Reply to thread

Message: <blockquote data-quote="N'raac" data-source="post: 6074792" data-attributes="member: 6681948">I’ve toyed with the “no charges/replaces a spell of the same level” idea.  I find that powerful, in that the item is now something that won’t just crumble to dust after a while.  That makes a meaningful tradeoff.  Changing all wands makes Use Magic Device a lot less useful, though. How does the Wizard do fighting in close quarters where the Rogue and Fighter can always flank the target?  A variety of challenges typically allows all party members a chance to shine.  The Fighter and Rogue have no difficulty battling in Silence either. How many locks can a wizard get through in a day?  And why don’t Evil creatures have locked containers for their possessions – putting a lot of trust in those other Evil creatures not to steal their stuff (like those N and even G rogues do in some PC parties!) So the Wizard knows he’s going up against a single L20 Fighter, and customizes his spellbook and spell selection for same?  Can the Fighter have a magic item that puts an Anti-Magic Shell around him, or creates (or transports him and the wizard to) a Dead Magic Zone for a brief period of time?  Perhaps a magical sword with a few wizard killing abilities? What happens if we take that Wizard who’s loaded up for the day to face a single L20 fighter and instead place him against a CR 13 challenge that lacks the fighter’s weaknesses?  Say a group of L10 wizards (enough to equal CR 13, forget CR 20) with lots of Dispel Magics and FORT/REF save spells (or just loaded up with Dispels and Magic Missiles)?  Let’s say about half delay to Dispel if the L13 Wizard casts, while the other half use Magic Missiles, Scorching Rays, etc. (no 3[SUP]rd[/SUP] level offense – they need that for Scorching Ray!). I see.  An Animal Companion being reassured enough to use a water breathing spell offends your sense of verisimilitude, but 400 commoners all easily able to target a single Fighter in their midst does not.  I think that Fighter has Total Cover from a lot of those Commoners’ crossbows. Pathfinder helped with this one.  Cleave was changed to allow a standard action to take one swing and, if it hits, take a second one on an adjacent target.  Great Cleave allows them to continue as long as they keep hitting, until every target in reach is struck (or you miss – but all these are at full BAB).  Poor fighter has to suck up a -2 to AC, though. There are also feats (and some class skills) allowing a single attack that does more damage.  Vital Strike allows double base damage, with a chain boosting this to triple and quadruple.  IIRC, a lot of bonus damage didn’t multiply, but one attack at top BAB vs 4 at declining BAB seems a reasonable tradeoff. “There’s a Feat for that” offsets “There’s a Spell for that”, at least to some extent. That’s how I see any Wizard with Knock memorized played.  He only gets to do this once, so he’s not likely to waste it.  Agreed.  As an example, if the Wizard focuses on 1 target Save or Suck spells, groups of enemies level the playing field.  The Wizard does not always know what is coming up next.  I find “who took him down” often an interesting question.  Well, the Fighter struck the final blow, but the Rogue’s sneak attacks eroded his hp, and the Wizard’s spells weakened the Big Bad, while the Cleric’s healing spells kept the fighter from falling before that blow was struck.  So who took him down?  Variety keeps it interesting and lets each character shine.  Sometimes, the Rogue can’t Sneak Attack or the Warrior can’t hit.  Other times, spells are less useful or completely nerfed.  Try slapping a Silence on the area just before combat is engaged and watching that Wizard frantically search for a spell without a verbal component (or have him grappled by a snake, etc.). There’s generally a high STR warrior in the party who can double as a pack mule.  Mine carries a crowbar (I even put the improve weapon stats on his sheet, as I considered using it if he needed a blunt weapon, especially at L1).  But you do leave a nice trail of broken locks, where the Rogue can even re-lock that special door (let’s see Knock do that!).  Wizards (clerics, druids, etc.) can customize for specific known challenges.  That’s what it proves. Do they always know everything that is coming up next?  Let’s see an example from, say, a L10 Wizard with lots of spell access.  Every military team has SOP for dealing with a sniper, don’t they?  If Rope Trick use is so common as to be nearly universal, I suggest a lot of groups would have procedures for dealing with it. Others won’t.  But if the heroes don’t have the time to spend one full day on every encounter, that also eliminates this as a viable strategy.  So what do the PC’s do after winning Encounter #1, but knowing two of the opposition fled the scene? Let’s go Rope Trick.  OK, the remaining denizens have a full day to bolster their defences, so the next encounter may be more challenging than it otherwise would have been.  The Shaman leader can change all his spells around too. If I’m designing an adventure where I expect the PC’s will have only one encounter in a day (perhaps an ancient tomb – nothing will happen until they enter), then those encounters will be powerful enough to be challenging assuming a party that can and will use every resource available against it.  Let’s ignore or brush off all restrictions on spells and then complain that spells are too powerful.  That said, I prefer Pathfinder’s approach that other ED spaces simply stop working (ie while in a Rope Trick, your Haversack and Bag of Holding spaces cannot be accessed; toss a Bag of Holding in a Haversack and you have to take it back out to access the items inside). I see crafting the other way, in that a GM who plans a frenetic pace should tell the player his crafting feats will likely be frustrated and maybe he should consider something else.  Their wealth caps their ability to benefit from Crafting anyway.  There’s also XP loss in 3.5, but again I prefer Pathfinder’s approach (which also allows for some use of crafting on the road).   Exactly.  If the PC’s suffer a “hit and run” attack, would they just go about their usual business waiting for the next one?  Why would the goblin tribe just proceed as if nothing has happened? All you have to do is structure your adventures with a single encounter day in mind.  I did that commonly back in the day for wilderness travel – you’re not going to have a series of small encounters a la dungeon exploration, so either the travel fades into the backdrop, or you have a big encounter that is challenging enough to be a danger all by itself, rather than just consuming a bit of your resources. It’s pretty easy to structure a situation where three wizards have a big advantage, especially if they happen to have just the right spells memorized today.  Let’s have an encounter past the locked door, ward and portcullis (which were set up last night, after they took out the sentries then retreated to rest).   Past the portcullis, a group of Goblins moves up, while a second group emerges from behind.  They all have crossbows.  One fires his crossbow, and suddenly the wizards can hear nothing, as the bolt (now jammed in the wood portcullis frame) had a Silence spell cast on it. Now, of course, THESE wizards will also just happen to have a whole pile of spells with non-verbal components/Silent Spell on them, because they are the Wizards Prepared for Any Challenge, but I doubt that will be the case with a typical group of, say, 3 PC L7 wizards.So, to return to the initial question, my simple answer is "DM's that refuse to customize their adventures to take the strengths and weaknesses of the party into account."</blockquote>

Verification