Re: Spellbattle

>	Normally I would agree.  However, spelljammer is a magic
>intensive campaign.  The fact that you need a spellcaster to power Arcane
>helms makes it so.  Maybe most of these helmsmen are only interested in
>being pilots and never engage in messy deck battles, but surely they
>would be used to aiding in the defense of their ship when not on helm duty.

Mmmm. Point taken.

Sometimes I forget where official SJ leaves off and my house rules begin;
since IMC most "pilot" mages 1.) Have only average intellects and 2.) Have
little spell selection, they tend to stay out of most combat. (Also, ships
carry low-level mages for interstellar combat, and put the higher-level
pilot on only in tactical situations.)

Yes, this does change things--although I would argue that SJ is not so
magic-intensive per se as that all the mages tend to end up on the ships.
Still, it comes out to the same thing in the end. Even without long-range
spells, though, mages should still be incredible assets in combat--with
living ships like the elves use, Armor variants, Stoneskins, etc. would be
great, and you could make a decent living off of Fabricate. Perhaps my
Shaper spell is improperly balanced for the standard campaign, but even if
it took a 7th level spell, a mage would have to be stupid not to come up
with some kind of long-range spell selection. Otherwise, you can just stand
off one hex away and chip away. (Yes, I know; Teleport and Dimension Door.
But until you get 7th level spells, you take your life in your hands every
time you Teleport, and D.D. doesn't really have the necessary range.)

Hemlock