of spells. This is "balanced" because many of the spells are low level, and when used as combat spells are mostly obsolete. Exceptions exist, like Magic Missile with its auto hit no save damage, but low level spells eventually stop mattering in combat due to non scaling damage, and non scaling save DCs. This has to happen, because if a 1st level spell cast by a level 11 spellcaster had the same power as a 6th level spell, that spellcaster would have dozens and dozens of 6th level spells per day. Now imagine a spellcaster who's combat abilities are a mix of at will and per encounter spells. The at will spells will have to scale, obviously, or else there's no reason to have them. So lets look at the per encounter spells. Chances are he's only going to have a few of these at once. Look at Tome of Battle classes for examples. At level 12, for example, he might have somewhere between 5 and 8. Using the Swordsage as an example, since I think that's the most relevant comparison to a wizard archetype, that's about 8 per encounter spells. And he's got 3 level 6 per encounter spells, 3 level 5 per encounter spells, and 3 level 4 per encounter spells available to him if he so chooses as he levels up. So what is being gained by having these spells not scale? Not a lot. The character is slightly weaker than he'd be if his 4th level spells scaled to equal his 6th level spells. And in exchange, all of the 1st level spells he can access are obsolete. If those 1st level spells are the only way to create the effects they create, that means the effects they create are no longer available. Which is kind of sad, if you think about it. Am I explaining my thoughts well? Right now, Blind is DC 12+int for a wizard. Making it automatically scale trades off with spells like Knock. That's kind of broken, and it gives a spellcaster dozens of spells which are the equivalent of his best spell. But if the spellcaster didn't have dozens of spell slots, if he only had 5 or so spells chosen from any spell level he pleased, a spell like Blind would always be trading off with his best spells. It might as well scale to be about as good. Spell level can then do just one task, the "threshold of availability" task, and can be good at it without messing up other aspects of the game. [/QUOTE]

Verification