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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Hawken" data-source="post: 4512712" data-attributes="member: 23619">Note: I'm going for emphatic with my statements, not hostile or insulting. So, don't take anything too personal. Why give abilities at 3, 8, 13, 18? What is the significance of those levels?I think it would be best to prevent specialization before 3rd level. Look at college for an example: Yes, students can declare their major (specialization) early on, but for the most part, the first two years (levels) is for getting the general requirements out of the way before any time is wasted working toward a major (specialization) they may not want once they learn more about it. You could make a requirement for specialization to have 3 spells of the desired specialty school per spell level (0, 1st and 2nd), as well as having Spell Focus in the desired school.Consider different names for a non-specialist wizard too. Page: "Introduce yourselves to the King!"X: "I'm X the Conjurer!"Y: "I'm Y the Enchantress!"Z: "I'm Z the...uh, generalist...uh, wizard!"Page: "So, X and Y are not wizards?"X: "No sir! I'm a wizard, but as a Conjurer, I'm especially good at Conjuration."Y: "And I'm especially good at Enchantments."Page: "So, Z, what is it you are especially good at?"Z: "...nothing."Also, your abilities for Generalists suck. 3 extra class skills. Big deal! Even with the 2 extra skill points per level, that's still not enough points to seriously invest in other skills, when wizards are forced to rely on an exceptional Intelligence just to get a mediocre amount of skills to begin with. And extra class skills does not compensate for the deficiency in power compared to your specialists.+2 to Arcana and Spellcraft. Lame! That doesn't help a Generalist in the slightest and is crappy when you compare it to the benefits of a specialist--any of the ones you've listed.Abjurers get Energy Resistance. Conjurers swap out spells. Diviners get to cast Identify in 1 round instead of 1 HOUR. Enchanters get extra long enchantment spells. Evokers get increased spell levels AND energy resistance. Illusionists get bonuses to saves or gets a save on Illusions. Necromancers get an undead minion. Transmuters get a +2 bonus to a stat.The Generalist benefits are a joke compared to any of those and they actually get worse as their levels increase! Spell Mastery may be neat for 1st level, but it is ludicrous to give it to them at 18th level when they have the potential to alter reality (Wish!).What you need to do is make non-specialized wizardry something worth pursuing. Your write ups practically force wizards to choose a specialty otherwise they are going to fall behind on the power curve in relation to specialists and even other classes if you are beefing up other classes (you mentioned Monk and Sorcerer).The extra spell in the spellbook and bonus to Spellcraft balance out the lack of spells from forbidden schools that specialists get. But there is nothing to balance out the extra 10 spells a day (levels 0-9) a specialist gets that a non-specialist does not. Here's a couple of suggestions you could give for Arcanists (my name for non-specialist Wizards--just off the top of my head). These are in keeping with the suggestion of not allowing specialization until 3rd level. Level 1: The Wizard chooses one of the following abilities: Cantrip Expertise or Preferred School.Cantrip Expertise: The Arcanist can cast an extra number of cantrips per day equal to 1/2 of their Intelligence modifier and for purposes of Save DCs, their Cantrips are treated as 1st level spells.Preferred School: The Arcanist chooses a school of magic. He gets a +2 bonus to Spellcraft checks related to magic and spells from this school and gets 1 extra spell (from the chosen school) per spell level to scribe into hisspellbook. The wizard must also choose the school(s) of spells that his specialization will cause him to neglect. The wizard cannot learn or cast Cantrips or 1st level spells from these Forbidden Schools.Level 2: The Wizard gains one of the following; Specialty School if he has chosen the Preferred School benefit at 1st level; or Versatile Arcanist I if he had selected Cantrip Expertise.Specialty School: The specialist wizard can prepare and cast 1 extra Cantrip and 1st level spell each day. This extra spell must be from his school selected in his Preferred School ability gained at 1st level. Versatile Arcanist I: The Arcanist can cast any one extra 1st (or 2nd) level spell per day. This extra spell can be any prepared spell. Level 3: Arcanists gain Cantrip Mastery at this level. Wizards that have selected Preferred School and Specialty school must now commit to becoming a Specialist Wizard or give up their specialization and become an Arcanist. Specialists that decide to give up their specialty do not gain Cantrip Expertise or Cantrip Mastery and their Specialty School ability switches to Versatile Arcanist I. Specialists that become Arcanists can now start learning and using magic from their previously Forbidden Schools.Cantrip Mastery: The Arcanist has achieved such a degree of skill and familiarity with Cantrips that he no longer needs to prepare them ahead of time or study them from a spellbook.Specialist Wizard: The wizard commits himself to being a Specialist. His Preferred School and Specialty School abilities now apply to all spell levels he can cast and he gains his first tier of specialist abilities.Level 4: Arcanists gain Complete Casting while specialists receive the Spell Focus feat for the school of magic they selected at 1st level.Complete Casting: The Arcanist can 'expend' his extra spell from Versatile Arcanist to successfully complete a spell if casting is interrupted and the Arcanist fails his Concentration check to finish casting the spell.Level 8: Arcanists gain Versatile Arcanist II while specialists gain their 2nd tier abilities.Versatile Arcanist II: The Arcanist can cast any TWO extra 1st or 2nd level spells per day, as per Versatile Arcanist I. The Arcanist also can now cast one extra 3rd or 4th level spell per day, selected from any prepared 3rd or 4th level spell. Level 13: Arcanists gain Versatile Arcanist III while specialists gain their 3rd tier abilities.Versatile Arcanist III: The Arcanist can cast any THREE extra 1st or 2nd level spells per day from prepared spells, and also cast TWO extra 3rd or 4th level spells per day from prepared spells, and also cast ONE extra 5th or 6th level spells per day from prepared spells.Level 18: Arcanists gain Versatile Arcanist IV while specialists gain their 4th tier abilities.Versatile Arcanist IV: These benefits replace those of Versatile Arcanist III. The Arcanist can now cast a total of THREE extra 1st or 2nd level spells, TWO extra 3rd or 4th level spells, TWO extra 5th or 6th level spells and ONE extra 7th, 8th or 9th level spells from the Arcanists list of prepared spells.</blockquote>

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