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<blockquote data-quote="Reynard" data-source="post: 9609979" data-attributes="member: 467">What magic can do in a fantasy setting in general, or in a D&amp;D like setting in particular, is a complicated conversation.What I would like to do is narrow that conversation a little bit and focus a discussion here on what D&amp;D magic should be able to do or accomplish specifically in the hands of PC casters, and specifically from a game design standpoint with an eye toward balance and playability.Note that I am tagging this D&amp;D general but I understand we are likely to discuss this primarily from a 5E perspective because it is the current game and one that is very hackable. But we can also certainly talk about it with regards to earlier editions, retroclones, and adjacent systems.I feel like there are a couple schools of thought folks might fall into, summed up broadly as &quot;Anything, but not very often&quot; and &quot;Damage and status effects.&quot; I feel like utility spells are generally the most controversial and lead to discussions about spotlight stealing, among other things.I don't want this discussion to be too focused on the traditional debate about casters versus martials, although that is going to come up. I am more interested in what role folks see D&amp;D magic as filling in the game design and play experience, and by extension what that looks like in a theoretical PHB.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Reynard, post: 9609979, member: 467"] What magic can do in a fantasy setting in general, or in a D&D like setting in particular, is a complicated conversation. What I would like to do is narrow that conversation a little bit and focus a discussion here on what D&D magic should be able to do or accomplish specifically in the hands of PC casters, and specifically from a game design standpoint with an eye toward balance and playability. Note that I am tagging this D&D general but I understand we are likely to discuss this primarily from a 5E perspective because it is the current game and one that is very hackable. But we can also certainly talk about it with regards to earlier editions, retroclones, and adjacent systems. I feel like there are a couple schools of thought folks might fall into, summed up broadly as "Anything, but not very often" and "Damage and status effects." I feel like utility spells are generally the most controversial and lead to discussions about spotlight stealing, among other things. I don't want this discussion to be too focused on the traditional debate about casters versus martials, although that is going to come up. I am more interested in what role folks see D&D magic as filling in the game design and play experience, and by extension what that looks like in a theoretical PHB. [/QUOTE]

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