Upgrade your account to a Community Supporter account and remove most of the site ads.

Reply to thread

Message: <blockquote data-quote="Mustrum_Ridcully" data-source="post: 3763103" data-attributes="member: 710">That's an interesting question. I would assume that's something the Designers are trying to address with the new mechanics for spellcasting, including the indicated 25+ levels of spells. The Book of Nine Swords might also give some interesting ideas on what they are planning to give the "martial" characters to grant them greater versatility. It might be important to keep in mind that while spells are often quite impressive in the versatility department, mundane skill uses are not to discounted. A wizard might be able to make himself invisible, but a Rogue can sneak well enough that he doesn't need the spell (and is also not hampered by Detect Magic/Invisibility spells). A Fighter doesn't need fly to overcome a river or a cliff. There are some spells but that are truely beyond mundane means - flying is still superior to climbing during a combat, and Dimension Door or Teleport will certainly be unmatched by any other skill. But then, this might be just the advantage the wizards has for not being able to go toe-to-toe with a Dragon...The primary concern is probably still wether things stay balanced during combat. But I agree it would be a very good idea to ensure that classes stay balanced outside of combat, too. Which means that even in an investigative heavy adventure, fighters get to do something and don't have to leave everything to the Diviners and Rogues or Bards. Even more so when a "social challenge" system has been established. I think there are some indications that they are seeing these issues (I specifically remember the thing about traps being full-fledged encounters using all the party members, instead of just being the Rogue rolling 2-3 dice).Just some observations first that are not _that_ important here: Under the current system, an encounter that gives the characters a 50 % chance to survive/succeed is an encounter with a Encounter Level equal to Party Level +4. Which means that on average, this will consume 50 % of the parties resources (which, worst case scenario, could be two full characters in the standard 4 player group!). It can be more, it can be less. I tend to think if no character died, you might actually have been below 50 %. I tend to think the systems expectation for "average" might be a bit off, but maybe it doesn't account for good tactics of experienced players. In encounters were Wizards and Clerics are usually holding back with spells (EL around PL), the expectation is that this requires 25 % of the parties resources. In such encounters, I think the estimation might be a bit farther off then described above, simply for the existence of Wands of Cure Light Wounds. At medium to high levels, the resources they require seem considerable less than what the systems expects (I assume that's because it is based on spells used for healing, or just the pure hit point cost, not on the wand cost formula)Another thing is to keep in mind: Most resources characters have cannot actually be spend within a single encounter. Hitpoints burn through pretty fast in 3.x, but blowing out all your spells takes a lot of time at higher levels. If an average combat lasts 5 rounds, you usually won't get out more than 5 spells per round. So, even if you have 100 % of your powers available doesn't mean you get to use 100 % of them. Using a resource usually costs a new one that you have to keep track off only during the encounter: Actions. You only have a limited amount of them per turn, and the tactical component is to decide when do you use which of your other resources together with this one. A think I just noticed: The 10 minute adventure day might also be result of aspects like quicken spell and more swift spells. These spells are balanced by the assumption that their effects are lessened (Swift Spells usually) or they cost more (Quicken Spell). On a pure power level, this is in fact the case, I think. But on the resource management side, they mean that you can spend more of your resources during an encounter. But since your resources do not replenish after the encounter, casters are out of spells even earlier.</blockquote>

Verification