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What solution for "Cantrips don't feel magical"?
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<blockquote data-quote="Harzel" data-source="post: 7543637" data-attributes="member: 6857506"><p>As one of the "cantrip skeptics" whom I think [MENTION=20564]Blue[/MENTION] is referencing, I'd like to chime in here with a few points.</p><p></p><p>1. For me, the primary objection to the extensive availability of at-will magic is that I cannot (or at least to this point have not been able to conceive of a way to) make it coherent with a setting that is not high-magic.</p><p></p><p>2. The fact that it (for me) debases magic by making it ordinary is somewhat a secondary concern until someone says, "Oh, but we must have cantrips so that we can do something magical every round." Accepting for a moment that casting a spell every round is necessary to 'feel magical', claiming that pew-pewing <em>Firebolt</em> every round satisfies that need just feels farcical to me because you have now reduced the label 'magical' to a <em>very </em>superficial bit of fluff.</p><p></p><p>3. As much as I would like to constructively contribute to a thread spawned (in part) in response to my own bit whining, for me it is simply not the case that my PC must be able to cast a spell every round in order to 'feel magical', and, unfortunately, I don't think I can get into that mind set sufficiently to even guess what might be a satisfactory solution for those who do feel that that is necessary. I just don't see the problem with a mage having to use a crossbow (or, god forbid, use that INT to find something else clever to do) some of the time. So [MENTION=20564]Blue[/MENTION] - are you really sure that your (b) is necessary in the strict way that you have stated it for enough players that it is worth expending energy on the discussion under that stricture? (I guess the consequence of that being true which seems surprising to me is that not only would such folk prefer 5e to 1e, they would find 1e [or at least 1e casters] unplayable.)</p><p></p><p>4. Ironically, I actually agree that it's more fun for casters to be significantly more 'magically active' than they were in 1e. And in fact several years ago when I started my first 5e campaign (which is also my current and only one) I failed (utterly) to appreciate the magnitude and consequences of the differences in casters between 1e and 5e (it all looked so .... familiar ... lol) and so I buffed them by (a) using spell points instead of slots; and (b) giving them (2*level) more spell points even than the DMG variant calls for. In retrospect, I still think this was ok for the first few levels (especially since we chose not to zip through them as fast as most do). However, by 5th level, my misapprehension had become much clearer, so (not wanting to take anything away) I capped the bonus at 10 (or maybe 12 - I don't remember which). But I digress.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Harzel, post: 7543637, member: 6857506"] As one of the "cantrip skeptics" whom I think [MENTION=20564]Blue[/MENTION] is referencing, I'd like to chime in here with a few points. 1. For me, the primary objection to the extensive availability of at-will magic is that I cannot (or at least to this point have not been able to conceive of a way to) make it coherent with a setting that is not high-magic. 2. The fact that it (for me) debases magic by making it ordinary is somewhat a secondary concern until someone says, "Oh, but we must have cantrips so that we can do something magical every round." Accepting for a moment that casting a spell every round is necessary to 'feel magical', claiming that pew-pewing [I]Firebolt[/I] every round satisfies that need just feels farcical to me because you have now reduced the label 'magical' to a [I]very [/I]superficial bit of fluff. 3. As much as I would like to constructively contribute to a thread spawned (in part) in response to my own bit whining, for me it is simply not the case that my PC must be able to cast a spell every round in order to 'feel magical', and, unfortunately, I don't think I can get into that mind set sufficiently to even guess what might be a satisfactory solution for those who do feel that that is necessary. I just don't see the problem with a mage having to use a crossbow (or, god forbid, use that INT to find something else clever to do) some of the time. So [MENTION=20564]Blue[/MENTION] - are you really sure that your (b) is necessary in the strict way that you have stated it for enough players that it is worth expending energy on the discussion under that stricture? (I guess the consequence of that being true which seems surprising to me is that not only would such folk prefer 5e to 1e, they would find 1e [or at least 1e casters] unplayable.) 4. Ironically, I actually agree that it's more fun for casters to be significantly more 'magically active' than they were in 1e. And in fact several years ago when I started my first 5e campaign (which is also my current and only one) I failed (utterly) to appreciate the magnitude and consequences of the differences in casters between 1e and 5e (it all looked so .... familiar ... lol) and so I buffed them by (a) using spell points instead of slots; and (b) giving them (2*level) more spell points even than the DMG variant calls for. In retrospect, I still think this was ok for the first few levels (especially since we chose not to zip through them as fast as most do). However, by 5th level, my misapprehension had become much clearer, so (not wanting to take anything away) I capped the bonus at 10 (or maybe 12 - I don't remember which). But I digress. [/QUOTE]
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