Wizard School Specializations

Why do I give up 2 schools for a Transmuter(with at least one being a "tier 2" school) when I only have to give up one to get the (with the splatbooks)equally powerful Necromancer?

You don't. You can give up either Conjuration or Evocation. That's one school, and since the balance, in your opinion, has shifted until all schools are worth the same, giving up Conjuration shouldn't hurt any more than giving up Divination or Necromancy, say.

Where's the problem? Either Conjuration isn't worth more than Divination - in which case your Transmuter can ditch it with no complaint - or it is - in which case the weighted-schools system makes sense.

You can't complain both ways at the same time!

-Hyp.
 

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Hypersmurf said:


You don't. You can give up either Conjuration or Evocation. That's one school, and since the balance, in your opinion, has shifted until all schools are worth the same, giving up Conjuration shouldn't hurt any more than giving up Divination or Necromancy, say.

Where's the problem? Either Conjuration isn't worth more than Divination - in which case your Transmuter can ditch it with no complaint - or it is - in which case the weighted-schools system makes sense.

You can't complain both ways at the same time!

-Hyp.

Now I'm being forced to choose between giving up one school or two. Seems like an easy choice, right? It isnt. Now i'm being penalized for making a style selection of Conjuration over Necro/Div. Or losing two powerful schools over just one.
 

Marshall said:
Now I'm being forced to choose between giving up one school or two. Seems like an easy choice, right? It isnt. Now i'm being penalized for making a style selection of Conjuration over Necro/Div. Or losing two powerful schools over just one.
then if you don't want to lose it, don't play a specialist.


have your cake & eat it too, etc...
 

Saepiroth said:
then if you don't want to lose it, don't play a specialist.


have your cake & eat it too, etc...

Not the argument.

The splatbooks have (more or less)balanced out the various schools. Necromancy is now a viable selection to do direct damage, mind control, summoning, boosting, defense......
Basically all the schools have the option to be as large and versatile as Transmutation.

That being said, it still CAN cost 3 times as many opposition schools to be a Transmuter as an Necromancer especially if you make the style choice to still be able to cast Fireball and Summon Monster I
 

Well, yes, but everything in the splatbooks is only available at the DM's discretion. The school specialisations are balanced in the Core Rules for the schools as presented in the Core Rules.

If the DM deigns to allow all the spells from Tome and Blood, then the DM may choose to revisit the school specialisations.

-Hyp.
 

Hypersmurf said:
Well, yes, but everything in the splatbooks is only available at the DM's discretion. The school specialisations are balanced in the Core Rules for the schools as presented in the Core Rules.

If the DM deigns to allow all the spells from Tome and Blood, then the DM may choose to revisit the school specialisations.

-Hyp.
agreed: rule zero uber alles!
 

Marshall said:


Congratulations! You just pointed out why the opposition school system is completely out of whack!!

Why do I give up 2 schools for a Transmuter(with at least one being a "tier 2" school) when I only have to give up one to get the (with the splatbooks)equally powerful Necromancer?

As has been stated before, with the new spell lists from the splats, the "Balance" between the schools has shifted to the point that the PHB-Weak schools are equal to the PHB-Strong schools. Unfortunately, unless 3.5 does something about it, you are still paying 2-3 times as much to specialise in schools that gain you no particular extra benefit.

Well, do like I do and don't use the splats.
 

Marshall said:


Now I'm being forced to choose between giving up one school or two. Seems like an easy choice, right? It isnt. Now i'm being penalized for making a style selection of Conjuration over Necro/Div. Or losing two powerful schools over just one.

If the choice is difficult, IMO it shows that the balance is ok.
 

While the splat books may have shifted the balance for lots of schools, I haven't seen a lot of new enchantment spells worth having added by the splat books. I've been playing an enchantment specialist, and I'm still stuck with Tasha's Hideous Laughter at 2nd Level, a few choices at 3rd and so on.

I'll freely admit that the enchantment school can be quite powerful in the right hands and the right setting, but it can be quite useless in many other situations.
 

Even in the splat books, Illusion, Divination and Enchantment are hosed at higher levels. All have two levels where they have only one spell, and the rules say that a specialist must take one of his two freebie spells a level in his school. You're either down a spell or have many low-level spells.

One other thing -- Spell Focus. If you're playing an Enchanter, Evoker, Illusionist or Necromancer, you pretty much must take it. So much of your life hangs on the other guy failing his save. This makes some of the weak sister schools (the above save Evoker) even weaker. Abjurers, Conjurers and Diviners do not cast many spells that affect their foes directly, and Transmuters have enough spell choices where one could hold off on this feat.
 

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