Unpopular D&D Opinions Part 2: Popular To Talk About

[Milodiah]

I don't like the D&D magic at all. Which is not a big problem as i prefer and regular play only other systems anyway. But none of them would make for a good Conan rulesystem either.

One thing I do really like about some other tabletop magic systems, such as Shadowrun's or certain builds of GURPS magic like the one I've cobbled together, that D&D doesn't really have at all is the idea that a magician can push themselves to the limit, or beyond, to get more power behind something. Your spell slots are your spell slots, that's it, no more today. There's no dramatic self sacrifice for that one last burst of magic, there's no straining against the effort and hoping it holds together, there's no "can't do it, cap'n! She'll blow!". You get two fifth level spells a day at your level, with your attribute bonus. No more, no less. There's no difference between casting zero, one, or two for you. If someone asks you for three, or for a sixth level spell, you just kinda shrug and say "nope, not happening", no matter how dire it is. Even if you were willing to give up your life to make it happen, sorry, them's the breaks.

And when you level up, you just wake up that day able to cast that 6th level spell. Yesterday, there was no way in the world you could ever hope to do that. You might as well have tried to blow out the Sun like a birthday candle. Suddenly, though, you can cast one a day. It's not hard, there's no learning curve, you don't even break a sweat. And this is just something you can do now, without any further fanfare than the players themselves saying "omfg I finally get to pick out 6th level spells, pass me the players handbook!" Sure, maybe the DM feels like throwing in some cool descriptors of your arcane might suddenly flaring and you feeling the power surge through your veins, but that's the DM doing that, with no real support out of the rulebook.

I'm not saying I want that in D&D, because you'd have to pretty much rewrite the whole system to make it happen without it feeling clumsy, or tacked-on, or exploitable in a ton of obvious ways. But it definitely leaves a narrative hole.