High Magic, balanced campaign

[purplearcanist]

A good question:

How would you make a high magic campaign, where everyone can cast magic, but make each class balanced? (ex: no operpowering wizard)

[elliott20]

simple, don't use the D&D system.

[Hazkali]

Simple, make everybody play a wizard.



I would rather endure Cthulu's Spiked Tentacles of Intrusion than DM such a campaign but it's possible.

Plus, the advantages for the PCs are numerous. With 4 Wizards, there will be practically no Sorcerer/Wizard spell that they will not be able cast. By 20th level the total magicall firepower doesn't bear thinking about.

But it would be fun....



I think I'm going to cry now.

[Belial_the_Leveler]

Neither the wizard itself nor the DnD spell system is overpowered. Only individual spells, feats and prestige classes are. The DM needs to houserule those specific stuff to balance the campaign.

The following things need to be taken care of. I also suggest a solution for each problem:

Changing shape: Some of the most broken stuff are here. Alter Self, Polymorph, PAO, Shapechange. The balancing is simple. Alter Self should alter no game statistics-only appearance. Polymorph and PAO should replace the PCs stats-including class abilities and HD-with those of an average monster the spell turns him into but without any supernatural or spell-like abilities or any innate spellcasting. Shapechange would function similarly only it would also give supernatural abilities. Any items the character wears are absorbed by the new form and rendered nonfunctional. Effectively, changing form will replace the PC with the monster, not enhance the PC with the monster's abilities.

Custom items: No custom items. The PCs roll for treasure (or rather the DM does. If they want custom items, they have to sell their treasure then find an item-crafter that is willing to make the custom item then wait while the crafter makes the item (from days to months). In any case, no intelligent items should be available. Intelligent items should be quest-only.

Splatbooks: Just ban prestige classes from splatbooks. Some feats and spells also are a bit overpowered and they have to be banned as well.

[Telonius]

Gestalt characters come to mind. Other than that, I'm drawing a blank.

[kemmotar]

You could balance it by claiming a house rule that all wizards have to take greater school specialization so although it would give them some advantages in a particular school it would exclude completely two other schools...This would either make the PCs not want to play wizards or minimize the overall variety of spells each wizard can use.
Then make your monsters more resilient i.e. more hp and higher saves.
Evasion and slippery mind are good ideas to help your monsters/NPCS/BBEG from being completely subdued by each spell.
Also if they like to play to abuse their spells in ways like invisibility + flaming sphere or avoid meleers with mirror image and miss chances with spells give the monsters blindsense or some equivalent ability.
Send out a few golems and undead from time to time...dont use mordekainen's disjunction they will hate you.
You could also just send wizards against them so the immensity of the PC's firepower is kinda balanced...

[Ulzgoroth]

Better still, if you really mean everyone, make it gestalt with wiz/sorc or a arcane prestige class always being one side. So, you might still have the rogue/cleric/fighter(varient)/wizard party. It's just that the rogue is also a wizard, the cleric is also a sorcerer, the fighter is a wizard, and the wizard is a wizard//sorcerer.

I dunno if it would be balanced, but at least everyone gets to cast high-level spells and still gets a normal class. Probably want a high pointbuy too.

...ninjas...

[Piccamo]

Don't use Wizards, Sorcerers, Druids, or Clerics. Instead use Magic of Incarnum, Tome of Magic (I personally prefer Binders), and Tome of Battle.

[ClericofPhwarrr]

Don't use Wizards, Sorcerers, Druids, or Clerics. Instead use Magic of Incarnum, Tome of Magic (I personally prefer Binders), and Tome of Battle.

Don't forget Psionics! Not exactly magic, but close enough for all intents and purposes.

[Person_Man]

Play a Hexblade/Paladin of Tyranny (or Blackguard) with a Ring of Evasion (or dip in an appropriate class). 95% immune to any magic which allows a Save.

Play a Drow or Half-Celestial or Half-Fiend or Svirfneblin or whatever with LA buyoff. All of them have decent SR.

Get Flight and True Seeing through whatever methods. That will solve most magic which gives some sort of tactical advantage.

Mageslayer feat+Spiked Chain. Suck it Defensive Casting.

Action Advantage: White Raven Tactics, or his retarded cousin, the Factotum/Marshal. Most spellcasters are fragile, and most optimized melee builds can easily deal massive damage on a single attack combo. Combine with high Initiative, and you win.


Magic heavy campaigns are easy to play in as non-magic PC's, you just have to build appropriately.

[Tormsskull]

I once did a campaign like this (even though I detest High Magic). The purpose was to reflect a campaign where arcane magic was so common that nearly everyone had at least a little bit of it.

At character creation you choose to either be a Tier 1 class or a Tier 2 class (assuming core only here, with the sorceror class unavailable).
Tier 1 - Wizard, Cleric, Druid. (AKA Trained Spellcasters)
Tier 2 - All other classes. (AKA Untrained Spellcasters)

If you choose a Tier 1 class you level as normal, but Tier 1 classes are treated as spontaneous casters. In addition they gain the Eschew Materials feat for free, and all XP costs related to spell casting are reduced by 50%.

If you choose a tier 2 class you level as normal but in addition to the regular benefits, you have the spellcasting ability of a Sorceror = to 1/2 your Tier 2 class levels, rounded down. Tier 2 classes do not suffer Arcane Spell Failure checks from wearing armor when casting spells from their Tier 2 classes.

It worked out pretty well to capture what I was going for (based on 1 player's request).

Anyhow, good luck.