Leatherhead
Possibly a Idiot.
I thought Chromatic Orb was an Evocation?
Like one of the few that was actually worth having.
Like one of the few that was actually worth having.
Both make sense to me, the first a bit more so. Gnomes could be fighter/illusionists or illusionist/thieves in 1e, so there's some precedence for it.For me, a commoner illusionist rogue, or an illusionist guardian fighter don't seem to make sense, so I'd go for class.
Maybe the abjurer needs better marketing. Call him a white witch. Also, illusionists/beguilers are probably better named as enchanters.Let's not have an artificial completionism in schemes, though. Include only the ones that are truly iconic. The Illusionist (which includes a large chunk of Enchantment, too), the Necromancer, and the Summoner all qualify. Probably also a Thaumaturge (Transmutation and a bit of Evocation), unless that's the generalist shtick. But the Abjurer? Not so much.
I think that the pertinent question about whether something could be a theme or background is this - does it make sense for any class to have that as a background or theme? If it doesn't , then it shouldn't be a background or theme.
For me, a commoner illusionist rogue, or an illusionist guardian fighter don't seem to make sense, so I'd go for class.
Cheers
Maybe the abjurer needs better marketing. Call him a white witch.
Also, illusionists/beguilers are probably better named as enchanters.
Necromancer, diabolist, shaman, and oracle all seem like strong concepts to me. Though there's a big question as to whether we determine a scheme/class on the basis of what it can do, or where its power comes from. Or both. Also D&D magic has not traditionally revolved around dealing with various types of disembodied entities, such as the dead, demons, or spirits.
f the illusionist was merely a wizard specialization, then his illusion spells would have to be on the same power level as normal wizard spells, and that seems too strong for most illusion spells.
We know, however, that your spell list and basic resource management come from class not theme. If illusionists are to have a different spell list made for a different resource management system, it needs its own class.As far as I can see, if it becomes a theme any spell-caster with possible Illusion Spells would be able to take it, so you could have sorcerer illusionists, warlock illusionists and even cleric illusionists.