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Message: <blockquote data-quote="(Psi)SeveredHead" data-source="post: 979895" data-attributes="member: 1165">I don't see how it proves your point (I'm not trying to be snippy). The Archmage is stronger than the Red Wizard in nearly every way. If the Red Wizard can break campaigns over it's red-hued knee-caps, the Archmage will do it, even worse.Anyway, it's just an example. There were archmage examples too, but the RW one stuck in my head because of the epic monsters.In any event, I have three big problems with 3.0 Spell Power.1) The boost. If all your 6th-level spells are now as effective as your 9th-level spells (assuming you're using non-stacking Spell Power) then it's over the top. You're not really paying anything. To make matters worse, 3.0 disintegrate was over-the-top. I'm not 100% happy with the new disintegrate, but I understand WotC didn't want to boost spell levels unless they had too.2) The cost. I don't think WotC has the ability to design classes with high costs and high benefits effectively. This is part of the problems with prestige classes in general.3) Sean K Reynolds did not write the class that way. It didn't use to give spellcaster levels at all. It was altered after playtesting, possibly by mistake, and just released.Perhaps. I can picture neutral Red Wizards being player characters. They're not so easy to role-play like that, but it isn't like every Red Wizard is an agent to his Zulkir masters. Of course, you shouldn't use RP restrictions to balance a class.I have. "Oh look, it's a fighter. Use Hold Monster. Mr. Rogue, move in." Of course, the fighter always has a chance of making his save (unless he's facing a super-optimized Red Wizard/Archmage with 18 starting Int, Spellcasting Prodigy, Greater Spell Focus Empowered Empowered Empowered Fox's Cunning and he read a +5 tome of clear thought last year), but Hold Monster will knock the figfhter out in round one more than half of the time (assuming you're using an Enemies and Allies player wizard), whereas direct damage, Mord's Sword, etc will take a while. (I think direct damage is too weak, even if I don't compare it to save-or-die.)NPCs don't have a lot of money, either. A Ring of Freedom of Movement costs 40 k (out of 220k for a 20th-level fighter) and there are many other save-or-"die" spells out there.In order to help the BBEG survive (assuming he's a fighter) I need to cover him with specific magic items, like the ring of spell turning, which I don't think is fair to the wizard player. (It seems like DM cheese to me.)True, about the CR system and the saving throw system. The 3.5 CRs look a lot more accurate to me.WotC didn't want to make a massive change to the saving throw system ... that wouldn't be a revision, but a new edition. So instead, something else had to change.Spell Power was broken, a lot, in 3.0 because of the saving throw system. I don't know if so many high-CR monsters are going to get massive saving throw bonuses for all three saves (the only ones we've seen are dragons and outsiders), so the Archmage with 3.0 Spell Power would probably still be broken in 3.5.So I've noticed.</blockquote>

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