Doug Bragg's page

Ah... I misunderstood. I thought it was a loss of all casting ability.

But if you only lose the ability to cast the spell... why bother with the restriction at all? Most of the time it'll be a minor issue - if it's noticeable at all. On the rare occasion where the spell is critical (such as needing 4 castings of fly, but only being able to cast it 2/day), you end up delaying the entire party an additional 2 days.

I guess I'm just not seeing the point of this rule... if it's just to be able to say "See, there's a cost to crafting!" eh... why bother.

Using the bonded object (in my case a staff) I was able to save the party once and a second time (next day) gave me a second shot at a more powerful damage spell to take down a giant.

Between scrolls, the spells you can normally prepare, and the bonded object's 1 free spell / day, I think the wizard is plenty flexible.

For what it's worth... I like the idea.

Although I'm not sure how it could be put into practice here.

One of the things that struck me as odd was the comment about how when you expend your last charge on a wand, it loses any enhancements.

Wands don't generally have any enhancements other than the spells inside them... so what does this mean? Can wands be enhanced like magic weapons or wonderous items now? Can I have a +1 Spellstoring Wand of Magic Missile with 30 charges that grants +2 Int?

I can't agree with this; I don't think that a universalist should be punished for being a universalist. The various special abilities of all of the groups should have the same relative power level (The Wish and Limited Wish really are too much), and make each area of specialization (or lack thereof) just as desirable as any other.

If each set of powers is equal, then what benefit does the specialist gain for giving up 2 schools? Generalists, by virtue of not giving up 2 schools are already better off. In addition, their special ability scales (where the abjurer's doesn't).

How tough is the Spellcraft DC 20+SL?

1st & 2nd level your Spellcraft is 4 or 5 +Int v. DC 21. Assume a +3 Int, that's a 13 or 14 needed to cast the spell (disregarding other bonuses one might get to spellcraft). Not impossible. Of course, you could always use Mage Hand (0 level spell) to pick it up and carry it over to you (if you dropped it).

3rd level = 6+Int v. DC 22 (13 on spellcraft).
4th lvl = 7+Int v. DC 22 (12 on spellcraft)
5th lvl = 8+Int. v. DC 23 (12 on spellcraft)
6th lvl = 9+Int. v. DC 23 (11 on spellcraft)
7th lvl = 10+Int. v. DC 24 (11 on spellcraft)
8th lvl = 11+Int. v. DC 24 (10 on spellcraft)
9th lvl = 12+Int. v. DC 25 (10 on spellcraft)
10th lvl = 13+Int. v. DC 25 (9 on spellcraft)
11th lvl = 14+Int. v. DC 26 (9 on spellcraft)... and so on.

That's not all that tough, particularly once your Int. starts going up with equipment, spells, or every 4th lvl.

And what didn't happen? Spell damages didn't change. Magic Missile does the same amount of damage now that it did in 1977; less, if you account for the fact that it now caps at 5 missiles. While HPs were going up (due to lowered threshholds for a Con bonus and uncapped Con scores and bonuses), spell damages remained the same, meaning that a successful wizard did WELL to fall back on the quick killing save-or-die spells, because his direct damage spells were the equivalent of peeing on a forest fire.

I only started playing during 3.5, so I don't have the perspective of knowing what came before. All I do know is that it seems save or effect spells are often less effective than peeing on a forest fire for me (and I tend to put everything into Int. to boost those save DCs).

It seems that spells that are designed to be effective v. melee combatants (such as draining strength), require a Fort save (something melee combatants are really good at - particularly monsters).

Looking at going up against some monsters, save or effect spells are completely useless. Earthbind is a fun spell in the Draconomicon to bind a Dragon's wings... but it is a low level spell and has a save (forget what type, doesn't matter)... there's a 5% chance that any dragon will fail the save (yeah, natural 1).

The 1/2 (CL+SL) formula presents only a slight boost to DCs, but keeps the lower level spells worth preparing, imho.

Spell Save DC 10 + 1/2 caster level - spell level + Ability? Higher level spells are more difficult to cast?

Hmm... what about DC 10+ 1/2 (caster level + spell level) + Ability.

So a First level spell will have a DC 11+Ability (at 1st level) (same as it is now).

At 5th level, the DC for a 3rd level spell is 14+Ability (1 higher than normal)

At 11th level, the DC for a 6th level spell is 18+Ability (2 higher)

At 15th level, the DC for an 8th level spell is 21+ability (3 higher)

At 20th level, the DC for a 9th level spell is 24+Ability (5 higher).
The DC for a 1st level spell is 20+Ability... which makes it possibly effecive in higher CR encounters.

Considering that the monster saves (i.e. the Ancient Red) always seem considerably higher than any save DC anyway, this increase over time actually keeps the save or effect spells useful.

Archade wrote:

Who has time to make 20 magic items?

There's this really neat quil in the Complete Mage... it scribes scrolls while you sleep. You could scribe 1 scroll a night, while spending your days adventuring. Heck, in the 2 weeks of downtime between saving the forest and the blue dragon beginning its rampage, you could scribe 20 scrolls easy.

How would this idea work in practice. Would it really be 2 "free skills" or would it end up causing the number of skills you get to be reduced? If the idea is that Wizards get 2+Int skills, and Knowledge Arcana and Spellcraft. Then why not just give them 4+Int skills and let the player decide? But 4+Int skills (for an Intelligence based class) could end up being a lot of skills... possibly rivaling the rogue (a rogue w/ 10 Int. or even 12 int. v. Human Wizard w/ 18 Int).

I say keep the paternalism out of game design. Let the players create their characters and leave skill choice an option. If I want to play a lvl 1 Wizard that becomes a Fighter, do I really need Spellcraft or knowledge arcana? No, I'm a fighter (that first level of Wizard was for the 5 element resistance from abjurer and the bonded sword for 1/2 price).

With characters getting more feats in PRPG, that allows all spellcasters an extra feat to spend on Heighten Spell.

There you go, problem solved!

How does this solve the problem? You can't heighten every spell to 9th level to get the higher save DC.

From my experience it seems no matter how high the save DCs are for my spells, the monster's saves are so much higher that the chance of failure is non-existent.

Let's see... Wizard with an Int of 18 (starting) + 5 (levels) + 6 (equipment) = 29, add a tome and you get between 30 and 34. That's a +12 Int. bonus. So, your level 9 spell has a DC of 12+10+9=31.

An Ancient (Gargantuan) Red Dragon (CR 23)has saves of 28, 19, 26. That means the Ancient dragon has a 40% chance to fail a reflex save, and a 20% chance to fail the will save, and a 10% chance to fail the fort save. And that's the 9th level spell... go down to a 3rd level spell and the dragon can't fail anything with a Fort or Will save, and has a 20% chance of failing a reflex save. Them's aren't good odds for the caster. In fact, at that kind of encounter, the spells with a save just aren't worth having.

Going with Save = 1/2 CL+Int+10 = 10+12+10=32 possibly 33 (with +2 to the caster level through feats and items). Odds have improved slightly, but still overwhelmingly in the Dragon's favor.

Save DC = CL+Int+10 = 20+12+10=42 or 44 (with +2 from various items, etc.). The Ancient Red Dragon now has to roll a 16 on a Fort Save, can't make the Reflex save w/o a natural 20; and needs an 18 on the Will save. Ignoring any applicable immunities, phantasmal killer could actually have a chance at hurting an Ancient Red Dragon in this circumstance.

That's probably a little too tough (particularly if you throw in school focus). But not every wizard is going to have a +5 tome, nor are they going to start with an 18 int. Going with a different ratio (2/3 CL or something like that) ends up hurting the wizards at lower levels (DC 11+Int. for level 1-5; 12+Int lvls 6-11 and so on).

So... a level 1 wizard with scribe scroll feat can scribe a scroll of a first level spell when he reaches... 5th level?!?

Why not do something simpler:

Cost to Craft = 1/2 purchase price + (exp point cost*1.5).

Crafting a level 1 scroll generally costs 1 exp. point... so add 1.5 gold to the cost to craft (12.5 gold (if I remember right) + 1.5 = 14 gold to craft).

Do the same for any spell that has an exp point cost (call it a material component). So to cast permanency on Arcane Sight on one's self (1,500 exp) requires instead a material component worth 2,250g.

How much crafting a character can do, or how many times they can cast permanency thus depends upon how much gold the DM gives them and that they are able to horde away. The balance comes in choosing to spend more gold on the crafting than on some other item. Maybe 1.5x exp is low... maybe 2 x exp would work better.

If the Wizard is gaining those special abilities through study and knowledge of how Magic works... then it's not an innate talent (like sorcerers) and should be based off Int.

Besides... It can be hard enough to get an Int score high enough to have a save DC that is actually tough for monsters to make... it seems to me the only way one of those special abilities will actually work in a very few circumstances (where the target fails or comes very close to failing its save).

I think the system works as it is now. The Dc 16 in your case is not so easy for a 1st level fighter to do much to you. Lets assume he has 15 Str so he would have a CMB + 3 The highest number he could reach is a 23 and since that is only a max of 5 over, you wouldn't be held immobile. You could still cast spells at him or attack him. If that fighter was an Orc, he would have a CMB + 5 and could still only do the same. The system works nicely. Now if those fighters were 4th level, they should be able to grapple you a little better and could possibly pin you at some point.

It has never made sense to me that someone can only use their strength to avoid a grapple/disarm/whatever... dex based fighters (whether a swashbuckler or rogue)... the types you'd expect to be able to deftly slip away are constantly at a disadvantage.

Saying that it works fine for a 4th level character to be able to pummel a 9th level wizard... ugh... that doesn't sound "fine" to me.

Just wondering, how does this system encourage someone to play a specialist?

A 3.5 specialist had 2 prohibited schools (painful choice, sure, but it made some sense), for the benefit of 1 extra spell per spell level and a bonus on spellcraft checks regarding those types of spells (useful at lower levels, insignificant at higher levels).

Under this system a Specialist has 2 sorta' prohibited schools (you can use them, but you suffer a penalty), in exchange for that sacrifice, you gain the powers of your chosen school instead of the powers of a generalist (which, as far as I can see, means you give up the more powerful set of powers because you chose to specialize - unless Prismatic Sphere is equivalent to Wish). I honestly see no incentive to play an abjurer in these rules.

There's no benefit to being a specialist anymore... nor are there any real draw backs. As an abjurer, if I cast out of my prohibited school I give up resistance 5 v. an energy type I chose at the start of the day. Is it worth giving that up to be able to cast Energy Drain? Probably.

When doing some of the math on the CMB issues, it became apparent that 10+CMB created a similar problem to the one we face in 3.5. That is that wizards (and other spellcasters) get "owned" by grapple, as it nearly always worked and they could rarely escape (I know there are ways, but in many cases, this was a big problem, I have seen a lich pummeled to death while grappled in an antimagic shell, it made me very sad). Putting it up at 15 made it a bit more of a challenge, but still keeps it well within reach for characters who want to specialize.

I'm currently playing a 9th level Wizard gnome in the Runelords campaign. My gnome took a racial hit to strength, and being a wizard, I saw no need to put a lot into strength... so that's a 6 strength (yeah, my fault). As a Wizard (with a wizard type prestige class), I have a BAB of 4... being small, I have a -1 on this. So my Wizard's CMB: 4+ -1+-2 = 1. The DC is 16 for someone to grapple my gnome. A level 1 fighter wouldn't have a problem with this.

I'm suggesting an alternative that might allow for the more nimble characters (rogues and wizards) a chance here: Use Strength OR Dexterity for the CMB! That way, even if someone isn't particularly strong, if they are agile enough they can still try to slip free. In my gnome's case, that'd be 4+3 (dex) - 1 (size) = 6, and a 21 to grapple me and pummel me to death. Still not a horribly difficult number to hit, but at least that 1st level fighter will have to try.

I'm not a fan of how the save DCs work now... it seems like the spell that's right for a particular job, will have a save that you know the target can make. For example, Shadow Spray does 4 strength damage in a burst... fort save negates. So, the grouping of wizards over there, yeah, they'll fail the save (probably) but who cares if they have a strength of 4? They'll still cast spells. But that mob of ogres over there, reduce their strength by 4 and that'll be a real help. Oh, wait, they can't fail the save unless they roll a 1.

I like the idea of basing it off of your Caster Level... and it would keep low level spells useful as you get higher.

I have a first level Wizard with a staff that he is arcane bonded to...

At first level can he make his staff a magic staff? How much would it cost in gp and xp? Is this possible? If its half cost...would it be around 325 gp for 50 charges? Could you put your spellbook in there and just cast at will?

What are the options for writing scrolls?

This seems ripe for abuse, but I can't make heads or tails of how to do this.

Thanks...

I don't know if Paizo is doing anything with craft rules... but staffs have a minimum caster level to make (per srd) and I'm 99% sure that 1st level is too low.

He could make it a masterwork staff, maybe.

Options for writing scrolls - yes, every wizard gets scribe scroll at level 1 and the rules are in the srd/phb.

The bonded object may be ripe for abuse... but not at level 1 I don't think.

As to the bond items advancing more, if you don´t stay in your wiz class the bond item won´t advace either. In Pathfinder you´ll probably stay in your base class a lot longer, your familiar would advance considerably. So, I talk from my experiences: They way they did the bond items, there´s no reason for a wiz to take it, a familiar is much more useful and at later levels, much more powerful.

The description of the bonded object says that it allows you to cast 1 spell the wizard knows. Not one spell you were able to cast as a wizard. My reading of that is, if my character is a Wizard 3/Master Specialist 6 that I can use that staff to cast a 5th level spell the wizard knows... which was not available while still in the wizard class.

Also, the enhancement... the wizard can enhance the item for 1/2 price. No other limits are imposed. So a Wizard 1/Fighter 10 can enhance the bonded sword, making it a +5 defending sword for 1/2 price... so long as the fighter can afford the gold cost. How is that not improving as the character advances?

Everyone naturally goes to their experiences in evaluating new things... and in my experience, the only reason to take a familiar in 3.5 was because none of the alternatives proposed by WotC were worthwhile at all. Here, I can't see a reason to take a familiar. Sure, spying is useful... but the rogue is probably just as capable of doing that, so why infringe on his territory?

My biggest gripe with magic implements in 3.5 is that they can be exhausted. A magic staff is only a magic staff until you use it 5 times, and then it's just a stick. The Runestaffs in the Magic Items Compendium took a big step towards fixing that, I thought. And the bonded object here, which grants an extra spell slot, essentially, is nice. (last night, I used it to allow me to cast a second level spell I ended up needing two of to fashion a bridge to save my party from impossible balance checks, and the other time to cast a level 5 spell to repeat a lightning leap through a giant's head!).

I think that the ritual cost should be based on the total character level (as it just occurred to me that a Fighter could cross class to gain the ability to create a 1/2 price magic sword). And that it would only allow you to bond to a new object. However, the wording in this section is unclear on that point.

I still wonder if enhancing the bonded object would allow for enhancing the bonded weapon with spells (turning a bonded stick into a bonded wand of magic missile, or a bonded staff into a bonded staff of power). Anyone have any thoughts on this?

I just want to add my two cents on the wizard powers discussion... if the generalist and specialist get powers and abilities as they level, then the only reason to sacrifice 2 schools of spells is because you like the flavor of one list over another. That, to me, isn't enough of a benefit to justify the sacrifice.

If they are going to continue with the prohibited schools idea, then there should be a greater benefit to being a specialist over a generalist. I think the easiest thing to do is to give the specialists back their +1 spell of their chosen school per day. I also think a +1 bonus to caster level for that school would be appropriate. Not only can they do a little more with their specialized training than a generalist of the same level, but they should be able to do it a little better.

As for the powers... I'm not sure that Energy Immunity is on par with Wish... comparing the Abjuration and Universal powers at level 20. Some effort needs to be taken to balance things.

I must have missed your longer post.

I appreciate the comments, but my experience with using familiars is exactly the opposite. I haven't made a Wizard who is in the Wizard base class longer than level 5... so the familiar stops "growing" at level 5. The familiar seems incredibly fragile all the way up. And the special abilities top out at deliver touch attacks... which seems like a great way to get it killed. The death of a familiar being a blow to exps, I tend to not want to chance it.

After level 5 (or level 3, if you're a specialist) there are just too many options for wizards that are better than staying in the wizard base class... and many of those are far better than an improving familiar. Granted, the new version of Wizard may change that, but still, those who multi-class out of wizard or take a prestige class won't find a familiar particularly useful at higher levels.

I'm really excited about the Bonded object... as that seems a great way for a wizard to develop a personalized implement that can grow with the character. As the wizard gets stronger/more powerful/and richer, that quarterstaff he started with can become a Staff of Power? That seems like a fantastic option for those who don't want to stay in the Wizard base class forever... and likely a great option for those that will.

I've read through this section... and I had a few questions... I didn't see anyone else discussing them, so hopefully what I have to say isn't redundant.

Basically... I love this idea... but I have some questions about how it is supposed to work. If there are answers out there already, if someone could point me to that section, that'd be great!

1) The replacement ritual... there are a number of prestige classes for Wizards, and some have pretty low entry requirements (I entered Master Specialist at level 4)... I think WotC realized that a straight up Wizard sucks. Anyway, the ritual to replace is 200 gp / Wizard level. Not character level. Thus, a Wizard 3/Master Specialist 10/Arch Mage 7 who lost his bonded staff would only spend 600 gold to replace it... yet could use that staff to cast 1 9th level spell/day. The cost to replace should be revised to add all arcane casting levels or all class levels granting increase casting progression or something to that effect.

2) The Replacement Ritual. Let's say you had a bonded dagger that was a +1, Defending, Spell Storing dagger... and you lost it. The Replacement Ritual, would this return you the exact dagger you lost (or an exact duplicate of it?) or does it merely give you a new dagger w/o enchantments that you are bonded to?

3) The enchantments - The "normal cost" is this the normal cost to make,or buy? If it is the normal cost to make, then do you also pay 1/2 of the exp cost?

4) Are there limits to the enchantments? Could one have a Quarterstaff at level 1, enchant it to be a +1 Defending Quarterstaff around level 3, and then around level 15, enchant it to be a +1 Defending Quarterstaff of Power? Could the Wizard also enchant it with the bonuses granted by a Ring of Evasion or Ion Stone?

5) The Bonded Object says that the Wizard is presumed to have whatever craft feats are necessary to create the bonded object... so I presume this means that the Wizard must still know the spells needed to craft the item? If the Wizard is a specialist, and a required spell is prohibited, can the Wizard have another Wizard assist in modifying the bonded object?