Talk:Orb Ponderer (3.5e Prestige Class)

Ratings

	Surgo is neutral on this article and rated it 2 of 4.
	Great flavor, but none of the abilities really do much of anything in practice.

	Foxdownfarms3100 favors this article and rated it 4 of 4!
	Not bad.

	The bluez in the dungeon favors this article and rated it 4 of 4!
	Good pondering is welcomed for any spellcaster

	Eiji-kun favors this article and rated it 4 of 4!
	This class makes me ponder. It's also nice since I never see the Crystal Ball outside of NPC contexts.

	Sunwitch favors this article and rated it 4 of 4!
	seems like a reasonable prc for a diviner who ponders the orb

Seems difficult to actually use

Pondering your Orb works in the same way as a wizard would prepare spells, except that you use your orb in place of a spellbook, and except that you use your spellcasting ability.

For reference, that takes an hour. Is it intended that you have to ponder The Orb for an hour in order to cast one of the spells from it? Surgo (talk) 06:07, 6 December 2021 (UTC)

Yes. POndering the Orb brings power, but it requires some serious pondering time. --Skyrock (talk) 06:26, 6 December 2021 (UTC)

It's tough to see how this class feature would actually end up useful in-game then (and justify the Very High balance that this PrC is supposed to bring). Surgo (talk) 06:54, 6 December 2021 (UTC)

It's intended to be used by full spellcasters and provides full spellcasting progression. That alone already puts it into the Very High category by definition of the way the wiki handles balance ratings. --Skyrock (talk) 17:30, 6 December 2021 (UTC)

Completely agree with Skyrock here, the prc gives spellcasting and more to VH classes with only spellcasting. --The bluez in the dungeon (talk) 21:02, 6 December 2021 (UTC)

I mean, on one hand, sure, but on the other hand the class doesn't really do anything. It basically just hands you a marginal magic item that you don't really care about, for free. I don't think, in theory, a prc that provides zero class features but full spellcasting advancement really fits into any balance point.

I guess what I'm trying to say is I think this class is a cool idea but I'd like it to actually do something. Surgo (talk) 01:53, 7 December 2021 (UTC)

If I understand the wording of Pondering the Orb, it is a decent spell list extension for a sorcerer. It does take an hour to prepare them, but otherwise with some foresight, it can really benefit you. --Leziad (talk) 01:39, 8 December 2021 (UTC)

My understanding was you have to cast it right away. Is that not the case? It's certainly a lot better for sorcerer then if that's true! Surgo (talk) 03:03, 8 December 2021 (UTC)

It seems to me that it’s prepared like a wizard spell, so you lose a spell slot to 'prepare' one or more spells. So yeah, very good for a sorcerer. --Leziad (talk) 04:32, 8 December 2021 (UTC)

Yes, that's the intention. You prepare it like a wizard would prepare their spells and let it loose at some later time, not immediately after preparing the spell. --Skyrock (talk) 21:52, 8 December 2021 (UTC)