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View Full Version : More Wizard ideas: stronger school focus



Eldan
2009-05-04, 08:54 AM
So, some of you have probably seen my last idea of how to limit the wizard in his versatility, which most likely overshot it's goal by quite some margin. Now, I have come up with another idea: strongly focusing wizards on a school.
The basic idea is the following: wizards have to focus on one school, like the can, but don't have to, now. They do not get any boni in that school, such as more spells per day, instead, a set portion of their spells per day have to be from their chosen school.
I've had several ideas on how to do that, the first one was that half the prepared spells of every level, rounded up, had to be from the chosen school, the other was all their normal spells per day had to be from the school, while only bonus spells for high intelligence could be from others.
Both ideas are probably a little bit too harsh, but I think splitting the spells per day in school spells and non-school spells would help to limit wizards in their ability to prepare for every possible problem.

Thoughts?

PairO'Dice Lost
2009-05-04, 09:27 AM
the other was all their normal spells per day had to be from the school, while only bonus spells for high intelligence could be from others.

I'd do it the other way around: Your specialization is a result of extra study in that school, so your excess intellectual talent would naturally be used to further your use of that school. If you cut down on the base spells per day of the class, the bonus spells would be a higher proportion of their spells, so they'd use their specialist school more than any other.

One option I've explored for a fix is limiting wizards to 4 schools, chosen at creation. The wizard's spells per day are lowered to about 87% what they are now, and they get some minor benefits to make up for it, but the limitation cuts down their versatility enough, I think. One of my players was looking at a wizard/red wizard/incantatrix, which would require him to drop 4 schools, and while he found it easy to give up two schools and annoying to give up the third, he really struggled over whether to give up a fourth. I figure that if four schools is the break point for phenomenal cosmic power, limiting you to four schools should bring the wizard into line.