TOPIC: Healing wands

Good points, my main point was that TD isn’t supporting wands for most classes.

Or, for healing wands, just keep them as the old charged wands and let the chargeless wands be only damage and status effects.

I mean, why reinvent a wheel that causes more problems than it solves?

Hawk Fingle wrote: Or, for healing wands, just keep them as the old charged wands and let the chargeless wands be only damage and status effects.

I mean, why reinvent a wheel that causes more problems than it solves?

It is a good point and a clean solution other then TPTB are trying to remove the “punch” process (of limited charge wands).

Ed

How about make them like the old Wand of Life Stealing. Once per room, rare ones are divine-only and deal 6 damage to target and heal a party member 3. (Uncommons do 4/2 and usable by Bards, commons do 2/1 and usable by wizards)

They could do more, but you’d need to give the critter a save, which means it would never work.

Brad Mortensen wrote: How about make them like the old Wand of Life Stealing. Once per room, rare ones are divine-only and deal 6 damage to target and heal a party member 3. (Uncommons do 4/2 and usable by Bards, commons do 2/1 and usable by wizards)

They could do more, but you’d need to give the critter a save, which means it would never work.

You could make them require a slide, hit static AC 15 (minus player mods to ranged to-hit) to get the effect.

Then they can only be used in combat.

Requiring a slide to hit you maybe could goose the values up a bit higher.

Brad Mortensen wrote: Chargeless damage wands have basically obsoleted non-AOE damage scrolls.

It's not too late to return to consumable wands in 2019, and I'd be in favor of that. I don't like the unlimited use wands. Obviously the 2018 ones will always be out there, but that doesn't mean we shouldn't avoid creating more unlimited-use wands.

Kirk Bauer wrote:

Brad Mortensen wrote: Chargeless damage wands have basically obsoleted non-AOE damage scrolls.

It's not too late to return to consumable wands in 2019, and I'd be in favor of that. I don't like the unlimited use wands. Obviously the 2018 ones will always be out there, but that doesn't mean we shouldn't avoid creating more unlimited-use wands.

I would support going back to charged wands next year.

To those who are advocating a return to charged wands:

1. Do you typically play classes that use wands?

2. Do you use charged wands?


I’ve been playing wizard for 10+ years. I have used a charged wand exactly twice.

Chargeless wands got me excited about wands, I’ve equipped myself, and my cleric and Druid with Medallion of Mysic Mouth, I’ve picked up an Ioun Stone Fluorite cube, and wonder of wonders: I’m using and having fun with chargeless wands!

If there are folks who think charged wands are more fun- let’s hear it.

If you don’t play a wand using class, and/or don’t Think charged wands are super fun, I’m baffled as to why you would advocate a return to a mechanically difficult mechanism that was so onerous on dms that TPTB opted to change it.

MasterED wrote:

Hawk Fingle wrote: Or, for healing wands, just keep them as the old charged wands and let the chargeless wands be only damage and status effects.

I mean, why reinvent a wheel that causes more problems than it solves?

It is a good point and a clean solution other then TPTB are trying to remove the “punch” process (of limited charge wands).

Ed

Yeah, I get that. The leather punch tools can be a pain to deal with, but given the limited usage of punch tokens over spells on the card, I don't think keeping damage wands chargeless and healing wands punch charged is going to be that bad. Design-wise it keeps healing in check when not in combat.

I like the old axioms, "If it ain't broke, don't fix it," and "Keep it simple, stupid." Making healing wands punchless opens more design problems than it solves. So allow damage and status to be the new hotness design and keep healing under the old ways.

And print cool Bard wands and a wand based Bard instrument!

Matthew Hayward wrote: To those who are advocating a return to charged wands:

1. Do you typically play classes that use wands?

2. Do you use charged wands?

1. Admittedly not often
2. Admittedly not often
3. For bonus points would I use non charged wands, Admittedly not often

Matthew Hayward wrote: I’ve been playing wizard for 10+ years. I have used a charged wand exactly twice.

So you have had cause to use them.

Matthew Hayward wrote: Chargeless wands got me excited about wands, I’ve equipped myself, and my cleric and Druid with Medallion of Mysic Mouth, I’ve picked up an Ioun Stone Fluorite cube, and wonder of wonders: I’m using and having fun with chargeless wands!

And those wands are not going anywhere. I'm totally ok with the idea that the chargeless wands were only available during the year Mystic Mouth was available, kind of like how hat of intellect was only really available during the year MEC was came out.

Matthew Hayward wrote: If there are folks who think charged wands are more fun- let’s hear it.

Honestly I think they are about the same in terms of fun.

Matthew Hayward wrote: If you don’t play a wand using class, and/or don’t Think charged wands are super fun, I’m baffled as to why you would advocate a return to a mechanically difficult mechanism that was so onerous on dms that TPTB opted to change it.

I dont think the old mechanism was actually that hard. Its slower, so not useful in higher gear higher difficulties, but thats kind of a non issue since those high end Mystic Mouth users will still have access to the Chargeless Thor wands that are already out.

I am in favor of returning to charged wands since it rolls back power creep a bit. I'm not in favor of changing anything that already been printed. But that has nothing to do with how we design going forward. The current chargeless wands are fine, but chargeless wands in general have the potential to be a dangerous a design space.

Hawk Fingle wrote:
And print cool Bard wands and a wand based Bard instrument!

Drum Stick Wand This item allows the bard to activate a wand in their off hand while playing bard song on a drum class instrument (would love to see how Druegar makes that one work within the rules )

I also have been playing wizard for about 10 years. In the very beginning I used wands but after the first or second year I realized that the time it was taking was not worth the few points of damage that it did. The new chargelesd wands and medallion of the mystic mouth have reignited my passion for wands. If we go back to a charged wand situation even with the mystic mouth I probably would not use wands due to the extreme amount of time that it takes. We always talk about slide and move, side and move. those few extra seconds that it takes for somebody to stand at the slide board and look at their side is nothing compared to the amount of time that it takes to pull a leather punch out and punch a hole in a token.

I also used wands for about a year and then put them away. MoMM and chargeless wands had me put them back as an option. If wands become charged again I will likely put them away. For as many runs as I do it would not be worth the effort to sort through them and make sure I have enough of each.