New Spells for Lvl1 Wiz

[Chupacabra]

New campaign starting up soon. I've played D&D since back in the day, but this is my first time to run an arcane caster under the 3.5 (or 3.0 for that matter) rules. Previously I've stuck with sword swingers, divine casters, or trap-springers (or some combo of the 3).

For the new campaign I created a human wizard (non-specialized), highest stat is 15 (+2 bonus) which of course went to INT. That gives me a whopping 5 level 1 spells to choose from. The campaign is going to be fairly standard, based on my past experiences with this DM. So I'm expecting a mix of combat, investigation, and social interaction. The setting is pretty standard also, typical Greyhawk-esque world. No side trips to the Underdark or Eberron or other planes are contemplated.

I was thinking along the lines of this line-up:

Charm Person
Mage Armor
Magic Missile (although I hate to be cliche)
Sleep and/or Color Spray and/or Hypnotic Pattern

Something like that. Any hints, tips or suggestions?

 

[Thanee]

Color Spray and Sleep are both very good choices. The first has the advantage of being more useful in combat (shorter casting time) and still useful in a few levels, where Sleep quickly becomes obsolete, while the other one has a better range.

Ray of Enfeeblement is also a really good 1st level spell. Your fighter buddies will love you for helping them to receive less hurt in the frontlines.

Other than that, your spell choices look pretty solid. Magic Missile could also be replaced by something else (Disguise Self can be nice, or Enlarge Person, or Featherfall), you could still pick up Magic Missile later (5th+) as a scroll or learn it from a teacher.

Bye
Thanee

 

[Joshua Randall]

Color spray is the powerhouse of 1st level offensive spells. Unconscious enemies can be coup de grace'd, and stunned enemies drop anything in their hands (in addition to being fodder for sneak attacks).

I concur with postponing magic missile until the later levels. 1d4+1 damage is not worth a spell slot.

Ray of enfeeblement is very good if you have a reasonable Dex bonus. Touch ACs tend to be low anyway, and an average of 4 pts of Str penalty is effectively -2 attacks, -2 damage. Plus if you want to be a stickler, weaker monsters hit with the Ray might have their Str drop enough that they literally can't carry their equipment -- so they could be immobilized or at least heavily encumbered (which imposes its own penalties).

Enlarge person is tremendous when cast on a melee'er. The reach alone is worth it. Plus there is just something flavorful about the spell itself.

 

[Rkhet]

Try True Strike. Carry an oversized trident around, cast TS on yourself, then throw it. Much better damage than magic missile.

 

[kjenks]

True Strike is usually best from a scroll or wand because it doesn't scale up with level. If your campaign will let you buy scrolls, get a few of those instead of cluttering your spellbook. Or you could pick up True Strike and scribe scolls of it for cheap.

 

[EvilGM]

Grease is good for making someone drop a held item. Or for minor battlefield control (esp. with a choke point), but the 1rd/lvl duration is a damper at low levels.

Color Spray is crazy good, but limited by the area of effect and targetting issues with party members in the way - that's something you'll have to get used to your whole life as a wizard though.

 

[VirgilCaine]

Grease is good for making someone drop a held item. Or for minor battlefield control (esp. with a choke point), but the 1rd/lvl duration is a damper at low levels.

Grease is your god. Bow to it. It takes anyone out of fighting, can have an area affect, can keep objects out of an enemy's hands, help you escape from grapples..the uses are endless.

 

[Rkhet]

hmmm... does Grease light on fire?

 

[werk]

Grease is your god. Bow to it. It takes anyone out of fighting, can have an area affect, can keep objects out of an enemy's hands, help you escape from grapples..the uses are endless.

Grease was the straw that broke the camel's back in steading of the hill giant king when we played it. I second not picking up magic missle yet (you are a wizard, you should be able to find a magic missle to scribe when you want it). I'm also a big fan of shield and summon monster 1.

And don't forget the always useful feather fall.

Edit: grease's material component is pork rind or butter, so consider it as flammable as a thin film of pork or milk fat...not very.

 

[yennico]

True Strike is usually best from a scroll or wand because it doesn't scale up with level. If your campaign will let you buy scrolls, get a few of those instead of cluttering your spellbook. Or you could pick up True Strike and scribe scolls of it for cheap.

I totally agree.