| I would never ban those spells. They aren't half as bad as you think. An alternative might be that save or die spells instead "knock out" the subject on a failed save for the rest of the encounter. That way, everybody still has the application of the spells (One shot, one kill.) while nobody suffers the drawback. I'm not saying this is a perfect solution, but one that might suit your group.
For the slugfest: Try incorporating Tome of Battle. It turns combat in to something more varied than "I attack." Don't believe what people say, it's not overpowered. (At least, not more than Core is.) |