Oldie but a Goldie: what the hell is with 1 min/level durati

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Username17
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Re: Oldie but a Goldie: what the hell is with 1 min/level du

Post by Username17 »

Actually, my point is that the caster level dependency of spells is:

* One of the major contributors to the fact that multiclassing spellcasters is like injecting amonia into your eye.

* The reason that Karma Beads, Ur Priests, and Nar Demon Binders completely break the game under certain circumstances.

And other than contributing to some of the largest spellcassting balance problems in the game, they don't seem to do anything.

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The_Hanged_Man
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Re: Oldie but a Goldie: what the hell is with 1 min/level du

Post by The_Hanged_Man »

Heck, it's the reason Karma Beads and that stupid Demon Binde,r, as well as the stupid True Necro, exist in the first place. IMO, though, there's a good reason for slight upticks in spell power w/ caster level. Without it, low level spells are worthless. At least to a certain extent all magic systems have increases in spells based on character level (or its equivalent). A 9th level spell should be better than a 1st level spell, but a 1st level spell should still do something. A non-scaling MM is absolutely useless to a 9th level PC, let alone a 16th level PC.

There's actually two ways to fix it. You can eliminate caster level power-ups, or you can eliminate spell level power-ups. D&D is pretty unique in having both spell levels and caster levels. Usually, games pretty much get rid of the latter. Shadowrun, for example.
Username17
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Re: Oldie but a Goldie: what the hell is with 1 min/level du

Post by Username17 »

Shadowrun, of course, gets rid of the former, having caster levels but no spell levels.

In Shadowrun, you can learn any spell you want at any time, but the bigger a level you have the better its going to be.

Very roughly speaking, of course, they actually do have a Force Rating (unique to the spell) and a Skill Rating (Unique to you as a caster) - but any spell can b had at any Force. It's just a toggle switch of whether you want more power for a greater backlash on any given spell - the concept of needing to be a certain power level before a spell becomes available to you is alien to Shadowrun.

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The_Hanged_Man
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Re: Oldie but a Goldie: what the hell is with 1 min/level du

Post by The_Hanged_Man »

Right, I misspoke/typed.
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