You're a 3.5 Enchanter. What are your opposed schools?

[LeifVignirsson]

Well, considering that I had my Necromancy restriction handed to me from my DM, I really didn't have much of a chice there...

And I decided to drop the illusion as well, seeing that I was going to use my guile to win people over instead of being sneaky.

Sadly, I had to drop the character and go with something else, but I hear that he is doing well for himself as an NPC.

 

[ForceUser]

...and what campaign is this concept for?

It would work equally well in Emoria or in Vymair's upcoming Roman game, I think. Just planning back-up/future character concepts. I am serious about wanting to play a wizard at some point. It's the one archetype I've never really explored in 3E.

 

[Doug McCrae]

Most overrated spell ever.

It's not nearly as good as it was in 1e/2e but it's still good. It's still the spell most often mentioned, no question about that, partly because of its old power and partly because it's so friggin' cool.

 

[Ridley's Cohort]

Overrated, no.
It's just not as necessary as a lot of player's believe.

I'm hard pressed to think of a better standard 3rd level spell to pick as a wizard.

I can see that at lowish levels. IME Haste, Fly, Dispel Magic, and even Displacement more important past 8th or 9th level. Walls are a more reliable against mooks and big monsters alike, but I can see relying on Fireball if your party is small so you need to clear up the battlefield ASAP.

 

[Ormiss]

I'd give up Evocation and Illusion, mostly because they're so common, and because neither contains anything that you simply must have.

However, I would give up Necromancy instead of Illusion, except that I'm not willing to trade away Abi-Dalzim's Horrid Wilting. Remember: Not crediting Abi-Dalzim is copyright infringement and abuse of intellectual property. Dropping the name in 3rd edition only makes him angrier. Abi-Dalzim does not forgive.

 

[MerricB]

If your 3rd level spell is fly instead of fireball, what are you contributing to the party during combat?

I find Enchantment and Illusion to be thematically linked, so I never sacrifice one when I'm specialising in the other.

Cheers!

 

[beaver1024]

If your 3rd level spell is fly instead of fireball, what are you contributing to the party during combat?

I find Enchantment and Illusion to be thematically linked, so I never sacrifice one when I'm specialising in the other.

Cheers!

For a start, by casting fly, the mage is saving the party from consuming precious resources to raise him when he dies. Secondly, the mage wouldn't be frying party members with the difficult to aim fireball, which even if it hits won't do anything significant in any event. Thirdly but most importantly, the mage can cast fly on the fighter and allow the fighter mobility to deliver their killing blows.

I think the general consensus that direct damage spells are mainly useless is correct. The most effective use of a mage is to support party members not to take centre stage and try to affect the combat directly themselves. Trying to affect enemies directly really leads to less party contribution as the mage's spells fail time and time again.

 

[ForceUser]

I think the general consensus that direct damage spells are mainly useless is correct. The most effective use of a mage is to support party members not to take centre stage and try to affect the combat directly themselves. Trying to affect enemies directly really leads to less party contribution as the mage's spells fail time and time again.

I don't agree with that. There are times when a wizard should nuke, just as there are times when he's better served casting wall of fire. A wizard who does nothing but nuke all the time, however, is called a sorcerer. Wizards are flexible enough with their spell selection that they should have a few damage spells prepared if necessary, but that the majority of their prepared spells should be designed to gather information, increase defenses and mobility, and control the size and shape of the battlefield. In my opinion, that is their strength verses the sorcerer. That said, no smart wizard is without a wand of fireball, lightning bolt, or some other common damaging spell. Generally speaking, when all else is covered--the battlefield is segmented effectively, no comrades require additional defenses or mobility--the wizard might as well pull out the ol' wand and lob a few 5d6 fireballs in the enemy's direction. It just shouldn't be the first trick out of his bag every single time.

 

[MerricB]

For a start, by casting fly, the mage is saving the party from consuming precious resources to raise him when he dies.

Otherwise known as "contributing nothing to the combat".

Secondly, the mage wouldn't be frying party members with the difficult to aim fireball, which even if it hits won't do anything significant in any event.

15-40 points of damage to multiple creatures isn't significant? Hmm. I wonder why we bother with swords at all... they do even less.

If your adventures only take place in 10'x10' rooms, then fireball won't be that useful. I've never seen it be unusable, however. Even in a 20'x20' room, the party can stand in the doorway and lob the fireball into the far corner and have it not affect the fighters.

Do you use miniatures or tokens to represent the battle? Having an accurate representation of the battlefield greatly improves the use of Fireball.

Thirdly but most importantly, the mage can cast fly on the fighter and allow the fighter mobility to deliver their killing blows.

Trying to work this one out. Why, exactly, does the fighter need mobility?

Fighters need to stand still and hit the opponent a lot (Full Attack), either with bow or with sword. If they're moving around the battlefield, that negates their usefulness. (Theoretically you can have the fighter hovering in mid-air shooting arrows down, but then the monsters are engaging the other members of the party - who are less equipped to deal with it than the fighter).

Fly is a great spell, but - in general - it isn't a combat spell, but a overcoming other obstacles spell.

Cheers!

 

[Doug McCrae]

Fly is a great spell, but - in general - it isn't a combat spell, but a overcoming other obstacles spell.

I agreed with most of what you said but you're going a bit too far here IMO. Fly's an important combat spell. It just destroys opponents that lack both flight and ranged attacks.

It was one of several key spells that allowed our 10th/11th level group to kill a Ragewalker from the MM3. Its ability to cause opponents to fly into a berserk rage destroyed my mage on two previous meetings. This time we killed it with Protection from Energy - Fire (to stop its Walls of Fire), Fly (essential to keep my wizard alive), 2*Web and 2*Cloudkill, finishing it off with an Orb spell from Complete Arcane. Its high SR made the above spells necessary.