It's been the first article on the front page for nearly an hour now.
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Human. Male. Possibly. Don't be a divider. My characters' backgrounds are written like instruction manuals rather than stories. My opinion and preferences don't mean you're wrong. I am 99.7603% convinced that the digital dice are messing with me. I roll high when nobody's looking and low when anyone else can see.🎲 “It's a bit early to be thinking about an epitaph. No?” will be my epitaph.
It's been the first article on the front page for nearly an hour now.
Many of us skip the front page because it takes forever to load and never see the articles. For example, whenever I navigate to DDB I use a bookmark that takes me straight to my profile page and navigate elsewhere from there. I haven’t looked at DDB’s front page in years.
It's been the first article on the front page for nearly an hour now.
Many of us skip the front page because it takes forever to load and never see the articles. For example, whenever I navigate to DDB I use a bookmark that takes me straight to my profile page and navigate elsewhere from there. I haven’t looked at DDB’s front page in years.
Front page?
I've no idea what that is.
I just have the forums and my characters bookmarked.
Unfortunately, the stat block is as useless as the NPC spellcasters in MMM. That is, spellcasting has just all become innate - there is no spellcasting level listed, so Vecna - Vecna - is no longer an archmage who can hurl meteor swarms and wishes and power word kill. The concept of the archetypal archmage v archmage battle is now defunct. Can you counterspell all his new whacky attacks that have replaced actual, you know, spells.
This has, unfortunately, confirmed that this is the way forward for 5E. Apparently WotC hasn't learned its lessons from 4E (or forgotten them).
Unfortunately, the stat block is as useless as the NPC spellcasters in MMM. That is, spellcasting has just all become innate - there is no spellcasting level listed, so Vecna - Vecna - is no longer an archmage who can hurl meteor swarms and wishes and power word kill. The concept of the archetypal archmage v archmage battle is now defunct. Can you counterspell all his new whacky attacks that have replaced actual, you know, spells.
This has, unfortunately, confirmed that this is the way forward for 5E. Apparently WotC hasn't learned its lessons from 4E (or forgotten them).
Extra funny because in a Vecna versus Vecna duel, his access to infinite Counterspells will come up remarkably little. He has some spellcasting, just not very much.
...Vecna's spells are all still spells, the ability is called "Spellcasting", and it describes him as casting spells. No, he doesn't have wizard levels. Could it possibly be that the hundred thousand year old lich god doesn't bother using the same style of spellcasting as Molly Hedgewitch down the lane?
Hell, you really want to make the fight memorable? Retool every single spell he has. Vecna does not cast one SINGLE spell the party recognizes. This is a hundred thousand year old lich god ultra necromancer - the day he casts a first-level Magic Missile is the day Mordenkainen laughs himself right out of his mansion.
...Vecna's spells are all still spells, the ability is called "Spellcasting", and it describes him as casting spells. No, he doesn't have wizard levels. Could it possibly be that the hundred thousand year old lich god doesn't bother using the same style of spellcasting as Molly Hedgewitch down the lane?
Hell, you really want to make the fight memorable? Retool every single spell he has. Vecna does not cast one SINGLE spell the party recognizes. This is a hundred thousand year old lich god ultra necromancer - the day he casts a first-level Magic Missile is the day Mordenkainen laughs himself right out of his mansion.
Missing the point - which is that it everything I said also applies to Molly Hedgewitch down the lane. She still has no levels, and her spells are now also innate, making it clunky and time-consuming to modify her statblock. It can't be just done on the fly, as the "old" versions of the spellcasters could be done. And it makes it exceedingly difficult to quickly homebrew an NPC based on her but with an extra or fewer level or two.
That's what I meant when I said that the problem with Vecna is the same as with the NPC spellcasters in MMM.
....Vecna's spells are all still spells, the ability is called "Spellcasting", and it describes him as casting spells.
I'm not talking about the spells listed under the "Spellcasting" ability. I'm talking about all the other abilities he now has: Flight of the Damned, Rotten Fate, Vile Teleport, Dread Counterspell, Fell Rebuke. These are specifically not listed under "Spellcasting," which brings me back to my original point: can they be counterspelled? You might say "Of course," or "You're the DM, it's you choice," which is of course true. But wait...what level are they? How do we determine if my wizard PC can counterspell them at all or whether they are equivalent to 3rd or higher level? This hasn't made it easier for new DMs (like which new DM is going to be running Vecna???), all it's done is make customisation harder, less intuitive, and therefore inhibiting homebrew and modification.
It looks much more to me like a return to the 4E nonsense of having spells cast 1/day or 1/encounter or whatever.
....Vecna's spells are all still spells, the ability is called "Spellcasting", and it describes him as casting spells.
I'm not talking about the spells listed under the "Spellcasting" ability. I'm talking about all the other abilities he now has: Flight of the Damned, Rotten Fate, Vile Teleport, Dread Counterspell, Fell Rebuke. These are specifically not listed under "Spellcasting," which brings me back to my original point: can they be counterspelled?
If they are not listed under spellcasting, they are not spells. Ergo, they cannot be counterspelled.
....Vecna's spells are all still spells, the ability is called "Spellcasting", and it describes him as casting spells.
I'm not talking about the spells listed under the "Spellcasting" ability. I'm talking about all the other abilities he now has: Flight of the Damned, Rotten Fate, Vile Teleport, Dread Counterspell, Fell Rebuke. These are specifically not listed under "Spellcasting," which brings me back to my original point: can they be counterspelled?
If they are not listed under spellcasting, they are not spells. Ergo, they cannot be counterspelled.
Also, damn this janky quote system.
And that leads me back to my original point: the archetypal wizard vs wizard battle relies heavily on the idea of wizards being able to counter each others' magic. In the absence of this, the battle just comes down to hit points. It's boring, and removes a bunch of options from the table. In other words, it upends something that was very cool about 5E (spell slots rather than fire-and-forget spells, and Counterspell) and has replaced it with a plain-vanilla option that removes a lot of DM options without extensive rebuilding - ie. one of the things 4E did.
Vecna's not a Wizard, he's a lich-turned-demigod. The spellcasting for monsters may be somewhat different now, but if it's listed under spellcasting then it's still a spell subject to all other rules of spellcasting, unless otherwise noted in the description.
Vecna's not a Wizard, he's a lich-turned-demigod. The spellcasting for monsters may be somewhat different now, but if it's listed under spellcasting then it's still a spell subject to all other rules of spellcasting, unless otherwise noted in the description.
I'm really not sure what the issue is.
The issue is that this isn't unique to Vecna - which I've mentioned several times. The exact same thing applies to, say, the Evoker Wizard in MotM. Under spellcasting we have:
Spellcasting. The evoker casts one of the following spells, using Intelligence as the spellcasting ability (spell save DC 15):
Arcane Burst.Melee or Ranged Spell Attack: +7 to hit, reach 5 ft. or range 120 ft., one target. Hit: 25 (4d10 + 3) force damage.
Sculpted Explosion (Recharge 4–6). The evoker unleashes a magical explosion of a particular damage type: cold, fire, lightning, or thunder. The magic erupts in a 20-foot-radius sphere centered on a point within 150 feet of the evoker. Each creature in that area must make a DC 15 Dexterity saving throw. The evoker can select up to three creatures it can see in the area to ignore the explosion, as the evoker sculpts the energy around them. On a failed save, a creature takes 40 (9d8) damage of the chosen type and is knocked prone. On a successful save, a creature takes half as much damage and isn’t knocked prone.
So, according to what I thought - and what you confirmed - neither the Arcane Burst nor the Sculpted Explosion can be Counterspelled. That's the first problem.
The second problem is that the Sculpted Explosion is obviously a fireball with some metamagic thrown in - the bread and butter of an Evoker. Again, can't be counterspelled. But the second problem here is that the spell list itself is screwy and needs to be modified - and herein lies the problem.
Let's say I want to use the Evoker Wizard in my campaign. Great. But the first thing I do with a caster NPC is check - and usually modify - their spell list. There's an obvious reason to do so in this case: the guy can cast mage armor twice a day. Why? The spell lasts 8 hours - the NPC doesn't need to have it available twice a day when they're an encounter-type character.
So I want to swap out mage armor. No worries, it's a...1st level spell. Is that right? But the wizard can cast it exactly the same number of times per day as they can cast ice storm (4th level) or lightning bolt (3rd level). And their fireball-proxy is cast at will, once per round (and can't be counterspelled, remember). So can I give them mage armor 1/day, and then...something else, maybe scorching ray 1/day? Hang on...they can cast ice storm 2/day but scorching ray only once? That hardly seems fair. Or is it?
When the wizard NPC had spell slots and spells, this was absolutely dead easy and - most importantly - I could do it on the fly, in the middle of the game. Now? Now I have rebuild a homebrew character from scratch just to get the spells. Oh...wait - that's not so easy, either. What level does this guy cast at? Is he 9th? 10th? 11th? 12th? His PB is +4, so he could be any of those. He can cast at least 4th level spells (ice storm, and a 9d8 fireball), so I guess he's 9th level. So now I can go to the PHB and figure out how many spell slots he has and recook all of his spellcasting abilities.
So by now, I've spent the better part of half an hour rejigging a character in order to use a modified statblock that is meant to make gaming easier. I can't use it on the fly. I can't use it as-is. Everything about this new system seems designed to take DM options off the table.
Well, firstly I don't really see what issue not having a spellcasting level really has here. Any spells cast here are done so at their normal level, unless otherwise stated. And as far as what level spells it can use, it can cast Wall of Ice once which is a 6th level spell, so presumably it can swap out spells up to that level, and if I really had to guess at their spellcaster level I'd say it's 11th or 12th level (though again, I struggle to see what that really adds for me).
And again, I just don't see what the issue is with having spell-abilities at hand that aren't spells. They've been a part of the game since 5e came out. And the Sculpted Explosion noted in the statblock isn't at-will, it recharges like a dragon's breath weapon; you may think that's stupid, and fair enough, but I would have to respectfully disagree.
As for their actual spell selection; honestly I'd just say they're already under the effect of Mage Armor and swap it out with Scorching Ray.
I can see that you're struggling with this, and I'm sorry that's the case, it's gotta suck. But, for whatever reason, I'm just not having the same difficulties that you are.
"""Well, firstly I don't really see what issue having not having a spellcasting level really has here. Any spells cast here are done so at their normal level, unless otherwise stated. """
Umm...that's not the issue, and I can't see where anything I've said would have given that impression. It's got nothing to do with the levels at which the spells are cast - it's to do with what spell slots are available at what level.
"""And as far as what level spells it can use, it can cast Wall of Ice once which is a 6th level spell, so presumably it can swap out spells up to that level, and if I really had to guess at their spellcaster level I'd say it's 11th or 12th level (though again, I struggle to see what that really adds for me)."""
You're right - I fixated on Ice Storm and completely forgot about Wall of Ice. But that doesn't really make any difference - we can deduce that our guy is a minimum of 11th level...but while he can cast his fireball and a couple of others, he has no ability to defend himself (again, no counterspell, no globe of invulnerability). What sort of evoker wizard - who is born to engage in magical duels, doesn't have the ability to defend against an opponent's magic?
"""And again, I just don't see what the issue is with having spell-abilities at hand that aren't spells. They've been a part of the game since 5e came out. And the Sculpted Explosion noted in the statblock isn't at-will, it recharges like a dragon's breath weapon; you may think that's stupid, and fair enough, but I would have to respectfully disagree."""
I don't have a problem with them having spell-like abilities. Acolytes, mages, etc. have had them since the Monster Manual. They are shorthand for the class special abilities, and that's fine. I do have a problem with a powerful evoker having access to a grand total of 4 spells and 4 cantrips, with one of the key evocation spells - fireball - being replaced by something that cannot be resisted by an enemy caster.
"""As for their actual spell selection; honestly I'd just say they're already under the effect of Mage Armor and swap it out with Scorching Ray."""
Oh come on - I pulled that out as a single example of what was wrong. Change it to the ice storm, or lightning bolt, or whatever. My point is that with the new stat blocks, it takes time and effort to modify an NPC caster, whereas once I could reach out and grab the stat block and just use it on the fly.
"""I can see that you're struggling with this, and I'm sorry that's the case, it's gotta suck. But, for whatever reason, I'm just not having the same difficulties that you are."""
I'm glad you're not. I'm just trying to point out why I'm seeing an issue; at its heart, it's because the stat block has become less useful in its new incarnation. It now requires work for me to make it useful in my games, whereas before it didn't. And that, as I see it, is the antithesis of good game design.
Umm...that's not the issue, and I can't see where anything I've said would have given that impression. It's got nothing to do with the levels at which the spells are cast - it's to do with what spell slots are available at what level.
Apologies, I misunderstood. Though I confess, I'm still not understanding the issue itself. Is it strictly a matter of converting things back to the old system of spell slots?
You're right - I fixated on Ice Storm and completely forgot about Wall of Ice. But that doesn't really make any difference - we can deduce that our guy is a minimum of 11th level...but while he can cast his fireball and a couple of others, he has no ability to defend himself (again, no counterspell, no globe of invulnerability). What sort of evoker wizard - who is born to engage in magical duels, doesn't have the ability to defend against an opponent's magic?
Fair enough on Counterspell. Though, I would point out that Globe of Invulnerability wasn't present beforehand, so it would still be a matter of switching out one 6th level spell for another.
I don't have a problem with them having spell-like abilities. Acolytes, mages, etc. have had them since the Monster Manual. They are shorthand for the class special abilities, and that's fine. I do have a problem with a powerful evoker having access to a grand total of 4 spells and 4 cantrips, with one of the key evocation spells - fireball - being replaced by something that cannot be resisted by an enemy caster.
Fair.
Oh come on - I pulled that out as a single example of what was wrong. Change it to the ice storm, or lightning bolt, or whatever. My point is that with the new stat blocks, it takes time and effort to modify an NPC caster, whereas once I could reach out and grab the stat block and just use it on the fly.
And the point I was trying to make was that it remains, in my opinion, about the same as it was before. I'd just switch out one spell for another of the same level (or one that's close enough, if you think it's over/under tuned).
I'm glad you're not. I'm just trying to point out why I'm seeing an issue; at its heart, it's because the stat block has become less useful in its new incarnation. It now requires work for me to make it useful in my games, whereas before it didn't. And that, as I see it, is the antithesis of good game design.
I guess this is simply a matter of agreeing to disagree. For me it's about the same as it was before, for you it's difficult. Not sure there's much more to say beyond that.
Let's please stay on topic. If people want to debate the merits and downsides of the new stat block design for spellcasters, there are numerous existing threads, or you are a free to make a fresh one
Let's please stay on topic. If people want to debate the merits and downsides of the new stat block design for spellcasters, there are numerous existing threads, or you are a free to make a fresh one
With all due respect, it is an important discussion. And an Iconic character like Vecna is the best way to underline how deeply unsatisfying the new statblocks are for important NPC's.
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HERE.It's been the first article on the front page for nearly an hour now.
Human. Male. Possibly. Don't be a divider.
My characters' backgrounds are written like instruction manuals rather than stories. My opinion and preferences don't mean you're wrong.
I am 99.7603% convinced that the digital dice are messing with me. I roll high when nobody's looking and low when anyone else can see.🎲
“It's a bit early to be thinking about an epitaph. No?” will be my epitaph.
Many of us skip the front page because it takes forever to load and never see the articles. For example, whenever I navigate to DDB I use a bookmark that takes me straight to my profile page and navigate elsewhere from there. I haven’t looked at DDB’s front page in years.
Creating Epic Boons on DDB
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Front page?
I've no idea what that is.
I just have the forums and my characters bookmarked.
The lore stuff is interesting, definitely.
Unfortunately, the stat block is as useless as the NPC spellcasters in MMM. That is, spellcasting has just all become innate - there is no spellcasting level listed, so Vecna - Vecna - is no longer an archmage who can hurl meteor swarms and wishes and power word kill. The concept of the archetypal archmage v archmage battle is now defunct. Can you counterspell all his new whacky attacks that have replaced actual, you know, spells.
This has, unfortunately, confirmed that this is the way forward for 5E. Apparently WotC hasn't learned its lessons from 4E (or forgotten them).
Extra funny because in a Vecna versus Vecna duel, his access to infinite Counterspells will come up remarkably little. He has some spellcasting, just not very much.
.
..
...
...Vecna's spells are all still spells, the ability is called "Spellcasting", and it describes him as casting spells. No, he doesn't have wizard levels. Could it possibly be that the hundred thousand year old lich god doesn't bother using the same style of spellcasting as Molly Hedgewitch down the lane?
Hell, you really want to make the fight memorable? Retool every single spell he has. Vecna does not cast one SINGLE spell the party recognizes. This is a hundred thousand year old lich god ultra necromancer - the day he casts a first-level Magic Missile is the day Mordenkainen laughs himself right out of his mansion.
Please do not contact or message me.
Missing the point - which is that it everything I said also applies to Molly Hedgewitch down the lane. She still has no levels, and her spells are now also innate, making it clunky and time-consuming to modify her statblock. It can't be just done on the fly, as the "old" versions of the spellcasters could be done. And it makes it exceedingly difficult to quickly homebrew an NPC based on her but with an extra or fewer level or two.
That's what I meant when I said that the problem with Vecna is the same as with the NPC spellcasters in MMM.
I'm not talking about the spells listed under the "Spellcasting" ability. I'm talking about all the other abilities he now has: Flight of the Damned, Rotten Fate, Vile Teleport, Dread Counterspell, Fell Rebuke. These are specifically not listed under "Spellcasting," which brings me back to my original point: can they be counterspelled? You might say "Of course," or "You're the DM, it's you choice," which is of course true. But wait...what level are they? How do we determine if my wizard PC can counterspell them at all or whether they are equivalent to 3rd or higher level? This hasn't made it easier for new DMs (like which new DM is going to be running Vecna???), all it's done is make customisation harder, less intuitive, and therefore inhibiting homebrew and modification.
It looks much more to me like a return to the 4E nonsense of having spells cast 1/day or 1/encounter or whatever.
If they are not listed under spellcasting, they are not spells. Ergo, they cannot be counterspelled.
Also, damn this janky quote system.
And that leads me back to my original point: the archetypal wizard vs wizard battle relies heavily on the idea of wizards being able to counter each others' magic. In the absence of this, the battle just comes down to hit points. It's boring, and removes a bunch of options from the table. In other words, it upends something that was very cool about 5E (spell slots rather than fire-and-forget spells, and Counterspell) and has replaced it with a plain-vanilla option that removes a lot of DM options without extensive rebuilding - ie. one of the things 4E did.
Vecna's not a Wizard, he's a lich-turned-demigod. The spellcasting for monsters may be somewhat different now, but if it's listed under spellcasting then it's still a spell subject to all other rules of spellcasting, unless otherwise noted in the description.
I'm really not sure what the issue is.
The issue is that this isn't unique to Vecna - which I've mentioned several times. The exact same thing applies to, say, the Evoker Wizard in MotM. Under spellcasting we have:
Spellcasting. The evoker casts one of the following spells, using Intelligence as the spellcasting ability (spell save DC 15):
At will: light, mage hand, message, prestidigitation
2/day each: ice storm, lightning bolt, mage armor
1/day: wall of ice
(no spellcasting level given, no counterspell)
And under Actions the Evoker Wizard has:
Arcane Burst. Melee or Ranged Spell Attack: +7 to hit, reach 5 ft. or range 120 ft., one target. Hit: 25 (4d10 + 3) force damage.
Sculpted Explosion (Recharge 4–6). The evoker unleashes a magical explosion of a particular damage type: cold, fire, lightning, or thunder. The magic erupts in a 20-foot-radius sphere centered on a point within 150 feet of the evoker. Each creature in that area must make a DC 15 Dexterity saving throw. The evoker can select up to three creatures it can see in the area to ignore the explosion, as the evoker sculpts the energy around them. On a failed save, a creature takes 40 (9d8) damage of the chosen type and is knocked prone. On a successful save, a creature takes half as much damage and isn’t knocked prone.
So, according to what I thought - and what you confirmed - neither the Arcane Burst nor the Sculpted Explosion can be Counterspelled. That's the first problem.
The second problem is that the Sculpted Explosion is obviously a fireball with some metamagic thrown in - the bread and butter of an Evoker. Again, can't be counterspelled. But the second problem here is that the spell list itself is screwy and needs to be modified - and herein lies the problem.
Let's say I want to use the Evoker Wizard in my campaign. Great. But the first thing I do with a caster NPC is check - and usually modify - their spell list. There's an obvious reason to do so in this case: the guy can cast mage armor twice a day. Why? The spell lasts 8 hours - the NPC doesn't need to have it available twice a day when they're an encounter-type character.
So I want to swap out mage armor. No worries, it's a...1st level spell. Is that right? But the wizard can cast it exactly the same number of times per day as they can cast ice storm (4th level) or lightning bolt (3rd level). And their fireball-proxy is cast at will, once per round (and can't be counterspelled, remember). So can I give them mage armor 1/day, and then...something else, maybe scorching ray 1/day? Hang on...they can cast ice storm 2/day but scorching ray only once? That hardly seems fair. Or is it?
When the wizard NPC had spell slots and spells, this was absolutely dead easy and - most importantly - I could do it on the fly, in the middle of the game. Now? Now I have rebuild a homebrew character from scratch just to get the spells. Oh...wait - that's not so easy, either. What level does this guy cast at? Is he 9th? 10th? 11th? 12th? His PB is +4, so he could be any of those. He can cast at least 4th level spells (ice storm, and a 9d8 fireball), so I guess he's 9th level. So now I can go to the PHB and figure out how many spell slots he has and recook all of his spellcasting abilities.
So by now, I've spent the better part of half an hour rejigging a character in order to use a modified statblock that is meant to make gaming easier. I can't use it on the fly. I can't use it as-is. Everything about this new system seems designed to take DM options off the table.
THAT is what the issue is here!
Well, firstly I don't really see what issue not having a spellcasting level really has here. Any spells cast here are done so at their normal level, unless otherwise stated. And as far as what level spells it can use, it can cast Wall of Ice once which is a 6th level spell, so presumably it can swap out spells up to that level, and if I really had to guess at their spellcaster level I'd say it's 11th or 12th level (though again, I struggle to see what that really adds for me).
And again, I just don't see what the issue is with having spell-abilities at hand that aren't spells. They've been a part of the game since 5e came out. And the Sculpted Explosion noted in the statblock isn't at-will, it recharges like a dragon's breath weapon; you may think that's stupid, and fair enough, but I would have to respectfully disagree.
As for their actual spell selection; honestly I'd just say they're already under the effect of Mage Armor and swap it out with Scorching Ray.
I can see that you're struggling with this, and I'm sorry that's the case, it's gotta suck. But, for whatever reason, I'm just not having the same difficulties that you are.
"""Well, firstly I don't really see what issue having not having a spellcasting level really has here. Any spells cast here are done so at their normal level, unless otherwise stated. """
Umm...that's not the issue, and I can't see where anything I've said would have given that impression. It's got nothing to do with the levels at which the spells are cast - it's to do with what spell slots are available at what level.
"""And as far as what level spells it can use, it can cast Wall of Ice once which is a 6th level spell, so presumably it can swap out spells up to that level, and if I really had to guess at their spellcaster level I'd say it's 11th or 12th level (though again, I struggle to see what that really adds for me)."""
You're right - I fixated on Ice Storm and completely forgot about Wall of Ice. But that doesn't really make any difference - we can deduce that our guy is a minimum of 11th level...but while he can cast his fireball and a couple of others, he has no ability to defend himself (again, no counterspell, no globe of invulnerability). What sort of evoker wizard - who is born to engage in magical duels, doesn't have the ability to defend against an opponent's magic?
"""And again, I just don't see what the issue is with having spell-abilities at hand that aren't spells. They've been a part of the game since 5e came out. And the Sculpted Explosion noted in the statblock isn't at-will, it recharges like a dragon's breath weapon; you may think that's stupid, and fair enough, but I would have to respectfully disagree."""
I don't have a problem with them having spell-like abilities. Acolytes, mages, etc. have had them since the Monster Manual. They are shorthand for the class special abilities, and that's fine. I do have a problem with a powerful evoker having access to a grand total of 4 spells and 4 cantrips, with one of the key evocation spells - fireball - being replaced by something that cannot be resisted by an enemy caster.
"""As for their actual spell selection; honestly I'd just say they're already under the effect of Mage Armor and swap it out with Scorching Ray."""
Oh come on - I pulled that out as a single example of what was wrong. Change it to the ice storm, or lightning bolt, or whatever. My point is that with the new stat blocks, it takes time and effort to modify an NPC caster, whereas once I could reach out and grab the stat block and just use it on the fly.
"""I can see that you're struggling with this, and I'm sorry that's the case, it's gotta suck. But, for whatever reason, I'm just not having the same difficulties that you are."""
I'm glad you're not. I'm just trying to point out why I'm seeing an issue; at its heart, it's because the stat block has become less useful in its new incarnation. It now requires work for me to make it useful in my games, whereas before it didn't. And that, as I see it, is the antithesis of good game design.
Apologies, I misunderstood. Though I confess, I'm still not understanding the issue itself. Is it strictly a matter of converting things back to the old system of spell slots?
Fair enough on Counterspell. Though, I would point out that Globe of Invulnerability wasn't present beforehand, so it would still be a matter of switching out one 6th level spell for another.
Fair.
And the point I was trying to make was that it remains, in my opinion, about the same as it was before. I'd just switch out one spell for another of the same level (or one that's close enough, if you think it's over/under tuned).
I guess this is simply a matter of agreeing to disagree. For me it's about the same as it was before, for you it's difficult. Not sure there's much more to say beyond that.
Sorry, it just occurred to me, is this derailing the thread? If so, I'll shut up. =P
Let's please stay on topic. If people want to debate the merits and downsides of the new stat block design for spellcasters, there are numerous existing threads, or you are a free to make a fresh one
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With all due respect, it is an important discussion. And an Iconic character like Vecna is the best way to underline how deeply unsatisfying the new statblocks are for important NPC's.