The important thing here is... what's the value gained.A greater variety of spell effects.
Actually, it's more spell effects, but not a greater variety of them, as all spell effects just get replicated up and down through the spell levels. Same number of effects, just on greater or lesser scale.
But being fair, one of the gains is that it's a great tool for teaching new players. Now, instead of the daunting task of learning about hundreds of spells, you learn about a small number to start (all 0 and 1st-level) and know that you'll just get bigger and better versions as you progress.
|
I don't remember, really. Could he have cast a 9th level spell as a 17th level Wizard, or did he have to 18th back then? My memory is full of holes from those days...
And yes, Arch Mage and 9th level spells came at level 18.
Fighters though got their last "to hit" bonus at level 17*, maybe that's what threw you.
If you're forcing new players to learn hundreds of spells than the problem is with the teaching method. I tell my players the only ones they have to worry about are the ones that they can cast...i.e.the zero and first level spells in thier class list. that's generally about ten or so.. total. Even less if they're playing a sorcerer. If they're really new to the game, I encourage them to make a noncaster for thier first try.
But being fair, one of the gains is that it's a great tool for teaching new players. Now, instead of the daunting task of learning about hundreds of spells, you learn about a small number to start (all 0 and 1st-level) and know that you'll just get bigger and better versions as you progress.
I force no players to do anything; I just use Intimidate checks when I need them to do something;) What I was thinking about is what happens when a new player opens up to the spell section of the book and then sees hundreds of spells staring at him. Now, with this idea, you can just say, "relax, don't worry about it, they're all just more powerful versions of this-" and point at the 1st level spells.
I think I'm gonna sit down and see how many of the current spells bleed into each other- it might be a bit easier than rewriting the spellbooks.
I think it would be a colossal waste of space, boring to read, and hearkens back to much of what was wrong with 4th Edition (that is that, even though everything might have a different name, its all largely the same).
One possible way to use this idea would be to require a feat for every spell you wish to be able to cast this way.
Flexible Spell Casting
Requirements: Ability to cast 2nd level spells, Heighten Spell Metamagic feat
When taking this feat, choose one spell to which it applies. The caster gains the ability to cast this spell at any spell level from I to IX to achieve greater or lesser effects.
You make take this feat as many times as you like, each time it applies to a different spell.
The main problem with allowing all casters to cast spells at any level, is that it ultimately gives casters a boost in power and flexibility. A boost they arguably don't need because many feel they are already more powerful than other classes. I sentiment I don't necessarily share, but nonetheless this is how a lot of people feel.
By having to spend a feat on it, it carefully regulates it, but could give a real boost to certain spellcasters, like sorcerers, who really have to choose their spells carefully.
I think I'm gonna sit down and see how many of the current spells bleed into each other- it might be a bit easier than rewriting the spellbooks.
I've actually spent quite a bit of time researching that. By and large, very few spells bleed together. There's the ones everyone thinks of off the top of their heads. Fireball and Delayed Blast Fireball. Teleport and Greater Teleport (and Dimension Door to a lesser extent.) Protection from Evil, Magic Circle vs. Evil, Dispel Evil and one other I can't remember right now. The Cure spells.
Often, when you really examine them, the ones you think might bleed together end up having really different mechanics to them. Cone of Cold and Polar Ray are almost nothing alike except for cold damage. Fireball and Meteor Swarm have a few similarities, but are ultimately pretty different, neither of them are really all that much like Burning Hands or Scorching Ray.
I'm not trying to talk you out of doing it though, it was a fun project.
I was trying to see if there was an easy way to make sorcerer variants based on a spell theme. Like a Fire Sorcerer that gets all the fire spells or a Force Sorcerer that gets all the force spells like Magic Missile, Mage Armor and Forcecage.
What I discovered was that no matter how you choose your themes, you end up with really unbalanced spell lists where some of them have tons of useful spells and others are pretty sparse and unappealing. There's also big gaps in the lists with large piles of spells elsewhere. Like if you had a sorcerer of cold, he might get a bunch of cold spells one level, then go a couple of levels with no new spells.
I suppose to keep the spell list from getting "boring" there's virtually no linearity to the spells. Sometimes though, I think it could still be "fun" to have more of a feeling of connectivity to a caster from one level to another. If he uses burning hands a lot at 1st level, maybe he would use a lot of fire spells throughout his career.