1st level wizard design

[Femerus the Gnecro]

Lots of good suggestions. Here are mine.

1. Specialize! Choose a school that you think you'll find useful.
2. If you choose to be human, blow both your feats on spell focus and improved spell focus. This will make your saving throw spells effect low level enemies almost without fail, making spells like color spray and sleep extremely powerful.
3. Take the raven familiar. As a scout it's invaluable, and it can speak! Nothing's better for saving your butt.

-F

 

[Kershek]

Lots of good suggestions. Here are mine.

1. Specialize! Choose a school that you think you'll find useful.
2. If you choose to be human, blow both your feats on spell focus and improved spell focus. This will make your saving throw spells effect low level enemies almost without fail, making spells like color spray and sleep extremely powerful.
3. Take the raven familiar. As a scout it's invaluable, and it can speak! Nothing's better for saving your butt.

-F

I will agree that high spell DCs for spells like sleep is a tide-turner in battle.

 

[Shard O'Glase]

I always say go human, one i like playing humans, and 2 I see feats as the customization process of 3e pcs and one bonus feat means more customization.

I ignore combat feats like dodge, point blank shot etc, and foc us on meta-magic and then item creation.

metamagic feats i like in no particular order, sielnt spell(silent teleport=no componets), chain spell(its justcool and chain haste is potent), scult spell(again cool facto+it is still potent), empower(only damage booster M needed), extend/persitent(all day madness isa life saver)

Item creation feats all are cool, but I generally ignore wands and staves since I can make do with my free scribe scroll(yes they are better but feats are mad precious so I want something that I can't pseudo duplicate with a undle of 50 scrolls)

Arms and armor I also am willing to ignore if the cleric picks up the slack and takes it otherwise it is too useful to the party to be able to cherry pick weapons and armor for the party tanks.

Rods i dig for absorbtion and metamagic(especially if your DM lets you use other peoples metamagic feats if they work with you in the process) rods also have some cool benefits for thw hole party.

If you decide to go the wands, staves route, I beleive someone said that there is a feat in epic handbook that lets you use your actual int for the dc of the items instead of the base int needed to cast the spell, if that is one of the non-epic feats in the book it's a must have IMO.

wondeous items are a duh IMO, and rings are classic though not as powergamery as I'd like.

specialization; not worth it IMO on a cost benefit ratio, but some people like the flavor.

 

[Shard O'Glase]

Lots of good suggestions. Here are mine.

1. Specialize! Choose a school that you think you'll find useful.
2. If you choose to be human, blow both your feats on spell focus and improved spell focus. This will make your saving throw spells effect low level enemies almost without fail, making spells like color spray and sleep extremely powerful.
3. Take the raven familiar. As a scout it's invaluable, and it can speak! Nothing's better for saving your butt.

-F

I wondt deny its useful I just find it boring. Sure the look my spells are uber powerful thing can be somewhat fun I guess, but I prefer my feats to have a more dynamic effect on what I do than jsut make my spells harder to resist. i want my feats to enable me to do things I normally couldn't do, like make a spell last all day, or chain a charm spell, or create items etc. It's jsut a flavor thing though, and the spell focus things are really potent so if potent is important to you go for them.(and if the no one can resist my spells thing is the kind of flavor you like go for them as well)

 

[Ridley's Cohort]

Interesting ideas! My advice is different.

(1) Starting feats: Improved Intitiative! Your PC is very easily killed if caught flatfooted. Your best defense is to act first. Spellcasting Prodigy is good in the long haul if you are human.

(2) Race: Human, Gnome, or Dwarf. Human for that extra feat. Gnome or Dwarf for the +2 Con. HPs are your achilles heal. Boosting Con is a Good Thing.

(3) Familiar: Your other achille's heel is vision. If you want to minmax, your best bet is to get a familiar that addresses one of your two biggest weaknesses. Take a Toad if you want the HP. Take a Bat (120' Blindsight) in a larger party if you are more physically secure...

(4) Specialization: I love specialization because it gives the character a little extra focus -- good for RPing IMO. The only wrong decision with respect to specialization is selecting Transmutation as the prohibited school. Every other specialization is workable and fun. Generalists are just as powerful as specialists in the long term if you plan on picking up various craft feats -- the broader the spell list the more and different items you can potentially make.

(5) Spells: Shield + Mage Armor will give you the best AC in the party in the early going. Sleep is the best offensive spell, but it doesn't work on Undead. Remember that! Magic Weapon is a pretty good offensive spell for a 1st level wizard; sit back and use your crossbow.

(6) Scrolls: You want a scroll of Obscuring Mist (to break off combat), and Chill Touch (to chase away annoying Undead) ASAP. Buy them when you have the money.

 

[bret]

OK, the person said it was their first wizard.

Don't specialize. You have to learn what the spells do before you can figure out what spells you really like or hate. As seen even on this thread, people do not agree on specialization.

You get a fair number of starting spells, pick them wisely. After that, it is two spells a level plus whatever you can afford.

Wizard must have spells: Mage Armor, Sleep or Color Spray, Identify

You will eventually want Magic Missle and Shield. Shield doesn't last long enough to be useful at first level. Magic missle doesn't do crowd control. You will want these, but they don't have to be in your initial selection.

Other spells I really like: Endure Elements, Comprehend Languages, Tenser's Floating Disk (put on a scroll), Feather Fall


Lots of people will have different opinions on these. I'm just listing what I like.

Attributes:
Int should be your highest attribute. It is by far your most important.
Con and Dex are your next most important attributes. Con for when you get hit and Dex to try and reduce the chances of getting hit and help your initiative rolls.

Races:
Human, Gnome, Dwarf, and Halfling all make good wizards.

I would not go Elf with your first wizard, the Con penalty makes it harder to survive with an elf.

Human gives the bonus feat and bonus skill points. For a wizard, it is more for the bonus feat than anything. It also allows the most flexibility in multiclassing. They are also the only race I listed that has a base movement of 30'.
Gnome gives a Con bonus (more hit points) and a size bonus (harder to hit).
Dwarf gives a Con bonus (more hit points) and gives a bonus to saving throws.
Halfling gives you a Dex bonus (harder to hit, better initiative), a size bonus (harder to hit) and a bonus to saving throws.


Feats:
Unless required for a PrC that you already know you want, I would not suggest taking toughness. If you make it to high levels, the feat will seem like a waste.

Improved Initiative is nice, helps you get your spells off in time.

Spell Focus is good if you already know what school of spells you will be casting most of the time.

I like Spell Penetration because I get so aggrevated by SR.

Extend Spell starts becoming useful at 5th level, but you might want to think about taking it immediately so that you can do item creation feats at 3rd and 5th level.

Skills: Max out Concentration and Spellcraft. Most people will expect you to have some Knowledge: Arcana. After that, take what fits your idea for the character.

Equipment:
The Alternate Standard Equipment in the PHB isn't too bad. I generally prefer dagger over quarterstaff, but it doesn't matter that much. If you are in melee you are doing something wrong.
The big thing is pick up a crossbow and expect to use it a lot the first few levels.

 

[strongbow]

More information please efreet

While your DM naturally may not want to give campaign themes away, ask him/her what d20 product is allowed in the campaign. Knowing as least what will be allowed will go a long way towards building a solid character for the long haul.

For example, ask your DM to take a good look at the Netbook of Feats. I haven't found a DM yet who hasn't allowed a least a handful of the hundreds of feats from it. http://www.datadeco.com/nbofeats/

From your post, we have to assume that only base D&D product is being used

1) Do you intend to multi-class at later levels, or stick with wizard because the group doesn't have one?
2) What do you want to focus on? Attack, Buffing, Metamagic, Item Creation, Uniqueness, Survivability, Power-gaming, Roleplay.
3) While all of us who play wizards have our own version of what is the "best", you are playing the wizard in the end. Tell us what you envision a wizard being like and what you would enjoy.
Help us help you

 

[Li Shenron]

It's my turn to suggest now...

As your first Wizard, let's try to make it quite typical but also let's try to give you good defenses for survival. Anyway, remember to be careful in battle: your role will be to stay away from melee as much as possible; if you're forced into melee, don't try to smash the foe hard, but rather remember you can Fight Defensively or use Total Defense (you'll lose your standard action but you can get away from melee without AoO), and call for backup help from your friends.

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resume
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ABILITIES (highest to lowest): Int, Dex/Con, Wis/Cha/Str
RACE: Elf
SKILLS: Spellcraft, Concentration, Knowledge(Arcana), Tumble/Alchemy
LANGUAGES: Draconic, any other
FEATS: Toughness
SCHOOL: Transmutation/Conjuration (banned Evocation)
SPELLBOOK: Mage Armor, Burning Hands, Color Spray, Unseen Servant, Spider Climb
SPELLS PREPARED: (see below)
FAMILIAR: Toad/none
EQUIPMENT: (see below)

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longer explanation
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ABILITIES

As a typical Wiz, put highest score in Int (so let's assume a minimum bonus of +2). Secondary, put high stats in Dex and/or Con. Finally, if you still have bonuses somewhere, freely choose among Wis, Cha and Str what you like, but don't worry too much.
Alternatively, if you have a very high first score and a good second score, such as an 18 and a 16, you can put the second highest score in Int and the first in Dex or Con - your Wiz won't be spoiled by Int 16 and you have a little extra life insurance.

RACE

Make it Elf, Halfling or Gnome preferably: Humans are fine for the extra feat, but the skill extras is not that much (you'll have probably already maximized at least 4 skills, and there aren't many class skills left to buy).
However my favourite is Elf: among the several bonuses, you'll find the extra proficiencies extremely useful. With a longbow you'll be doing approx the same damage as with a light crossbow (save Str penalty), but you'll always have a MEA per turn. This will let you be always useful in combat even when you're out of spells.
The serious drawback for Elves is -2 Con, but everything else in my proposal is made to boost your defense up, you shouldn't come up helpless at the end.

SKILLS

You can maximize at least 4 of them (2 + 2 Int). Actually, apart Spellcraft and Concentration, there aren't many must-have skills for Wiz, and class skills are very few: you may spend extra skill points in cross-class skills.
I'd choose:
Spellcraft, Concentration and Knowledge(Arcana) - not always necessary but very typical for Wizs
Then spend the rest as you like among Alchemy (if you plan to craft special items), Tumble (for emergency retreats), Listen/Spot (very expensive, considering you have +2 from Elf already).

LANGUAGES

Draconic is the iconic choice for Wizs. You'll have plenty of bonus languages, choose the ones your friends don't speak: the party will be able to understand more talking creatures they meet.

FEATS

Although it's usually considered weak, choose Toughness: it'll almost double your HP at 1st level.
Forget about metamagic until you can cast 2nd level spells.
If you choose Human, a simple Improved Initiative is fine as 2nd feat.
You get Scribe Scroll for free as well as Alertness when your familiar is with you.

SCHOOL SPECIALIZATION

Pick one. You'd better have more spells/day with your first Wiz.
Choose a utility school with various spells, such as Transmutation or Conjuration, and ban Evocation. Every choice regarding to specialization is questionable, but before Fireball you won't miss Evocation much, and you can have attack spells from other schools.

SPELLBOOK

Let's suppose you can have five 1st level spells (the minimum).
1. Choose either Mage Armor or Shield (I'd say Mage Armor, less bonus but it lasts 1 hour, you may need to cast it only once)
2. Choose one or two damaging spells; this is more for flavor, you can count of your bow without wasting spell slots. I suggest Burning Hands (little damage but doesn't require attack rolls and can catch more opponents) and Color Spray (the only 1st level Enchantment which will retain some usefulness against later monsters)
3. Choose a couple of utility spells: e.g. Unseen Servant (trigger traps, spread confusion) and Spider Climb (for emergency retreats)

SPELLS PREPARED

This is only an example:

lv0 - Detect Magic, Daze, Mage Hand, Read Magic (if you're Transmuter) OR Ray of Frost (if you're Conjurer)
lv1 - Mage Armor, Burning Hands, Color Spray

Scrolls (as soon as you have money/xp to spend) - at least 1 scroll per utility spell, so you don't waste slots if you don't use them, plus a couple of extra Mage Armor and Detect Magic (you don't use the latter in combat, so when you have scrolls for it, you can use the slot for something else).

FAMILIAR

You need to gather 100gp to summon, so decide later which one. It's not so easy to manage a familiar, so for now choose Toad: totally ineffective at anything, just carry him in your pouch and get free Alertness and +2 Constitution.

EQUIPMENT

Longbow and, if you have enough starting gold, Longsword/Rapier (the one you choose as Elf), otherwise Staff.
If you still feel unprotected, take a Leather Armor for +2 AC (no penalty for not being proficient) but you'll have 10% spell failure.

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BTW, this is MY Wizard actually

 

[Kamard]

Rather than telling you what to do, I am going to tell you what not to do.

Don't focus terribly on one type of spell. One attack spell that hits multiple enemies, one utility spell, one defensive spell. Try to think of ways that a spell can work for you. Be ingenious.

Don't discount a ranged weapon. You won't have enough spells to take down your enemies, and melee is your worst enemy.

Think a while and maybe take Shield Proficiency as a feat. If nothing else, you can keep a small shield in your pack and when you run out of spells, whip it out and have some extra AC.

Don't take a race that subtracts your CON, unless it does wonders for you in the spell department. Same goes for DEX or INT.

Don't be a half-orc or half-elf. Just don't.

Don't forget that tanks are your friend. Hide behind them. Buff spells at 3rd level. On you.

As you grow up and start getting better spells, think about multiclass/prestige class options. A level of cleric or fighter (or ranger) can do a lot for a low level wizard, while still letting you get to 17th level wizard where you get the good stuff.

Don't specialize- limiting yourself at such a low level might wind up being a bad thing for you.

Don't forget to make as many scrolls of your attack spells as you can, that way you can focus memorization on other spells. Make a wand of your favourite attack spell as early as you possibly can. Brew a lot of potions. I guess here I am saying the item creation feats are spectacular.

If you still have a feat left over (which you won't) pick up Martial Weapon Proficiency, and pick something that does a horrific amount of damage, like a greataxe. That way if you get cornered, you might be able to take a couple of ineffectual weak-wristed wizard swings and take down your enemy.

Invest in running shoes.

Spend gold to hire mercenaries. Ones with shields, or greataxes, that way you don't need to waste feats. Have them stand close to you. Paint targets on their helmets.

Don't wear a robe. Wizards wear robes, and you don't want to be a wizard, because even orcs know what a wizard looks like, and they kill guys like you first. Wear a holy symbol or priestly vestments, or monk's clothing. That way you look less like someone who will scream and bleed. Plus when you do let loose with a colour spray or a fireball, the looks on their faces will be funnier.

Thats it from Kamard, and happy motoring.

 

[Kamard]

Double post. Doh!