I have been on this board a long time LM, and I will willingly bet I have killed far more PC's than you. I will even go so far as to say by at least a couple hundred. There was a time were I let the dice and the dice only tell the story. I have no problem wacking a PC, even on a stupid chance encounter that has nothing to do with much of anything (last such death was a few weeks ago against zombies...A crit, 100 roll, no helm. Silly monks).
That said, I also have no problem with defensive magic being worth the effort to cast. Spells that provide the sort of DB you describe, +25's and +30's, are very high level and should be effective. No silly level 8 mage should laugh at a level 50 Protections spell or level 17 Elemental Armor spells. He should FEAR them. They are closed list and very high level. Also, spells have short durations and spell users have limited pp. If the Very High Int Ice Reaver discovers his foe is immune to his cold aura via a visible spell effect, Mr. Ice Reaver should assume a better tactical position and hurl big bolders that do crush or impact damage, not cold. If Mr. Reaver is a low Int idiot, then let the PC whoop him in a toe to toe slug fest. The game isn't played for the joy of Mr. Reaver, but for the people playing the heroic PC's. And PC's like a nice unfair fight from time to time. Sucks to be a NPC.
In the end I do not really care one way or the other how any new spell law is nuetered or if the same ol' same ol' is adopted, repackaged and sold yet once again under some new fancy RMSUPERSIZED name because I will continue to alter spell law to fit my needs (and admittedly, this is even assuming such an action is or would occur in the future, of which I have no idea). I do find it a shame though that if you are going to work on any future version of defensive magic that you would think such magic should not reduce the "danger level" inherient in RM combat. If that is the approach to be adapted, don't waste time with defensive spell list, rather make us some new cool list that are offesive, info gathering or just neat in nature. After all, if it doesnt defend, and defend well (which IS the case with most RM defensive base list today and yesterday, i.e. they are very lame), why call it defensive magic?
Now, it was not my intention to flame anyone or be rude. I do want to strongly express my desire to see effective and meaningful defensive spells in RM beyond Blade Turn, Sheild, Deflections, Blur and one of my favs, Displacement. The elemental protection spells are neat, the elemental armor spells neater, but they need to be more effective, especially against "passive" attacks, such as walls, auras of heat/cold/etc and area affecting spells/attacks (call flame, hard wind, etc). In particular, defensive spells over level 12-15 should be REALLY GOOD. It takes a long time, and often a run of dead characters, to get to those levels. Players deserve better rewards/defenses than they get now for their beloved "Baltokk Halfhand, high level a$$ kicker".
lynn