Choosing spell damage type in a homebrewed world

[Maan]

I'm looking for advice/experiences/insight about this possible route for a world I'm building.

It's something of a old-school Sword & Sorcery world: based roughly on 1000 CE Europe, magic not so widespread (spellcasting NPCs will be there, though, likely in the employ of rich/powerful NPCs), enemies mostly other humans and player races, classical monster races (Orcs, Goblins, etc.) with the rest being creatures I'll shape on my own; most existing creatures will be reworked, too (I really can't stomach color-coded Dragons, for example).

So, would it be wise to allow spellcasters to choose the type of damage a spell delivers when they learn it?
Having "Frostball" instead of "Fireball", for example?

That could alter the balance with the normal monsters, seeing for example as Fireball is a pretty powerful damage AoE spell but also a common element for resistance/immunity.
On the other hand, I'm going to alter or make new monsters from scratch, so I can take that into account with just a little bit of effort.

Biggest problem I can foresee is with things like Force damage: I have some problem figuring out why a monster would be resistant/immune to that...

[nickl_2000]

My personal opinion, Spellcasters do not need to be more versatility than they already are. If you aren't planning on giving martial characters an equivalent type of significant boon then just don't do it. That being said, I tend to be a bit cranky about martial character being left out, so take what I say with a grain of salt.

That being said, if there were a character that wanted to focus on a certain natural element (Fire, Ice, Thunder, etc) I would be willing to let them re-fluff spells on a case by case basis (effectively just making sure they don't just cherrypick the best possible options all the time and make them work for Thunder).

[Man_Over_Game]

It shouldn't be a problem, as long as the player locks in their choice when they get the spell. Otherwise, something like Chromatic Orb loses its main benefit.

Keep in mind, damage is divided into several "weight" classes:


Bludgeoning/Piercing/Slashing/Poison
Fire/Cold
Thunder/Acid/Lightning
Necrotic/Radiant/Psychic
Force


Or, you can look at it like this: Force>Radiant>Psychic>Lightning>Thunder>Acid>Fire>Cold>Poison>Weapon

Converting a Poison spell into Force would be a drastic damage jump, but changing a Cold spell into Fire would not.

[Maan]

if there were a character that wanted to focus on a certain natural element (Fire, Ice, Thunder, etc) I would be willing to let them re-fluff spells on a case by case basis (effectively just making sure they don't just cherrypick the best possible options all the time and make them work for Thunder).
That was the idea, pretty much: if someone has a nice character concept based on a certain element.



Keep in mind, damage is divided into several "weight" classes:


Bludgeoning/Piercing/Slashing/Poison
Fire/Cold
Thunder/Acid/Lightning
Necrotic/Radiant/Psychic
Force


Or, you can look at it like this: Force>Radiant>Psychic>Lightning>Thunder>Acid>Fire>Cold>Poison>Weapon
I hear you: I noticed there's something of a trend, like you say.
I'm not sure I understand the reasoning behind it, though. While there's almost no creature with Force resistance/immunity, the same can't be said for Necrotic even though its damage is on par with Radiant; and the typical good/neutral party will hardly ever face Radiant resistant/immune foes.

[nickl_2000]

That was the idea, pretty much: if someone has a nice character concept based on a certain element..

So, this is okay there is a big difference between "I want to big a cold based caster ". And "whenever you pick a spell you can choose the damage type "