Have (wizard) concept, need crunch!

[nakia]

Jacob "Jake" Farris gets 7 first level spells to begin play with. He got most of them at wizard school. He has spell focus - enchantment as a feat.

Here are some spells he may take:
sleep
magic missle
mage armor
identify
charm person
shield
comprehend languages

I need feedback on his spell selection. Do I really need mage armor and shield? Is there something I should have that I overlooked? Is comprehend languages worthwhile?

There is also a story element present in his focus on enchantment spells. I think Jacob is a lonley guy. He was an only child, his parents are dead, he was made fun of a lot for being the smart kid until he went to wizard school. At wizard school he was made fun of for being the poor kid. He wants, more than anything, to have friends and a surrogate family. He also wants a girlfriend. He also really likes words and books. He wants to have a library of his own some day.

Some of this led to his focus on enchantment spells, but now he realizes that charmed people are not really your friends, so he's ambivalent about enchantment spells.

Now, it makes little sense to spend a feat on spells he feels bad about casting. So, how should I approach this? Focus on another school, like transmutation? Maybe even specialize in some other school and get rid of enchantment and another school?

I want Jacob to have spells that fit his personality and story, but want him to be effective in the game. Any hellp you kind folks can provide will be appreciated.

 

[Altamont Ravenard]

Hm.

I'd ditch mage armor or shield, and take another utility spell, such as:
- Disguise Self: when he had enough of being tormented, he'd disguise himself as an innocuous person to be left alone.
- Grease: used it to get back at the people that made fun of him.
- Mount: again, when he had enough, he liked to go ride for a couple of hours.
- Summon Monster: another way of having pseudo-friends.

Comprehend languages is worthwile, IMO, if you plan on deciphering a lot of old parchments. You could of course replace it with ranks in Decipher Script or in a few extra languages known...

Instead of focusing on Enchantment spells, perhaps you could invest in a couple of skill points for Diplomacy, or you could take the Negociator (+2 diplomacy & sense motive) or Skill Focus (diplomacy). Of course, you'd be sacrificing a feat for RP reasons. If you're comfortable with that, I'd say go for it.

Jake could later invest in the Create Wondrous Item feat, to make himself some items of Charisma.

AR

 

[nakia]

Thanks for the suggestions.

Jake already has a good decipher script skill, so having both that and Comp. Languages may be redundant.

I like the idea of Jake summoning things as a way to allieviate his lonliness, so summon monster may be the way to go. That's also a pretty effective spell in general.

I think I may drop the spell focus feat. Giving him another skill oriented feat is a good idea. Any other feat suggestions for a first level wizard like Jake?

What about specialization? Maybe he could be a specialized summoner, dropping enchantment and, say, necromancy. I've never specialized with a wizard before, so I have no idea how it actually plays out.

 

[Praeden]

I like the idea of Jake summoning things as a way to allieviate his lonliness, so summon monster may be the way to go. That's also a pretty effective spell in general.

I can see the sense in him summoning a Celestial Dog or Monkey as a companion. Only trouble is, at 1st level, the creature disappears after one round. Doesn't get you many games of tag does it? You'd need to be 5th level, with the Extend Spell feat, and possibly the Tongues spell, just to have a one minute conversation.

What about specialization? Maybe he could be a specialized summoner, dropping enchantment and, say, necromancy. I've never specialized with a wizard before, so I have no idea how it actually plays out.

Go for Illusionist, and then give him some performer related skills/feats. Say that he entertains people to try and win friends. Taking levels in bard is a possibility, but if you want to stick with wizard then I think it would still work well. Drop Enchantment and Necromancy like you say. If you're not planning to use the spells anyway then you might as well give yourself an edge.

 

[Altamont Ravenard]

You're right about summon spells not lasting long enough.

Jake will probably want to invest into a familiar, which is in fact an indefectible companion. Perhaps Jake could even go the Improved Familiar route when high enough level.

Leadership could likewise be used for girlfriend-y needs.

If I take your backstory, Jake was ridiculed for being smart, then ridiculed for being poor. It's amazing that he still wants to make friends, and didn't become a BBEG himself . Whatever his 1st level choices are, his long term goal will probably be influenced by the fact that he wants to change people's perceptions about him. He'll show people that smarts mean power (being a wizard is certainly a good step) and by using that power, he can accumulate knowledge and treasures to become a powerful wizard, not to humiliate, in turn, those who humiliated him when he was young, but just to show'em that perhaps the outcast made something of himself.

AR

 

[JoeBlank]

Although summoned animals would not last for long, an unseen servant would be a great "pretend friend", and he would stick around for an hour per visit.

I'm liking that idea. My next wizard will make use of unseen servant and will name him and talk to him, as if it is the same servant summoned each time.

 

[Shadeus]

Leadership could likewise be used for girlfriend-y needs.

AR

It's that or it's back to practicing his 0th-level mage hand spell.

 

[Shadeus]

To add something constructive instead of sarcasm, I think shield and summon monster I are wasted spells at this time. Shield is a good spell, but its short duration makes mage armor superior at this level. The concept is interesting, but it is a good concept for a villain actually (someone that covets people as things). But seeing as how you felt charming was wrong, that's probably not the right path for this character.

SF enchantment is a good choice. There are variety of spells through the levels that are good enchantment spells that don't necessarily need to be charms: sleep; tasha's hid. laugh, hold person, suggestion, confusion, hold monster, mass hold person, or insanity. The save is very important in enchantment spells because its usually save or nothing. I would keep it as SF enchantment, but have the character be against using spells like charm or domination. Or he can use them to diffuse situations so as to avoid a fight. If the person was a thug and going to kill you anyway, somehow charming him doesn't seem so bad.

You need to extend your time horizon into the future. If this wizard is as clever as you say, he will have done the same. He'll realize charm person is just fine, but it can't make you friends. That could lead to some interesting RP where he knows he can just charm someone into helping him, but his conscious gets the better of him.

 

[rowport]

Having never played an arcane spellcaster, I cannot offer much in mechanics advice. But, I love your backstory! And, I think it is extra-wicked cool that you are building the character mechanically to match that backstory.

I love that the 3e rules allow that kind of creativity, but even more that somebody is using it well! Whee!

 

[Man-thing]

For summoning youe could use the Summoning Spell in Relics and Rituals II.

You need to learn if for one specific creature.
CR = x2 spell level.
But it lasts 1 hour/level

This would allow you to summon a specific friend

Such as: Summon Stirge, Summon Monkey, Summon Blink Dog