Anyone actually gets to roll spell failure?

[darni]

In my group, arcane casters usually just wear the best armor they can get while still have 0% Spell Failure. So we use the ASF rule, but I've never seen anyone actually doing the dice roll :)

Have you ever played a character who did with some frequency ASF checks? How does it feel (both in the "mechanics/effectiveness" and "fun" aspects)?

[Lord Tyger]

I recently decided to randomly create an NPC in the game I run- second level, roll dice to choose each level. I wound up with a Cavalier/Witch, so, yeah, she'll have a spell failure chance...

[Malak'ai]

I've been in a game where the Wizard decided he wanted to wear full plate and use a heavy shield (without taking the feats :smalleek:)... Yeah... That quickly stopped when he failed ALL his ASF checks, wasting all his spells for the day.
Not to mention he could only move like 10 feet a round (STR 10 and all)

[Teh_das]

I'm currently in a PF game with a few friends, and my Transmutation wizard just picked up a shiny new set of mithral breastplate. He's planned to go into arcane trickster, so next level when I get light armor proficiency from rogue, I'll have a 5% spell failure chance.

My wizard is completely okay with this idea, but I think it depends how you want to play your character. a little risk for a lot of protection isn't for everyone.

[Anxe]

My first character was a Rogue #/Wizard 1. I cast a few spells and rolled for it. Didn't fail all that often with my mithral chain shirt. I wouldn't describe that as rolling all the time though.

[navar100]

When I want to cast a spell, it means I really want that spell cast at that moment. It is crucial or else I wouldn't have cast it. Bad guys making the saving throw is the inherent risk associated with a game. However, to have a chance of the spell not working at all before the bad guy makes the save is too high a price to pay. The low percentage chance is irrelevant. The one time the failure happens will be devastating. I've seen it happen. It led to a TPK. Obviously it's not a true cause and effect, i.e. arcane spell failure does not always result in a TPK, but it was a glaring example of the point.

[Zaq]

If I wanted a built-in failure chance for everything I did, I'd play a Truenamer.

Um, hang on a minute.

[Answerer]

Considering how easy it is to get 0% ASF, and how little value AC has in general, there's almost no excuse for ever making that roll.

[Slipperychicken]

If I wanted to waste spell slots to get +8 Armor bonus to AC, I'd cast Greater Luminous Armor. Hell, it doesn't even give you the ACP or movement penalties! You can even sleep in it! For free! You can sleep off the Strength damage half the time, and get someone to use the Heal skill on you (DC15) the other half. AND it doesn't even take an equipment slot!


Arcane Spell Failure is essentially WotC putting a up a big neon sign that says "IF YOU DO THIS, YOU WILL SUCK". And it's right; rolling miss chances on your spells makes you suck. Fighters can try again next round ad nauseum, and miss chances make them suck worse. Spellcasters can only cast so many times a day, so miss chance is even worse for them, especially since a spell is so much more useful than one attack.

[Deophaun]

The best armor has 0% ASF anyway (basically a shirt with a +8 armor bonus), so yeah, I never roll for spell failure.

[Psyren]

If I wanted a built-in failure chance for everything I did, I'd play a Truenamer.

Um, hang on a minute.

LOL :smallbiggrin:

@OP: casters can get a ton of AC without strapping themselves into a tin can, and they aren't even front-liners. So no.

[eggs]

I stick Wizards/Sorcerers in leather or behind shields sometimes at levels 1-3. Mage/luminous armor and shield especially just sap too many resources at that point to bother, and there aren't a whole lot of resources at the Wizard's disposal yet to avoid attacks entirely.

A 10% failure chance doesn't come up all that often, and with just cantrips and level 1 spells to throw around (which can be powerful, but unreliable), it matters even less often.

[Daftendirekt]

Any arcanist worth his salt just grabs some Thistledown Padded Armor from Races of the Wild and takes off running.

[ericgrau]

I'm playing one right now but he's mostly a melee guy. He casts a lot of buff spells out of combat, especially hour/level ones so if he does fail it's not such a big deal. Sometimes a precombat buff round fails and it hurts a little, but I can still hit things so I manage. Wands are nice too.

[The Dark Fiddler]

In the first game I ever played, a PbP game her on this forum, the group's sorcerer wore leather armor and took the AFC. I don't think it ever bit her in the butt, but I also ended up leaving that game because of schedule stuff.

[Andorax]

Much like the multiclass XP penalty rules, the Arcane Spell Failure rules are designed to not come into play very often. The whole point is to channel behavior into alternate choices that prevent the rules from coming up.

Either you don't wear armor, or you use one of the various means to mitigate it. You don't run the risk. The few times it does come up, either it's extremely low (5%, MAYBE 10%) or it's a 1-3rd level character.

Oddly enough, many DMs just write off the multiclass XP penalty, but they still keep ASF.


Oh, and one other thing. I do see it come up, but not for armor. Remember that deafness causes a 20% ASF for any verbal spell.

[Sitzkrieg]

I once played a melee-focused bard in heavy armor. There are a surprising amount of bard combat spells with no somatic components. However, for the occasional spell, I would end up having to roll for spell failure. Generally I disliked having to do this both in and out of character. 25% spell failure isn't horrible when you specifically design your spell list to avoid ever having to invoke it, but fizzling a spell is really disappointing. I definitely wouldn't recommend this route as a way to maximize bard power or versatility, but it was definitely an interesting experience.

[nedz]

Well you could just use Still Spell. The cost is a feat and a higher level spell slot.

[Slipperychicken]

Oddly enough, many DMs just write off the multiclass XP penalty, but they still keep ASF.


ASF actually makes sense (enforcing fantasy trope, and it was one of few attempts to make sure casters didn't get all the nice things), and it doesn't make everyone's life hell when used. I keep hearing about how hard CR/XP calculation is already when everyone's the same level and gaining xp at the same rate.

[Gwendol]

I have a fighter/sorcerer in my game who is decked out in full plate. He rolls ASF every time he casts and is ok with it. He has some ideas about going into spellsword eventually which should help out, but he's essentially playing the character like a mounted fighter who occasionally gets a buff spell off.

[nedz]

I keep hearing about how hard CR/XP calculation is already when everyone's the same level and gaining xp at the same rate.

Its easy (http://www.d20srd.org/extras/d20encountercalculator/) enough.

[Arbane]

The last 3.5 game I was in, one character was a split-personality Barbarian/Sorcerer (long story) who wore leather armor. I don't think I saw ever him blow the spell-failure check.

[Zoro101Law]

Hi, I don't know if I'm stupid or what but I do not get this arcane spell save thing. what do you roll? How do you know you failed or succeeded? I've read explanations, read the about it in the player's handbook still I haven't found a clear answer. I would be very very happy if someone could explain it to me. I don't get what they mean with a 10% chance of failure. How do you roll that? How do you know yup now I failed? Do the dm just like yeah you've rolled like ten times today now you will fail the spell? Or is it that you roll a d 20 and if its a low number you fail the spell or? No? Please, can someone explain this? :smallconfused:

[Gauntlet]

You roll a d100 and look for numbers in the appropriate range.

[Peelee]

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