FireLance
Legend
Or: the only things I would change about Vancian spellcasting are the number of spell slots and the per day refresh.
Originally posted here.
This is a little piece of insight that just dawned on me. The maneuver system in Bo9S and the per encounter spellcasting system that, in all likelihood, we are going to see in 4e are both about three-quarters Vancian. In my view, the better three-quarters, but that's getting a little ahead of myself.
Having only read one short story by Vance myself (something that had spells like excellent prismatic spray and whispered shout, and a magic item called live boots), I might actually be wrong about the following. However, the characteristics of a Vancian spellcasting system appear to me to be as follows:
So, Vancian spellcasting is not dead. At least 75% of it should be in 4e, and because of fewer spell slots, it will be even more Vancian than ever!
Originally posted here.
This is a little piece of insight that just dawned on me. The maneuver system in Bo9S and the per encounter spellcasting system that, in all likelihood, we are going to see in 4e are both about three-quarters Vancian. In my view, the better three-quarters, but that's getting a little ahead of myself.
Having only read one short story by Vance myself (something that had spells like excellent prismatic spray and whispered shout, and a magic item called live boots), I might actually be wrong about the following. However, the characteristics of a Vancian spellcasting system appear to me to be as follows:
1. Spells have pre-determined, fixed effects
When you want to create a fiery explosion, you cast fireball. You don't make up a spell from scratch in the course of the game. In addition, beyond certain (again) pre-determined degrees of freedom, you don't change the spell's parameters on the fly.
This generally results in faster gameplay. By narrowing down a spellcaster's options and reducing the need to make many decisions and calculations on the fly, the player spends less time deciding what to do and determining the effects of his action.
2. Spells are "stored" or "prepared" in slots
This generally means less bookkeeping, at least when compared to a spell point system.
3. Each spellcaster has a small number of spell slots
In the story, the wizard could prepare no more than four spells (I think) at a time. From a narrative perspective, it helps build tension as the spells are used one by one. Of course, as a story, you couldn't let the wizard have too many spells without making it an extremely long and probably rather boring tale. More importantly, most readers will have a hard time remembering all the spells the wizard started out with, which he has used, and which he has left at any one time.
Similarly, in the game, a smaller number of spell slots helps a player remember the options he has available to him at any one time. High-level D&D spellcasters are thus already not very Vancian in this respect.
4. Spells may only be prepared when the spellcaster's mind is fresh
In the story, this meant a good night's sleep, which sets a cap on the wizard's resources and helps the previously-mentioned building of tension because there is no way for him to regain his resources.
Similarly, in the game, this has historically also meant a good night's sleep (except for divine spellcasters in 3e), which again helps to build tension from dwindling resources and to encourage good resource management, but only if the players are faced with some kind of time limit. If not, in extreme cases, this could lead to the so-called 15-minute adventuring day, but I would expect that most of the time, the PCs would just continue adventuring until sufficiently drained of resources to recognize the need for rest, and this could take a variable amount of time depending on what happens between encounters.
So, looking at the Bo9S maneuver system and the possible per encounter spells in 4e, it looks like characteristics #1, #2, and #3 will still be there. #4 is changed somewhat - the length of the rest period has simply changed from 8 hours to (possibly) 1 minute.When you want to create a fiery explosion, you cast fireball. You don't make up a spell from scratch in the course of the game. In addition, beyond certain (again) pre-determined degrees of freedom, you don't change the spell's parameters on the fly.
This generally results in faster gameplay. By narrowing down a spellcaster's options and reducing the need to make many decisions and calculations on the fly, the player spends less time deciding what to do and determining the effects of his action.
2. Spells are "stored" or "prepared" in slots
This generally means less bookkeeping, at least when compared to a spell point system.
3. Each spellcaster has a small number of spell slots
In the story, the wizard could prepare no more than four spells (I think) at a time. From a narrative perspective, it helps build tension as the spells are used one by one. Of course, as a story, you couldn't let the wizard have too many spells without making it an extremely long and probably rather boring tale. More importantly, most readers will have a hard time remembering all the spells the wizard started out with, which he has used, and which he has left at any one time.
Similarly, in the game, a smaller number of spell slots helps a player remember the options he has available to him at any one time. High-level D&D spellcasters are thus already not very Vancian in this respect.
4. Spells may only be prepared when the spellcaster's mind is fresh
In the story, this meant a good night's sleep, which sets a cap on the wizard's resources and helps the previously-mentioned building of tension because there is no way for him to regain his resources.
Similarly, in the game, this has historically also meant a good night's sleep (except for divine spellcasters in 3e), which again helps to build tension from dwindling resources and to encourage good resource management, but only if the players are faced with some kind of time limit. If not, in extreme cases, this could lead to the so-called 15-minute adventuring day, but I would expect that most of the time, the PCs would just continue adventuring until sufficiently drained of resources to recognize the need for rest, and this could take a variable amount of time depending on what happens between encounters.
So, Vancian spellcasting is not dead. At least 75% of it should be in 4e, and because of fewer spell slots, it will be even more Vancian than ever!
