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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Hashmalum" data-source="post: 1909047" data-attributes="member: 9450">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". The reasons I have for feeling this way are these:(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.(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.(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.(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!</blockquote>

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