I've seen a substantial amount of things on the forums stating that Spheres of Power offers a far better system of Magic than 'Vanilla PF'. Can someone give me some help on:
Introducing it to my players in a simple way. They're PRETTY used to the current system, so apart from using the Archetypes, what are some quick things I can explain to them?
With Staves, Wands, Scrolls and Enchantments. Are Enchantments thrown out the window or are the ones they talk about simply new additions?
I apologise for the small amount of info, but hopefully someone can help! Thanks!
Depends on what exactly you plan to do. If you're planning to introduce the system in the middle of a campaign, then that's not a good idea.
From my experiences with Spheres of Power, players that comprehend the current system will have absolutely no problem understanding and using Spheres of Power. It is a very intuitive system.
There are rules for generating magic items using SoP magic talents. There are also some guidelines on how to convert magic items from the normal system into its SoP equivalent.
If you are referring to Enchantments on armor and weapons, they are left alone for the most part. If you are referring to enchantment type spells, spells are broken down into 20 spheres, so chances are the spells you are thinking of have an equivalent in there somewhere.
Thanks for everyone's help! I should be alright explaining this to them... Thanks!
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The important bit is to identify your grognards. Your old guard that has seen many editions rise up and crumble before them. They must be converted or purged.
Raise the newer players in the way of Spheres and ban any mention of Vancian casting. Burn the old books and spread their ashes to the winds.
In all seriousness, the other answers here are quite good. Spheres of Power is fairly intuitive. The best comparison is that spells are like feat chains, in that you pick a base ability and build on it (making what some feel is a more intuitive system). There are ways to build into it slowly if you wanted to introduce it as a supplement into another game instead of starting a new one, namely through the Basic and Advanced Magical Training feats. While the system has a prestige class that is meant to blend Vancian casting and sphere casting, I would recommend that most characters pick one or the other.
I decided to throw the idea at my party. I was surprised when one of my players (who had difficulty adapting to different rules or change in general) not only liked the system, but preferred it! The rest of the party have seemingly followed this as well, and I've managed to transfer everybody over without issue!
Thanks so much for everyone's help!
Hey Everyone! My group have played a few games of SoP, and I'm just wondering if there are any overpowered/underpowered abilities that I should address. Some abilities have been rather problematic in wording (Retry...) and required some clarifications.
I personally just wanted to make sure that Spheres of Power Is balanced. I've heard some REALLY good things, though I'm still cautious. I was mainly worried about the Retry ability in Time, but I think I've gotten to a place where I think I understand it completely. I was also worried about Resusicate in Cure. It's essentially mimicking a 5th level spell like it's nothing, no extra SP or casting time. Is that relatively powerful or am I just overreacting? I do know that it requires you to heal them within a round, but as soon as anyone dies, the cleric will be into that. Thanks for.your time
BLUF: If you're concerned about balance, don't play with Advanced Talents. There is nothing in the base spheres that should be truly problematic.
I think the idea of Spheres of Power being balanced is all based on what your concept of balance is.
If you're concerned about comparing them to core casters, I would consider them weaker. Outside of the highest levels, they can do some of the stuff a caster can do, but a wizard can do more of those things over time.
If you're concerned about gaining access to powers that PCs would not normally have access to, most of those are pretty well locked if they are an actual problem. Over the top stuff is locked behind Advanced Talents. Common problems like flight are locked to their level (I'm pretty sure most of the flight abilities aren't viable until level 5 or close to it).
Then there are the abilities that I would say offend pre-conceived notions of balance and feel very powerful. These are the abilities that at their most powerful could maybe be moved to advanced talents or require serious consideration about how powerful you want spherecasters to be:
-Resuscitate is a good example I wasn't previously aware of. If you don't allow Advanced Talents, this is the only way to bring a dead character back to life (iirc). The reason it isn't an Advanced Talent in my mind is its very limited. Unless you have heavy investment in the Life Sphere, your target had to have barely died (within a few points of their negative Con) and you have to reach them when they have died. It is a last ditch resurrection effort to pull someone from the brink of death. One more note on resuscitate: to truly duplicate that 5th level spell, you need 4 more talents. The difference between 5d8+X and 1d8+X is pretty significant depending on how dead the target is).
-I have a player who feels that Elemental Transformation is overpowered. In the little playtest I've just started, they have used the ability to earth glide to great effect. This is an ability that is normally not available until level 4 spells are available.
-I've heard the argument that Dragon transformation is unbalanced, because the core doesn't give form of the dragon until level 6 spells. However, to duplicate what form of the dragon actually does in Spheres of Power, you would have to be CL 10 or 11... when you would get form of the dragon.
Now, one could argue that Spheres of Power isn't balanced internally. The system says that every sphere or ability within a sphere costs one talent. Talents make sense when within their sphere, but don't necessarily make a lot of sense cross sphere, the argument goes. After all, should the ability to gain a strength bonus, fortification, a burrow speed, and walk through walls in addition to a bunch of other powers (elemental transformation, Alteration) cost the same amount to obtain as a +3 armor bonus that doesn't stack with other armor (armored aegis, Protection)? Or should cure light wounds (Life sphere access) cost the same as being able to grant an extra attack or deny an enemy full attacks (Time sphere access)?
I think Spheres of Power says, "These are all cool abilities and none of them will break the game and we want to keep things simple so they all cost the same to access, they might just cost more in resources (talents or spell points) to use." I think that's a fine answer, in the end.
But generally, the system seems to be pretty well balanced and shouldn't break your game unless you allow Advanced Talents. As the GM, you have the ability to control Advanced Talents and how your game is broken specifically.
I think you are overreacting for resuscitate. The one round time limit makes it much less powerful then raise dead. It is more powerful than vanilla healing magic but not terribly so. It gives the party one more round to save someone than they would otherwise have. Also there is always a chance you roll poorly and fail to heal enough to actually bring them back.
Retry is powerful but remember it can only be used once per turn since it is an immediate action.
Thanks for all your feedback! You've all managed to quell my worried! Yeah, I realise now that it would take a fair bit of investment to get Resusitate functioning like breath of life. I also forgot that you can only have one immediate action per turn! I'll let my party know, thanks for your time and feedback!