D&D 5E Brainstorming Wizard Subclasses

[Crimson Longinus]

So the recent thread about the wizard class got me thinking. I think that most of the schools of magic are thematically pretty weak and muddled, so I am trying to condense the wizard subclasses to give them more district identity.


These are my ideas thus far:

The School of Forces. Also known as battle mages due the destructive power of their spells. This is the school that concentrates on manipulating the matter and energy. It is most obviously "wizardly" and has flashiest magic. Mostly an evocator with some stuff from transmutation and abjuration tacked on. The classic blaster wizard.

The School of Gates. Also known as summoners. This is the wizard who studies the planes and gateways between them. They summon extraplanar entities and commune with them. Basically a combination of conjurer and diviner. Probably should have some mechanics to allow a permanent pet, a boosted planar familiar at the least.

The School of Mirrors. Also known as the dream weavers. Thematically enchantment and illusionism are very similar, so this just basically combines these two. Probably leaning more on the illusion side, as enchantment is already pretty decently covered by the bards.

The School of Shadows. Also known as necromancers and death mages. Necromancy is the thematically the strongest of the existing schools and the subclass has pretty decent mechanics too. Perhaps add some other shadow and creepy stuff.


What do you think? Are these thematically clear enough? If these were the only four wizard subclasses in a game you were playing, would you feel satisfied? Do you think there are some some significant themes these are missing? What sort of mechanics would you want to see for such subclasses?

 

[jmartkdr2]

There’s a tradition of Shadow Magic in DnD that’s distinct from necromancy, so I’d avoid that name.

In fact, while these four are good starting points, I would use traditional names as much as possible- warmage, summoner, illusionist, and necromancer are clear and don’t preclude other options.

I would add a scroll-master subclass for players who want to lean into the who “ready for anything” trope.

 

[Minigiant]

Rather than being based on school of magic, think that wizards should be themed on how they are taught.

Wizards are academically trained after all.

Academy Wizard: A wizard who attended a large magical school of arcanist. Training would be standardized and wizards are trained to major in one school and minor in another school. These wizards would be able to prepare additional spells.

War Wizards or Military Wizards would be wizards trained by a military.to be walking artillery. Like the XGTE War Magic, these wizards would be focused on increasing damage, countering offensive spells, and keeping safe on the battlefield.

Noble Wizards would be wizards who come from a family of wizards. They would learn from their elders and learn to craft their secret family spells. They would also learn the ways of the upper class and be skilled in those of Nobility.

Legacy Wizards are wizards who apprentice under a great wizard or one of their apprentices. These wizards carry on the ways of their masters, their quirks, their strengths, and their flaws. They will develop into the image of their masters either as a purist or a slight tweak.

 

[Crimson Longinus]

There’s a tradition of Shadow Magic in DnD that’s distinct from necromancy, so I’d avoid that name.

Fair point. Changed.

In fact, while these four are good starting points, I would use traditional names as much as possible- warmage, summoner, illusionist, and necromancer are clear and don’t preclude other options.

Sure. I just wanted to give them names that are different from the current school based subclasses to avoid confusion. But that's semantics and it is the concepts that matter.

I would add a scroll-master subclass for players who want to lean into the who “ready for anything” trope.

Hmm. Yeah, that is certainly a common way to play a wizard. How would you envision it working?

 

[CreamCloud0]

given that even within spell schools the archetypes of spells can be so varied i'd say it's probably a smarter idea to curate an explicit thematic spell list for each subclass to create a stronger identity for each, like, a spell list with spells like shield, alarm, protection from energy/good and evil, wall(s) of X, barkskin/stoneskin, warding wind and mordenkainen's faithful hound is probably would probably end up feeling much more thematic of a protection wizard than just 'every abjuration spell' because even if most of those spells end up being abjuration spells anyway you'll probably have a few abjuration spells in there anyway that don't feel right for the theme, like pass without trace or banishment. *or non-abjuration spells that feel weird being left out.

 

[Crimson Longinus]

given that even within spell schools the archetypes of spells can be so varied i'd say it's probably a smarter idea to curate an explicit thematic spell list for each subclass to create a stronger identity for each, like, a spell list with spells like shield, alarm, protection from energy/good and evil, wall(s) of X, barkskin/stoneskin, warding wind and mordenkainen's faithful hound is probably would probably end up feeling much more thematic of a protection wizard than just 'every abjuration spell' because even if most of those spells end up being abjuration spells anyway you'll probably have a few abjuration spells in there anyway that don't feel right for the theme, like pass without trace or banishment.

Sure. Then again, given that any wizard can ultimately learn any spell, I'm not sure what function of such lists would serve. I don't think the faster and cheaper scribing is a significant enough feature that I would bother creating such lists just for that.

It is rather hard to come up a system where wizards are incentivised to use their school specific spells whilst not removing the ability to learn any wizard spell.

 

[jmartkdr2]

Fair point. Changed.



Sure. I just wanted to give them names that are different from the current school based subclasses to avoid confusion. But that's semantics and it is the concepts that matter.



Hmm. Yeah, that is certainly a common way to play a wizard. How would you envision it working?

Off the cuff? In addition to the standard prepped spells, they have a few free scrolls ready that might take extra time to cast or be limited in other ways to make them better for utility casting.

Or just make them the only ones who can ritually cast non-prepared spells from their spellbook.

 

[CreamCloud0]

Hmm. Yeah, that is certainly a common way to play a wizard. How would you envision it working?

sacrifice the ability to directly add new spells to your spellbook (besides your levelup spells) in exchange for being able to scribe(with reduced time requirement) and use scrolls from any other casters you encounter, any scroll you possess you can basically use to 'know' the spell while holding it and cast with your own slots (no upcasting), for bonus fun you need nature proficiency to scribe spells from primal spell lists or religion a divine one like how you need arcarna proficiency to scribe arcane ones.

 

[Leatherhead]

The problem with most wizard schools is that they don't significantly change how you play a wizard.

 

[CreamCloud0]

Sure. Then again, given that any wizard can ultimately learn any spell, I'm not sure what function of such lists would serve. I don't think the faster and cheaper scribing is a significant enough feature that I would bother creating such lists just for that.

It is rather hard to come up a system where wizards are incentivised to use their school specific spells whilst not removing the ability to learn any wizard spell.

maybe a small expanded spell list for each subclass of apropriate non-wizard spells? and minor bonus action/reaction abilities triggerable when they cast their specified schools, i think some existing subclasses may already get something similar?