this post was submitted on 14 May 2024
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This would help explain why there are so few spells compared to the infinite possibilities of magic. Many problems are solved. There are only so many ways to sort a list and many of them are either entirely unuseful or only good for specific situations. Turns out there's only one way to make a fireball. Every other way doesn't work as good.
This is probably true in the game world as well as in the game development world. WotC and Paizo could create more variations on Fireball, sure, but does it really change the game in a meaningful way?
DCC : "hold my beer"
It would allow for more creativity.
Like a electricity Wizard who casts lightningball instead.
They could just add rules that allow you to tweak the spells, just like how they allow for increasing damage with a higher spell slot. But also changing AoE size, changing damage type, range, changing needing to see the target, and other properties, ... All which you will have to chose when preparing the spell for the first time, not to overshadow metamagic and keep the game flowing.
But does it change the game in a meaningful way, enough to offset the complexity that's being added? Enough that house rules for an individual group about flavoring spells and changing damage types wouldn't be enough?
In Pathfinder at least, they do have rules for spell research, and it's easier if it's pretty similar to a spell you already know, so "fireball but it's 10 ft wider and does d4s" is something you could get.
Or you could use metamagic feats. Widen Spell for AoE, Elemental Spell for damage type, and other properties. Though that can get expensive.
There is one standard way to cast fireball - it works, it's cheap, it very rarely backfires, it's in all the textbooks, everyone knows how it behaves - but sometimes you sit down in a tavern next to another wizard and you just know before they even open their mouth that they are going to spend the next twenty five minutes telling you about how they learnt this alternative way to cast it and it's taken a bit of practice but they can just about cast it as fast as they could before and how it's so much more ergonomic or whatever
There's probably a feat for that in Pathfinder.