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Message: <blockquote data-quote="UltimaGabe" data-source="post: 1402066" data-attributes="member: 16019">I hardly think that giving them a variable bonus was anywhere near being an issue. Maximize only gave a +1 higher than the 3.5 version, at the expense of a spell slot 3 levels higher. In fact, the buffs, their short duration aside, are FAR more powerful now than they were before. There were always those times in my games when the Fighter really needed a boost to Con for the upcoming battle, but already had bracers of Health +2. He then drank an Endurance potion, hoping to get at least a 4 to boost up his Con and give him extra hit points. He then proceeds to roll a 1, granting himself absolutely no bonus to anything.The possibility of getting a 5 was only an advantage assuming that you had an odd ability score, which was only the case half the time. (And very rarely in my games, considering nobody would put an odd number in their highest stat unless they knew they would be able to increase it soon. Odd numbers suck.) Wit hthe buffs now, however, they make it simpler and more reliable by giving you a flat +4. Empower, in 3e, could have given you a +7, at absolute most, but that's a 4th-level spell you're using up, and is easily dispellable.Removing the variable numbers was hardly a balancing factor. If anything, it made the spell more powerful.</blockquote>