KevLar
2008-09-03, 06:18 PM
So, in another thread, I read this:
My DM allowed me to take a major bloodline to help neutralize the power of my druid! I took Djinni, and am mastering air elemental summoning (have an elemental companion and everything.) The 3 level loss of spells without the accompanying caster level loss was appealing. The synergy was nice (as was the bonus to Wis!) and allowed my druid to not completely overpower the rest of the party while still being a ton of fun to play.
... and liked it. Looks like a good way to nerf full casters without disappointing them at all - they get goodies in return, and they don't lose caster levels. Also, justifying it fluff-wise is a piece of cake: you have to be an otherwordly being's descendant to be a caster. It makes perfect sense, doesn't it?
So, expanding on this idea, would it be logical to require a major bloodline (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/variant/races/bloodlines.htm) for a full-caster, and an intermediate bloodline for half-casters? Or perhaps minor. Hmmm.. this needs a little tweaking maybe, not all half-casters are equally powerful, some may not even deserve a nerf-bat at all.
Question 1: What do you think about this fix? Would you happily play a caster with this houserule? Does it address the balance issue a bit?
Question 2: Would you go after half-casters too, or leave them in peace?
Question 3: If you wanted to nerf more, would you rule that bloodline levels don't count for caster level? Or would that be too much?
PS- The goal here isn't to achieve complete balance (which is kind of impossible in 3.5, and perhaps not even desirable for some). It's simply to bring casters roughly on the same boat with non-casters, without spoiling their fun.
My DM allowed me to take a major bloodline to help neutralize the power of my druid! I took Djinni, and am mastering air elemental summoning (have an elemental companion and everything.) The 3 level loss of spells without the accompanying caster level loss was appealing. The synergy was nice (as was the bonus to Wis!) and allowed my druid to not completely overpower the rest of the party while still being a ton of fun to play.
... and liked it. Looks like a good way to nerf full casters without disappointing them at all - they get goodies in return, and they don't lose caster levels. Also, justifying it fluff-wise is a piece of cake: you have to be an otherwordly being's descendant to be a caster. It makes perfect sense, doesn't it?
So, expanding on this idea, would it be logical to require a major bloodline (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/variant/races/bloodlines.htm) for a full-caster, and an intermediate bloodline for half-casters? Or perhaps minor. Hmmm.. this needs a little tweaking maybe, not all half-casters are equally powerful, some may not even deserve a nerf-bat at all.
Question 1: What do you think about this fix? Would you happily play a caster with this houserule? Does it address the balance issue a bit?
Question 2: Would you go after half-casters too, or leave them in peace?
Question 3: If you wanted to nerf more, would you rule that bloodline levels don't count for caster level? Or would that be too much?
PS- The goal here isn't to achieve complete balance (which is kind of impossible in 3.5, and perhaps not even desirable for some). It's simply to bring casters roughly on the same boat with non-casters, without spoiling their fun.