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Where did my options go? - The New Paradigm
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<blockquote data-quote="Lizard" data-source="post: 4292814" data-attributes="member: 1054"><p>Well, for the first time EVAR, I am playing a primary caster to high-ish levels. Raven humanoid (SS), Wizard 6/Blood Magus 5 (CL 10). With small size and a base Strength of 6, he isn't entering melee, ever, if he can avoid it.</p><p></p><p>He does have some useful tricks -- the words "Sudden Maximized Firebrand" come to mind. But he can pull that off *once*, and often, it's not the best thing to do -- especially if his allies are in melee. Our DM doesn't usually let us get away with "We're going to go into combat, let's buff" -- combats come to us. We're in the middle of a nice diplomatic dinner, when one of the diplomats suddenly signals for the Totally Expected Betrayal. And since everyone is scanned for magic before entering, we can't just buff up before dinner; it's not only rude, it might get us all killed. (We are in a setting where arcane magic, while not quite *illegal*, is very Socially Unacceptable, and where using any kind of spells, including divination, on an unwilling subject is basically asking for a death sentence -- and there are high level clerics and druids watching out for it in most social situations.) Or we're on a long journey through the Swamp Of Undead, and we don't have a nice five minute warning to let us start buffing. So my choice each round is "Buff myself, or do something useful", and it's usually the latter. So let's toss out the "Uber Wizard Buffs" meme, in a well run game, you don't have the luxury. </p><p></p><p>In actual combat, my tactical options are shaped by my low hit points (though still good for a caster, thanks to high Con and being a Blood Magus) and crap AC. I have a lot of huge area blasting spells (some might say he's compensating...) and a reserve feat that let's me toss a 5d6 fireburst around. Both require my allies to be out of the friggin' way. Because I don't know what I'll encounter, my spell mix for the day is usuall broad -- my character's personality is such that he usually has Chain of Eyes and Prying Eyes prepared, and of course Dispel Magic sucks down several 3rd level slots. If I know we've only got one encounter for the day, I can unload all my nukes early, but, 9 times out of 10, we don't, and our DM usually structures things so, no, the monsters will NOT patiently wait for us to nap between every combat. We usually have 2-3 sessions of pure RP followed by The Big Battle, and once that starts, we're invariably on a tight time limit with no way to just rest up. Either we battle through, no matter how low we are on resources, or we fail in our mission, often with dire consequences. (Like, changing all history...for the worse). 10 minute adventuring day? I friggin' wish!</p><p></p><p>So I really don't get this whole "Wizards r00l!" stuff. Yes, my character is powerful -- but he has limited resources he has to carefully dole out, he often has spells which aren't appropriate, he must waste actions to get away from foes, he sucks down healing because he can't take more than 1-2 direct hits, etc. His at-will nuke is weak for his level, and has a Reflex save most creatures will make. He's not useless by any stretch, but he's not t3h ub3rne55, either. He's a fun, balanced, character with strengths and weaknesses, and I don't see him shooting ahead of the others in a few levels.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Lizard, post: 4292814, member: 1054"] Well, for the first time EVAR, I am playing a primary caster to high-ish levels. Raven humanoid (SS), Wizard 6/Blood Magus 5 (CL 10). With small size and a base Strength of 6, he isn't entering melee, ever, if he can avoid it. He does have some useful tricks -- the words "Sudden Maximized Firebrand" come to mind. But he can pull that off *once*, and often, it's not the best thing to do -- especially if his allies are in melee. Our DM doesn't usually let us get away with "We're going to go into combat, let's buff" -- combats come to us. We're in the middle of a nice diplomatic dinner, when one of the diplomats suddenly signals for the Totally Expected Betrayal. And since everyone is scanned for magic before entering, we can't just buff up before dinner; it's not only rude, it might get us all killed. (We are in a setting where arcane magic, while not quite *illegal*, is very Socially Unacceptable, and where using any kind of spells, including divination, on an unwilling subject is basically asking for a death sentence -- and there are high level clerics and druids watching out for it in most social situations.) Or we're on a long journey through the Swamp Of Undead, and we don't have a nice five minute warning to let us start buffing. So my choice each round is "Buff myself, or do something useful", and it's usually the latter. So let's toss out the "Uber Wizard Buffs" meme, in a well run game, you don't have the luxury. In actual combat, my tactical options are shaped by my low hit points (though still good for a caster, thanks to high Con and being a Blood Magus) and crap AC. I have a lot of huge area blasting spells (some might say he's compensating...) and a reserve feat that let's me toss a 5d6 fireburst around. Both require my allies to be out of the friggin' way. Because I don't know what I'll encounter, my spell mix for the day is usuall broad -- my character's personality is such that he usually has Chain of Eyes and Prying Eyes prepared, and of course Dispel Magic sucks down several 3rd level slots. If I know we've only got one encounter for the day, I can unload all my nukes early, but, 9 times out of 10, we don't, and our DM usually structures things so, no, the monsters will NOT patiently wait for us to nap between every combat. We usually have 2-3 sessions of pure RP followed by The Big Battle, and once that starts, we're invariably on a tight time limit with no way to just rest up. Either we battle through, no matter how low we are on resources, or we fail in our mission, often with dire consequences. (Like, changing all history...for the worse). 10 minute adventuring day? I friggin' wish! So I really don't get this whole "Wizards r00l!" stuff. Yes, my character is powerful -- but he has limited resources he has to carefully dole out, he often has spells which aren't appropriate, he must waste actions to get away from foes, he sucks down healing because he can't take more than 1-2 direct hits, etc. His at-will nuke is weak for his level, and has a Reflex save most creatures will make. He's not useless by any stretch, but he's not t3h ub3rne55, either. He's a fun, balanced, character with strengths and weaknesses, and I don't see him shooting ahead of the others in a few levels. [/QUOTE]
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