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General Tabletop Discussion
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Why Has D&D, and 5e in Particular, Gone Down the Road of Ubiquitous Magic?
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<blockquote data-quote="Mercule" data-source="post: 6829453" data-attributes="member: 5100"><p>First of all, I'm a guy who plays martial characters almost exclusively. I just don't really see casters as protagonists in most cases -- Merlin supports Arthur. I <em>know</em> that's not the majority view for players of D&D; I'm throwing it out there as a frame of reference for what I'm about to say.</p><p></p><p>All the way back in 1E, shortly after UA was published, I started letting magic users cast cantrips at will. In 2E, they all had <em>prestidigitation</em> (or whatever it was called). Why? Because a wizard who <u>can't</u> magically light a candle without expended a measurable amount of his power is lame. I'm all fine with sub-genres where even the most basic of spells can get the attention of a great old one, hollow out the caster, or drive them insane. That's not D&D, though. </p><p></p><p>Even (especially?) in 1E, D&D wizards were kinda tools. They had to be insanely strategic to measure out their very finite power such that it didn't peter out. The setup was (probably) fine for a war game or other gamist play, where the balance was the major goal and mood wasn't a consideration. It sucks if you want to have someone who oozes power. The most feared wizard PC my group has ever seen was actually just good at standing in the back rank where no one saw that his "fire bolts" were actually just flasks of oil he carried beneath his robe. That's stupid.</p><p></p><p>I've played and enjoyed psions, a 3E sorcerer, and a 2E mage using the <u>Spells and Powers</u> fatigue variant (that was cool). Maybe if BECMI and AD&D wizards hadn't been so abominably devoid of actual magical flavor, I'd feel different about wizards as heroes.</p><p></p><p>I'm just happy that 5E has a lower expectation of magic items than any other edition.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Mercule, post: 6829453, member: 5100"] First of all, I'm a guy who plays martial characters almost exclusively. I just don't really see casters as protagonists in most cases -- Merlin supports Arthur. I [I]know[/I] that's not the majority view for players of D&D; I'm throwing it out there as a frame of reference for what I'm about to say. All the way back in 1E, shortly after UA was published, I started letting magic users cast cantrips at will. In 2E, they all had [I]prestidigitation[/I] (or whatever it was called). Why? Because a wizard who [U]can't[/U] magically light a candle without expended a measurable amount of his power is lame. I'm all fine with sub-genres where even the most basic of spells can get the attention of a great old one, hollow out the caster, or drive them insane. That's not D&D, though. Even (especially?) in 1E, D&D wizards were kinda tools. They had to be insanely strategic to measure out their very finite power such that it didn't peter out. The setup was (probably) fine for a war game or other gamist play, where the balance was the major goal and mood wasn't a consideration. It sucks if you want to have someone who oozes power. The most feared wizard PC my group has ever seen was actually just good at standing in the back rank where no one saw that his "fire bolts" were actually just flasks of oil he carried beneath his robe. That's stupid. I've played and enjoyed psions, a 3E sorcerer, and a 2E mage using the [U]Spells and Powers[/U] fatigue variant (that was cool). Maybe if BECMI and AD&D wizards hadn't been so abominably devoid of actual magical flavor, I'd feel different about wizards as heroes. I'm just happy that 5E has a lower expectation of magic items than any other edition. [/QUOTE]
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Why Has D&D, and 5e in Particular, Gone Down the Road of Ubiquitous Magic?
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