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<blockquote data-quote="The Shadow" data-source="post: 5800989" data-attributes="member: 16760">I agree with just about everything else you've written, but disagree here.&nbsp; While I am not by any stretch an AD&amp;D grognard, the Illusionist is one thing from 1e that I do genuinely miss.The class had tons of flavor that was lost by making it simply a specialist wizard...&nbsp; The illusionist was not merely barred from a school or two;&nbsp; he had illusions, enchantments, and shadow-magic, and that was pretty much it!&nbsp; (Well, and a few divinations.)&nbsp; He pretty much had to be a sneaky bastard just to get by, and I loved it.&nbsp; Also, do remember that the best Illusionist spells were off-limits to ordinary magic-users!&nbsp; The Illusionist was supreme in his area, limited as it was.In my view, three-quarters of the flavor of the gnome race (which I dearly love) was lost in turning Illusionist into a wizard specialization.Now, you mention Necromancers, and I do have to say, of all the different variant wizards, they do come in second in terms of flavor.&nbsp; However, I think they still do come in second, simply because necromancers do often dabble in other forms of magic.The other wizard specialties simply do not have the legendary resonance of those two.&nbsp; Elementalists, maybe.&nbsp; But Evokers? Transmuters?&nbsp; Not really.&nbsp; I would argue they don't rate classes of their own.&nbsp; (Though a case could maybe be made for a Conjuror/Summoner class - though the implementation would have to be better than any I've yet seen.&nbsp; The Pathfinder Summoner leaves me cold.)Do all these variants deserve space in the PH1?&nbsp; Probably not.&nbsp; But I'm pulling for the Illusionist to make it, just because it has so much history with D&amp;D gnomes.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="The Shadow, post: 5800989, member: 16760"] I agree with just about everything else you've written, but disagree here. While I am not by any stretch an AD&D grognard, the Illusionist is one thing from 1e that I do genuinely miss. The class had tons of flavor that was lost by making it simply a specialist wizard... The illusionist was not merely barred from a school or two; he had illusions, enchantments, and shadow-magic, and that was pretty much it! (Well, and a few divinations.) He pretty much had to be a sneaky bastard just to get by, and I loved it. Also, do remember that the best Illusionist spells were off-limits to ordinary magic-users! The Illusionist was supreme in his area, limited as it was. In my view, three-quarters of the flavor of the gnome race (which I dearly love) was lost in turning Illusionist into a wizard specialization. Now, you mention Necromancers, and I do have to say, of all the different variant wizards, they do come in second in terms of flavor. However, I think they still do come in second, simply because necromancers do often dabble in other forms of magic. The other wizard specialties simply do not have the legendary resonance of those two. Elementalists, maybe. But Evokers? Transmuters? Not really. I would argue they don't rate classes of their own. (Though a case could maybe be made for a Conjuror/Summoner class - though the implementation would have to be better than any I've yet seen. The Pathfinder Summoner leaves me cold.) Do all these variants deserve space in the PH1? Probably not. But I'm pulling for the Illusionist to make it, just because it has so much history with D&D gnomes. [/QUOTE]

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