Why Magic Users Suck at Fighting

 

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.

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. 

RSA: Protections from Evil

Neither of these are hardly an uncommon spell, but they do seem to generate a fair bit of confusion from time to time. I don’t pretend to be the final word on interpreting B/X D&D, but it is a game I spend a fair bit of time pondering.

Depending on how you count things, there are two to four spells in this category: 

The “personal” vs the 10’ radius and the Clerical vs MU/Elf versions. For the purposes of this Random 

Spell(s) Assessment, we’ll just be (mostly*) looking at the former.

Starting off with the first one of these spells that players are likely to get their hands on, there is the 

classic: Protection from Evil.

(from Moldvay)

Cleric 1/MU 1

Protection from Evil Range: 0 (caster only)

Duration: 12 turns

This spell circles the cleric with a magic barrier. This barrier will

move with the caster. The spell serves as some protection from

"evil" attacks (attacks by monsters of some alignment other than

the cleric's alignment) by adding 1 to the clerics' saving throws, and

subtracting 1 from the "to hit" die roll of these opponents. The

spell will also keep out hand-to-hand attacks from enchanted

(summoned or created) monsters (such as living statues), but not

missile fire attacks from these creatures (see COMBAT). The cleric

may break this protection by attacking the monster in hand-to-hand

combat, but still gains the bonus "to hit" and saves.

*Both MU versions are nearly identical to the clerical versions, so there’s no need to list both descriptions here. The one big change is that the duration for the MU 1st level spell is half that of the clerical: Six turns instead of twelve. I guess those arcane types aren’t getting a divine assist. Everything else is the same.

There is a fair bit to unpack in this description, so let’s dig in, shall we?

In essence, the spell creates a sort of force field around the cast that blocks or limits attacks by “evil” creatures. Since this is BX, there is no “Evil” alignment, just Law, Chaos, and Neutrality. As in the “Detect Evil” spell, evil is defined as a differing alignment having an “evil” intent (malice, etc.). So a Neutral Elf would be protected from lawful or chaotic beings wishing him harm, etc. 

The first effects listed are pretty straightforward. The caster gets a buff to saves and the baddies get a penalty to attacks (+1/-1). The next part is interesting, though. 

“The spell will also keep out hand-to-hand attacks from enchanted (summoned or created) monsters (such as living statues), but not missile fire attacks from these creatures (see COMBAT).”

This point is probably where I see the most confusion from people: Notice that the stuff about differing alignment is no longer in play here? That chaotic chieftain is getting a -1 to hit you, but he can absolutely try to smash you in the face with his battleaxe. That Bone Golem? Not so much. This is an important distinction. I’ve seen games where this wasn’t clear to the group and a lot of confusion arose about how exactly the baddies could do anything to the caster after this measly 1st level spell was in effect. 

The next thing to remember is that the caster cannot engage in melee combat with the warded monster without breaking the effect. It doesn’t say anything about missile fire, though. Also, the +1/-1 is still going even if the force field is gone. 

The area of effect version is pretty much the same, except it can protect more than one person at a time. It’s also the only way to put the effect on anyone else (both spells are centered on the caster, no other target is valid as written). 

(from Cook)

Cleric 4/MU 3

Protection from Evil 10' Radius Range: 0'

Duration: 12 turns

This spell circles the caster with a magical barrier that will protect

all friendly creatures within 10' of the cleric. This barrier will move

with the cleric. The spell serves as some protection from "evil"

attacks (attacks by monsters of an alignment other than the

caster's) by adding 1 to the caster's saving throw and subtracting 1

from evil opponents' "to hit" roll. This spell will also keep out

melee attacks from enchanted monsters (such as elementals) but

not missile or magical attacks from these creatures. Enchanted

monsters can melee if any of the protected creatures attempt to

attack them with hand-to-hand combat.

(Once again, the MU version is weaker in that it’s a higher level spell than for clerics. Otherwise, no differences.) The new takeaways from here are that multiple people are protected, but only if they stay close to the cleric, and that if anyone even tried melee with the warded monster(s), they can ignore the force field effect in general (“...if ANY of the protected creatures ATTEMPT to attack them with hand-to-hand combat). This means not only that INT 6 fighter could negate that protection with a swing and a miss, he dispels the field for *everyone*. Again though, missile fire is fine for some reason. I guess it’s a look don’t touch kind of thing?

Now, there is some ambiguity regarding the nature of the 10’ radius field. Part of the text seems to indicate that it simply creates a protective field for all the people in the radius, other parts make it sound like it could be used to block a corridor or similar. Personally I’m inclined to the latter, as a 3rd-4th level spell should have a little oomph, IMO. Also the idea that one person attempting melee dispels the effect for all makes it sound like one big field, not multiple personal ones. Fun tidbit: Remember that the alignments you are protected from are determined by the caster’s alignment, not each individual friendly getting the effects. So if a lawful cleric casts it on the party, it won’t grant penalties or bonuses vs. lawful for that neutral thief.

The duration for both of these spells are obviously applicable over more than a single combat. However, given how easily the “force field” can be dispelled, it seems that the +1/-1 is the more durable benefit. Smart timing could grant those receiving the spell’s benefits with a nice little modifier as they move into an area where they expect to be butting heads with folks of other alignments. Entering Area K in the Caves of Chaos would be a great example of when to use it!

Spell Caster House Rules

I had posted this idea a while back in the BX G+ community, but thought I would add it to the blog as that's where I have similar ideas for house rules. The idea is to make the acquiring of spells a bigger part of adventuring as well as giving spell casters a little more magical power by allowing for scroll creation.

• All magic-users and elves have a grimoire. This can be a your classic spell book, a long scroll, a tattooed pelt, scrimshawed bones, or any other means of recording written spells. Casting Detect Magic will distinguish a grimoire from a normal book or object.
• 1st level MU/Elves start with the following spells: Detect Magic, Read Magic, a 1st level spell of their choice, and one random 2nd level spell (a gift from their teacher for when the character is advanced enough to use it.)
• Clerics must choose a designated time of day (or night) in which they pray for their spells. Magic-users and Elves can only replenish a spent spell slot once per day and after a full night's worth of rest (8 hours+). If their rest is interrupted by anything more strenuous than taking a turn at keeping watch, the rest time resets. Unused spells are retained until cast or "traded out" for different ones.
• As the caster goes up in level, spell slots are gained but new spells are not learned automatically. They must be found to add to one's grimoire. Spells can be gained by three methods: spell research (X51), scrolls, another casters’ grimoire
• Copying spells (from another grimoire or scroll) to one’s own grimoire requires use of the Read Magic spell. Once the caster can read the new spell, he must spend the time and purchase special materials to add it to his personal grimoire. The original of the spell is consumed in the process. (This is why wizards typically don’t let other wizards copy directly from their grimoires!) It takes one full day’s work and 100 gp per level of the spell to transcribe it. This requires the caster’s full attention for the duration of the process.
• A magic-user or elf may create a magical scroll from a spell in his grimoire without destroying the original copy. (This is how spells are typically shared.) It takes one day and 500 gp per spell level to create a scroll. The scroll can be used to cast the spell or copy it, but it is consumed in either case. 
• A cleric may create spell scrolls for the same costs in time and money as magic-users or elves, but must prepare -but not cast- the spell for each day he is scribing the scroll.
• If a caster is desperate, he can cast an unprepared spell directly out his grimoire like a scroll, but the copy of the spell is destroyed in the process. 

The BX setting (part 2)

Races

Soldiering on, one of the ways that a BX setting is not like a typical swords & sorcery world is the presence of "non-monstrous" demihumans.

These guys

S&S tends to be fairly human-centric. With nonhumans relegated to the monstrous or degenerate. While it's not fair to say that classic D&D's default is somehow less fantasy-laden than more modern versions, I think that's its style of fantasy ends to be more of the 'grounded reality with a fantastical layer,' as opposed to 'full-on mix of fantastical elements where the "real" world is almost gone from view.' There is a spectrum here to be sure, and any system has representative settings from various points along the line. But to me BX leans to a pseudo-medieval with magical elements world, and that includes things like elves and such. That being said, the idea of level limits and race-as-class could indicate a world where demihumans that follow the path of the PCs are outliers among their kind and outsiders among the humans. But that's just one interpretation.

Magic

Typical BX settings also stray from many swords & sorcery tropes with magic being far more common and 'stable.' Predictable effects and organization of set spells is a mainstay of nearly all flavors of D&D, as opposed to things like spells using blood-soaked rituals and spells only being found in long-lost tomes. Also wizards in those worlds are typically quite rare and often in league with multiple foul demons or similar.

BX is hardly unique in D&D with settings that include things like player character spellcasters, magic schools, court wizards, as well as town clerics that can cast healing magics up to -and including- raising the dead. This aspect puts it more in line with 'high fantasy' settings. Where BX varies from most other editions is while BX magic isn't terribly rare as a rule, it is relatively limited. 

BX magic-users get 72 standard spells, 6 levels at 12 spells each. They don't even see a 6th level spell slot until after name level (11th). Elves don't even get a 6th level spell by the book, being capped at 10th. Compare that to 1st edition AD&D, with 194 spells spread out (unevenly) over NINE spell levels. Clerics fare similarly, with BX clerics getting 34 spells over 5 levels  vs. AD&D's 76 over 7. That doesn't even take into account the druid and illusionist lists. Not to mention starting clerics aren't even spellcasters yet!

Now, don't get me wrong. I'm not saying AD&D (or similar) is 'broken' by too many spells, but I do think it changes the tone of the game somewhat. It's still definitely Dungeons & Dragons, but I do feel that BX's more streamlined list does contribute to part of the game's feel, and -by extension- to the feel of a BX world.

(to be continued in Part 3)