Multiple Wizard Specialisations

[Inez Hull]

The way specialist wizards have been streamlined in 3.5E is there any reason why double or even triple specialing in a school of magic would shift game balance out of hand? I mean if taking away two schools the first time balances out the extra spell per level, why is it any less balanced to allow the same thing to be done 2 or 3 times?

My gut feeling is that in fact it would probably under-power the wizard. Losing two schools is manageable but losing 4 or 6 schools would really narrow the wizard's power to a degree even more than a sorceror. Of course in my game we don't play sorcerors (simply for campaign flavour) so it could play a role.

Hmm, just my ramblings anyway. Comments welcomed.

 

[iceifur]

Well, lets examine it when it's taken to the extreme. Say the wizard in question gives up 5 schools (1 for Divination specialization, 2 each for 2 other specializations), leaving said wizard with access to the Divination school (because you can't give it up), the 2 other schools they specialized in, and the Universal school (because you can't give it up). The wizard would be able to cast a total of 7 spells per day of each spell level at 20th class level (not counting bonus spells for high INT), 3 of which would be school specific. IMHO, that's just a tad too much. YMMV, though.

--B--

 

[Inez Hull]

I'm suggesting only double or triple specialisation in the one school not multiple schools. For example compare a triply specialised evoker with a sorceror. The specialist would have access to a maximum of 7 spells per day at each level but of only the evocation and divination schools. No other forms of magic would be available to them. A sorceror has a maximum of 6 spells per day of each level, but has the ability to choose from all schools and cast on the fly rather than memorising.

In this case the sorceror would actually be more flexible and have access to more spells at the price of one less spell per day.

Just a note, in the setting I GM we play with a homebrew of the Mystic (spontaneous divine caster), no sorcerors, and all wizards must be specialists. My idea behind extra specialisations is to encourage wizards to have a narrow focus and allow combat wizards to shape themselves like the sorceror (lots of spells but limited choice).

 

[HellHound]

I would also ban the Divination domain to anyone double-specializing like this, just to be mean. So the triple specialist can only cast from one school.

 

[Inez Hull]

Yeah, I was thinking that extra specialisations in divination would just cost two spell schools each.

One advantage of using double/triple specialising that I see is when combining it with the specialist options in Unearthed Arcana. The specialist option to sacrifice the bonus spells for an ability becomes more tempting if you have multiple bonus spells.