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Maradon! had this to say about Duck Tales:
My main complaint is the "spells per day" crap. A melee character can fight dawn til dusk, but casting characters have a wad that's blown fairly quickly and really aren't any more effective on the whole.Reagent costs are pretty crappy as well. A fighter pays for a sword once and, barring any artificially inserted events that damage it, keeps it for as long as he likes. A caster has to pay for his raise dead spell once... then keep paying 50g for every cast of it?
You'd need one tough warrior to fight from dawn till dusk. After a while, characters in combat begin suffering subdual damage from fatigue.
Another thing to keep in mind is that melee characters must be in melee to fight effectively. First, they need to get into melee range. If the monsters are smart, they'll wait for the fighter to come to them. This way, if the fighter blindly charges in, he gets hit with Attacks of Opportunity.
Once the fighter's in melee range, he pretty much needs to stay there. For this, he's more than likely gonna need a healer. Despite all of the HP and AC, the fighter simply can't last forever. Melee characters in general don't really have any escape plan for when shit goes bad. If the fighter just turns and runs, the monsters get Attacks of Opportunity. If the fighter's low on HP, a few AoOs can finish him off. If he carefully withdraws at first to avoid the free attacks, the monsters won't have a hard time just following him while continuing to attack. Without backup, the fighter can't really retreat if he's losing.
For a wizard, OTOH, almost all of the spells you get are ranged. So long as you can keep the monsters out of melee range (a melee tank really helps with this 
), you can rain destruction on them without taking a scratch. And if they do get into melee range, or even start attacking you with ranged weapons, spellcasters get protection spells later on. Magic is amazingly powerful, if you can use it right.
"Artificially inserted events"? It isn't too hard for an enemy with good strength (Let's take a low-level example: Ogres) to sunder weapons and armour. A few good hits to most swords or breastplates, and they're in pieces. It's possible to get very, very durable equipment, but it's costly.
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Everyone wondered WTF when Maradon! wrote:
My main complaint is the "spells per day" crap. A melee character can fight dawn til dusk, but casting characters have a wad that's blown fairly quickly and really aren't any more effective on the whole.
Going to answer in two parts. First: In a typical D&D game, a caster is going to have enough magic to last a whole adventure. With 3e casters being able to pick up a decent ranged weapon proficiency pretty easy, they don't need to just rapid fire spells to be productive. Remember, all that fancy stuff a fighter type does with a sword is highly limited too. Otherwise, it is just 1dX damage. Just like a bow would be. Remember, with 3e, you're as effective with a bow as anyone else with a bow proficiency. Sure, you won't have as many attacks as a caster but, at higher levels, you'll have some absolutely sickening spells.
Casters shouldn't be "blowing their wad" very fast. Throwing magic missles at every monster you see when you encounter them is generally a bad idea. Taking a look at what the group is fighting and how many they are fighting and then deciding if tossing out a spell or not is how casters were, in my opinion, meant to be played. The big skill is deciding when to use a spell.
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Everyone wondered WTF when Maradon! wrote:
Reagent costs are pretty crappy as well. A fighter pays for a sword once and, barring any artificially inserted events that damage it, keeps it for as long as he likes. A caster has to pay for his raise dead spell once... then keep paying 50g for every cast of it?
Most games I play in hate the idea of reagents. We generally don't use them unless the reagent is a huge component of the spell. The general idea with the group I play with here at home and up at school is that if it isn't fun, don't do it.
Going by the book without potentially varying any of the rules can be a bad idea .
Reagents are useless. Any DM who enforces them isn't worth his salt; he puts the rules of the game above the fun of the players.
It's not something people hear about.
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Maradon! had this to say about (_|_):
I've always felt magic in general was kinda gimpy under D&D rules.
The Sorcerer in my Saturday session turned a Baalor, the highest level of Demon, into a spider monkey. The Baalor failed both saves and lost all special abilities, and took on the INT, WIS, and CHA abilities of a monkey. So now we have a tiny little monkey running around with the strength constitution, dexterity, and hitpoints of a Baalor, but thinks he's nothing more than a monkey, and will remain so forever.
Magic is gimpy fuckthewhat? 
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Densetsu spewed forth this undeniable truth:
Magic is gimpy fuckthewhat?
Our sorceror tried to turn a rival Wizard into a seal, but failed the touch attack. Would have been a really anticlimactic end to the boss fight, but given that I was being raped by Evard's tentacles at the time, I would have welcomed it.
It's not something people hear about.
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This insanity brought to you by Pvednes:
Baldur's Gate series is just hands down awesome. Never seen nor heard of a better game.My last playthroughs of BG2+ToB were as a Cavalier and a CE Fighter.
I really want to get my hands on a copy of BG1, though. It seems to have disappeared from stores.
I loved Cavalier with the super powered Paladin only sword (can't remember what it was since I haven't played in so long).
Crit attacks with it made things go splat, and you could own up Dragons and demons and such hardcore with it.
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Willias had this to say about the Spice Girls:
I loved Cavalier with the super powered Paladin only sword (can't remember what it was since I haven't played in so long).Crit attacks with it made things go splat, and you could own up Dragons and demons and such hardcore with it.
So I'm gonna go out on a limb and ask if the sword you are talking about is the Holy Avenger.
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Sean has survived these past three years on a steady diet of water, croutons and morphine.
Our sorceror tried to turn a rival Wizard into a seal, but failed the touch attack. Would have been a really anticlimactic end to the boss fight, but given that I was being raped by Evard's tentacles at the time, I would have welcomed it.
EBT = one of my favorite spells. Good for mage fights, or when you have to fight something with spell resistance.
There are ways to extend the reach of touch spells, but the most readily available ones are either epic or require a familiar (which I always viewed as a liability, even though the improved ones get cool. a mephit!! I want a mephit! I like mephits! I should play one sometime!). Then again, the sorcerer class needs a bit of tweakage IMO anyway.
As for reagents: blah. I can see their use if you're a wizard, but I never saw them as really necessary for a sorcerer, unless it's a essential part of the spell. Sorcerer power is supposed to come from an internal knowledge and connection with magical forces, so why do I need them? Reagents are only fun if you're in a "all your crap has been taken away from you, scavenge as you fight your way out" scenario, but that's, well, really specialized. Most people just get a spell component pouch and forget about it.
As for mages being overpowered: d4 hit die. You might be able to do cool stuff but everything fucking kills you. This stings at low-to-intermediate levels more than high levels (when a fight may well be a fort save or two from being over), thus adding to the whole "rock at high levels but get used to feeling inferior as a lowbie" thing.
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Densetsu had this to say about Tron:
I have never played Baldur's Gate, and I kno jack about D&D before 3e.So I'm gonna go out on a limb and ask if the sword you are talking about is the Holy Avenger.
Actually, it is called "Carsomyr", if memory serves. Not sure if it also had "Holy Avenger" tacked onto the name or not, however. Falaanla Marr fucked around with this message on 08-03-2005 at 02:14 AM.
I've been playing the game as a fighter/thief multiclass, using that sword via the use any item ability. Very handy. Not the best guy to wade into the midst of a fight with, but I've managed pretty damned well. Alberd fucked around with this message on 08-03-2005 at 02:43 AM.
