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

[GuardianLurker]

That’s “utility caster,” isn’t it?

It's close, but by the poll's terms, no.

No invisibility/silence (buffs). No detects/divinations ( buffs or sage). No wall spells. (Control)...

When everything is said and done, you're left with illusions and travel spells mostly. Oh, and a number of low-level spells like Alarm and Light.

But a lot of the things that make for "solution man" fall under buffs, and just as many things don't. And since I must pick only one, and cannot...

 

[overgeeked]

It's close, but by the poll's terms, no.

No invisibility/silence (buffs). No detects/divinations ( buffs or sage). No wall spells. (Control)...

When everything is said and done, you're left with illusions and travel spells mostly. Oh, and a number of low-level spells like Alarm and Light.

But a lot of the things that make for "solution man" fall under buffs, and just as many things don't. And since I must pick only one, and cannot...

That’s the point of the poll. When “wizards can do everything LOL” is removed as an option, what is the core niche you’d want a wizard to have.

 

[GuardianLurker]

And my point, bluntly, is that if you do that, you don't have a wizard - at least not by D&D terms. And also, that several of the niches are not sufficient to carry a character by themselves.

This is not to say that the niches aren't worthwhile (if relying too much on shared assumptions in the poll), but that a "solution man" can't focus on just one. He doesn't need to be (and probably isn't) the best in any one niche, he's the Jack of All Trades.

 

[Pedantic]

I am curious what the proposed roles are in the game described by this poll. That looks like a lot already, if the breakpoint is 1/class, and you haven't covered healing, trap interaction and/or outdoor survival stuff, we're looking at very big parties.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

I disagree that bards should be better sages than wizards. D&D bards (which are in no way representative of historical bards, so what some Celtic epic says isn't terribly important here) are the ultimate face men. Wizards should be where the lore and data comes from, with bards/druids/clerics second-best at it and in more specialized niches.

I would slot their ability to acquire more spells in as part of that scholarly role. But I would also greatly restrict their starting spells and make wizard spells that step on other classes' roles have dramatic drawbacks, similar to the excellent downside to the 5E version of Knock.

 

[ECMO3]

I don't think Wizards should have one niche, they should have all niches. Wizards should have the ability to anything as good than any other class if they focus on that one thing.

I think spells and sublcass should define the Wizard's role and the class itself should be broad enough to allow specialization in anything. For the most part I think it is very well designed already, but I do think they need a subclass that affords significant healing for Wizards that want to do that without multiclassing. Currently just about anything else can be done very well on the Wizard chassis with the right subclass and class selection, so healing is really the only "missing niche".

I think a Wizard subclass that functions similar to divine soul for the Sorcerer would be a great add and fix this shortfall.

 

[EzekielRaiden]

Only get one? Yeesh.

Sure. Why shouldn't it? Being able to bend into any niche you like is one of the design problems with the Wizard.

 

[RoughCoronet0]

I don’t think wizards should get any healing or resurrection type spells. I don’t think they should be given access to any condition restoration spells. I even think they should remove the resurrection feature from the transmutation subclass.

Wizards have more then enough, they don’t need anymore power unless a serious reworking of the class, subclasses, class list, and spell schools are done.

Wizards should be utility casters first and foremost. Let them be the standard spell toolkit and let other classes have the other niches, like Sorcerers being the damage dealers and Bards being the Face/Party Leader and so on.

 

[Vaalingrade]

I kinda see Bard and Sage as two sides of the same coin, very similar to how Wizards (books) and Sorcerers (spontaneous) match.

A Sage gets info from research, from old writings, from scientific study, from things other people bring to it. Stay-at-home, cloistered, sheltered.

A Bard gets info from word of mouth, from tales, from hearsay, from things it goes and finds itself. Out there, adventurous, social.

I mean bards literally go to college though.

 

[Scribe]

Sure. Why shouldn't it? Being able to bend into any niche you like is one of the design problems with the Wizard.

The list needed refinement.