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The Decrease in Desire for Magic in D&D
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<blockquote data-quote="Voadam" data-source="post: 8784134" data-attributes="member: 2209"><p>I found the number of conditions that required magic in older D&D or inflicted permanent detriments quite frustrating from a narrative and play experience perspective. Monster defenses requiring magic weapons or spells to get through to them. Healing hp. Monster attacks that can only be fixed by spells (energy drain, mummy rot, clay golem) or not at all (ghost aging). This continued into 3e with things like ability drain solely being cured by greater restoration.</p><p></p><p>As a DM it meant a lot of monsters that were common in modules and encounter charts (particularly non mindless undead) were actually very swingy and unexpectedly potentially killer or crippling while others were fun hp hack and slash ones. </p><p></p><p>Spectres with their incorporeality and energy drain in older D&D look like they are designed to be specific Ravenloft villains on the level of Nazgul where you hear about a cursed dead lord who haunts an area with numerous victims, you hear about how deadly it is but through investigations you find out their weakness and how to keep them at bay and put them to rest. </p><p></p><p>But no, there are generally three unnamed spectres in a catacombs or deep dungeon room you come upon who take away levels when they hit in combat and who have a lot of HD and you need magic to fight them. Having a cleric means you can restore the levels lost when they attack, if not you are out of luck.</p><p></p><p>This drove things like having clerics in a party being fairly mandatory to deal with normal D&D situations instead of just an option.</p><p></p><p>I much preferred the promise of the equipment lists having things like stakes and mirrors and garlic and holy symbols to deal with vampires, silver daggers and arrows to deal with wights, and belladona to deal with werewolves. Magic weapons and clerics were great against most of those, but a non-magical person had options and there was lore about stuff that you could search out and exploit.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Voadam, post: 8784134, member: 2209"] I found the number of conditions that required magic in older D&D or inflicted permanent detriments quite frustrating from a narrative and play experience perspective. Monster defenses requiring magic weapons or spells to get through to them. Healing hp. Monster attacks that can only be fixed by spells (energy drain, mummy rot, clay golem) or not at all (ghost aging). This continued into 3e with things like ability drain solely being cured by greater restoration. As a DM it meant a lot of monsters that were common in modules and encounter charts (particularly non mindless undead) were actually very swingy and unexpectedly potentially killer or crippling while others were fun hp hack and slash ones. Spectres with their incorporeality and energy drain in older D&D look like they are designed to be specific Ravenloft villains on the level of Nazgul where you hear about a cursed dead lord who haunts an area with numerous victims, you hear about how deadly it is but through investigations you find out their weakness and how to keep them at bay and put them to rest. But no, there are generally three unnamed spectres in a catacombs or deep dungeon room you come upon who take away levels when they hit in combat and who have a lot of HD and you need magic to fight them. Having a cleric means you can restore the levels lost when they attack, if not you are out of luck. This drove things like having clerics in a party being fairly mandatory to deal with normal D&D situations instead of just an option. I much preferred the promise of the equipment lists having things like stakes and mirrors and garlic and holy symbols to deal with vampires, silver daggers and arrows to deal with wights, and belladona to deal with werewolves. Magic weapons and clerics were great against most of those, but a non-magical person had options and there was lore about stuff that you could search out and exploit. [/QUOTE]
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