Menu
News
All News
Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
Pathfinder
Starfinder
Warhammer
2d20 System
Year Zero Engine
Industry News
Reviews
Dragon Reflections
White Dwarf Reflections
Columns
Weekly Digests
Weekly News Digest
Freebies, Sales & Bundles
RPG Print News
RPG Crowdfunding News
Game Content
ENterplanetary DimENsions
Mythological Figures
Opinion
Worlds of Design
Peregrine's Nest
RPG Evolution
Other Columns
From the Freelancing Frontline
Monster ENcyclopedia
WotC/TSR Alumni Look Back
4 Hours w/RSD (Ryan Dancey)
The Road to 3E (Jonathan Tweet)
Greenwood's Realms (Ed Greenwood)
Drawmij's TSR (Jim Ward)
Community
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions, OSR, & D&D Variants
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Resources
Wiki
Pages
Latest activity
Media
New media
New comments
Search media
Downloads
Latest reviews
Search resources
EN Publishing
Store
EN5ider
Adventures in ZEITGEIST
Awfully Cheerful Engine
What's OLD is NEW
Judge Dredd & The Worlds Of 2000AD
War of the Burning Sky
Level Up: Advanced 5E
Events & Releases
Upcoming Events
Private Events
Featured Events
Socials!
EN Publishing
Twitter
BlueSky
Facebook
Instagram
EN World
BlueSky
YouTube
Facebook
Twitter
Twitch
Podcast
Features
Top 5 RPGs Compiled Charts 2004-Present
Adventure Game Industry Market Research Summary (RPGs) V1.0
Ryan Dancey: Acquiring TSR
Q&A With Gary Gygax
D&D Rules FAQs
TSR, WotC, & Paizo: A Comparative History
D&D Pronunciation Guide
Million Dollar TTRPG Kickstarters
Tabletop RPG Podcast Hall of Fame
Eric Noah's Unofficial D&D 3rd Edition News
D&D in the Mainstream
D&D & RPG History
About Morrus
Log in
Register
What's new
Search
Search
Search titles only
By:
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions, OSR, & D&D Variants
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Menu
Log in
Register
Install the app
Install
Upgrade your account to a Community Supporter account and remove most of the site ads.
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*TTRPGs General
vancian casting, what solution is acceptable to you?
JavaScript is disabled. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding.
You are using an out of date browser. It may not display this or other websites correctly.
You should upgrade or use an
alternative browser
.
Reply to thread
Message
<blockquote data-quote="steeldragons" data-source="post: 5771229" data-attributes="member: 92511"><p>It seems, a good amount of argument against "Vancian" magic is the restrictive nature of the spell tables at lower levels (I'm talking pre-3e here)...being "one and done" for the day is cited over and over as bad/wrong/fun.</p><p></p><p>To alleviate this in my own campaigns, for years and years, I allowed mage characters to apply bonus spells per day using their Int. scores, as Clerics were allowed bonus spells for high Wisdom.</p><p></p><p>Between this and the introduction of "cantrips"/0 lvl spells, which I did (and do) not require to be memorized (cantrips being the basic "tricks" first learned/known by all mages) but could be cast as circumstances warranted as long as the mage had it in their spellbook, 1st-4th level mage PCs could have a number of options to use creatively through the day. Everyone was happy and no complaints were heard.</p><p></p><p>When spontaneous casting came in vogue and people complained about not being able to be sorcerers (I understood but did not like the distinction when they were introduced), I added/adjusted the arcane system such that a mage could/can spontaneously cast spells that they have in their book (i.e. have had/cast/studied for a long time) 2 levels lower than their highest spell level.</p><p></p><p>So a 5th level mage (highest spell level 3) could spontaneously cast cantrips and their 1st level spells...at 7th level (gaining 4th lvl spells) they could spontaneously cast cantrips, 1st and 2nd level spells, etc...(insofar as what they are permitted per day and have in their spellbooks).</p><p></p><p>Best of both worlds...keeps the Vancian fluff (which I personally do not and never did have a problem with. Mages pouring over their spellbooks in study is an integral element to the archetype as far as I'm concerned.) but allows some spontaneous casting and increased number of spells per day. Everyone's happy. <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f600.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":D" title="Big grin :D" data-smilie="8"data-shortname=":D" /> </p><p></p><p>...and fluff-ily makes sense to me...that as you increase in power, the spells you've had/studied for years don't need to be constantly re-memorized...they become second nature/old hat.</p><p></p><p>--SD</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="steeldragons, post: 5771229, member: 92511"] It seems, a good amount of argument against "Vancian" magic is the restrictive nature of the spell tables at lower levels (I'm talking pre-3e here)...being "one and done" for the day is cited over and over as bad/wrong/fun. To alleviate this in my own campaigns, for years and years, I allowed mage characters to apply bonus spells per day using their Int. scores, as Clerics were allowed bonus spells for high Wisdom. Between this and the introduction of "cantrips"/0 lvl spells, which I did (and do) not require to be memorized (cantrips being the basic "tricks" first learned/known by all mages) but could be cast as circumstances warranted as long as the mage had it in their spellbook, 1st-4th level mage PCs could have a number of options to use creatively through the day. Everyone was happy and no complaints were heard. When spontaneous casting came in vogue and people complained about not being able to be sorcerers (I understood but did not like the distinction when they were introduced), I added/adjusted the arcane system such that a mage could/can spontaneously cast spells that they have in their book (i.e. have had/cast/studied for a long time) 2 levels lower than their highest spell level. So a 5th level mage (highest spell level 3) could spontaneously cast cantrips and their 1st level spells...at 7th level (gaining 4th lvl spells) they could spontaneously cast cantrips, 1st and 2nd level spells, etc...(insofar as what they are permitted per day and have in their spellbooks). Best of both worlds...keeps the Vancian fluff (which I personally do not and never did have a problem with. Mages pouring over their spellbooks in study is an integral element to the archetype as far as I'm concerned.) but allows some spontaneous casting and increased number of spells per day. Everyone's happy. :D ...and fluff-ily makes sense to me...that as you increase in power, the spells you've had/studied for years don't need to be constantly re-memorized...they become second nature/old hat. --SD [/QUOTE]
Insert quotes…
Verification
Post reply
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*TTRPGs General
vancian casting, what solution is acceptable to you?
Top