What is the drawback for the UA domain wizard?

[Starman]

Am I just crazy or is there no drawback to the domain wizard variant in UA? I've read it several times now and I'm wondering if my reading comprehension has fallen to a grade school level or something because I cannot see any drawbacks to this variant. As it reads to me, you get an extra spell known of every spell level, you cast an additional spell per day from your domain, and you cast domain spells at +1 caster level.

Someone please tell me I can't read and that there is some penalty for getting all of these benefits.

Starman

 

[Chroma]

If I remember correctly from earlier discussion, there are no "drawbacks" as it's meant to completely replace the wizard/specialist if you're using that variant class, so there's no need to balance it against them.

 

[Starman]

Ah, well, that would explain it, I suppose. I'm not sure I like it, though.

Starman

 

[Doomhawk]

I say that the "designed to replace specialist wizards" explanation is meaningless. Why would any wizard NOT specialize under these rules? This is why, IMC, I have a house rule: "UA class variants are allowed... except the Domain Wizard."

 

[Silveras]

If I remember correctly from earlier discussion, there are no "drawbacks" as it's meant to completely replace the wizard/specialist if you're using that variant class, so there's no need to balance it against them.

Not quite. There is no drawback, that is true. However, DMs have the choice of making it available alongside "standard" wizards or replacing them. And the variant does not replace specialists; specialists are simply not allowed to take Domains. A DM is free to use the regular Specialist Wizard, an assortment of the variant Specialist Wizards from UA, the "generic" Wizard, AND the Domain Wizard all in the same world if s/he wishes.

On the other hand, because there *is* no drawback, the availability of the Domain Wizard makes "generic" Wizards much less appealing, which would mean that PC Wizards would just about always be Domain Wizards.

Since the concept first appeared as a couple of Feats in the Forgotten Realms, I have chosen that route for my campaign world. The "Tradition Trained" feat, available only at 1st level, allows a non-Specialist Wizard to gain the benefits of an Arcane Domain. Which Domains are available varies with the home region of the character.

 

[Chroma]

When using the domain wizard in a campaign it's the only type of wizard that should be allowed in play; it's not supposed to be used with base wizards or specialist as well. It is most certainly not "balanced" in a game with vanilla wizards, it's in all ways better.

Not all the variant rules in UA are designed/balanced to be played in the same game. I like the use of domain wizards in a game where there are spellcasting Houses that follow certain themes and have access to certain domains, similar to clerics following specific gods. There's no way I'd allow them in my standard game that uses the standard wizard though and that's not the point of the variant.

 

[ruleslawyer]

Since the concept first appeared as a couple of Feats in the Forgotten Realms, I have chosen that route for my campaign world. The "Tradition Trained" feat, available only at 1st level, allows a non-Specialist Wizard to gain the benefits of an Arcane Domain. Which Domains are available varies with the home region of the character.

This is a really good idea, and does involve paying for the benefits. I'd say a feat is a fair price for the domain wizard bennies; while the additional spell slot and +1 caster level are pretty powerful, a 1st-level feat is valuable enough that at least SOME characters will be generic wizards.

Actually, I'm wondering whether a better approach isn't to forego the extra specialist spell slot entirely. I've never really liked that mechanic; specialists should be better at what they do than generic wizards, not better at bulk spellcasting, which is what the extra slot mechanic seems to accomplish. Given the domain wizard variant, I might suggest knocking all the domain spells down a spell level and foregoing the extra slot; it's kinda powerful (notably shapechange and shades as 8th-level spells for the Illusion and Transmutation domains) but not necessarily game-breaking.

 

[Silveras]

When using the domain wizard in a campaign it's the only type of wizard that should be allowed in play; it's not supposed to be used with base wizards or specialist as well. It is most certainly not "balanced" in a game with vanilla wizards, it's in all ways better.

That is your opinion. The text in Unearthed Arcana (p. 47, column 1, paragraph 3) says that it is the DM's decision whether to allow any of the variants with or in place of the standard classes or other variants.

While I agree that the Domain Wizard is "superior", mechanically, to standard Wizards, that does not make them unplayable together. The variants add a bunch of tools to the DM's toolset; which ones to use for a particular game will depend on the tone the DM wishes to set. I am quite sure that a creative enough DM can use both types of Wizard in the same game, though I am equally sure that the presence of some additional element(s) will be required to balance them properly.

 

[Silveras]

Actually, I'm wondering whether a better approach isn't to forego the extra specialist spell slot entirely. I've never really liked that mechanic; specialists should be better at what they do than generic wizards, not better at bulk spellcasting, which is what the extra slot mechanic seems to accomplish. Given the domain wizard variant, I might suggest knocking all the domain spells down a spell level and foregoing the extra slot; it's kinda powerful (notably shapechange and shades as 8th-level spells for the Illusion and Transmutation domains) but not necessarily game-breaking.

That is partially why I restricted certain domains to certain areas. The cold-dwelling people of Untamalu in my homebrew, for example, have access to the Cold domain, but most other places do not. Of course, since most Untamalui are villains in my games, very few people trust Untamalui mages. Oh, and I don't allow *all* the domains, because some spells might be too powerful.

Unearthed Arcana is a book of options. An important thing when using options is knowing when to say "no".

 

[Li Shenron]

Not all the variant rules in UA are designed/balanced to be played in the same game.

What is sad is that the Domain Wizard is the only variant which has only benefits and no drawback compared to the (non-specialised) core class, while every other variant class in UA has something more and something less (even if the result may be overall better, there's still a reason left to keep the core class in the game).

The benefit of domain wizards renders the non-specialist core wizard straight worse, with no reason to be one if you can choose. There are still reasons to be a specialist instead. I thought a cost in terms of feats would be good, but one is a little cheap IMO.