Ruin Explorer
Legend
So Wizard got a new ability in the UA and it's an absolute doozy:
You might be thinking, well what's so bad about that? It just lets me prepare for a combat I know is coming and get the right spell for it. Oh no my friend, that the weakest and least-objectionable use-case for this ability.
The real use-case is to access EVERY SINGLE utility spell in your spellbook, never prepare any of them ever again!
Teleport. That can stay in the book. Rock to Mud. Can stay in the book. Passwall? Stay in the book. Fly? Probably stays in the book. Knock/Arcane Lock? Stay in the book. Pass Without Trace. Stays in the book. Rope Trick, Tiny Hut? Stay in the book.
I could go on and on. This ability is essentially "No longer prepare any spell that you aren't going to need to pull out mid combat".
What's really sad is, it's totally on-brand and thematically appropriate for Wizards, but it's grotesquely overpowered, and pushes the most obnoxious thing about Wizards - their giant array of overpowered no-roll utility spells - to absolutely The Next Level, to just true obnoxiousness, real "Why did anyone else even bother having abilities" stuff. It's not free unlike Rituals, at least, but being able to do this? It really is a distinct escalation of the worst thing about Wizards.
Memorize Spell
Studying your spellbook for 1 minute, you can expend mental and magical effort to memorize a spell. Choose one spell of level 1 or higher from your spellbook that you don’t have prepared. You now have that spell prepared until you use this feature to prepare a different spell.
You might be thinking, well what's so bad about that? It just lets me prepare for a combat I know is coming and get the right spell for it. Oh no my friend, that the weakest and least-objectionable use-case for this ability.
The real use-case is to access EVERY SINGLE utility spell in your spellbook, never prepare any of them ever again!
Teleport. That can stay in the book. Rock to Mud. Can stay in the book. Passwall? Stay in the book. Fly? Probably stays in the book. Knock/Arcane Lock? Stay in the book. Pass Without Trace. Stays in the book. Rope Trick, Tiny Hut? Stay in the book.
I could go on and on. This ability is essentially "No longer prepare any spell that you aren't going to need to pull out mid combat".
What's really sad is, it's totally on-brand and thematically appropriate for Wizards, but it's grotesquely overpowered, and pushes the most obnoxious thing about Wizards - their giant array of overpowered no-roll utility spells - to absolutely The Next Level, to just true obnoxiousness, real "Why did anyone else even bother having abilities" stuff. It's not free unlike Rituals, at least, but being able to do this? It really is a distinct escalation of the worst thing about Wizards.
Last edited: