D&D General Why Do You Think Wizards Are Boring?

[Sparky McDibben]

So full stop, my favorite class in the world is wizard. I absolutely love including them in my worlds, I like dropping them in as NPCs, and I love what they can do to and for players. But recently, I've heard from some folks who think wizards are boring. So if you think wizards are boring, please elaborate! Why do think wizards are boring? How do you run / play them? What are they lacking that would make them interesting? What classes do you think would make a better chassis for the wizard fantasy? What do you think the wizard fantasy is?

I'm not setting this up to debate you, I just want to hear your opinion. I may ask clarifying questions, but mostly I want to understand where you're coming from.

If you don't think wizards are boring, feel free to share that and describe your experience!

 

[Vaalingrade]

1) They make other classes boring.
Thanks to 'niche protection' and the wizard's niche being 'does anything with magic', a ton of design space is cut off for other classes.

2) Prep Casting
In stead of just having your spells, you have homework each game day in which you try to guess what the DM is going to throw at you and react to that.

3) Lack of Promise of the Premise
The wizard is specifically a character from Dying Earth and works like no other mage in popular culture. You cna't really use the wizard to play anything but a D&D wizard.

 

[TwoSix]

I think, specifically in the context of 5e, one could find them somewhat mechanically boring because they have the best single class feature (full spellcasting from the broadest, most powerful spell list), and most of their other class features and subclass options just broaden that feature a bit. There isn't a lot to optimize or build around for a wizard, because they're pretty self-contained.

The other "boring" issue is that their tropes haven't really evolved in the past 40 years or so...a concept you had for a wizard back in 1982 is probably still pretty valid today. You can call that "classic", of course, others who enjoy novelty more might find it more boring.

I don't think current wizards are boring, per se, although they're not my favorite. They're far from their demigod peak of the 3.5 era, which was the single best time to play a wizard.

 

[FitzTheRuke]

I think you'll find that it's not that they are boring that bothers people about them. It's that they are so far from boring that they wrap around to nearly boring again by comparison. They step on a lot of toes while they're at it. They take all the toys in the sandbox. They're bullies and nerds at the same time!

 

[Snarf Zagyg]

Do not meddle with playing a wizard, for they are boring and quick to ask you, "Hot enough for ya?"

 

[Scribe]

Because restriction is what breeds creativity, and Wizards have less restriction than most.

 

[KoolMoDaddy-O]

Lack of options.

Back in 1e days, functions were siloed by class. Fighters bashed things, thieves picked locks and disarmed traps, clerics healed and buffed, and magic-users cast offensive magic. Since then, three of those four have expanded beyond their original boundaries but wizards are still constricted. Their utility is restricted to battle: once their spell slots are used up, they might as well be a commoner.

There's no meaningful crafting system to make potions or scrolls. Artificers came along to churn out magic items, which arguably should be an ability of wizards. And Wizards (the company) is married to their eight schools lore; I can understand the appeal of playing a necromancer but how many are excited to play a transmuter or diviner? Even the 2014 evoker is a mess, although I like the OneD&D version much better.

The entire class needs to be overhauled. They need something to do outside of combat and the subclasses need to break away from their 1970s origins.

 

[CreamCloud0]

wizards have the potential to very easily become too competent in too many areas due to their extensive spell list, this is in addition to the fact that a good many spells can automatically bypass or simply end a problem, ticking off a spell slot as you say 'this problem is now not' isn't an engaging play experience.

this is more an issue with spellcasting in general but wizards are the encapsulation of all those problems wrapped up all into one class

 

[cwallach]

Wizards are a little boring in combat
Round 1 : cast a concentration spell
Rounds 2+ : cast a cantrip or dodge.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

I've heard from some folks who think wizards are boring.

No one who's been turned into a salamander ever says that. Just saying.