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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Set" data-source="post: 3504837" data-attributes="member: 41584">Just about every wizard I ever played more than one time ended up researching a signature spell (or a few).  It was a huge part of the game for me, and what differentiated one wizard from another.We played in the Realms back then, and if you showed up to a Mage Fair, you had to cast a spell of some sort in front of the wardens at the gate to be allowed in.  A mage who cast a 'common' spell like magic missile or dancing lights was admitted, but the mage who cast a spell that the wardens (and other wizards in line) had never seen before got attention and status and a built-in market for his shiny new incantation, if he wanted to sell the secret.  The one time the party entered such an event, my wizard had researched an extremely long range fire-based 1st level magic missile.  Only one missile, doing 1d6 damage plus 1 hp / level, but the range was line of sight, and it made a keen shrieking noise as it rocketed towards it's target.  The warden gestured that it was his turn, and he pointed at the 'fireball range' across the field (a half mile away) and cast his signature spell.  The entire mage-fair saw the missile arc over a half-mile to hit it's target.The best reaction was if you surprised the wardens / onlookers by doing something that *looked* common but turned out to be special, like cast a variation of dancing lights that suddenly rocketed towards a target and burst into dazzling explosions, like fireworks.It was like getting into one of those 'spy' themed bars, where you have to do something interesting in front of the camera, and the people already in the bar vote on whether or not you should be allowed in.  The more interesting the presentation, the better your chances of 'getting in.'[Darn Red Wizards cheated.  They had apprentices whip up 1st level spells that looked flashy but didn't really do anything special, like make a rumble of thunder, or create a glassful of spicy glow-in-the-dark phosphorescent wine, just so that they always had an assortment of 'unique' spells to show off.]These days, I can't even keep up with the published spells.</blockquote>

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