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Message: <blockquote data-quote="MerricB" data-source="post: 1421275" data-attributes="member: 3586">There is a certain assumption built into D&D (of any edition) that does not conform to most fantasy tales: that of the level of personal magic available to wizards. Consider the fireball spell, and then consider the power of wizards in most fantasy fiction. (Admittedly, modern fantasy fiction often owes much to D&D in its form). It is rarely a level of immediate power that can be seen - especially without consequences!The mere existence of the AD&D magic-user as a hero immediately changes the landscape from one in which magic is hidden to one in which it is extremely apparent.However, it is not merely the D&D wizard that contributes to the "high" magic level of 3E; there are also related issues concerning the hiring of magic-users to cast spells, the creation of magic items, the availability of magic items in treasure hordes, and the easy purchase of magic items - the types of such magic are also important!AD&D had high availability for magic items in treasure hordes, and low for the creation of magic items. 3E makes all of those levels "high" by default; though this is not the only factor that has made 3E divergent from 1E - there are scaling issues that relate directly to the use of ability scores for monsters.Indeed, it is in the nature of the challenges that a PC can overcome that the game is most interested. The level of magic just changes the point at which a certain monster can be overcome - if it can be! After all, if there was no magic weapon more potent than +1, then some creatures would be near impossible to defeat!Because of the greater number of options in 3E, it also makes judging the difficulty of challenges more difficult, especially when fundamental judgements about the system are changed. Some changes, in fact, would not alter the balance equation overmuch - however, it's not always easy to tell which changes would do what.Add to that the nature of advancment in 3E versus 1E (consider both how Hit Dice work, and the entire power level - including magic - begins to be pushed higher than it once was - which, as I said at the start of my post, is higher than what is normal in fantasy!Cheers!</blockquote>

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