How would this houserule affect balance?

[Belial_the_Leveler]

The houserule is as follows;

Slower Magic Progression
Powerful magic requires exceptional individuals to be used. Under this rule, spellcasters can still learn high-level spells and still acquire high-level spell slots but cannot cast such spells until later levels. Slots can still be used for counterspells, metamagic of low-level spells and the like;
5th lvl spells require 12th level
6th lvl spells require 16th level
7th lvl spells require 20th level
8th lvl spells require 24th level
9th lvl spells require 28th level
This does apply to spells employed via items; one can't use a Candle of Invocation to open a Gate without being 28th level.


So, how does this affect overall game balance?

[Thump]

It appears that it could balance spellcasters fairly well, because it does take a bite out of their versatility (not having teleport until 12th level, dealing with accuracy problems, to name an example), and it could actually make some metamagic feats useful, while still retaining the majority of their low-level trademark spells

I like it, but maybe making it so that metamagic does add to the DC of spells (Maximized Fireball still having a save DC of 16 plus modifier instead of 13 plus modifier) would be good to make up for the delay of higher level spells?

[Belial_the_Leveler]

Do high-level spells need to be made up for? Spellcasters are stronger than non-spellcasters already.

[Thump]

Well, I guess that is true.

[DMMike]

First reaction: I would not want to play a wizard in your game.

Second reaction: as a disgruntled wizard, I would want the other players to wait until much higher levels to receive higher-level spell effects. So, no Greater Heroism effect on the Paladin's sword until at least 16th level.

[Grod_The_Giant]

So I couldn't cast disintegrate until 16th level, but I could start throwing around maximized fireballs at 11th? It's not a bad nerf. The magic item part is kind of goofy, though.

[Belial_the_Leveler]

At 16th you'd go straight to being able to cast empowered disintegrate but yeah, that's the idea. It leaves blasting, healing and summoning mostly in but delays status effects and trick combos.

[Eldan]

How many games ever go that high? Especially with the incredible mess the epic rules are?

[Jota]

I think this does go some way toward achieving the desired effect, but to be brutally honest the gaps between wizards and everyone else start at level one and only grow. You've reduced that growth later on, but after it's already sizable.

Where this hurts spellcasters the most is access to high level utility spells. You still have color spray and sleep at level one, glitterdust and web at two (and onward, since you can heighten it to keep the saves relevant), and so on (sticking to SRD: deep slumber, stinking cloud, Evard's black tentacles, solid fog, and more, both SRD and in splatbooks). Casters still have access to save-or-encounter is over abilities at every level.

I've seen a lot of different ways people attempt to fix this imbalance, from all sides of the argument (scaling up, paring down, a little of both), and while I won't bore you with details of the myriad alternatives, my answer as to how this effects balance is 'not much.' A smart caster is a smart caster. I'm not quite as sure for druids and clerics. Druidzilla uses Natural Spell and seems largely unaffected, though less capable of summon spam, and clerics are DMM Persist, which mostly relies on lower level spells (you'll wait for Righteous Might, but Divine Power is freely available). So yeah, not a whole lot combat-wise, and clearly it won't have any effect until level nine, which is already pretty late in the game. Some (many) games never even get there.

[Zman]

It's similar to what Iv done with my class fixes.

Yes the gap between NonCasters and casters still exists, but the rate of disparity is slowed. Under mine casters gain 8th level spells at 20th level, 7th at 17th, 6th at 14th, 5th at 11th, and 4th at 8th.

Anyone that enjoys playing CoDs will not like this, it's difficult to take things away from people, they'd rather see things given to the other classes, which just wrecks game balance further.