good "default" spell list for a high level wizard

[Avatar28]

We've started an epic campaign, starting at 20th level. I'm playing a Ftr1/Wiz17/Bladesinger2. Mostly I'll be doing the magic thing, but also reserving the ability to cast divine power (having the cleric cast it into my ring of spell storing) followed by Tenser's Transformation to open up a serious can of whoopass if need be (28 BAB, attacks at at least +35/+30/+25/+20, possibly add 1 more to each if I roll two 4's on the strength increase from TT.

Anyways, I have an INT of 34 so get several spells per day (forget the exact numbers, don't have the book with me, but something like 4,7,7,7,7,6,6,4,3,2 or something (someone wanna doublecheck for me?). My question here is what would be a good default spell list. My DM is wanting a list of spells that I'll memorize each day unless I specifically change it. I'm really not very familiar with the higher level spells, or even a lot of the lower level ones, so any help you guys can provide would be mucho appreciated.

Note: I could post my spellbook if needed. Since we've just started and only played a few minutes, I suspect the DM would let me swap some spells in and out.

 

[Seule]

I could post the spelllist of my 19th level wizard, but I'm more of a "nuke 'em from orbit and let everyone else sort out the details" kind of wizard. Knowing your spellbook would give us a starting point for a list.
Some spells I really wouldn't do without:
Teleport (or variation) at least twice
Greater Scrying
Mass Haste
Polymorph Other (works on yourself too! Just make sure to 'morph to something that can cast spells, or you are stuck)
Shield
True Seeing

--Seule

 

[Avatar28]

Okay, here goes. The list is pretty long. I spent a LOT of gold buying extra spells. Something like 130,000 gp (or more) I think by the time I scribed them. I was in a bit of a hurry and trying to do this at work, so I just sorta glanced at the short description and was like, oh, that looks good. I know I missed a couple that I need (enlarge, reduce for example).

Also, in addition to the ones memorized, which ones would be good to have one or two on a scroll for those just in case type situations?

Spellbook

0-Level Spells
Arcane Mark
Contraception
Dancing Lights
Daze
Detect Magic
Detect Poison
Disrupt Undead
Flare
Ghost Sound
Light
Mage Hand
Mending
Open/Close
Presdigitation
Ray of Frost
Read Magic
Resistance

1st-Level Spells
Alarm
Change Self
Charm Person
Color Spray
Detect Secret Doors
Featherfall
Grease
Identify
Jump
Mage Armor
Magic Weapon
Magic Missile
Ray of Enfeeblement
Shield
Sleep
Spiderclimb
Tenser’s Floating Disk
Unseen Servant

2nd-Level Spells
Arcane Lock
Blur
Bull’s Strength
Cat’s Grace
Continual Flame
Darkvision
Knock
Locate Object
Magic Mouth
Melf’s Acid Arrow
See Invisibility
Web

3rd-Level Spells
Blink
Clairaudience/Clairvoyance
Dispel Magic
Displacement
Flame Arrow
Fireball
Fly
Gaseous Form
Greater Magic Weapon
Haste
Hold Person
Lightning Bolt
Leomund’s Tiny Hut
Slow
Spectral Hand
Suggestion
Tongues
Vampiric Touch

4th-Level Spells
Charm Monster
Contagion
Dimension Door
Enervation
Firetrap
Ice Storm
Improved Invisibility
Otiluke’s Resilient Sphere
Polymorph Other
Polymorph Self
Phantasmal Killer
Remove Curse
Scrying
Shout
Stoneskin
Wall of Fire
Wall of Ice

5th-Level Spells
Bigby’s Interposing Hand
Cloudkill
Cone of Cold
Domination
Feeblemind
Passwall
Permanency
Shadow Evocation
Telekinesis
Teleport
Transmute Mud to Rock
Transmute Rock to Mud
Wall of Force
Wall of Iron
Wall of Stone

6th-Level Spells
Analyze Dweomer
Antimagic Field
Chain Lightning
Circle of Death
Contingency
Control Water
Disintegrate
Flesh to Stone
Globe of Invulnerability
Greater Dispelling
Greater Shadow Evocation
Mass haste
Otiluke’s Freezing Sphere
Stone to Flesh
Tenser’s Transformation

7th-Level Spells
Bigby’s Grasping Hand
Delayed Blast Fireball
Finger of Death
Forcecage
Power Word, Stun
Prismatic Spray
Reverse Gravity
Spell Turning
Teleport Without Error

8th-Level Spells
Demand
Etherealness
Greater Planar Binding
Horrid Wilting
Mass Charm
Otto’s Irresistible Dance
Polymorph Any Object
Prismatic Wall
Protection From Spells
Symbol

9th-Level Spells
Energy Drain
Gate
Greater Planar Binding
Mordenkainen’s Disjunction
Meteor Swarm
Power Word, Kill
Summon Monster IX
Time Stop
Weird

 

[Oogar]

No Shrink Item? How do you survive

 

[Nightfall]

Are you allowed to used any third party sources? How about WotC non-core? (Just curious what you have available to you...)

 

[Avatar28]

Pretty much any WOTC stuff is fine, we just didn't have the T&B available to us right now. The player who has that book is gone for the next couple of months and I'm too broke to buy it right now. Anything else, he'd have to look at and approve first, but as long as it's reasonable and not terribly unbalancing, he's pretty open. I'd have to be able to get a copy of the spell to show him and to keep for reference though. So that limits things a bit since I can't go around buying tons of books.

 

[bret]

I would go Wiz 16, Fi 1, Spellsword 3. It gives a better BAB, still (just barely) get 9th level spells, and one more attack per round. That or go Wizard 18, Fi 2 and wait until Epic levels to go Spellsword. That would give you one more caster level.

I would want more divinations, protections, and a few miscellaneous spells.

Here are some I would be looking at:

1: Comprehend Languages, Protection from Evil, maybe Law or Chaos.
2: Alter Self, Glitterdust, Misdirection, Protection from Arrows
3: Nondetection, Protection from Elements, Shrink Item, Tongues, Arcane Sight (from Tome & Blood)
4: Detect Scrying
5: Fabricate, Permanency, Prying Eyes, Sending, Summon Monster V, Mordenkainen's Private Sanctum (Tome & Blood)
6: Summon Monster VI
8: Mind Blank

Sorry, not really qualified to go higher than 6th level. I haven't actually played a character with the higher level spells. I'm currently playing an 11th level wizard. I made a special exception for Mind Blank because it is just a nice protection spell.


Here are some of the reasons I chose those spells:

• Alter Self instead of Change Self. Gives a poor man's version of fly, waterbreathing (via gills and fins), and some other capabilities.
• Protection from Evil, (maybe) Protection from Law or Chaos, Tongues and Summon Monster V or VI. The protection spells are to protect against summmoned creatures. You want the tongues to be able to communicate when needed. The Summon Monster at that level gets you a good selection of creatures you can summon including elementals.
• Comprehend Languages for when you find something written that you can't understand.
• Nondetection, Detect Scrying, Mind Blank, Mordenkainen's Private Sanctum. Some basic protection from others trying to get information on you. It is good to be paranoid about this sort of stuff.
• Prying Eyes. A very nice spell for gathering information. Send it out using the buddy system (two eyes together, return when your buddy gets squashed) to quickly scout an area.
• Arcane Sight, Protection from Arrows both used with Permanency. I would also do a permanent See Invisible.

In order to make good use of Tenser's Transformation, you will need the Brew Potion feat. It uses a Bull's Strength potion as the material component.


Normal spell list is going to vary a lot. Things that are almost always on my spell list include:
1. Magic Missles, Shield, Feather Fall
2. Glitterdust, some combination of enhancers like Bull's Strength or Cat's Grace
3 Slow
4. Detect Scrying, Dimension Door (as a getaway)
5. Mordenkain's Private Sanctum

I've got both Empower and Quicken Spell, which I use more and more as I go up in levels. You will actually be high enough level to do a Quickened Haste, Disintegrate, Disintegrate. Unfortunately, you've also got to worry about Spell Turning.

I am just getting to the point where I'm considering Minor Globe of Invulnerability (to shut down lower level spell casters). This would depend on the type of opponents you will be facing. If you're facing a lot of (relatively) low level casters, it is worth it.

 

[Avatar28]

Unfortunately the character is already set up, so I wouldn't be able to change it. Regardless, I need to be level 17 to get the 9th level spell slots (spell level * 2 - 1).

I absolutely plan to get a permanent see invisible done just as soon as I get the game time to do so. That durned white slaad showed me that.

Spell turning IS a worry for me. With a save DC of 22+spell level, a turned spell could be a VERY bad thing for me. My saves really aren't all that good, even with the boosts from the Ftr and Bladesinger levels.

I DO have brew potion, so I guess I should go ahead and whip up a few bull's strength potions when I get the chance so that I can use Tenser.

The only 3E magic user I've played before was a PHB sorcerer. Actually, the only other times I've played a mage period was a 2E game that used spell points and spontaneous casting. So I appreciate any help I can get here.

 

[bret]

Unfortunately the character is already set up, so I wouldn't be able to change it. Regardless, I need to be level 17 to get the 9th level spell slots (spell level * 2 - 1).

If you had gone Wiz 16 / Fi 1 / Spellsword 3 you would have had a caster level of 17. Spellsword gives +1 caster level every even level.

From what you've said, it is too late to worry about that now.

If you are really worried about Spellturning, there is a way to quickly test for it. Cast a shield and then a Magic Missile. If it comes back at you, the shield protects you.

What other characters are in the group? That would partially affect your spell choices. Another thing that would have a big effect is they type of creatures you expect to have to fight.

In my sample, I've almost completely skipped Fortitude Save spells because our group has been fighting a lot of giants. Giants usually don't miss a Fortitude saving throw. On the other hand, I've had to deal with them trying to scry information on me and my group. Having good intelligence on the opposition while denying them the same on you can be a significant advantage.

 

[Avatar28]

Okay, yeah, spellsword. I was thinking bladesinger. The reason that I chose that (in metagame reasoning at least) was the massive +12 AC bonus I get from my 34 INT. That and I wanted to be able to add some melee combat ability for my character image I had in mind. But, as I said, that's done now so I can't change it.

Other characters are a human monk, human (I think) cleric, a rogue (not sure the race) and whatever the last guy ends up playing. He last session played a half-orc barbarian/weapon master killing machine rolled up by another player (but not really intended as a PC). I believe that's going to be disallowed, however, or at least his nice little vorpal scythe is going to be outlawed. There was a nice Paladin that was rolled up too, so he might end up taking that. Or he may roll up something himself, but he doesn't have a PHB.