Druids & Cure Lt Wounds

[Dyson Logos]

Note that the Levitate / Unseen Servant trick only works if (a) the game is using the expanded material from AEC and (b) the spellcaster masses 40 pounds or less (so you'd have to also include reduce, the reverse of enlarge, to make it work since halfling magic-users aren't allowed by the book). Levitate doesn't make the caster weightless or massless, it merely grants the ability to move up and down. And the unseen servant certainly won't be providing the speed and maneuverability of Fly (assuming that the DM even allows the unseen servant to operate at altitude - most I've gamed with assume it does things at ground level to keep people from using it as an all-purpose "grab something I can't reach" spell).

[Dyson Logos]

I'm wondering, though...druids can heal, but with much less proficiency than clerics. This was probably done as to keep clerics a viable option in AD&D, but in B/X and BECMI clerics don't get spells until 2nd level anyway. I much prefer the AD&D method, spells at 1st level, but supposing I grafted AEC onto a regular B/X campaign...doesn't seem to be any reason to take a regular cleric except for turning undead abilities.

Or am I missing something.

Well, you are co-mangling two different rules sets here. AEC was specifically written for LL, not for B/X, so the spellcasting starts at level 1 instead of 2. If you use AEC druids in B/X D&D then yes, the cleric is going to lose out to the druid since the cleric gets his first spell at level 2 (so cure light wounds 1/day) and the druid gets his first level 2 spell at level 2 (so cure light wounds 1/day) and still has two level 1 spells.

But then again, along a similar reasoning, if I bring in a Sorcerer from a Pathfinder game into a B/X game, he totally outpowers the B/X magic user, so there wound't seem to be any reason to take a magic-user except for the ability to know slightly more spells than the Pathfinder Sorcerer.

Effectively it is comparing apples to apple-shaped fruit.

[kaomera]

I don't see how a MU can ever "waste" spells. Every single spell is incredibly powerful if utilized properly.

I was referring to directly offensive "blaster" spells such as burning hands, magic missile, and shocking grasp. I have always found these spells highly situational, such that just utilizing them properly is not usually enough. You either need a significant amount of advance information or a decent amount of luck to get any real benefit out of them, IME, moreso than most other level 1 M-U spells.

[Brad]

Note that the Levitate / Unseen Servant trick only works if (a) the game is using the expanded material from AEC and (b) the spellcaster masses 40 pounds or less (so you'd have to also include reduce, the reverse of enlarge, to make it work since halfling magic-users aren't allowed by the book). Levitate doesn't make the caster weightless or massless, it merely grants the ability to move up and down. And the unseen servant certainly won't be providing the speed and maneuverability of Fly (assuming that the DM even allows the unseen servant to operate at altitude - most I've gamed with assume it does things at ground level to keep people from using it as an all-purpose "grab something I can't reach" spell).

First of all, you are no fun whatsoever. Anyway, if you want to bring "real world physics" into it (which makes no sense in the context of a fantasy game with magic), I could move a 1000 ton block of lead if I was in a weightless environment. Sure, the mass doesn't change, but any pressure I exert upon the block will begin to move it. So an Unseen Servant could move a levitating spell caster. Very slowly at first, to be sure. But eventually he could get going at a pretty good clip. Yes, Fly is "superior" in the sense that it grants a hell of a lot more maneuverability, but my example wasn't to say that Fly was useless, instead I was pointing out that creative use of lower level spells can achieve the desired result.

What's with all the seriousness? I think people need to drink more.

[Dyson Logos]

That's the thing. Levitation =/= Weightlessness

It's a call made years ago to prevent levitating spellcasters from being blown away by breezes. A levitating spellcaster weighs exactly what he weighs, but has the ability to change how far off the ground he gets to stand. It's magic. Physics doesn't enter into it - if the object has more mass than 40 pounds, the unseen servant cannot drag it because of magic.