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Feb 1, 2013 -- 10:33AM, mellored wrote:

Well i'm still all for a martialspell damage dice blaster class with their own manuversmetamagic.

But this is how you'd do the cleric.

That is effectively reflavoring the fighter as an at-will caster. Not a bad idea, even for basic, since it would show a creative way to reflavor a class.

Feb 1, 2013 -- 6:52AM, lordsneek wrote:

So I've read bits of the most recent playtest packets and I've been keeping up with the legends and lore column. I find it interesting how Mearls wants a basic, standard and advanced version of the game. I really like this idea but I think a major change they should make in the basic game is simplifying spell descriptions.

Take the Earthquake spell for example, that spell has tons of rules in it for various situations. I find really long spell descriptions to be a pain to look up during the game. I think that when designing the basic rule set the designs should take a look at how the rules cyclopedia handled spells (which I'm sure they've already done to some extent). The earthquake spell in that version of the game was short and to the point.

I don't really care if the spells are more complex in the standard game or the advanced game because I'm sure some players and DMs would prefer the extra rules. I tend to be a less is more type of DM when it comes to rules in the game and I don't really want the rules to be super air-tight and try and list every situation.

Does anyone have any other ideas on what WoTC should do to make the basic game more accessible and simple? I would also be interested to see if they could try adding race as class as a rules module in the future.  

 

This is a very laudable goal.

Personally I think that the Basic game should be built with a limited number of spells, especially given that every spell is a separate subsystem often totally unique.

Preselection of spells is a good step, IF it happens in Basic, but a limited "Basic Spell List" would also be a good thing.

Ideally I'd like to see a caster (similar to a Warlock) with an even more simple mechanic than (the relatively complex) Vancian casting system with Wizard spells.

Feb 2, 2013 -- 6:09PM, arnwolf666 wrote:

Feb 1, 2013 -- 10:37AM, Rustmonster wrote:

Feb 1, 2013 -- 10:17AM, Saelorn wrote:

Actually, I would be okay with all spells in general just not being that complicated, but I know I'm in the minority on that one.

No, WotC has decided that they absolutly NEED their 150 pages of spells in the back of the book or they won't be able to entice their not-even-trying-to-conceal-it target audience. The game must be "simple" and "basic" only to the point where it does not effect the complex and space-wasting caster classes.

Dear gods yes, I need my 150 pages of spells in the PHB and if they could find room to expand it to 250 pages I would be even happier.

Sure.

And I even disagree that this is a bad thing (as long as one character doesn't have access to all of them at once).

But it IS a bad thing if the supposedly Basic Arcane class has to select spells from that giant list.

I'd prefer an ACTUALLY Basic class built with class abilities rather than spells.

After all, it's supposed to be the easy introduction...

So where is the "Harry Potter" class, for all those kids who aren't ready for a (complex and resource management heavy) Vancian Wizard but are EXACTLY the market WotC need to capture to make Next a success?