Changing the Wizard core class

[Erekose]

OK - here's a challenge for anyone who is good as balancing issues.

What I want to do is grant the Wizard class the craft item feats as standard. i.e. they do not need to be chosen. This is a campaign specific change based on player feedback. In the campaign the feats are also delayed by 3 levels as follows:

Minimum spellcaster level - Feat

3rd - Scribe Scroll

6th - Brew Potion
6th - Craft Wondrous Item

8th - Craft Wand
8th - Craft Arms & Armour

12th - Craft Rod

15th - Craft Staff
15th - Forge Ring

So, how would the Wizard class need to be changed to incorporate the addition of these feats?

Any suggestions?

On reflection, all of the item creation feats probably don't need to be included. Arguably, the core ones for a Wizard might be scribe scroll, brew potion, craft wand, craft staff?

So that's effectively three additional feats (as they get scribe scroll already). Ideally I'd rather not just displace the current metamagic feats but some of them could be sacrificed.

 

[Jens]

Aren't the bonus feats "metamagic OR item creation" feats? Maybe I remember wrong but if they are, I don't see the problem.

 

[Mista Collins]

So they way you have things set up in your campaign is that a 6th level wizard automatically gets Brew Potion and Craft Wondorous Item?

One way to limit this is to limit the amount of downtime the characters have to actually create items. This way they are not pumping out magic items like they were the creators of the assembly line.

In a campaign I play in, any type of magic item is hard to come by. He lets us take the item creation feats, but when we want to create an item we need to find a special component just for making the item.

 

[Erekose]

Sorry for being unclear. On reflection, I guess I’m asking how balanced the Wizard core class would be with the following "Special abilities" as standard:

1 - Summon familiar
2 -
3 -
4 - Scribe Scroll feat
5 - Metamagic feat
6 -
7 -
8 - Brew Potion feat
9 -
10 - Metamagic feat
11 -
12 - Craft Wand feat
13 -
14 -
15 - Metamagic feat
16 - Craft Staff feat
17 -
18 -
19 -
20 - Metamagic feat

How could it be more balanced?

 

[aurance]

I think the reason why it takes a feat to make each kind of magic item in 3e is that magic items are so much easier to make. If you make item creation more difficult or rare, you can give wizards more item creation feats or even all of them.

-A

 

[~Joseph~]

I disagree

I don't think you're really doing them a favor, at low levels scrolls are the only thing keeping a wizard alive, with only 1 first level spell at first level, and even with bonus spells it shouldn't be more than 3, the wizard can't afford to not have backups like scolls, the way you have it, the wizard just becomes a liability after his first spell because with such low Hp, chances are the kobolds and goblins will be able to take them out in 1 hit, making them ineffective in any encounter that requires more then one spell.

 

[Erekose]

Thanks aurance, we are trying to cut back on the production of magic items but also make the Wizard class THE class for making them. This is partly campaign flavour and partly to differentiate the Wizard from the Sorcerer.

I agree with you ~Joseph~ that it does make the Wizard less powerful at 1st level (although no less powerful than the class was in 1st Edition) but how many 1st level Wizards have experience to burn on spells?

Ideally I would have liked to introduce Scribe Scroll at 2nd or 3rd level rather than 4th. However, I like the idea of the Item Creation feats coming in every 4 levels because they don't become a double hit with the metamagic feats and they don't double up with the bonus feat gained every three levels.

I'd be interested to hear how anyone would map them out differently?

 

[Khaalis]

I dont see adding Item Creation feats as unbalancing in and of itself. As long as the campaign itself is designed to not allow for mass item creation you should be ok. XP and GP are the limiting factors here. If a Wizard is going to go nuts making magic items, they are going to start to fall behind the party (quickly) in levels. Keep in mind that you dont have to have the XP to "spend" when making items, you are actually taking a "negative" XP balance that you pay off with the next earned XP. Thus if you spend 300XP on an item, the next time you gain XP, take 300 off of it. GP is the real limiting factor. The DM needs to control the GP flow. At low levels this wont be hard to do - and is the sole reason a 1st level Wizard doesnt have 30 scrolls in his back pocket.

As for the table and progression, I would give back Scrolls at 1st level. I have then broken them down into gaining 1 Item Creation feat each 3 levels. They must choose from the listed choices. Obviously when advancing to the next choice, if they already have one of the options, they must choose something else. For example when attaining 3rd level, the Wizard takes Craft Wondrous. When attaining 6th level their choice really becomes (Brew Potion, Craft Magic Arms & Armor, or Craft Wand).

By 18th level they will have all but one Item Creation feat as part of the base class. The last they can take with a Metamagic slot or an XP Level Slot.

1 - Summon familiar, Scribe Scroll
2 -
3 - Item Creation (Brew Potion or Craft Wondrous)
4 -
5 - Metamagic feat
6 - Item Creation (Brew Potion, Craft Wondrous, Craft Magic Arms & Armor, or Craft Wand)
7 -
8 -
9 - Item Creation (Craft Magic Arms & Armor or Craft Wand)
10 - Metamagic feat
11 -
12 - Item Creation (Craft Magic Arms & Armor, Craft Wand, Craft Rod, Craft Staff, or Forge Ring)
13 -
14 -
15 - Metamagic feat, Item Creation (Craft Rod, Craft Staff or Forge Ring)
16 -
17 -
18 - Item Creation (Craft Rod, Craft Staff or Forge Ring)
19 -
20 - Metamagic feat


If you want them to have less Item Creation feats by 20th as "free" feats, then I would do the following, decreasing the gain rate to only every 4 levels. This will reduce it to only 6 of the 8 possible feats.

1 - Summon familiar, Scribe Scroll
2 -
3 -
4 - Item Creation feat
5 - Metamagic feat
6 -
7 -
8 - Item Creation feat
9 -
10 - Metamagic feat
11 -
12 - Item Creation feat
13 -
14 -
15 - Metamagic feat
16 - Item Creation feat
17 -
18 -
19 -
20 - Metamagic feat, Item Creation feat

Just an idea based on what you said you were looking to do.

 

[Erekose]

Thanks Khaalis! I prefer the latter progression. Perhaps rather than being prescriptive about which item creation feats can be chosen at certain levels change it to a pool of feats (like the Fighter list) which the Wizard can choose from but which he/she needs to meet the entry criteria for?

 

[Khaalis]

Thats pretty much already done for you by the feats themselves by the minimum caster level requirement.

In the afore mentioned progression, item creations feats are aquired at:

1 - Summon familiar, Scribe Scroll
4 - Item Creation feat
8 - Item Creation feat
12 - Item Creation feat
16 - Item Creation feat
20 - Item Creation feat

At 4th you can only take Brew Potion or Craft Wondrous.

At 8th you can only take Brew Potion, Craft Wondrous, Craft Magic Arms & Armor, or Craft Wand.

At 12th -20th you can take Brew Potion, Craft Wondrous, Craft Magic Arms & Armor, Craft Wand, Craft Rod, Craft Staff or Forge Ring.

Also keep in mind that Level Requirements for making the items also plays into the equation. Most Staves cant be made till post 15th level anyway (if I remember correctly - no DMG handy).

Hope the comments help.