Detect Magic question

[Matthew Trent]

The target number to recharge Detect Magic is 14. That seems a bit high for the effect. Is this correct?

[ryric]

I saw that too, but figured it was intentional because of the power of the effect. Use it with Seoni to get auto-recharge anyway.

[Youperguy]

Mike posted elsewhere, that this is a typo and was meant to be 4.

[Mike Selinker]

I'm not sure whether it was a typo or a late adjustment because of its power, though. We will make a ruling when we get the FAQ together.

[Youperguy]

Thanks Mike, my mistake.

[ryric]

My logic on it being a powerful effect is that, if the card is easy to recharge, it's effectively a free scouting card with the possibility of a free explore - that's almost the equivalent of having an extra turn. I didn't think a 14 to recharge was entriely out of line for what it does.

Of course, if it turns out the designers think differently, I'll be happy to use the easier version. Even as it stands I think building an initial Seoni deck without Detect Magic is gimping yourself. Probably true for Ezren as well as he has trouble getting extra explores.

[TClifford]

Thing is that Detect Evil has a very similar mechanics and it only has a recharge of 4. Ultimately, you still have to encounter the card. There isn't a lot of cards out there that allow you to shuffle the location deck. Also, once you know what it is, but you don't want to encounter it....what are you going to do now? You can't move. If someone else is going to have to clear the card, then that is one of their turns to move to the location and encounter it.

While knowing is 1/2 the battle, I don't think it comes close to warranting a 14 recharge roll.

[Matthew Trent]

Its also worth noting that without significant skill feat improvement only Seoni can realistically use detect magic as is. Ezren, Kyra, and Lini (if she has an animal in hand) can all theoretically recharge it, but without significant improvement to their casting stat the odds are less than 10% for all of them.

That makes it a bad choice. I don't think the intent is that only sorcerers cast detect magic with an regularity at low levels. If it needs be higher than four for balance (something I am not convinced of) then at most it should be ~8.

[TClifford]

It has already been stated the 14 is incorrect. I personally don't think the card is that OP. I think it matches well with Detect Evil which is also a 0 lvl spell and has a recharge of 4.

[cartmanbeck]

Looks like it should have been a 4, not a 14:
Mike's Response

[ryric]

I don't have my cards in front of me, but
1) Detect evil isn't a 0 level spell, it's generally 1st.
2) I'm pretty sure it's not a basic card so you can't start with it.

My first gut impression of Detect magic was "wow that's amazing" so I guess the high recharge seemed right. If the recharge changes to a 4 it seems like a must have for any deck with spells.

[Mike Selinker]

We'll take another hard look at this card. Meantime, it's a 14.

[TClifford]

Okay, now I am confused. Mike, you posted in the other thread that it was a 4 in your card file.

[Mike Selinker]

It was. But a lot changes between the original card file and the final version. We're going to take a look at it, make sure we meant 4 and not 14, and, if we did, we'll errata it.

[DrSnooze]

I feel like 4 is too low, and 14 is too high. It's a Basic spell, and Ezren can only recharge it by rolling a 12 on a 1d12. Lem can't recharge it at all. At 14 it's only useful for Seoni.

I'd say 6 or 8 feels about right.