D&D 5E What are THE wizard spells?

[CreamCloud0]

This is a thought prompted by discussions in some of the other wizard threads that have been around but what spells are the most wizardy spells out there? if you had to distil their massive arcane spell list into The Most Fundamentals Thematically 'Wizard' Spell List There Ever Was, what would be on it? and i'm not just talking about picking spells for 'the wizard class' or that have always been on the wizard's spell list for a long time/many editions, i'm talking about the core idea of the intelectual who masters their control of the arcane through study, careful experimentation and research.

Oh sure spells like charm person, mage armour and leomund's tiny hut might be good spells but are they good wizardy spells? (by that same token just because a spell is a bad spell doesn't mean that it's a bad wizardy spell) now i'm not saying those spells couldn't be 'wizard spells' i'm just posing the question and asking you to think about if they are, like, charm person obviously falls much more into the bard's themes, mage armour feels like something that might be more along the sorcerer's alley? an informally taught mage who learns to channel their natural magic around their body to protect themselves, and tiny hut feel like it'd fit right in with the ranger's bunch of spells that simulate survival skills being able to create safe protected haven for the party to rest in in any environent.

Now i'm aware there's more than just one kind of wizard so if you want to divide up some of your picks into different spell list suggestions feel free to do something like that.

 

[iserith]

Fireball - the thinking man's spell.

 

[CreamCloud0]

Fireball - the thinking man's spell.

i'm not sure i really expected the first answer to be anything else, but, and i say this irregardless of if i think you picked fireball actually thinking about the criteria or not, i'm going to reiterate: this is not a thread asking about the classic wizard class's spells or the powerful or the iconic or the meme spells, this is asking what spells do you truly think fit the themes of the wizard as a concept

 

[Tales and Chronicles]

Most arcane rituals and named spells, IMHO.

But honestly, no spells on the list feels ''wizard-y'' to me. The casting system does, though.

Going even farther, I'd say it'd be pretty easy to make specialized spell list divided between the other arcane casters (warlock, sorcerer, bards) and simply removing the wizard.

Bard -> charms, illusions, reading/understanding spells
Sorcerer -> Blasts, Self-transmutation, spell blocking
Warlock -> Divination, Creepy summoning, curses

Now, we could carve a niche for the Wizard, going for mind-over-matter spells, but that would be stepping on the toes of hypothetical psionic casters. I'd go with spells like the Dunmancy and Graviturgy of Wildemount, making the wizards use magic of space-time with a good dose of psychic attacks. In short, go all-in on the pseudo-science magic!

 

[aco175]

what spells do you truly think fit the themes of the wizard as a concept

It is rather open to the concept of each poster. I tend to think of a blaster with spells like fireball and magic missile. I also like utility wizards with little destruction spells and tend to have spells like tiny hut, fly, and unseen servant.

I think we will see 20 concepts and not really agree on that point first.

 

[azabaro]

Most arcane rituals and named spells, IMHO.

The named spells are a good point: these aren’t natural or intuitive functions of magic, but things that specific individuals brought into being by their own efforts.

I’d also include Read Magic - fundamentally a spell about running into someone else’s writings and turning them into something you can work with (and - since OD&D - giving you the ability to learn a spell written on a scroll).

 

[Undrave]

Hmm…

Mage Hand, Magic Missile, Sleep, Fireball… Maybe Detect Magic and Counterspell?

 

[Shiroiken]

Magic Missile, Shield, and Detect Magic are classic "wizard" spells.

 

[Tonguez]

The Core Bookish Wizard is primarily a knowledge based class dedicated to identifying and understanding the nature, sources and symbology of magic. thus

Knowledge Spells
Detect Magic & Identify Magic
Magic Writing/Glyph spells including Illusory Script, Symbol and Magic Circle
Legend Lore, Arcane Eye and Scry (Research spells)

Research Utility
Counterspell and Dispel Magic
Mage Hand & Bigbys Hand as well as Animate Objects (via invisible hamds?) maybe Dancing Lights
The Teleport line including Misty Step, Dimensiion Door, Arcane Gate, Farstep etc

*The Teleport spells do overlap with planar stuff (especially with magic circle here) but I’d sperate out Summoner from Core Wizardry

Other Wizardy Spells - these just seem wizardy to me
Invisibility
Levitate
Magic Mouth
Phantasmal Force
Feeblemimd
Contingency
Creation - an extension of teleports has creation via pulling stuff from portals

 

[Maxperson]

To me you have to hearken back to 1e to get the spells.

Charm Person
Detect Magic
Feather Fall
Find Familiar
Identify
Magic Missile
Read Magic
Shield
Sleep
Unseen Servant

Basically the iconic 1e spells that every magic user took at each level.

At level 2

Invisibility
Knock
Levitation
Magic Mouth
Mirror Image
Rope Trick
Stinking Cloud
Web
Wizard Lock

And so on.