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View Full Version : [4e] Spellbooks for everyone?



Goober4473
2008-06-17, 10:03 PM
How unbalanced would it be to use the spellbook system for all classes in 4e? And similarly, how unbalanced would it be to instead of using exactly spellbooks, to allow everyone to reselect their powers (from a limited list or not) at the beginning of the day?

ghost_warlock
2008-06-18, 02:07 AM
I'm not exactly sure how unbalancing it would be for the game, but as long as everyone can do it class balance should be maintained.

Mini-rant:

I understand how encounter/daily powers could be rationalized away with needing to rest before performing them again, but forgetting an old power in order to learn a new one is one of the dumbest/most metagamed mechanics in 4e. The only way it would make any sense in-character would be in the case where the new power is identical to the old one but a bit more powerful (in which case the character doesn't so much forget the old one as improve upon the technique).

Daracaex
2008-06-18, 11:16 PM
Well, it would remove one of the Wizards defining attributes and make them even less powerful than everyone else, but if you're going to remove Wizards anyway, then there shouldn't be a problem.


Mini-rant:

I understand how encounter/daily powers could be rationalized away with needing to rest before performing them again, but forgetting an old power in order to learn a new one is one of the dumbest/most metagamed mechanics in 4e. The only way it would make any sense in-character would be in the case where the new power is identical to the old one but a bit more powerful (in which case the character doesn't so much forget the old one as improve upon the technique).

I wonder if it would be unbalancing to just let them keep the old powers and disallow re-training. They would still gravitate towards the newer powers because the old ones would grow less useful as level increased, so it might not be that big of a deal.

Roderick_BR
2008-06-19, 07:37 AM
I understand how encounter/daily powers could be rationalized away with needing to rest before performing them again, but forgetting an old power in order to learn a new one is one of the dumbest/most metagamed mechanics in 4e. The only way it would make any sense in-character would be in the case where the new power is identical to the old one but a bit more powerful (in which case the character doesn't so much forget the old one as improve upon the technique).
For wizards it is easy: They doesn't really "forget" a power, they just need to prepare, to memorize it. They know all their effects, they just can't hold the whole formula of all his powers memorized at once. When he uses his spellbook, he is "relieving" his mind of old formulas, and rememorizing(sp?) others formula's details to his mind. That's how I assume 3.x wizards could do, the knowledge is still there (wizards doesn't need to re-learn cast spells), and how I treat them in my games. In 4th edition, it is the same, except that you don't "forget the details" when using spells, as in 3.x. You just do it to fill it again, like those artists that quickly forget a script from one-shot shows and start memorizing the script for the next show.

For the OP: You'll have to give the wizard something more to compensate the fact that everyone else do it now, since this is normally one of his edges.