Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Luminosity 03-22-06, 03:35 AM	http://www.d20srd.org/srd/variant/magic/rechargeMagic.htm If this is balanced in any appreciable way, it would be a great replacement for Vancian "Fire-and-Forget" magic, which irritates me. What problems should I expect to crop up if I switch over to the Raplacement Magic system? The one that immediately springs to mind is Invisibility and Greater Invis. Both spells have a much lower recharge time than See Invisibility. I can just see random Glitterdust and Dispel Magic bursts flying about in my group. Should I similarly convert all abilities that have a per day usage, like Smite and Stunning Fist? What about Psionics?
HerbalTea 03-22-06, 04:23 AM	Using this rule, it makes all spellcasters kind of the same. The reason why wizards and sorcerers etc were created separately was because they treat and manipulate magic in their own unique ways. This would be taking the traditional touch out of DnD that separates it from all of the other table top RPG's in the world. As for psionics - I hate them so I can't help you there.
Starman IX 03-22-06, 04:51 AM	It reminds me of Diablo. I'm surprised they didn't make a mana potion variant. Casters have limited spells per day because they want it to be balanced. If you could fire off certain 9th level spells per day ad nauseum, what would be the point of playing anything else?
Luminosity 03-22-06, 05:25 AM	If you could fire off certain 9th level spells per day ad nauseum, what would be the point of playing anything else? Not much, if that's what the variant actually said. You can cast your ninth level spell in round 1, but you won't be casting one in round 2 or 3. You're limited to casting 9th then 8th then 7th then 6th then 5th then 9th, typically. Once your wizard has cast a 9th level spell, he won't be able to cast another in the next 2 rounds at least, and usually it'll be 4.5 rounds. This will also screw with Quicken and Time Stop (which you won't ever see twice in the same combat, unlike Vancian magic).
Starman IX 03-22-06, 05:50 AM	It even said itself, it's a high-powered thing. 9th level spells are half the problem. Once you get at least 2nd level spells, you'll be casting 1st level spells at will. Once you get at least 3rd level spells, you'll be casting 2nd level spells at will. It goes on and on, until you get 9th level spells at (semi-)will. Like I said, if you don't balance the system, everyone will want to play the busted class.
Luminosity 03-22-06, 06:52 AM	It even said itself, it's a high-powered thing. 9th level spells are half the problem. Once you get at least 2nd level spells, you'll be casting 1st level spells at will. Once you get at least 3rd level spells, you'll be casting 2nd level spells at will. At 3rd level, typical combat will look like: Round 1: Scorching Ray (avg 4.5 turns till you can recast) Round 2: Magic Missile (avg 4.5 turns till you can recast) 3: Acid Splash (avg 3.5 turns till you can recast) 4: Crossbow 5: Crossbow 6: MAYBE Scorching Ray. Otherwise Crossbow. I'd hardly call that "at will". No need to exaggerate.
Chrono Nexus 03-22-06, 07:23 AM	I am currently playing a recharging magic group. They might be broken, if not for the restrictions that have been placed on us. 1: We may only learn spells from two schools, and we cannot cast any spells from other schools (even spell completion items) 2: We gain sorc's spells known. 3: The sorc's spells per day must be prepared- we cannot augment them with metamagic later and the slots cannot be changed into other known spells when cast. 4: We keep spellbooks. We can prepare spells from our spellbook, but they do not recharge. Basically, we have two kinds of casting: Recharging spells, and prepared spells.
Luminosity 03-22-06, 07:36 AM	But you're able to use your highest level spells each combat and yet the sky is not falling, cats and dogs are not living together, and Ted Kennedy hasn't sobered up?
Luminosity 03-23-06, 12:21 AM	Anyone else?
Bryarr 03-23-06, 01:49 AM	Using traditional conceptualizations of large scale war in D&D goes from slightly ridiculous to outright ludicrous using this. That's a LOT of fireballs being tossed by one wizard during a 2 hour battle, isn't it? Bry
Luminosity 03-23-06, 02:06 AM	Yup. I'd say it makes it look a lot closer to modern warfare.
ressurrector 03-23-06, 02:09 AM	The main problem is that it allows a wizard to cast his most powerfull spell upwards of a few hundred times per day, instead of 3-5 times. You can start every combat off with a meteor swarm, and follow up with 8th then 7th destructive spells, most enemies woule be dead at this point. Next combat, rinse and repeat. Wizards/sorcs are allready powerfull enough at high levels, I say either make some house rules to balance, or don't do it. There are many people who complain about the Warlocks because they can fire off 9d6 every round at max level, using this system just about any real arcane caster is going to be orders of magnitude worse.
irzg9zh3psgq3m09 03-23-06, 02:11 AM	I always thought this was a more logical way of using magic. I mean, I compared it to stamina. A wizard firing off magic left and right would become tired very quickly, just as a runner who uses most of his energy for a short sprint would become tired very quickly. Eventually, though, the spellcaster and the runner will get his energy back to cast spells/run again. I never understood why there would be a limit on how many times per day you can cast something. (Maybe this is heavily influenced by other fantasy books/games I read/play, that don't cap magic with limited numbers.) I was trying to make up this variant rule since I didn't know this existed. Now that I know it exists (thanks for the link), I can see how magic is now much more powerful, since this basically means that at every encounter, he has his full list of spells. However, I think it's fair, since at high levels, some melee characters become very powerful, and they're usually at their full strength at all their encounters (except HP, which may vary). Hmm... this would work really well with the variant rule of playing in a world with limited magic. That would make spellcasters that much more valuable. Oh, and I forgot to ask. What book is this rule found in?
Luminosity 03-23-06, 02:36 AM	The main problem is that it allows a wizard to cast his most powerfull spell upwards of a few hundred times per day, instead of 3-5 times. You can start every combat off with a meteor swarm, and follow up with 8th then 7th destructive spells, most enemies woule be dead at this point. Next combat, rinse and repeat. Yup, that'd be pretty common, but do most direct-confrontation combats last to the third round during such high level games anyway? And wouldn't people just throw their minions in first to absorb the first two spells so that they can charge in when the spellcasters are using weaker spells? At higher levels, most spellcasters have the ability to escape whenever they want, so wearing them down with repeated encounters is rather pointless because they can just port out and recharge in a Rope Trick or Mordenkainen's Mansion somewhere. This variant actually reduces the spellcaster's ability to front-load an encounter (Time Stop, followed by all your 9th level spells) to ensure victory, then teleport out. Wizards/sorcs are allready powerfull enough at high levels, I say either make some house rules to balance, or don't do it. Which house rules? Giving nonspellcasters (non Su and Sp ability too, I suppose) SR and a level-based bonus to saves against magic? There are many people who complain about the Warlocks because they can fire off 9d6 every round at max level, using this system just about any real arcane caster is going to be orders of magnitude worse. I suppose those people are unfamiliar with the rogue...
Luminosity 03-23-06, 02:38 AM	Oh, and I forgot to ask. What book is this rule found in? Unearthed Arcana.
DarknessEternal 03-23-06, 10:07 AM	Certain lower level spells scale far too well for recharge magic to actually work, such as Scorching Ray. Also, it leads to spellcasters opening every single encounter with their best spells, all day long. Recharge magic is only viable if you want everyone in the whole world to be a spellcaster. Otherwise, it is too strong.
ressurrector 03-23-06, 05:02 PM	I suppose those people are unfamiliar with the rogue... Definitely, but warlocks just look too powerfull from about lvl 1-5, and then later they're just invisible annoyances mostly.