Hashmalum said:
I've often noticed (and complained about) the apparently random way WotC assigns spell schools. It's reached the point where I simply take whatever school they slap on a spell as a suggestion rather than a rule. Personally, I would rather that the school of the spell make logical sense in terms of what it does than all eight possible specialist wizards be "balanced".
I agree. The same goes for other mechanics relating to specialisation. What is the logical justification for making Divination a special case? Only the fact that all wizards need Read Magic, which could just be put into Universal anyway. If players want to drop Divination then let 'em.
(1) There are plenty of viable class choices already. Without any specialization whatsoever, we already have nearly a dozen base classes (without even counting possibly viable "NPC" classes) and it seems like we get more in every new sourcebook.
(2) Contrawise, there are so many sub-optimal choices already that obsessing about weak specialist wizards is a total waste of time and effort.
Oddly enough, I think that changes to school specialisation in 3.5 were made because of the perception that generalist wizards were weak. Which is even more silly really, since out of the 9 wizard variants, only one was considered to be a problem (and even that was debatable, given a generalist's overall flexibility).
Seems like they 'solved' one 'problem' and created a dozen more...
(3) An overpowered spell can wreck game balance faster than almost anything else. Consequently, any DM who accepts any and all spells thrown his way--whether from WotC or elsewhere--is a fool. But once you start rejecting spells--which any good DM will--you throw off WotC's attempts to "balance" the various schools. So school "balancing" is doomed from the start.
Yes, if this really is WotC's intention, then it is futile. Have they actually said that the task of balancing the schools is ongoing? I've seen a few references to this now....
(4) If it is unclear how spell schools are assigned, it becomes much easier for munchkin players to shoehorn their custom spells into any school of magic they want--which (surprise, surprise) happens to be the one they've specialized in and maxed out their save DCs with Spell Focus etc.
There are already a few inconsistencies in the core rules, and those Orb spells in Complete Arcane have really blurred the line between Evocation and Conjuration. If barred schools are to count for anything, then clear spell school guidelines (that WotC themselves follow!) are an absolute must. The situation you've described above is much more likely to upset balance then any perceived problems in the 3.0 system.
I'm just going to pretend those Orb spells never happened. *hides*
(5) Finally, as long as it is clear what effect belongs in what school, filling "holes" in the spell list to "balance" the schools of magic isn't a problem. People like making up new spells, which is why we have so many. Any hole that you can dig, we can fill. So don't worry about it!
I think that certain schools lend themselves much more readily to new spells, as can be seen from supplements like T&B and Complete Arcane. This is assuming that you don't blur the line between the schools. Necromancy and Divination will probably never have as many useful spells as Conjuration or Transmutation. Abjuration lends itself to many cool ideas, but these are often specialised spells that 'react' to certain situations. Illusion didn't get much coverage in the last supplement, primarily because new spells just tend to be specialised versions of other spell from that school. Enchantment contains a number of important spells, and does have a good potential for expansion, as does Evocation. The latter of these two has suffered a bit from increased hitpoints and SR, but it is still a versatile and powerful school, and the various non-damaging force effects add a new dimension when trying to create spells.
Hence, when I outlined my modifed school idea above, I was considering not just the power and number of spells at present, but also the potential for expansion. Having thought about it a bit more, I think it does strike the right balance
Major: Conjuration, Enchantment, Evocation, Transmutation
Minor: Abjuration, Divination, Illusion, Necromancy
