First off, the core classes provided.
Warmage looks like a suitable caster for DL, which could represent stuff like apprentice Knights of the Thorn or even sorcerors who fight alongside the Solamnic knights. This class doesn't require any alteration really to fit into DL.
The Warlock really only needs a different background, really, if one wants it to fit the bill of a wild magic user. However, their link to fiends and fey could be fleshed out, giving them an innate ability to tap into the wild magic, which these creatures can undoubtedly do as well.
Wu Jen's would take a lot of work to fit into DL, but their link to the elements has me a little intrigued. I, for one, will look more into making the Wu Jen work for DL. Perhaps on another continent...
Ok, now onto PrCs.
Acolyte of the Skin: No problem, fiends and such exist in DL, and a lot of wizards are nuts enough to graft demon skin to themselves.
Alienist: No, just doesn't feel like a DL class to me.
Argent Savant: This would represent a wizard that specialized is force-based magic, not at all hard to fit into DL.
Blood Magus: Most certainly would work for DL. Heck, even White Robes may find the class intriguing.
Effigy Master: You know, if it didn't have the spellcaster progression, they would be cool for a gnome. But, I suppose it might work for a wizard who makes magical automatons to work for him.
Elemental Savant: Now this is what I am talking about for making sorcerors that represent the whole SAGA elemental sort of stuff. This one is a good fit.
Enlightened fist: Not a very good fit for DL. It is cool, but monks belong with Majere and wizards don't belong punching people. I suppose it could be workable with sorcerors though.
Fatespinner: This one could easily be used for a master diviner of the White Robes. Heck, it could easily be used for the other robes as well, with varying results, of course. Heck, it could also represent sorcerors with a Divination as their specialty.
Geometer: Runes as power for magic, not a hard thing to fit. This one will work.
Green Star Adept: No. The whole concept doesn't really work with DL.
Initiate of the Sevenfold Veil: A very good fit for White Robe Abjurers.
Mage of the Arcane Order: Workable, I guess. I suppose it could represent a different type of WoHS.
Master Transmogrifist: This could very easily be worked for Red Robe Transmuters with a bit of a wild side.
Mindbender: The only problem with this is that it more fits with the mysticism domain of mentalism more than it does with a wizard. Only black robes should be able to take this one otherwise.
Seeker of the Song: the best thing about bards is that their spellcasting aspect in DL hasn't been used all that much in the first place, but song has.
Sublime Chord: well, if the seeker of the song represents bards with less spellcasting in DL, there probably are ones out there that want more. Not a bad fit.
Suel Arcanamach: Ummm, this one would need some extensive work to fit in DL, IMO. But, with a little work, it could fit the bill of a warrior sorceror, which I guess is it's intension anyway.
Wayfarer Guide: Yeah, I can see this one working.
Wild Mage: I am going to have to look more into this one.
And now onto spells, magic items, monsters and feats:
Well, spells are never a problem. The feats don't seem to be that bad. Heck, the draconic heritage feats would work well with draconians, now that I think about it. The magic items don't seem to be that hard to work in. I suppose the pseudonatural template could be used for magical experiments gone wrong.
Fluff
Because DL is unique in most of its respects to magic, the fluff here is all but useless. Obviously the stuff on tailoring campaigns that include wizards is good. The stuff on spell duels is good though, since they are described sometimes in DL. Guild Stuff...nope.
So anyway, that is my take on fitting Complete Arcane into DL.
Comments, concerns, tomatoes?
Thanks. Now i know not to get it, as i run 3.0 and have Tome and Blood.
Well, those that were in Tome and Blood look completely different than those in Complete Arcane. Some of the classes switched to five level classes, others gained a lot of new abilities.
Daedavias, you should work your post up into an article and submit it to the Nexus. (hint hint)
Well, I was thinking of doing that, except that there was still a few holes in there that needed filling. I was hoping for a few opinions on some of the classes, such as the warlock and a few of the prestige classes before I would consider sending it in. Perhaps some other people would be willing to share their opinions on such things.
I know from the CA Warlock thread, that a lot of people don't think that the Warlock is a good fit for the SAGA sorceror. This I can agree with, but I think that the mechanic could be used to produce an updated version of the SAGA sorceror. However, my knowledge of SAGA is sketchy at best, so I wouldn't even know where to begin.
Actually, a white robe can NOT qualify for the Mindbender, as they do not meet the alignment requirement. A lot of the classes just do not fit DL period, some may be okay for Taladas, yes.
Which goes to show why I should actually shell out the cash to buy the book, rather than just giving it a cursory scan in the store.
I was assuming the class was more or less unchanged from the Tome and Blood original, which did not have an alignment requirement. A pox on all retconning! I'm playing a chaotic good elven Enchanter / Mindbender character in in a Forgotten Realms campaign, who will now have to be totally reconfigured... 
I know from the CA Warlock thread, that a lot of people don't think that the Warlock is a good fit for the SAGA sorceror. This I can agree with, but I think that the mechanic could be used to produce an updated version of the SAGA sorceror. However, my knowledge of SAGA is sketchy at best, so I wouldn't even know where to begin.
Maybe the best starting point would be the spell list. Hack it down somewhat by removing life & death-related spells, mind-affecting / charm effects, basically anything that's supposed to fall into the category of mysticism under the SAGA rules. Then you could allow the sorcerer to select an elemental Domain at 1st level, to give his or her magic an appropriate thematic focus ( the available choices should include the Cold, Illusion, and Storm arcane Domains from Unearthed Arcana, to represent hydromancy, spectromancy and electromancy respectively ). Finally, at 1st level and every 5 levels thereafter, I'd allow sorcerers to select an Arcane Thesis as per the Academy Sorcerer PrC, to represent developing mastery of the various elemental magics. That's just my own suggestions, from the little I know of the SAGA sorcerers.
Well, DH, I have the article written, now where do I send it to?
Either submit it through our submissions page, or e-mail it to me at dragonhelm (at) dl3e (dot) com. Sorry, wrote it out that way to avoid the spambots, who are in fact personal agents of Hiddukel. ;)
Thanks, man. Looking forward to the article.
<*cough*broken* cough*>
I hope it details dual wand wielding and spontaneous maximize feats in Krynn.
<*cough*broken* cough*>
Since those rules are broken altogether, I figure that it is WotC's job to fix them.
Dual wand wielding I've looked over a little and they even have a prestige class for wand wielders in Sharn: City of Towers (Eberron accessory) that has a little different take on it. If you wield dual wands, each wand takes 1d4 charges. Which I personally believe is a little bit more balanced.
I dont see Sudden Maxamize(if thats what you are talking about) as a huge game unbalancing feat.
Maxamize normally costs you a prepared slot a few levels (don't remember the exact #. 4 slots comes to mind) higher than the spells actual level. With Sudden it doesn't. It kind of make regular Maxamize obsolete if you ask me.
Thanks. Now i know not to get it, as i run 3.0 and have Tome and Blood.
LoL, Smart move. Most of it is, probably, rehash from Tome and Blood anyway. I have not seen it in Border's yet, which is where I check out all of my RPG material(Before purchasing it.), so I cannot say.
~~~
Complete Arcane and Dragonlance
Personally, I think the Sudden Spell feats have brought new life into an otherwise dead issue: metamagic feats. Very few people used them before (maybe with the exception of Persistent Spell until it was fixed), but now people have found the Sudden feats to be worth the price.
Sudden Maximize isn't overpowered but it does have one major flaw: it should have Sudden Empower as a pre-req. Since it doesn't, why in the world would anyone take Sudden Empower when you can take Sudden Maximize?
Personally, I think the Sudden Spell feats have brought new life into an otherwise dead issue: metamagic feats. Very few people used them before (maybe with the exception of Persistent Spell until it was fixed), but now people have found the Sudden feats to be worth the price.
I (obviously) can't speak for your gaming group's experience, but as far as mine has gone, the PC spellcasters in my group have extensively used metamagic feats for the past 14 months, and only recently (last 6 weeks) has anyone (for the first time) taken one of the sudden metamagic feats.
Metamagic feats have been anything but a dead issue in my group's game.
FYI, we've just posted Daedavias' article on Complete Arcane. Thanks for the submission, man!
Complete Arcane and Dragonlance
I just saw that, this is awesome. Thanks for posting the article, DH. Now I need comments. I am always up for how I can improve my material.
FYI, we've just posted Daedavias' article on Complete Arcane. Thanks for the submission, man!
Complete Arcane and Dragonlance
What's wrong with Wild Mage as a Sorcerer PrC?
What's wrong with Wild Mage as a Sorcerer PrC?
It doesn't really fit the bill of a DL sorceror. The wild mage is better suited for FR and GH games, since wild magic is a completely different thing there.
Well, after buying Complete Arcane, I figured I might as well show my opinion of it and how I think it can fit into DL.
First off, the core classes provided.
Wu Jen's would take a lot of work to fit into DL, but their link to the elements has me a little intrigued. I, for one, will look more into making the Wu Jen work for DL. Perhaps on another continent...
Does the Wu Jen cast spontaneously or does it prepare? I'm pretty sure they prepared in OA, but I don't know what they might have done to this...
Does the Wu Jen cast spontaneously or does it prepare? I'm pretty sure they prepared in OA, but I don't know what they might have done to this...
They prepare them, that is why I don't think they work all that well.
Sudden Maximize isn't overpowered but it does have one major flaw: it should have Sudden Empower as a pre-req. Since it doesn't, why in the world would anyone take Sudden Empower when you can take Sudden Maximize?
Personally, I think the Sudden Spell feats have brought new life into an otherwise dead issue: metamagic feats. Very few people used them before (maybe with the exception of Persistent Spell until it was fixed), but now people have found the Sudden feats to be worth the price.
My NPCs kick serious butt with metamagic feats. The spellcasting players don't have any yet, but when a metamagic feat kills/almost kills a PC they will realize how good Metamagic is.
Metamagic feats are nice, metamagic rods are even better, but metamagic feats mixed with metamagic rods are the best. I espcecially like throwing an 8d6 empowered (rod) maximized (feat) lightning bolt at my opponents. 72 points of damage! Reflex save DC 30. Save for half of that!
Why is the reflex save so high? Also, remember that the maximize and empower work separately.
Why is the reflex save so high? Also, remember that the maximize and empower work separately.
The DC is so high due to high Cha score (34). Right, they work seperately but can be used in conjunction with each other. The rod empowers the spell all numeric effects are at 150%. Maximize then tops out the damage so therefore an 8d6 fireball would normally only do 48 points maximized, empowering it adds another 24 points.