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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Ranganathan" data-source="post: 5882769" data-attributes="member: 6689455">Vancian casting is still popular for a few reasons.1. Versatility. In older editions you had a large spell list to chose from on a daily basis and you could pick which spells to memorize. In 4th, by contrast, you have a set list of spells that you cast over and over.2. Utility. In older editions you had many non-combat spells that could be used in interesting ways to perform often off the wall things, and create synergies with other spells or other casters. In 4th, to contrast, you have utility spells which largely fall into rather dull categories of static bonuses for a round, spend a surge, or free movement.It's not a distinction between at-will, encounter, etc vs Vancian, it's a distinction between the feeling of stasis / set lists / non-choices / and sameness vs feeling magic is dynamic / players have agency / control / and the ability to improvise. With 4th, despite many of it's improvements in places, you simply don't have the range of possibilities available under Vancian casting.I for one would welcome the improvisation and synergies of Vancian casting along with the magic-user not running out of magic set up of at-wills. With Vancian I can cast one spell to form a rain cloud in a room, cast another spell to transform that water into something flammable, then toss a torch into the room. I can't even come close to that in 4th. It's not about nuking an encounter, it's about creative thinking and out smarting parts of the adventure as players. Damn I miss that.Don't get me wrong, 4E did fix a few things, but it went way too far in fixing them. It fixed the wizards running out of magic problem and the 15-minute work day by ripping the heart out of players' ability to improvise with magic. Something that still fixes the crossbow wizard and the 15-minute work day while retaining the players' ability to pull off amazing things at the same time? Pure win and perfection.</blockquote>

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