D&D 5E Niche protection: the wizard’s niche

[overgeeked]

A fairly straightforward question. If niche protection were mechanically enforced, what should the wizard’s niche be?

Note you get one vote and the options are mutually exclusive. Pick one role for the wizard to fill and they do not get access to the others.

Though most of these labels are self-explanatory, the “utility caster” might cause problems. Here I mean it only as a catch all term for what's left when everything else is removed. So “utility caster” here means no battlefield control, no buffs or debuffs, no damage, not the leader/face, not a monster summoner, not the party sage, and not the party scout.

So what do you think? What should the wizard’s niche be?

 

[Scribe]

Only get one? Yeesh.

Controller? OK.
Buff/Debuff? OK.
Damage - Nope
Leader/Face - Nope
Monster Summoner Eh, nope.
Sage - Not with Bard as thing.
Scout - lol no.
Utility Caster - OK.

So I propose - Utility (which includes buffs)/Control (which include debuffs).

 

[Tony Vargas]

Note you get one vote and the options are mutually exclusive. Pick one role for the wizard to fill and they do not get access to the others.

Really should've gone "you can pick more than one."

Because, seriously, cut more than a couple of those from the wizard's repertoire, and it'd be Edition War II: Electric Boogaloo

 

[overgeeked]

Only get one? Yeesh.

Well, yeah. It doesn't work as niche protection if it's multiple choice. You're inevitably stepping on someone else's toes.

Really should've gone "you can pick more than one."

Not really, no. Because it doesn't work as niche protection if it's multiple choice.

 

[Tony Vargas]

I guess if you had engaged the orbital mind-control lasers and could do anything you want to D&D from your hollowed-out-volcano secret base without fear of consequence....

I mean, what's Fireball?
Battlefield Control?
Damage Dealing?
Both?


...OK,, sorry, one more incredulous question... that's 8 choices, they don't include 'healer' ... are we positing 9-PC parties here?

 

[jgsugden]

The idea of magic is that it can be used to do almost anything. Restricting it this way is anathema to the concept of magic. It doesn't serve the iconic image of a wizard we've developed over the past decades. As such, my answer would be that we should not assign a niche to something that is intended to be field.

 

[billd91]

He's the member of the party who gets to develop a set of tools and techniques that allow him to decide what role he plays in the party, basically, by picking the spells for his spell book. And then change those over time if he needs/wants to.

 

[Tony Vargas]

The idea of magic is that it can be used to do almost anything.

Circe is given as an example of a wizard from myth in the 2e PH. What magic did she actually do? Polymorph Other.
Magic in genre usually does a few specific things, under stringent requirements, mostly driven by plot.

Magic is depicted as supernatural, surely, if there's anything that's the central idea of magic, that's it, but the idea it's routinely available on a daily basis, supremely powerful, and extremely versatile/flexible is more a D&Dism.

Restricting it this way is anathema to the concept of magic. It doesn't serve the iconic image of a wizard we've developed over the past decades. As such, my answer would be that we should not assign a niche to something that is intended to be field.

OK, but that's your point. D&D Wizards have always ruled, they must continue to do so.

 

[Mind of tempest]

right I say intellect sage is clearly one of its purposes as otherwise we would have nothing but high charisma lunatics with way too much power running around the world coursing stupid or horrible stuff to happen and I wish to escape our reality.

scout should not be one of its common functions as that feel like what the rogue or ranger is for.

battlefield control is nebulous in definition so some clear description could be used.

 

[Tony Vargas]

Battlefield Control got bandied about a lot in 3.x discussions. IDK if that's what the OP meant, but it would imply anything that literally changes the battlefield. There was even a 3.x fighter build that did 'battlefield control' by grabbing a spiked chain & combat reflexes to threaten any enemy w/in 10' who took more than a 5' step - and then tripped all of them on his turn.

For wizard, wall, cloud, and other lingering AE spells are big time battlefield control, and any AE exerts some battlefield control as enemies scatter to avoid all being caught in the same blast, again.

Thus my point about Fireball, it's both damage dealing & battlefield control in one spell, nevermind one class, and it's far from the only example.