Playing a wizard at low levels

[sniffles]

I wasn't so much worried about a wizard with no spells to cast not being fun to play - I can make any character fun to play - as I was having such a character become a liability to the party. I don't want the rest of the group to have to protect my character all the time.

I am a little worried about strategy and tactics, though. I've never been very good at that. But I will be playing with an experienced group of friends, so I suppose I can rely on some suggestions from them if I decide to go with a wizard.

I don't know why it hadn't occurred to me that an elf wizard would have longbow proficiency - d'oh!! I'm partial to playing elves, too.

Lots of good suggestions here, thanks! I particularly like Chimera's suggestion about Point Blank Shot and Precise Shot. That would work nicely with an elf wizard using a longbow, too. And I had forgotten that scribing scrolls is so cheap. If I go with a wizard I'll have to be sure to remind the GM that I'd like time for that.

 

[Mark CMG]

Yup. Crossbow, scrolls, special substances/items, and a mule (to take everything not nailed down, to sell so you can make more scrolls and buy more special substances/items). In a pinch, a mule also provides cover, for a mere 8 gp. The first time you kill something that had shields, strap them on the sides of the mule.

 

[moritheil]

I highly recommend Precocious Apprentice because it allows you to start with one 2nd-level spell at first level. It's not core, but then, I hardly ever see core-only campaigns now.

 

[Brother MacLaren]

Check with your DM to see if he's going to actually require Knowledge checks to identify monsters and know abilities/weaknesses. If he will, then this is a HUGE role for you even when out of spells. Put 2 skill points into each of the necessary skills, and you'll have a +5 or so to know what you're up against. That's one of a wizard's most important roles in a lot of fantasy fiction -- knower of things.

Especially good if the DM changes around monster descriptions to throw off metagamers.

"I'm out of spells, but I can tell you that the two-headed chicken-looking thing is a rust monster." -- if nobody else has Knowledge (Dungeoneering) and the DC is 11 or higher, nobody else could recognize that creature.

 

[sniffles]

Check with your DM to see if he's going to actually require Knowledge checks to identify monsters and know abilities/weaknesses. If he will, then this is a HUGE role for you even when out of spells. Put 2 skill points into each of the necessary skills, and you'll have a +5 or so to know what you're up against. That's one of a wizard's most important roles in a lot of fantasy fiction -- knower of things.

Especially good if the DM changes around monster descriptions to throw off metagamers.

"I'm out of spells, but I can tell you that the two-headed chicken-looking thing is a rust monster." -- if nobody else has Knowledge (Dungeoneering) and the DC is 11 or higher, nobody else could recognize that creature.

Excellent suggestion!

 

[Quartz]

Scrolls, scrolls, and more scrolls. And at 3rd level take Brew Potion and brew potions of buffing spells.

As for multiclassing, speak to your DM and the other players: do they expect you to be maximum caster level? Good choices are 2 levels of Fighter for HP and feats, or 2 levels of Monk for saves and abilities. An interesting option, if your character is noble, is 2 levels of Knight.

 

[Zaruthustran]

My first 3E character was a wizard. Dwarf Fighter 1/Wizard 9, by the time he retired. He ran around in full plate mail and tower shield and used self-crafted wands and non-somatic spells. Horribly effective, even before all the crazy reserve feat spells.

It's a viable tactic because you can load up on utility scrolls (for which you'll likely have time to take off your armor before casting) and long-term buffs (again, cast before donning armor). Put your attack spells in wands and any "rarely needed, but when you do need them, you need them NOW" spells in potion form.

You could even take Craft Arms & Armor, and go with spell-storing weapons (a reach weapon is especially good), animated shield, and "called" armor (so you can don your full plate armor with a single standard action). Works great.

And don't forget Craft Wondrous. You'll be the party's best friend. Helpful for cheap single- or limited-use self-made gear that improves the party's quality of life, like a Stone of Alarm (1/day). Or an emergency Bead of Magic Circle Against Evil (single use).

Point is, one level of Fighter can dramatically increase your survivability and make for an unusual--but still fully capable--arcane caster.

-z

PS for build:
(28 point buy) Str 14 Dex 14 Con 16 Int 16 Wis 8 Cha 6. Good physical stats for saves, carrying capacity, occassional melee. Wis and Cha dump (good Will save from Wizard).
Feats (updated a bit with Practiced Spellcaster):

Wiz1: Practiced Spellcaster, (Scribe Scroll)
Ftr1: Improved Initiative
Wiz2: Craft Wand
Wiz3:
Wiz4:
Wiz5: (Craft Wondrous), Still Spell
...and so on.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

My first 3E character was a wizard. Dwarf Fighter 1/Wizard 9, by the time he retired. He ran around in full plate mail and tower shield and used self-crafted wands and non-somatic spells. Horribly effective, even before all the crazy reserve feat spells.

How often did you make your DM cry?

 

[IamTheTest]

Amazing suggestions so far. I think that a great tactic for a Wiz1 is to keep the fighter happy. A True Strike here or a SM1 to get flanking bonuses is a pretty beautiful thing. Im not sure Ive ever heard a fellow player complain about having a +20 to attack.

 

[FreeXenon]

True Strike, If I remember correctly, is range personal so it will only work on the caster, and SM spells only last 1 round/level which would net you one round or flanking. If that is enough for your uses then rock on.