Tycho, Lord of Karran-Kural's page

Since wizards and sorcerers are often viewed as underpowered by many people...

Pardon?

The examples being given of wizards blowing away hordes of enemies, while the poor warriors are left with nothing to do, just isn't happening for us. In fact, it's often the other way round.

The 20th level caster who uses a 6th-level slot to deal 70 damage in an area...sounds good, until you factor in Spell Resistance, Spell Turning, Counterspelling, Energy Resistance, saves for half damage, Evasion, etc.
Sure, you can kill rooms full of mooks who are many levels beneath you, but you shouldn't really be facing them, or gaining xp for defeating them.
A creature rated as appropriate to your caster level is often very difficult to even effect.

At the same time, our 'warriors' are hacking away, hitting with 4 attacks per round, and easily capable of delivering 100 damage per round, yet none of the three has the benefit of a full BAB history.

My job seems to be to deliver them to the objective, smash the scenery up, dispel harmful spells, and identify the loot. Damaging the enemy is not a worth the attempt unless they're in my face, or as a side effect of killing themselves on my defences (Moltenwing in one round!).

This is not a rant against my group or campaign, but I simply cannot relate to the statements that 'iterative attacks are useless', or 'fighters cannot contribute at high level'.

I'm just happy to have re-ignited the Suel/Bakluni War. The Rain of Colourless Fire and Invoked Devastation were old-school. I can't wait to see what they bring to the table this time!

Sorry to burst your bubble, but we've made up, now.

Snorter wrote:

I don't need to be amazing at everything, I just want there to be a chance of success, however small.

You mean you wanted to abuse the rules because your character had a high intelligence?

(well, it's about as objective as your attack on Kaile :-)

It's not my fault Int was your dump stat...;)

(The fact that you abused the Charisma rules forced me to add that smiley. Damn you! Damn you and your unskilled double-figure Diplomacy bonus!)

...I'm sure you have reason to be proud of whatever little blurb you can find in your precious books to justify your sense of superiority.

The quote was for the benefit of Monsieur Set, who asked the original question. I simply quoted my source, in case he wishes to investigate further.

I tactfully chose not to repeat what was written there regarding the Suel Empire, in case it caused you, or others offence.

As to my own blood I can offer few easy answers, we are a diverse people, but I think we can all agree that the world is a far safer place after we Suloise abandoned the dark and cruel ways of our ancestors.

It is indeed; and I regret that I may have let my personal experiences cloud my perceptions. Since being bought, like a piece of meat, by the aforementioned 'albino corpse-fondler' (a contemptible creature, who is now, thankfully, quite messily deceased), I have yet to encounter a single arcanist in this gods-forsaken dirt-bowl of a city who follows the noble, nurturing, self-sacrificing path of abjuration. Instead, if the notches on my kill-list are to be believed, the entire wizardly population of this coast is comprised of necromancers and diabolists, of one faction or another.

I accept that in Sasserine, this may not be the case, and that some, such as yourself, may work tirelessly to prevent the influx of vile creatures from beyond, If so, it would make a refreshing change of pace to spend some quality time with you some evenings (in the interests of research).

I can thankfully say that, for the most part, we Suloise have learned our lessons.

I took the liberty to correct your spelling, if you will forgive my boldness.

You say that your Baklunish retain much of your culture? How quaint. Too each their own. I would never assume to tell your people to do anything different.

Indeed. We all know where that can lead...

PS: Have you ever sat for a portrait?
You look oddly familiar, but I can't quite place why.

I'll readily admit to being a blowhard. But only because we Baklunish have so much to blow hard about!

On a serious note, if I may quote the Living Greyhawk Gazeteer;

The Baklunish, unlike the Suloise, retained much of their culture after the fall of their empire. Honor, family, generosity and piety are fundamental virtues. (page 5)

Many skilled wizards are Baklunish, including experts in elemental magic, divination, and summoning and binding spells (used on extraplanar beings) Cooperative spellcasting is practiced by many of the clergy, particularly among the desert mystics. (page 5)

If that glowing recommendation of my magnificent heritage offends you, then I suggest you take it up with a certain Mr Eric Mona...

...concrete suggestions as to how a Baklunish Wizard is different from a Sueloise one...

Well, we're not albino corpse-fondlers, for a start!

You, sir, are a man after my own heart. I bow to your understanding of morals.

Someone has to oppose these Suloise albino corpse-fiddlers, to make the world a safe place for Flan, Oeridian and yes, Baklunish babies to skip hand in hand through the fruitful gardens and oases of the reborn Empire of the True Faith, once the Cup and Talisman are restored to us.

I kill because I must to safeguard the future for our children, and our children's children...

WON'T SOMEBODY THINK OF THE CHILDREN!!!!!!!!!!!

I never understood why PHB hill-dwarves got the benefit of darkvision, but escaped that drawback.

Shut up, you idiot. The DM will hear you!

You see what I have to work with? I ask you...

Hmm, if they're going to break dwarven stereotypes I guess no more drinking, mining, axes, stupid accents, goblin-hating, or hardiness.

Well, I wasn't born a dwarf; that was a side-effect of an argument with a disintegrate ray. And I'm not proficient with the axe. But you can put me down for a good helping of goblin-hating and an encyclopaedic knowledge of geology (or any knowledge skill, come to think). And any fool who ridicules my accent or my culture had better be prepared to defend those lies with his life!

The Grand Mufti of the Yatil Mountains urges us to disdain alcohol, which is why I have the physique of a god, compared to the degenerate infidels I see around me, puking their guts into the gutter every pay day.

He also teaches humility, and I am convinced I am a shining example of this aspect, too.

...{the wizard} also has the lowest hp total in the party, despite being sixth level...

A wizard?

With the lowest hp in the party?

Bah! Surely you jest? Or take me for some kind of fool?

Flexes pecs and strokes his rippling washboard abs...

I recently ran a C&C campaign that reached 20th level. Once the PC's broke into the higher levels the wizard became a steamroller of destruction. The other PC's would jokingly refer to themselves as the wizards lackeys.

Aah; if only all one's companions could have such an attitude...

Are you reading this, you ungrateful bunch?!

Here he is, punching Drakthar's goblins like it's his job. Because he's a monk, and therefore, it is his job.

Hah!

Reminds me of me, when I was still human and still excited about 2nd level spells!

It's all about intent and action / consequences for me....Alignment isn't mechanical, IMO.

Well said!

As with experience points, after a while, a DM gets a feel for what seems 'appropriate', and should adjust accordingly. Whenever a rigid system is used for either (no matter what it is), as soon as the players get wind of it, they'll be playing the system and whoring every point out of it.

I regret to say I've been in games where 2 players have been told they were 5xp off levelling up, and half the party was murdered over who got the right to kill a wandering giant rat. Or when the players discovered the DM was giving out 25xp for every 'act of charity', so a scuffle broke out over who got to give 1gp to every beggar in the street on '25-for-the-price-of-one-day' ("Hey! We only get 1xp/gp if we hand it to the Guildmaster!").

Similarly, if the players are told that "Good act X will cancel Evil act Y", then they'll simply manipulate the game to ensure that they always have a spell memorised (or a wand to hand) that alignment drift never becomes a problem. Despite what the 4E proponents would have you believe, PCs DO NOT run out of spells under normal play conditions...

I myself have not done so for the last 13 levels, and I believe my many underlings and henchmen in the Cagebreakers (or at least, those with the wit to cast spells) would concur with me. If I actually cared one wit about my alignment, beyond as a way of currying favour with the mighty staff 'Alakast' (and were not constantly keeping my Goodometer topped up by slaughtering fiends and evildoers), I could easily ensure I had a few 'Care Bear Castings' left over to fool the bleeding-heart Heironeans in my employ! As it is, I believe I have enough credit built up that I can let loose the Baklunish Jihad with extreme prejudice without fear of reproval! It's not evil if your victims are evil! Or Suloise!
Take that, 'Master Fetor'! Feel your insides ripped out through your nostrils, you degenerate corpse-fondler! Think you can buy me, like a common trinket; me, a person so obviously your racial superior in every way?!?! Get a taste of what I gave Odo the Whip, on the Scarlet Brotherhood's slave-hulk! It wasn't the sharks that got him, Oh No! It's because of your kind I learned how to hide, to sneak, to conceal a blade (or 5) on my person, and I didn't need the rookeries of Greyhawk to teach me to kill, either! My only regret is that you're trapped in a globe of silence, so you can't hear me taunting you in your last agonising seconds! If I had the time, I'd take my time over you, but my idiot servant Darmargo has got himself killed by a dracolich, and I have to organise my panicking headless-chicken retainers!

Gauntlet of Life Transferance

I question why an item created by a mage is fashioned out of iron plates? I just can't see an item seemingly designed for arcane classes being made out of materials that don't mesh with their class. It also gives healing to non-healing classes, which may be a mark against it. With a change in flavor, this item could work.

Can't see a problem with that; I've been healing myself since 7th level, via polymorph. And I've been able to raise the dead for a few weeks, too, though that's more insurance for my clerical henchman, Kaile, than a daily chore.

Not that I need to heal too often; you have to find someone capable of hurting you first...<sigh>...there's so few opponents fit to lick my boots...

Suppose the character is right at 12th and has 66,000 xp. When they gain the template, they are effectively 13th. Do they need to get all the way to 91,000 xp to get their next level? That seems a little extreme, and I'm not sure if it is fair.

But it is the rules as written. Just like any level-adjusted creature.

Take a starting (level 1) character with 0xp, and LA +1; he counts as second level, so needs to acquire 3000xp to gain his second character level.

It only sounds harsh because of the level they're at, but really, an extra 13,000xp is a minor speedbump, after which they pay a mere 1000xp surcharge each level, which should be neither here nor there.

Whether it seems a good trade really depends on the PC's class. Warrior-types don't get much beyond an attack bonus (which they probably don't need), and the ability to ignore Protection from Good, Unholy Blight, etc. But a spellcaster...Holy Heck! +1 caster level?
Give it here!

I'd have had it, too, if I hadn't been a pair of smoking boots at the time. The rest of my party managed to ignore my obvious efforts to plonk our 'ally' in the flames, and killed him stone dead, the jackasses!
So it was up to our Shining Blade to take a gamble, which paid off (I maintain he only jumped in because he knew he was living on borrowed time, with his illegal feats...grumble...)

...ask me this question in 5 years time and I may well give a different answer...

In 5 years time, I assume you'll have finished casting your buff spells, and can give me a hand with this room full of Cagewrights...?

...what I had already done in my own campaign (which uses recharge magic) is to allow wizards to cast any spell in their book by doing a quick study (i.e. 1 minute per spell level)...With this ad hoc spell-casting in place, You could still have Your combat spells prepared but upon reaching a door that the rogue could not unlock, the game wouldn't necessarily grind to a halt. Made for some interesting moments like when the Fellowship of the Ring took a few minutes of downtime outside Moria while their wizard did his thing.

This is already covered in the existing rules (PHB 178). Though you have to leave a slot free, to be prepared later. Most players either don't know this, or can't resist the temptation to fill every slot. It is very good for those utility spells like knock or stone to flesh, that you may not memorise automatically, but when you do need them, you really need them...

I don't currently use the 'study time' option, since becoming a mage of the Arcane Order (Complete Arcane). Now, I leave a slot or two free, then I can pick any spell of that level I want from the College Spellpool under Sasserine (whether I know it or not), and count it against my next day's spells. Ho Ho!

Or you can scribe scrolls of all the boring defensive or utility spells, so you always have them to hand. But that's far too simple for most players too. Most wizards I see are like a 'glass cannon'; full to the brim with offensive spells, but go down like a house of cards when anyone dares to retaliate.

Allowing PCs to study for extra spells, over and above their normal allowance (assuming that is what you implied) seems broken, as it takes much of the challenge out of the game. All situations become a matter of 'when' the PCs beat it, rather than 'if', making them merely 'speed-bumps'. Unless you keep up a time-pressure, is there any reason to make intelligent or reasoned spell-choices at the beginning of the day...?