New Design: Wizards...

[sidonunspa]

Anyone else notice that there is nary a mention of necromancy or summoning in either version of the article?

OMG....

::runs back to read the artical:::

Gasp!! What the hell!

 

[Rechan]

Let's all just email WotC the details of our campaign worlds so that the PHB doesn't mess with the guys playing Spelljammer.

 

[TheArcane]

If schools of magic don't fit in your campaign, then the wizard doesn't fit in your campaign.

Come on, that's just not true at all. Take FR for example, either the class gets modified specifically for the setting, or specialty magic schools suddenly pop-up all over the realms.
Again, this is all persuming the flavor in the article exists in the PHB.

 

[Rechan]

I dont think thats it at all. When I sit down to make a character I have alot of fun thinking about that characters personality, background and general look. At any given day I'd come up with a completely new and differnt concept for a wizard, each one new, fresh and exciting for ME. THey may be part of a discipline or school, have learend on thier own, or forced some eldritch daemon to teach them the dark arts. Whatever floats my boat for the day. The point is, I have a totally blank slate to work with.

So do you feel hamstrung that the Sorcerer class's fluff text says: "Blood of dragons"? Does that prevent you from having a feyblooded Sorcerer, one trained by a demon, or in the wrong place at the wrong time when an artifact blew up?

I am certain that if your campaign world doesn't have Dragons, you can find another source for sorcerers.

 

[gothmaugCC]

Nope... J. R. R. Tolkien

see even the clasics sound like Anime

Except that line isnt a classic (as it never appeared in the book). It was cobbled together from information from the Simmirilion for the movie.

so you need to say, "even Movies based on a classic" sound like anime.

Just being a pain in the arse

 

[Rechan]

Come on, that's just not true at all. Take FR for example, either the class gets modified specifically for the setting, or specialty magic schools suddenly pop-up all over the realms.
Again, this is all persuming the flavor in the article exists in the PHB.

I said schools of magic. Transmutation/Evocation/etc. That may just be what they're called, for all we know.

 

[Masquerade]

Anyone else notice that there is nary a mention of necromancy or summoning in either version of the article?

Actually, summoning was mentioned:

A tome is tied to powers that reduce or neutralize an enemy’s capability in combat in some fashion, whether by slowing the foe, dazing, or through some other fashion. Tomes are also often important for spells of teleportation, summoning, shapechanging, and a few physical enhancement effects.

 

[Lonely Tylenol]

"You finish your incantation, and three walking skeletons rise from their graves, ready to do your bidding."

"Dude. Hey. Remember the +2 virgin I sacrificed a couple days ago? That still counts, right?"

"Oh. Right. Good job then. Five walking skeletons rise from their graves, ready to do your bidding."

Maybe I can have fun with this.

Dark Cultist: Great evil overlord, receive the sacrifice of this +2 virgin, on this, the most damned of...
Virgin: Hey! What? +2? No way! I'm at least a +6 virgin! Look at these innocent eyes! Look at the quality of these diaphanous garments--which you tore, I might also point out. I'm totally unicorn bait!
Dark Cultist: Okay, jeez. Receive this +6 virgin, oh dark lord.

*stab*

*invoke dark ritual of evil*

Dark Cultist: Hey, it turns out she really was a +6 virgin. Go figure.

 

[Snapdragyn]

Umm except that you have the tools in 3e to make new gods (they have domains.. done) if they tie the schools of magic to organizations, well, that now makes you need organizations.

Yes, exactly like you had to have an Official Wizarding School of Evocation in 3e if you wanted evocation specialist wizards...

... or, you know, not.

For example, let’s say I want a school to teach more than one tradition... Now I need to come up with names and explain to my players that Spell School X = tradition Y

You mean kinda like how in 3e if you want a magic school, you have to explain what specialties are taught there? So... it'll be going from the way it is now to the same as it is now.

As for someone's mention of the odd pairing of cold & acid (which I agree seems odd), we survived summoning being used for both 'bringing in allies' & 'zapping with energy attacks', so I suppose we can handle this.

I'm hopeful that they'll use descriptors a lot more on spells, which should then make it fairly easy to cobble together a homebrew tradition (at least as far as the spell list goes; will have to see if the mechanics of knowing a tradition are the same for each & thus easy to use with homebrews, or unique to each & thus harder to homebrew). My hope is that they'll opt for easy mechanics; then any DM could homebrew their own school's spell list and apply the basic mechanics to it.

 

[F4NBOY]

Nope... J. R. R. Tolkien

see even the clasics sound like Anime

I think you missed your Sense Motive check by a long shot