There are six ability scores in D&D. And there are six spells for buffing those ability scores:
bear’s endurance – Clr 2, Drd 2, Rgr 2, Sor/Wiz 2
bull’s strength – Clr 2, Drd 2, Pal 2, Sor/Wiz 2
cat’s grace – Brd 2, Drd 2, Rgr 2, Sor/Wiz 2
eagle’s splendor – Brd 2, Clr 2, Pal 2, Sor/Wiz 2
fox’s cunning – Brd 2, Sor/Wiz 2
owl’s wisdom – Clr 2, Drd 2, Pal 2, Rgr 2, Sor/Wiz 2
Okay, I can kinda see the archetypal reasons for the bard, druid, paladin, and ranger getting access to different subsets of these spells.
But given the fact that the cleric’s key role in the party is healer and buffer, why are they missing cat’s grace and fox’s cunning?
It just doesn’t make any sense to me. Never has. In my house rules, the cleric gets access to all six buffs, just like the arcanists do.
Random thought: Given the predilection for PCs to get pumped up on stat boosters, is anyone else struck by the similarity to performance enhancement drugs? This doesn’t have much (if anything) to do with game mechanics, but it can be an interesting insight into the relationship between wandering heroes and the world around them. I think the idea that PCs are, in some sense, doped up further alienates them from the common society. Not only do they wield amazing powers, but their very bodies and minds are being constantly hyped up on mystical enhancements.
One of the things I talked about in D&D: Calibrating Your Expectations is the fact that the game covers a range from sub-normal to super-human powers. I think there’s something particularly interesting about a world where the guy sitting next to you may be able to unleash incredible destructive forces with the flick of a thought. What does it really mean for a common man to live in that kind of world? Even if there’s only one such person in a hundred thousand?
ARCHIVED HALOSCAN COMMENTS
Draz
“I think, all told, that puts it at an epic level caster.”
13th level, actually. Besides, I don’t think Justin had metamagic in mind — he was slightly exaggerating when he said “with a thought,” meaning “with 4 seconds’ worth of thoughts, gestures, and mumbled words.”
Friday, October 03, 2008, 3:16:25 PM
David Hartman
I think, for the average Joe, life in that world won’t be much different from ours.
In our world, there are many trained martial artists who could likely cripple a mook like me in less than a second. Even aside from the crap that movies and pop culture display, these sort of people are extant. However, I don’t usually think that any random person I meet is likely to be that person. I also do not worry that people I meet are concealing guns, holding the pin of a grenade on their thumb, or desperately clutching a deadman’s switch on forty pounds of C4 attached to their torso. Though each of those scenarios are possibly and easily hidden, they are rare enough not to warrant concern.
The same, I think, applies to Wizards of sufficient power to unleash destruction with a thought. Granted, they exist, but are rare enough that they are not a common concern. From game terms, it would need… what? Burning Hands is the lowest level spell that I could consider impressively destructive, and to cast it with a thought requires adding spell levels with still spell, silent spell, and quickened spell. I think, all told, that puts it at an epic level caster.
Anyway, I agree that the spell progressions in 3e are a bit odd at points. Then again, you can ascribe it to any number of reasons in a game as fantasy based as D&D. Still, another interesting read.
Friday, October 03, 2008, 2:42:12 PM
Fuck it it’s 10 years later but I found this article and I’m gonna try and figure out the logic here.
It seems like this was based on a few rules, with the idea that wizards are the best at magic and are the only ones that have access to all the spells, with everyone else getting a subset of it:
1. All classes get the buffing spell for their primary stat (bard gets cha, everyone else gets wis).
2. Wizards should have the best access to magic so they get all the spells. Clerics and Druids are full casters but are supposed to be worse at magic, so they can have 4/6 spells. Bard, Ranger, and Paladin aren’t that good at magic so they can have 3/6 spells.
3. Each spell should have 4/6 classes able to cast it except when that contradicts rules 1 and 2.
Rangers are associated with archery and two-weapon fighting, while bards are kinda rogueish and dextrous, so they both don’t get strength. Clerics and Paladins are both usually melee fighters so they don’t get Dexterity. Druid and Ranger live in the wilderness so they don’t get Charisma. Bard makes sense to not have Constitution but Paladin really doesn’t, but I guess they decided Charisma and Strength were more important. Keeping with rule 1 everyone but bard gets Wisdom. Intelligence then goes to Bard and Wizard because they don’t want to give any classes access to more than their allotted spells.
I THINK that kinda explains everything.