New Design: Wizards...

[F4NBOY]

I hope the implement for necromancy is Sacrificed People.

 

[fuindordm]

Well, I'm not the first to say this but it deserves emphasizing.

Ideally, schools are to wizards as domains are to clerics. I would be very happy with narrower schools, and I think there's some evidence for that in the article (fire and radiance; thunder and force; cold and acid; lightning and force). If creating a magical tradition is just a matter of picking two or three "arcane domains" to specialize in, and your implements are particularly potent in these domains, it would work very well.

The fluff is appropriate as long as it is given the proper context in the PH. We would not complain about flavor text in the 3E PH which said:

"For example, clerics of Wee Jas delve into the mysteries of death and the dark sources of arcane magic."

as long as it appeared after an explanation that domains are small groups of spells, that clerics get to choose two, and that gods grant their clerics access to a short list.

I really hope the analogy holds. How about a PH that says:

"Wizards may design their own arcane tradition by choosing two schools to specialize in, or use one the sample traditions given in this chapter. A school is defined as a short list of themed spells associated with one of the wizard's implements."

Would that be so bad?

And on a side note, since acids seem to be liquid by default, freezing acid makes some sense. Imagine the spell Acid Shard, which drives an icicle into your flesh. As it melts, the victim takes further damage each round.

 

[Kunimatyu]

It had to happen sometime...

I feel very negative about these school names -- at least schools of magic in 3.5 aren't part of named orders, you can ignore them if you want to.

I really, really don't want to have to explain about schools for "Iron Sigil" and "Golden Wyvern", it sounds way too martial-arts-school-ish. It gets even worse with regards to published campaign settings.

Sorry Wizards, this gets the thumbs down -- make things generic enough that I don't have to do a complete flavor rewrite for my homebrew. I liked grouping powers, but I'd seriously rather have an "Orb-Enhanced Magic" heading than an "Iron Sigil" one.

 

[helium3]

There's no way we'll be that lucky.

(Hates necromancy, summoning, and any other magic that adds more entities to the battlefield...)

Nor is there anything that sounds like what we'd call transmutation or illusion. Maybe those are other classes now?

Or perhaps what they've previewed in that article is something along the lines of an advance class.

 

[Kunimatyu]

I also can't help but notice that the new "schools" appear to be more like paired elemental descriptors -- this is the foreshadowing for a vastly cut down library of spells, guys.

(I'm actually positive about this change, mind you, and it makes sense to have the implements linked to offensive spells, if they're analogous to a fighter's weapons.)

 

[Mouseferatu]

I liked grouping powers, but I'd seriously rather have an "Orb-Enhanced Magic" heading than an "Iron Sigil" one.

Wow, I couldn't disagree more. I mean, if you're changing the name anyway, it doesn't matter what you're changing it from. And for those who look to the books for inspiration as well as information, "Iron Sigil" is, at least potentially, a lot more evocative than "orb-enhanced magic."

 

[breschau]

So, I reread the 'Tomb under the Tor' playest armed with this new knowledge. Do you think Sasha is a Hidden Flame or a Golden Wyvern? Hard to tell...she wields Fire, but I'm sure that shared across both traditions.

BTW:
1) they should stick with 'traditions' and drop 'disciplines.'
2) I know why I don't like the names...they remind of of the Houses at Hogwarts (Serpent Eye = Slytherin, Golden Wyvern = Gryfinndor, etc.) Not in execution, but they are very similar names...too similar.

My beef is that they strike me as fighting schools out of wuxia films or monk organizations. Oh, no. Maybe "the wizard killed the monk and took his stuff."

Oh, please, no. Not that.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

And come on. Where'd the Orb's connection to scrying go? That's one of the things that should stay no matter what. Orb = scry spells. Period. Cool. 4th Edition isn't even out yet and I already have house rules.

 

[Imaro]

Wow, I couldn't disagree more. I mean, if you're changing the name anyway, it doesn't matter what you're changing it from. And for those who look to the books for inspiration as well as information, "Iron Sigil" is, at least potentially, a lot more evocative than "orb-enhanced magic."

Why not just group them as...Order of the Staff, Order of the Wand and Order of the Orb(or something simlar). The names they have really are cheesy, don't explain exactly what "tool" they use and require more explanation for a new player to understand. In other words, not really seeing the point of it.

 

[F4NBOY]

"The orb is favored by the Iron Sigil and Serpent Eye traditions. Serpent Eye cabalists use orbs to focus powers of enchantment, beguiling, and ensnaring. The mages of the Iron Sigil, on the other hand, employ orbs to guard themselves with potent defenses when invoking spells of thunder or force."

Iron Sigil: Abjuration*
Serpent Eye: Enchantment and Illusion**

*Both names evokes the idea of strong defence.
**Serpents are mythically considered "deceptive", so a serpent's eye evokes BIG deception.

"The staff is best suited to the disciplines of the Hidden Flame and the Golden Wyvern. Servants of the Hidden Flame wield fierce powers of fire and radiance through their staves. Golden Wyvern initiates are battle-mages who use their staves to shape and sculpt the spells they cast."

Hidden Flame: Fire and Radiance(light?) (Evocations)*
Golden Wyvern: Metamagic school?

*Hidden Flame sound pretty much like Secret Fire, doesn't it? Staff + "Hidden Flame" + Fire and Light spells = Gandalf.

"The wand is a perennial favorite for wizards who favor accurate, damaging attacks. Emerald Frost adepts use wands to help channel powers of cold and deadly acidic magic, while Stormwalker theurges channel spells of lightning and force through their wands."

Emerald Frost: Cold and Acid energies.(evocations)*
Stormwalkers: Electricty and Force (evocations)

*Emerald=green=acid. Frost=cold. Duh

When you start looking deeper and understanding the meaning behind the names, you see that they are generic enough to do the job well.

 

[helium3]

Wow, I couldn't disagree more. I mean, if you're changing the name anyway, it doesn't matter what you're changing it from. And for those who look to the books for inspiration as well as information, "Iron Sigil" is, at least potentially, a lot more evocative than "orb-enhanced magic."

I don't mind the flavor related names, but I will be annoyed by the sighs of exasperation that will come from some of my players if I try to rename them to something that more accurately reflects the campaign setting I'm in.