Often I find myself thinking about common critiques of classic D&D and trying to formulate responses to them. Sometimes it's not so much a defense of a rule, but an explanation of what I think the rules could be describing. Sort of a "Just think about it like this." suggestion. Which leads to the following, which occurred to me this morning as I was walking the dog.
Magic Users are generally bad at combat for two main reasons. Firstly, they're nerds. They didn't train with swords or condition themselves to wearing and moving in armor during their apprenticeships. They were reading tomes and studying how to get physics to shut up and sit down. Even a MU with a decent Strength score isn't going to be trained in how to use that strength properly in a fight. Sure, if they do manage to connect, they'll hit a bit harder. But a miss is a miss as they say.
The second reason has more to do with the nature of magic in D&D, specifically "Vancian" magic. In Jack Vance's classic stories about The Dying Earth, wizards study and memorize spells to fit their situation or plans. They "hold" these spells in their minds, like a puzzle they are solving mentally. The spell lacks only the final piece to "close the circuit" and release it into the world. Novice wizards are lucky to hold just one simple spell in their minds for any length of time. The more skilled can maintain more than one. There is a reason spellcasters need so much sleep and time to study each day.
The result of these mental gymnastics is that a Magic User is also unable to react as easily in a combat situation. Melee requires total focus, and the wizard's focus is already spread out over several spells.
"Aha!" I hear you say, "but what about Elves? They use swords and wear armor but still can cast spells." Well, that's a fair point. Let's look at elves.
In most fantasy settings, elves are long-lived. They simply have more time to learn these skills. Second, despite this wider skill set -or because of it- Elves progress slower as a class and can't even cast the highest level spells by the time they reach their XP level limits. Lastly, they're elves. In other words, they are "not human." Their minds are different, both physically and psychically. The way they focus their minds or the limits of their ability to multitask is different as well. In many settings, elves are considered fey (or fey-adjacent). In such cases they are semi-magical beings themselves and their relationship with magic should and is treated differently, while keeping the game mechanics roughly balanced.
The second reason has more to do with the nature of magic in D&D, specifically "Vancian" magic. In Jack Vance's classic stories about The Dying Earth, wizards study and memorize spells to fit their situation or plans. They "hold" these spells in their minds, like a puzzle they are solving mentally. The spell lacks only the final piece to "close the circuit" and release it into the world. Novice wizards are lucky to hold just one simple spell in their minds for any length of time. The more skilled can maintain more than one. There is a reason spellcasters need so much sleep and time to study each day.
The result of these mental gymnastics is that a Magic User is also unable to react as easily in a combat situation. Melee requires total focus, and the wizard's focus is already spread out over several spells.
"Aha!" I hear you say, "but what about Elves? They use swords and wear armor but still can cast spells." Well, that's a fair point. Let's look at elves.
In most fantasy settings, elves are long-lived. They simply have more time to learn these skills. Second, despite this wider skill set -or because of it- Elves progress slower as a class and can't even cast the highest level spells by the time they reach their XP level limits. Lastly, they're elves. In other words, they are "not human." Their minds are different, both physically and psychically. The way they focus their minds or the limits of their ability to multitask is different as well. In many settings, elves are considered fey (or fey-adjacent). In such cases they are semi-magical beings themselves and their relationship with magic should and is treated differently, while keeping the game mechanics roughly balanced.
Again, I'm not espousing gospel or saying This Is What Gary Intended. I'm just putting ideas out there. This is just a rationale I though might help some folks wrap their heads around things a bit.
No comments:
Post a Comment