using the generic spellcaster

[blelliot]

How unbalanced would it be to use the generic spellcaster from unearthed arcana instead of the other spellcasting classes in an attempt to unify all the magics of dnd? Would that be to busted if it was the only magical class?

[sideswipe]

honestly it depends on the amount of books you use in your game.

if you only use a select 10-15 books and they are all official and basic splash books, it is a little over powered.

but if you use all official material (non dragon mag) like we do, it is powerful but balanced. as there are way more overpowered builds.

if you use any source material from anywhere it is basicly useless.
as somewhere there will be a divine spell that replicates the effects of all arcane and vice versa.

[Dread_Head]

More powerful than the tier 2 casters: Sorcerer, Favoured soul etc. Due to expanded spell list to choose from.
But not as powerful as the Tier 1s: Wizard, Cleric, Druid etc. Due to spontaneous rather than prepared casting.

No more broken than using the normal casting classes but it does reduce versatility in your game as basically all casters are going to seem identical.

[blelliot]

No more broken than using the normal casting classes but it does reduce versatility in your game as basically all casters are going to seem identical.

Well I had an idea to maybe have the caster pick two schools of magic to use, in order to nake spellcasters seem different. Any thoughts?

[blelliot]

honestly it depends on the amount of books you use in your game.

if you only use a select 10-15 books and they are all official and basic splash books, it is a little over powered.

but if you use all official material (non dragon mag) like we do, it is powerful but balanced. as there are way more overpowered builds.

if you use any source material from anywhere it is basicly useless.
as somewhere there will be a divine spell that replicates the effects of all arcane and vice versa.

I usually only use spell compendium, ph1, and ph2. Only use other books if the story is there.(I.e. frostburn if the campaign is cold, dragon magic if dragons are quite prevalent, etc.)

[Dread_Head]

Well I had an idea to maybe have the caster pick two schools of magic to use, in order to nake spellcasters seem different. Any thoughts?

That's a pretty interesting idea actually, making everyone more like fixed list casters such as Beguiler, Dread Necromancer & Warmage. Might be better to limit which schools can be paired with which other ones as otherwise Conjuration & Transmutation are the two obvious ones to pick. Also maybe replace the Bonus feats of the Generic Spellcaster with Specialised Wizard variants (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/variant/classes/specialistWizardVariants.htm) for the schools they choose to make them more thematic.


Also if he's using PHB 1 & 2 and the Spell Compendium he's got most of the spells in the game already.

[blelliot]

What would everyon say is the opposites when it comes to the schools of magic?
I'm thinking that
Abjuration is opposite Evocation
Divination is opposite Illusion
Conjuration is opposite Transmutation
Necromancy is opposite Enchantment
What do you guys think?