Alefiend
2011-07-09, 08:01 PM
Warning: This post is going to wander and ramble like a schizophrenic hobo. Apologies to you, the reader, especially if you suffer from schizophrenia or have been a Gentleman of the Road.
One of the cool things I recall (dimly) from the 2E era is an optional rule called Paths of Power. These were spell progressions that made thematic sense, and I think they also carried some minor bonuses for completion. Paths of power are like specialist subschools, but aren't exclusive. I believe they appeared in Dragon magazine, as opposed to a splatbook. If somebody has a link or something else that would be useful here, I'd really appreciate it.
Paths struck me as a very sensible way to build an arcane character, because they reflected how we learn other subject matter. While the a la carte spell choice method we're used to allows a lot of versatility, it makes spell choices seem random and disjointed. A book containing several thematically linked spells and the theory and practice behind them—or just the theory from which the reader develops the spells—seems more likely than a book with Ghoul Touch, Dimension Door, and Grease.
I'm wondering if there's a good way to work an updated version of these into 3.5 or PF without resorting to PrCs or feat chains. I also wonder if there's a point anymore, since arcane casters have so much power and so many options already. The fluff and the crunch always made good sense to me in combination, and I'd like to recapture that if I could.
Maybe adapting the methods of Tome of Battle would make sense here. No, I'm not trying to steal nice things from melee characters, just copying the approach. What I don't want is something that looks like a 4E build, where you just pick the at-will, encounter, and daily powers that support the blaster or controller role.
Can you see where I'm going here? I didn't want to put this in the homebrew section, because I don't have a solid enough idea of how to proceed, and wanted to solicit opinions. Be kind.
One of the cool things I recall (dimly) from the 2E era is an optional rule called Paths of Power. These were spell progressions that made thematic sense, and I think they also carried some minor bonuses for completion. Paths of power are like specialist subschools, but aren't exclusive. I believe they appeared in Dragon magazine, as opposed to a splatbook. If somebody has a link or something else that would be useful here, I'd really appreciate it.
Paths struck me as a very sensible way to build an arcane character, because they reflected how we learn other subject matter. While the a la carte spell choice method we're used to allows a lot of versatility, it makes spell choices seem random and disjointed. A book containing several thematically linked spells and the theory and practice behind them—or just the theory from which the reader develops the spells—seems more likely than a book with Ghoul Touch, Dimension Door, and Grease.
I'm wondering if there's a good way to work an updated version of these into 3.5 or PF without resorting to PrCs or feat chains. I also wonder if there's a point anymore, since arcane casters have so much power and so many options already. The fluff and the crunch always made good sense to me in combination, and I'd like to recapture that if I could.
Maybe adapting the methods of Tome of Battle would make sense here. No, I'm not trying to steal nice things from melee characters, just copying the approach. What I don't want is something that looks like a 4E build, where you just pick the at-will, encounter, and daily powers that support the blaster or controller role.
Can you see where I'm going here? I didn't want to put this in the homebrew section, because I don't have a solid enough idea of how to proceed, and wanted to solicit opinions. Be kind.