Menu
News
All News
Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
Pathfinder
Starfinder
Warhammer
2d20 System
Year Zero Engine
Industry News
Reviews
Dragon Reflections
Columns
Weekly Digests
Weekly News Digest
Freebies, Sales & Bundles
RPG Print News
RPG Crowdfunding News
Game Content
ENterplanetary DimENsions
Mythological Figures
Opinion
Worlds of Design
Peregrine's Next
RPG Evolution
Other Columns
From the Freelancing Frontline
Monster ENcyclopedia
WotC/TSR Alumni Look Back
4 Hours w/RSD (Ryan Dancey)
The Road to 3E (Jonathan Tweet)
Greenwood's Realms (Ed Greenwood)
Drawmij's TSR (Jim Ward)
Community
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Resources
Wiki
Pages
Latest activity
Media
New media
New comments
Search media
Downloads
Latest reviews
Search resources
EN Publishing
Store
EN5ider
Adventures in ZEITGEIST
Awfully Cheerful Engine
What's OLD is NEW
Judge Dredd & The Worlds Of 2000AD
War of the Burning Sky
Level Up: Advanced 5E
Events & Releases
Upcoming Events
Private Events
Featured Events
Socials!
Twitch
YouTube
Facebook (EN Publishing)
Facebook (EN World)
Twitter
Instagram
TikTok
Podcast
Features
Top 5 RPGs Compiled Charts 2004-Present
Adventure Game Industry Market Research Summary (RPGs) V1.0
Ryan Dancey: Acquiring TSR
Q&A With Gary Gygax
D&D Rules FAQs
TSR, WotC, & Paizo: A Comparative History
D&D Pronunciation Guide
Million Dollar TTRPG Kickstarters
Tabletop RPG Podcast Hall of Fame
Eric Noah's Unofficial D&D 3rd Edition News
D&D in the Mainstream
D&D & RPG History
About Morrus
Log in
Register
What's new
Search
Search
Search titles only
By:
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Menu
Log in
Register
Install the app
Install
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*Dungeons & Dragons
The Specialist Wizard - the Wizard 2.0
JavaScript is disabled. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding.
You are using an out of date browser. It may not display this or other websites correctly.
You should upgrade or use an
alternative browser
.
Reply to thread
Message
<blockquote data-quote="Tony Vargas" data-source="post: 9173172" data-attributes="member: 996"><p>The idea of a specialist wizard is an old one, the 1e Illusionist was the first in a D&D book (it was preceded by an 0e class that appeared in The Strategic Review), 2e literally had a 'Specialist' and 3e had an option for specialists in their wizard.</p><p></p><p>The 1e Illusionist had a smaller spell list, focused on illusions, that only went up to 7th (only magic-users ever got 8th or 9th level spells), but it had spells the MU didn't, and got some illusion spells at lower level.</p><p>The 2e Specialist had two or three opposition schools based on the specialty school, but otherwise learned and cast the same remaining spells at the same levels as generalists.</p><p>The 3e Specialist chose two opposition schools (other than divination - or only one if a diviner - divination being a smaller school)</p><p></p><p>You should already be seeing the consistent D&D trend of restrictions falling away from casters from one edition to the next. <img src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7" class="smilie smilie--sprite smilie--sprite11" alt=":rolleyes:" title="Roll eyes :rolleyes:" loading="lazy" data-shortname=":rolleyes:" /></p><p></p><p>4e didn't organize spells into schools, so there were no specialists.</p><p>Essentials added specialist mages (wizard sub-class) who gained benefits with their specialty school, only (existing spells were assigned to schools), but faced no restrictions on what spells they could learn.</p><p>5e specialists gain benefits with their specialty school, but face no restrictions on what spells they can learn.</p><p></p><p>So, specialists working from a smaller spell list was a very consistent idea through the game's history, only really being done away with in Essentials & 5e, where the only thing that remained was gaining benefits... </p><p>IIRC, 5e never got an official generalist?</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Tony Vargas, post: 9173172, member: 996"] The idea of a specialist wizard is an old one, the 1e Illusionist was the first in a D&D book (it was preceded by an 0e class that appeared in The Strategic Review), 2e literally had a 'Specialist' and 3e had an option for specialists in their wizard. The 1e Illusionist had a smaller spell list, focused on illusions, that only went up to 7th (only magic-users ever got 8th or 9th level spells), but it had spells the MU didn't, and got some illusion spells at lower level. The 2e Specialist had two or three opposition schools based on the specialty school, but otherwise learned and cast the same remaining spells at the same levels as generalists. The 3e Specialist chose two opposition schools (other than divination - or only one if a diviner - divination being a smaller school) You should already be seeing the consistent D&D trend of restrictions falling away from casters from one edition to the next. :rolleyes: 4e didn't organize spells into schools, so there were no specialists. Essentials added specialist mages (wizard sub-class) who gained benefits with their specialty school, only (existing spells were assigned to schools), but faced no restrictions on what spells they could learn. 5e specialists gain benefits with their specialty school, but face no restrictions on what spells they can learn. So, specialists working from a smaller spell list was a very consistent idea through the game's history, only really being done away with in Essentials & 5e, where the only thing that remained was gaining benefits... IIRC, 5e never got an official generalist? [/QUOTE]
Insert quotes…
Verification
Post reply
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*Dungeons & Dragons
The Specialist Wizard - the Wizard 2.0
Top