I have had a curious thought BB-ing around in my skull for a while, and I decided to share it. Hopefully this is the right part of the boards?
I am a bit of a fan or JaronK's tier system and its derivatives (like Power's PF update of said system). You don't have to be, but I am.
I was considering the Words of Power system from Ultimate Magic, and it looks like a lot of the game-breaking options are flat-out missing. A few are there, maybe, but not a lot of them.
So I was wondering, would a WoP-only cleric, druid, witch, or wizard drop to tier 2 or even high tier 3? While there are some uniquely-effective Words of Power, the overall quantity, versatility, and game-breakingness seems significantly lower when compared to conventional spellcasting.
If this one change does drop these classes by a tier or two, it could be a great option for games where one character has their heart set on a Tier One class, but the GM and/or players really don't want the world to get broken all the time—especially since it is compatible with literally every archetype of these four classes.
Thoughts?
It mostly likely moves prepared casters down and spontaneous casters up. My Oracle and Sorcerer WoP characters were... quite powerful. The versatility they had is not something a prepared caster like a wizard can match.
So, the thing to bear in mind is that there are some conventional self-buffs that suddenly become targeted or even consumable-ready. Boost Selected Lock Ward Monstrous Form turns a mundane locket or potion vial into a terrifying buff for a melee character. There's the stupid Intensified Lengthy Corrosive Bolt that does 10d4 per round of acid damage for 4 rounds in a 3rd level slot, which is typically boosted with sorceror bloodlines.
Having standard action summons and other little goodies is nice, but I agree with the sentiment of Azten - generally a step down in the tier setup for prepared, maybe slipping the spontaneous casters up (though probably just holding them at T2). I would generally consider the lack of additional support to indicate that it's a T2 cap, though one with extremely powerful tricks.
I wouldn't bother putting Words of Power on a tier system as I find them fundamentally, and fatally broken to the point that I'd never allow them.
Implementing a noun/verb magic system in Pathfinder has to assume two things.
1. It must be built up from the ground up with an Ars Magica style casting and difficulty system.
2. It needs to replace the existing system as opposed to trying to recreate the exact same spells.
The Words of Power system unfortunately doesn't solve the problem, because the classes hardest hit by the subsystem are the tier 3 casters with 6-level progressions. The tier 1 prepared casters take a nerf, but there are enough good options that they'll still be solid tier 2 characters. The spontaneous casters actually do well under this system and don't drop tier at all (arguably being better than their prepared counterparts). The 6-level casters, though, get atrocious word lists and just suffer horribly. For this reason I would never enforce an all Words of Power game.
The Words of Power system unfortunately doesn't solve the problem, because the classes hardest hit by the subsystem are the tier 3 casters with 6-level progressions. The tier 1 prepared casters take a nerf, but there are enough good options that they'll still be solid tier 2 characters. The spontaneous casters actually do well under this system and don't drop tier at all (arguably being better than their prepared counterparts). The 6-level casters, though, get atrocious word lists and just suffer horribly. For this reason I would never enforce an all Words of Power game.
The problem is though that in the hands of system optimising munchkins, the Word of Power system is a weapon of campaign destruction.
The Words of Power system unfortunately doesn't solve the problem, because the classes hardest hit by the subsystem are the tier 3 casters with 6-level progressions. The tier 1 prepared casters take a nerf, but there are enough good options that they'll still be solid tier 2 characters. The spontaneous casters actually do well under this system and don't drop tier at all (arguably being better than their prepared counterparts). The 6-level casters, though, get atrocious word lists and just suffer horribly. For this reason I would never enforce an all Words of Power game.
I don't think I would ever push an all-Words of Power game, either—for exactly this reason. I'm not a fan of playing a 6-level caster, but people who are shouldn't be punished for it.
The problem is though that in the hands of system optimising munchkins, the Word of Power system is a weapon of campaign destruction.
Potentially, yes. But so are many other parts of the rules, including Core T1 classes. A lot of system-optimizing munchkins grow up to be fun-optimizing munchkins—the kind that set out to make the game great for the other players. I know that I did! With people like that a gentleman's agreement to not wreck the game relatively easy to arrange.
I'd recommend Spheres of Power over Words of Power any day.
Wow. I just looked this up, and it seems like a whole 'nother game to learn. Which is one of my favorite things to do! I will almost certainly be reading over the wiki in my downtime, maybe even buying a hardcopy if one's available.