Reply to thread

Message: <blockquote data-quote="FormerlyHemlock" data-source="post: 6658100" data-attributes="member: 6787650">Not in 2nd edition, it's not. Polymorphing a 1 HD Orc into a White Dragon is the canonical example of Polymorph Other usage. It's right there in the spell text, and because the target creature has more HD than the original creature the odds are good that the orc (or mouse) will lose its mind and become a white dragon (gold dragon) in truth, immediately. The only thing you have to worry about is a system shock roll.The 5E wizard can fly for very short periods of time. Compare 10 minutes in 5E to 10 minutes per level plus 1d6 * 10 minutes in 5E. He can Polymorph himself into an animal, losing his Intelligence in the process, for one hour at a time whereas the 2nd edition wizard could Polymorph himself for 20 minutes per level into any creature in the right size range (hippo to wren) that isn't incorporeal, and he could shift freely between those forms at will. In 5E that takes a 9th level spell and doesn't even last as long.Just about the only wizard spell in 5E that's better than it was in 2nd edition is Clone.RE: "AND he can cast his lower level spells with slots right up to a 9th level slot," that's not really an advantage because you almost never want to do this because it's a terrible waste of a 9th level spell. About the only spells that benefit sufficiently from the scaling are the non-combat, strategic spells like Bestow Curse (becomes permanent) and Planar Binding (lasts for a year). I played with a guy who loved to blow his 9th level 5E spell slot on Chromatic Orb, in the first combat of every day. The memory still makes me wince. In any case, the 2nd edition wizard would have far more spells available to him including IIRC 2 9th level spells, 3 8th level spells, and 3 7th level spells compared to 5E's 1/1/2. Flexibility is nice but it's hard to make up for that raw power deficit, especially when 4th and 5th level spells in 2nd edition are as good as 5E's 9th level spells, and 5E RAW has no true equivalent at all for 2nd edition's best 9th level spells. Chain Contingency? Nope, doesn't exist in 5E. Shapechange? Nerfed, more comparable to Polymorph Self. Time Stop? Don't make me laugh. Prismatic Sphere? Extremely short duration, about half to one third as effective as the 2nd edition version (bear in mind that 1 HP in second edition ~= 3 HP in 5E, so it does about 2/3 as much damage, 175 vs. an effective 270, and has only 2 save-or-die effects instead of four).The claim that 5E wizards are not just more versatile but actually stronger than 2nd edition wizards is laughable.</blockquote>

Verification