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<blockquote data-quote="The Shadow" data-source="post: 5816457" data-attributes="member: 16760">Yes, exactly.&nbsp; The Illusionist had tons and tons of flavor.The real problem with the Evoker is not that he's a damage monster.&nbsp; It's that it's a completely BORING concept!&nbsp; &quot;I shoot people with fire, lightning, acid, that kind of thing.&quot;&nbsp; Transmutation is to my mind even worse:&nbsp; &quot;I, uh, change things.&nbsp; Into, you know, other things.&quot;Trying to turn the schools into specialties was a mistake.&nbsp; The Illusionist is about so much more than illusions.&nbsp; I mean, they can do a little conjuration - of mist and fog and quasi-real shadows.&nbsp; They are enchantment monsters - as mentioned, they were the only 1e class that had Phantasmal Killer;&nbsp; one of the most seriously cool spell concepts ever.&nbsp; They also had Alter Reality instead of Wish - a touch of sheer genius of the sort that Gygax was very occasionally prone to.What we need are thematic specialists.&nbsp; The Necromancer is one.&nbsp; He also should be about more than just creating and controlling the undead.&nbsp; He should be able to chill your bones to the marrow, literally.&nbsp; To hold your eyes with his own and lay bare your heart, as a vampire would.&nbsp; While he may be able to do a fair bit of healing, it should be considerably more gruesome than that of a cleric, and carry unpleasant side effects.&nbsp; He should be able to conjure masses of blood and bone.Elementalists are another viable possibility.&nbsp; Summoners - maybe.&nbsp; &quot;Demonologists&quot; and &quot;Theurges&quot; would be more to the point, though that's getting close to stepping on the warlock's toes.&nbsp; Any others?&nbsp; Wild magic, maybe - but there again we're approaching sorcerer territory.You know, arguably the druid would work better as a specialist mage than a divine caster.&nbsp; Legendarily, that's pretty much what they were!</blockquote>

[QUOTE="The Shadow, post: 5816457, member: 16760"] Yes, [i]exactly.[/i] The Illusionist had tons and tons of flavor. The real problem with the Evoker is not that he's a damage monster. It's that it's a completely BORING concept! "I shoot people with fire, lightning, acid, that kind of thing." Transmutation is to my mind even worse: "I, uh, change things. Into, you know, other things." Trying to turn the schools into specialties was a mistake. The Illusionist is about so much more than illusions. I mean, they can do a little conjuration - of mist and fog and quasi-real shadows. They are enchantment monsters - as mentioned, they were the only 1e class that had Phantasmal Killer; one of the most seriously cool spell concepts ever. They also had Alter Reality instead of Wish - a touch of sheer genius of the sort that Gygax was very occasionally prone to. What we need are thematic specialists. The Necromancer is one. He also should be about more than just creating and controlling the undead. He should be able to chill your bones to the marrow, literally. To hold your eyes with his own and lay bare your heart, as a vampire would. While he may be able to do a fair bit of healing, it should be considerably more gruesome than that of a cleric, and carry unpleasant side effects. He should be able to conjure masses of blood and bone. Elementalists are another viable possibility. Summoners - maybe. "Demonologists" and "Theurges" would be more to the point, though that's getting close to stepping on the warlock's toes. Any others? Wild magic, maybe - but there again we're approaching sorcerer territory. You know, arguably the druid would work better as a specialist mage than a divine caster. Legendarily, that's pretty much what they were! [/QUOTE]

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