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*Pathfinder & Starfinder
Vancian? Why can't we let it go?
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<blockquote data-quote="Salamandyr" data-source="post: 5777353" data-attributes="member: 40233"><p>I'd prefer they keep Vancian spellcasting as the default. I've played mana and exhaustion systems, and they have their own problems. </p><p></p><p>Mana and exhaustion systems both have the disadvantage that repeatable abilities must, by necessity, be less powerful than limited use ones. Let's take, for instance, the <em>Sleep</em> spell. Over nearly every edition of D&D, the <em>Sleep</em> spell has been one of the go to nukes of the low level wizards arsenal. It could be that powerful because the wizard wasn't going to throw it out ever encounter. Most encounters he was standing in the back, not doing much. But when he did, clear the decks! </p><p></p><p>In a mana point, or exhaustion system, you couldn't have spells as powerful as <em>Sleep</em>. Heck, even in games like 4e, where wizards had lots of abilities to use an array of effects every round, the <em>Sleep</em> spell started to feel a bit too powerful, because the wizard wasn't paying an opportunity cost for it.</p><p></p><p>So you have basically two options, reliable, yet mediocre effects, or limited, but spectacular ones. </p><p></p><p>Please note, 3rd edition was hardly Vancian, as magic became effectively unlimited very quickly, through the ease of magic item creation. Thus you had the worst of both worlds, powerful, spectacular magic, effectively unlimited...which overshadowed the rest of the gameworld.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Salamandyr, post: 5777353, member: 40233"] I'd prefer they keep Vancian spellcasting as the default. I've played mana and exhaustion systems, and they have their own problems. Mana and exhaustion systems both have the disadvantage that repeatable abilities must, by necessity, be less powerful than limited use ones. Let's take, for instance, the [I]Sleep[/I] spell. Over nearly every edition of D&D, the [I]Sleep[/I] spell has been one of the go to nukes of the low level wizards arsenal. It could be that powerful because the wizard wasn't going to throw it out ever encounter. Most encounters he was standing in the back, not doing much. But when he did, clear the decks! In a mana point, or exhaustion system, you couldn't have spells as powerful as [I]Sleep[/I]. Heck, even in games like 4e, where wizards had lots of abilities to use an array of effects every round, the [I]Sleep[/I] spell started to feel a bit too powerful, because the wizard wasn't paying an opportunity cost for it. So you have basically two options, reliable, yet mediocre effects, or limited, but spectacular ones. Please note, 3rd edition was hardly Vancian, as magic became effectively unlimited very quickly, through the ease of magic item creation. Thus you had the worst of both worlds, powerful, spectacular magic, effectively unlimited...which overshadowed the rest of the gameworld. [/QUOTE]
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Vancian? Why can't we let it go?
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