How Should Specialist Wizards be handled?

[Falling Icicle]

I am pretty sure that specialist wizards will be handled like a theme. One you slap on top of your generalist mage and that gives you certain bonuses and/or abilities/powers/spells at certain levels.

Sure, specialists could work well as themes. I just don't want specialists to lose access to other schools or get more spells per day than other mages.

 

[1Mac]

Glad you like my idea, Shadow!

Some basic divinations and abjurations should be common to all wizard-types. I mean, everyone can Detect Magic and Dispel Magic, to name two obvious ones.

Enchantments, I'm not so sure. I don't see how it fits into the 'force mage' theme.

Are telepathy spells divination or enchantment? I don't recall. At any rate, I might want to expand the idea to be "Master of the Unseen," of which arcane force is a dramatic and well-represented example.

Depending on your theory of where the force comes from, you could maybe introduce some dimensional stuff too. Teleportation, etherealness, etc.

Quite so, and it also fits well with the "Master of the Unseen" idea.

My inspiration for this was the Wizard Disciplines from Monte Cook's "Book of Experimental Might." They were quite evocative in a way the standard wizard spell list never was for me. I figured out it was because they mostly followed this unseen-force theme.

 

[Invisible Stalker]

I think a specialist wizard mechanic should just go away. want to be a fire wizard? Choose mostly fire spells. Illusionist? Choose illusion spells. Done.

bingo!