cashew | (no subject)

So, I've been doing some solo D&D (maybe I'll have the energy to write up on the hobby at some point), but anyway, point is, I have issues with the Wizard.

The biggest problem balancing D&D wizard is the fact that, in this game, every other spell casting class faces significant spell casting limitations.

Before I go through each class, a quick primer on how spell casting works in D&D:

D&D uses the "Vancian" spell casting system. In other words, to cast a spell, one must expend a resource called a "spell slot". Think of this as your "mana" bar. Each slot has a level, indicating the level of the spell that is cast. For example, a Level 2 slot can cast any spell designated as Level 2 or lower. Magic Missile is a Level 1 spell. Which means a Level 2 slot can cast it, and because the slot is level 2, the Magic Missile spell is "cast at level 2", which means it's more powerful than being cast using a Level 1 slot.

In addition, there are a bunch of spells designated as "cantrips". A cantrip does not require spell slots, effectively "free" casting.

To cast any spell, it must be "known" and "prepared". "Known" refers to your character actually, well, knowing how to cast the spell. AKA, it has been learned as it were. Once the spell has been learned, however, the spell must be "prepared", aka pre-loaded into a spell slot to "fire". (Basically, magic is like bullets, you need to load them in into the magic gun magazine to fire it.)

So, to run this whole system down, a spell must be "known" first before it can be "prepared". And only a "prepared" spell can be fired...

...except Wizards break this rule. We'll get there once we break this down.

So, let's run through the list of full spell casters (aka the classes that can cast level 9 spells) and see how they stack up:

Clerics

Clerics are one of the two "prepared" spell casters. AKA, they automatically "know" all the spells that are tagged a "cleric" spell. This means they don't have to run around collecting/learning spells, because the divine knowledge of the spells have been shoved into their brains through their gods. All they need to do is prepare their spells for casting at the start of each day.

The only exception to this preparation are cantrips. Cantrips, as mentioned earlier, do not require spell slots, which means they are always prepared. As such, a cleric is "locked" as it were into the prepared cantrips, which they can only switch out if they level up. At max level, the base cleric can have up to 6 cantrips and once you reach max level, those cantrips are fixed, aka, no more switching around.

Balance wise, because a Cleric can swap out their spells every day, the versatility of the spells is mostly limited to restoration (healing, condition removal, de-cursification, etc.) and burning with divine radiance.

Druids

Druids are basically nature clerics that went from being a subclass to a full class. They have a slightly more versatile list than the cleric, but can have fewer spells and cantrips prepared. In addition, they can turn into a very limited number of animals. This is significantly less cool than it sounds sadly.

Anyway, balance wise, druids pay for their slightly higher versatility in spell access with having the least number of spells prepared. In other words, the actual "load out" the druids can deliver is limited. While this might seem a reasonable trade off, it hides the fact that Druids have another huge problem which is all of their best spells uses a resource called "concentration".

Concentration is a concept that prevents powerful spells from being used together. When concentrating on a spell, you can't do anything else that requires concentration (which includes casting other powerful spells, casting spells with long casting times, plus other edge cases like, say, picking a lock). In other words, druids might carry the versatility in their spells known, but they can't really deliver the versatility due to the concentration limitation.

Then there is the matter of druids having a very limited higher-tier spell list. So while at lower levels druids seem to have a lot of choices, by the time you get past the half-way point, most druids all resort to the same two, three concentration spells. Lovely.

Bards

Bards are what the community calls a "known" spell caster. Contrary to "prepared" spell casters, a "known" spell caster must pick from a list of spells to learn every time they level up and once the spell is known, the spell is always prepared.

At first glance this seems to be a shittier deal, as the limited number of spells might seem like a significant limitation. However, upon closer inspection, you'll realize bards have the ability to learn spells from anyone. So sure, a bard might have only a limited number of spells they can know, but their selection options are very, very wide. They can learn any spell in the game. And because of that high variety, no two bards will ever play the same.

Sorcerer

Sorcerers are the other "known" spell caster. Like bards, sorcerers can only learn a limited number of spells from their list. Unlike bards, sorcerers can only learn from the sorcerer's list of spells.

This sounds horrible, until you realize sorcerers have a special spell casting gimmick: spell modification. Using a resource called sorcery points, a sorcerer can do things like cast two spells simultaneously, change the elemental type of the spell, expand a spell's range or duration, straight up ignore verbal and somatic components of the spell's requirement, turn single target spells into AoE nukes, etc.

Effectively a single spell slot (remember those spell bullets I was talking about) can fire off multiple spells in a single turn. I cannot overstate how powerful getting to cast two spells per turn in turn based combat can be, especially when most spell casters are limited to one spell per turn. Plus, the ability to cast spells silently means effectively ignoring the most common anti-mage game mechanic: silence.

(Sidenote: this is probably why the psionics are such a PITA to balance, due to their ability to simply ignore spell casting rules yet are able to replicate spell effects with "mental powers" and why they've been more or less left out of the "core" class selection.)

Nonetheless, as a known spell caster, the sorcerer remains a very specialized spell caster and pays for its power with heavy specialization.

Wizard

Finally, we get to the crux of the problem. The wizard.

The wizard is the single most versatile spell caster in the game. Sure, it can't cast two spells simultaneously (unless using some very special work around), but the wizard spells basically has everyone else's spells and then some. And unlike a bard who has to wait until higher levels to steal from others, a wizard is simply not particularly tempted to steal anyone else's spell since the wizard spell list is already comprehensive.

And yes, technically a wizard must "learn" each spell first and can only "learn" two per level up (starts with 6, which is more than literally everyone else), but every scroll, spell book, treasure, or other wizards encountered is a chance for the wizard to add more to their own "learned" spells. And unlike the cleric and druid, a wizard can re-prepare their spells in a single day during down time (aka short rest). Also, they get spell slots (those magic firing bullets) back on a rest. Also, at higher wizard levels, level 1&2 spells can just be designated as at-will (effectively a cantrip) without casting cost. Lovely.

Also, remember those cantrips that are fixed and can't be swapped out? The wizard ignores that rule, too.

Oh, and for a lot of utility ritual spells, a wizard effectively have them always prepared without those spells taking up the quota of "prepared" spells.

So, the wizard is effectively a case of "here are all the spell casting rules that you get to ignore because wizard" at no cost. (Even a sorcerer has to spend resource points to ignore spell casting rules.)

So, we've identified the wizard's problem. It's got the power of a sorcerer, the selection variety of a bard, the flexibility of a druid, and the ... OK, see, I'd say that a wizard and a cleric fulfills two very different niches until you realize WISH exists. See, the thing about WISH is that it is effectively a spell that replicates any spell (even 9th level spells if you are willing to take the stress).

And that's only getting into the core wizard without touching on all the subclass bonuses that comes along.

It really becomes a case of why play anything else other than wizard when everyone else is effectively a down grade of wizard? (Again, with maaaaaaaybe an argument made for cleric due to wizards having to resort to necromancy when it comes to restoring the team in early levels, but that poofs away in late game when there are many, many other ways negate damage.)

And all you really need to do is see this optimization video to realize oh, akshually, fuck playing anything not a wizard.

Yes, yes, there is the basic fantasy of "but I just wanna swing a big sword", but beyond the narrative reason, game mechanics doesn't really offer a compelling reason to try something else out.

So. Here's my very simple proposed fix:

Limit the wizard to a single school of magic. Will this completely fuck over some schools of magic in the higher levels? Yes. Does that matter? No.

Let's take a look at the original description about spell casting and learning thereof by wizards:

Spellbook. Your wizardly apprenticeship culminated in the creation of a unique book: your spellbook. It is a Tiny object that weighs 3 pounds, contains 100 pages, and can be read only by you or someone casting Identify. You determine the book's appearance and materials, such as a gilt-edged tome or a collection of vellum bound with twine.

The book contains the level 1+ spells you know. It starts with six level 1 Wizard spells of your choice. Detect Magic, Feather Fall, Mage Armor, Magic Missile, Sleep, and Thunderwave are recommended.

Whenever you gain a Wizard level after 1, add two Wizard spells of your choice to your spellbook. Each of these spells must be of a level for which you have spell slots, as shown in the Wizard Features table. The spells are the culmination of arcane research you do regularly.

Specifically I want to adjust that last paragraph. Add in the following clause:

Pick a school of magic. Whenever you gain a Wizard level after 1, add two Wizard spells of your choice from the school of magic you picked at level 1 to your spellbook. Each of these spells must be of a level for which you have spell slots, as shown in the Wizard Features table. The spells are the culmination of arcane research you do regularly.

It's just a few words, but this fixes a lot of the fundamental problems with wizards. The wizard could still have insane flexibility if the DM feels it won't mess with the game's balance too much, while taking out a lot of bullshit combination from the player's hands. No more simulacrum + WISH unless the DM actually hands that option out. No more carrying WISH, Shapechange, and Prismatic Wall (three most powerful and versatile spells in the entire game) on a single wizard unless the DM gives the wizard player an opportunity to expand their character in such a ridiculous way.

Does that mean the Illusion wizard might be a bit screwed? Sure, until you remember the Illusion wizard has been making illusion reality this whole campaign and still has an opportunity to learn the really broken spells if they play nice with the DM.