Redux: Specialist Wizards

[Astalanya]

Sitting here reading through a few threads got me thinking: is there a way to expand on specialist wizards? I don't mean tweaking the core class, maybe more like offering feat options or prestige class abilities.

I'm of the mind that losing two schools of spells for an extra spell per level can be a fairly hard sell. I'm trying to brainstorm alternatives for them.

Obvious ones:
* Spell Foci/Greater Spell Foci -- DCs are harder to resist.
* Improved Defense -- Gain bonus to saving throws vs that school.

Ideas:
* Reduced item creation price for items with only that school?
* Bonuses to learn that spell?
* Lowered spell creation costs?

 

[Vrecknidj]

Ideas:

Give them a +1 caster level for spells cast in their specialty school.
Give them Spell Penetration for free, but only for their specialty school.
Give them Spell Resistance for free, equal to their caster level, but only against spells of their school.

Dave

 

[Li Shenron]

Sitting here reading through a few threads got me thinking: is there a way to expand on specialist wizards? I don't mean tweaking the core class, maybe more like offering feat options or prestige class abilities.

I totally agree that specializations should have more options and I also agree that they don't need power-ups, just more stuff to choose. Unearthed Arcana has introduced some good ideas which I will tell you later below...

Obvious ones:
* Spell Foci/Greater Spell Foci -- DCs are harder to resist.
* Improved Defense -- Gain bonus to saving throws vs that school.

In T&B there is a feat call Arcane Defense which gives a bonus to ST vs. a school, the only issue is that you must have Spell Focus in that schools first of all, which I think it was not strictly necessary - you could make someone oriented to defense against magic, and not necessarily a spellcaster either!

Now about UA... for each of the 8 specialist, the book gives you 3 options, one of which "costs" you the extra spell slots per day, another costs the wizard bonus feats (4 or 5) and another you can have it in place of the familar. Many of these options are quite on the weak side power-wise, but some are definitely not, and all of them are quite flavorful. It's important to notice that you can just take one of the three, or two, or three...

I have UA with me today, so I'll go check it out and quote an example in a few minutes

 

[Li Shenron]

I'll give you two examples from Unearthed Arcana, the options for Evocation and Necromancy. Obviously, you have to be a specialist in that school to choose this features, but you can rule that you don't even need to if you want (except of course those features that cost you the bonus spell slots) and even make some available to other classes.

Evoker

Overcome resistance: once per day + one extra time per day every 2 levels beyond 1st, a spell cast by the evoker partially ignores a target's resistance to the spell's energy type (the resistance is treated as 10 points lower).
Cost: an evoker with this feature doesn't get bonus spell slots from specialization.

Energy Sustitution: once per day every 5 levels, the evoker can freely change one spell that has an energy type (fire, cold ,electricity, acid, sonic) to any other energy type.
Cost: the wizard bonus feats at levels multiples of 5.

Energy Affinity: +1 caster level on spells of one energy type of your choice.
Cost: familiar

Necromancer

Enhanced Undead: all undead created with your spells have +4 to Strength and Dexterity and +2 Hp per HD.
Cost: an evoker with this feature doesn't get bonus spell slots from specialization.

Undead Apotheosis: at level 5 you get +2 bonus to ST vs sleep, stun, paralysis, poison and disease; at level 10 you get +4 bonus to ST vs ability damage, ability drain and energy drain; at level 15 the bonus vs sleep, stun, paralysis, poison and disease increases to +4; at level 20 you get 20% resistance to critical hits.
Cost: the wizard bonus feats at levels multiples of 5.

Skeletal Minion: instead of the normal familiar, you have a human warrior skeleton companion with HD equal to your level (no special abilities like the familiar, but bonuses to Str, Dex, nat armor, and it doesn't cause Xp loss if destroyed).
Cost: familiar