Wizard Specialists

[Vrecknidj]

I'm hoping to find someone else's house rules on something. I'm not a big fan of the core rules for specialization. I like the idea of specialist wizards, but I don't like the rule that requires giving up spells of other schools.

Also, although some other systems exist (spell points, etc.) for creating what would be, in effect, a specialist, I'm hoping that someone out there also likes the idea of specialist wizards and didn't like the way they were presented in the core rules, and created something already.

Anyone?

Barring that, anyone have any suggestions for how to create balanced specialist wizards without prohibiting them from using spells of other schools? I've thought of a few things, but I haven't play-tested any.

1) Require a Spellcraft check to cast spells from any other school but their speciality.
2) Limit their spells per day in certain schools, but not prohibit their use.
3) Make specialists into prestige classes.

Dave

 

[robberbaron]

Require a Spellcraft check to cast spells from any other school but their speciality.

Might work. It would have to be a high enough DC to balance the extra spell but might work.

Limit their spells per day in certain schools, but not prohibit their use.

Nightmare to housekeep, and you have to trust the players, but could work.

Make specialists into prestige classes.

And give them a few more powers, I suppose.
Again, might work.

Basically, my feeling is that there has to be a downside to specialisation but, perhaps losing 2 fields of magic is a bit harsh. Try only proscribing 1 field and see how the character pans out. If it isn't much of a downside then the original rules were OK.

 

[the Jester]

Hmm, I'm all for turning them into prcs.

 

[Nightstorm]

Hmm, I'm all for turning them into prcs.

Look at Unearthed Arcana there are cool alternatives there.

 

[Terath Ninir]

Actually, I just got an idea for turning them into prestige classes rejected by Dragon.

Even though *they* don't like it, I think that would be the best way to go. Have them be ordinary wizards to start with. I think good prereqs would be the ability to cast 3rd level spells and knowing a certain number of spells of the school they're going in to. Seven springs to mind -- I think I've seen that number used for other PrC's.

The specialist would keep any spells learned already, but would get a banned school when they signed up for the PrC, and more as they rise in level. (This would be to "pay" for nifty abilities. They also lose the bonus wizard feats.) So they could know any low-level spells, but would be more and more limited with their high-level spells.

The benefits could be various. Access to non-wizard spells of the school they're in -- just a few, though; that's a pretty potent ability. Bonuses to caster level and DC when casting spells, and save bonuses against spells of the school.

The diviner would need more goodies (such as access to cleric divinations), while the evoker would probably have the least. The other classes would be in between. Illusionists would need slightly different bonuses, since I'm pretty sure there are no illusions that aren't wizard spells. Perhaps a disbelief save at -10 (or even -15) on illusions even without interaction.

If you have Unearthed Arcana, I think the prestige paladin and ranger would be excellent guides to help with the idea.

 

[JimAde]

1) Require a Spellcraft check to cast spells from any other school but their speciality.

It would be more in keeping with the existing rules to make them roll only for the "proscribed" school(s). Make the DC's high enough that they fail a significant percentage of the time, but allow for taking 10 and taking 20 out of combat.

If you're willing to do this, you could take it a step further. Require a Spellcraft (or maybe Concentration) check for ALL casting, but give bonuses for in-specialty spells and/or penalties for out-of-specialty. You could tweak the bonus/penalty amount for Diviners if you wanted.

Spell-casting has always seemed flat to me anyway. I like the idea of requiring a roll. To maintain balance you'd have to give something to make up for the occasional failure. Not sure what.

EDIT: Actually you probably shouldn't allow taking 20, since that assumes failures which would expend the spell slot.

 

[Vrecknidj]

Thanks everybody for the suggestions so far. I've also posted this to the D&D-list and I've gotten some good feedback there too.

I still haven't decided which way to go, but I think what I'll do is create one prestige class for each school of magic and see if I like them. Also, I'll try creating a core class called Specialty Wizard, or something like that, and work out the rules for it. The spellcraft check idea seems to resonate with several people, but my concern is that since many spells already allow a save, players might feel that requiring two rolls (three if SR is involved) promotes too much likelihood for failure. We'll see.

I'm still looking forward to more replies.

Dave

 

[Ferret]

To simplify the 'less spells' bit just have one, or 2 less.

 

[mercucio]

First off, I agree with you. Being a specialist in 3.5 blows. Lose 2 schools for 1 extra spell per level per day? That is sooo not balanced

This one is easy fixed from my perspective: make the benefits of specialization feat based. For instance, arcane defense (from T&B), spell focus, greater spell focus, and I think 2-3 more feats are all school specific. Using them and a variant of the martial arts rules from Oriental Adventures can give you what you are looking for. For example:

Specialist Mastery I
Requirements: Spell Focus, ability to cast 5 spells from your chosen school

Benefit: You gain a +2 bonus on all Spellcraft checks involving your chosen school.

Special: You may only specialize in 1 school of magic.

Specialist Mastery II
Requirements: Spell Focus, Spell Penetration, Spellcraft 7 ranks, Specialist Mastery I

Benefit: You gain a +1 bonus on all caster level checks involving your chosen school.

Specialist Mastery III
Requirements: Arcane Defense, Spell Focus, Greater Spell Focus, Spellcraft 10 ranks, Specialist Mastery II

Benefit: You gain the ability to prepare 1 additional spell per spell level from your chosen school.


Mind you these are some quick ideas off the top of my head, and probally need some more research, but it's late and I need sleep =).