Newbie - Needs Help with Wizard and Spell List

[trowizilla]

First post! I've been reading these boards for ages, but now that I'm finally getting to play D&D for the first time, some advice would be gratefully recieved. Warning: this is a little long...

My character is a (3rd edition) level 5 gnome wizard whose stats are as follows:

STR 14
CON 18
DEX 18
INT 18
WIS 14
CHA 14
(the 4th level point went into the DEX)

Gah....the dice love the newbie. I was really surprised not to roll anything under a 14, and the rolls have kind of left me with an uncannily healthy, stable, quickfooted wizard. Even after rolling some 1s for hit points, I still have more hps than the party figher. So, the character concept I came up with is that Keswyn is a really, really young (barely over the minimum age in the PHB), gifted gnome who, because of an omnivorous curiosity about the world in general and magic in particular, left what she considers to be a musty, shut-in life to go adventuring. I plan to play her a little naive and incredibly interested in EVERYTHING (therefore, no school specialization), with a vain and bratty weasel familiar named Sleek. The rest of the party consists of an elfy-elf rogue, a fighter-rogue, a cleric, and one other that I'm forgetting, and I'm the only arcane magic-user.

Anyway, I think I have the character creation pretty much in hand, except for one thing: SPELLS. There's sooo many, and I really have no idea which ones will be the most useful. So, please, if some experienced players would give me an idea of what spells are the most useful, whether for combat or for just general usage (Spider Climb makes me think evil, nasty little conniving thoughts), I'd super-appreciate it, especially if there was some way to tie the spell choices into the character.

By the way, if it helps, my feats are : Scribe Scroll, Extend Spell, Craft Wondrous Item, and Energy Substitution - Sonic (from Tome and Blood). Also, I bought a Headband of Intellect +2 with my starting gold.

LASTLY, how loud would a Sonicball (fireball with sonic substitution) be? Could it be used for distraction/demoralisation purposes? Just curious.

I won't be a pathetic newbie here and plead for help, but (quiet plead) it would be greatly, greatly, greatly appreciated.

 

[Byrons_Ghost]

Welcome on board!

It's hard to give specific suggestions for spells before a campaign starts, because every campaign is different. Different spells are going to be more or less useful, depending on how the DM runs things. Things like the "sonic fireball" are also open to DM interpretation, so I'd ask he or she whether or not they'd allow the use. If you're looking for general distractions spells, illusions are probably the way to go.

As for selecting spells, I generally try to get an even split between three different areas: combat spells (fireball, etc), defensive spells (mage armor, etc), utility spells (fly, etc). That's especially good in the beginning of a campaign, when you don't know whether or not you'll be doing a lot of fighting, travelling, or whatever.

For starting spellbooks, I would stick to basics- fireball, magic missle, invisibility, and other PHB spells. They're a little less oddball than spells from other supplements, and the other players are more likely to know the rules. Also, you may want to give some thought as to how you want the spells to interact with the rest of the party; whether you'll want to do things like buff the fighter or make the rogue invisible, or just let everyone sort of do their thing. Again, this is the sort of thing that you'll have to fiddle with over time. You might also find that you'd prefer some characters to benefit from your abilities more than others.

Finally, as just an example, here the daily spells that I might choose for this character:

0- Dancing Lights, Daze, Detect Magic, Read Magic
1- Charm Person, Magic Missile, Mage Armor, Sleep
2- Invisibility, Mirror Image, Web
3- Fireball, Slow