RPing Specialist Mages
MilesBeyond
Member Posts: 324
This is an idea I had that I find very enjoyable because it increases the challenge of the game and forces you to be more creative.
The idea here is that you create a Specialist Mage and limit yourself to only using spells of that chosen school. If this seems too much, you could add in one spell per level outside your school (probably necessary if you're a Diviner). On the one hand, this cuts down on a Mage's versatility, which is kind of the big appeal over a Sorcerer. On the other hand, it can be easy to get into a rut of only using certain spells - especially if you've been playing the game for a long time - and this pushes you out of that.
I personally tried it as a Transmuter, and it was a lot of fun. I also discovered that in BG1 - not BG2 and, sadly, not BG:EE - Shocking Grasp was actually a pretty rad spell, as instead of turning your hand into a weapon that you had to hit with, it was an instant-hit, targeted spell like Vampiric Touch.
Anyway, I recommend giving it a shot. Invoker and Necromancer are probably the easiest. Diviner and Abjuror are probably the hardest, and the rest are all somewhere in between.
Give it a shot! I think you'll enjoy it. And if you're really looking for something new, do a party of specialists: CHARNAME (preferably as a Transmuter or Abjuror), Xzar, Edwin, Dynaheir, Xan and Quayle.
Doing this with a Wild Mage seems silly, though. You'd just be NRD'ing more NRDs, hoping that something good will happen.
The idea here is that you create a Specialist Mage and limit yourself to only using spells of that chosen school. If this seems too much, you could add in one spell per level outside your school (probably necessary if you're a Diviner). On the one hand, this cuts down on a Mage's versatility, which is kind of the big appeal over a Sorcerer. On the other hand, it can be easy to get into a rut of only using certain spells - especially if you've been playing the game for a long time - and this pushes you out of that.
I personally tried it as a Transmuter, and it was a lot of fun. I also discovered that in BG1 - not BG2 and, sadly, not BG:EE - Shocking Grasp was actually a pretty rad spell, as instead of turning your hand into a weapon that you had to hit with, it was an instant-hit, targeted spell like Vampiric Touch.
Anyway, I recommend giving it a shot. Invoker and Necromancer are probably the easiest. Diviner and Abjuror are probably the hardest, and the rest are all somewhere in between.
Give it a shot! I think you'll enjoy it. And if you're really looking for something new, do a party of specialists: CHARNAME (preferably as a Transmuter or Abjuror), Xzar, Edwin, Dynaheir, Xan and Quayle.
Doing this with a Wild Mage seems silly, though. You'd just be NRD'ing more NRDs, hoping that something good will happen.
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Comments
In terms of thematic or mental RP, if you specialize so much that you can only cast from one school, you should get like five extra spells per level rather than just one, or some other kind of bonus relating to the chosen school.
I usually play a necromancer and as such make sure that the majority of my spell casting is from the necromantic arts. However, spells like Magic Missile and breach and web become far more important to me than the RP perspective. Quite frankly just Magic Missile breaks the mold for functionality and usability. Not to say you couldn't get through the game without it, but I couldn't.
I think it is good to say that your specialty is your 'preferred' school and therefore makes up 60% or more of your spell book, but 90% or more is just darned tough. I personally couldn't hack that. So again, congrats. Sounds like fun, just not my kind of fun. Far more stress in my life as it is. Don't want to add more from a game I enjoy.
i also played one of the iwd games with a party made of 6 differant specialist mages
I could see this approach being pretty fun with the right spell school, if i play bgee again with a mage anytime soon i may give it a go or atleast some variation on it.
In some pnp book there were neat descriptions of characteristics of specialist magi.
Abjurers tend to be silent but deeply caring, you can rp this char as he shows utmost devotion to npcs in party and tries to protect them as best as he can:no risks or sacrifices if he can avoid it.
Conjurers tend to find their chosen school superiour and find other schools rather weak and ineffective. You can rp this as actual spell selection, and this character will be a little arrogant, and overconfident.
Diviners are reserved, wise and cautious. Similiar to abjurer, but maybe will depend on scouting and recon even more. Never engage an enemy before knowing its strengths and weaknesses.
Enchanters are haughty and can be flirty at times, they have a charming persona. (Xan is a very special case) You can rp him as the fun loving, flamboyant type.
Invokers are battle-hardenede mages foremost, they are serious and powerful but they do love to show off their impressive powers on battle-field.
Transmuters are tinkerers, they always try to find different ways to approach things, so this character can try odd item/spell/character combinations and wacky strategies.
Illusionists are all about trickery and shadowing the truth. This character can be rp'ed as an ever-changing, compulsive (but maybe harmless, depending on alignment) liar or clepto.
Necromancers are oft a misunderstood lot, they are feared and met with distrust. You can rp him as a low charisma, low reputation guy, but he may mean well, or give in to the dark powers, depending on alignment.
Wild mages can be a very diverse group, but it is believed there are two big arch-types:one is the scholar type, who studies wild magic as a science, and studies it very dilligently to unravel its secrets. The other type is the more wacky variety, believing wild magic is a talent or art form and is ever so much fun!
Abjuration is also lacking a lot of it's more useful barrier-type effects.
And enchanters/transmuters are largely getting screwed due to a lack of the save penalty specialists are supposed to apply to their chosen school, making their spells much less effective then they should be, vs necro or evo that can just deal damage and not worry as much if the spell is saved against.
And the lack of a new free spell per level of your chosen school all specialists are supposed to get.
You can choose more, to add RP color to your character, but only one spell by level is mandatory. And since in BG some levels don't have a specific school spell, in this case you have to choose something that's close to your specialist philosophy.
Actually i found transmuter is indeed pretty fun.
It's a bit of change and a lot of transmuter's spells are actually very useful : haste, slow, stoneskin, teleport field (no saves on these ones, or saves with penalties on slow) and of course, time stop or ruby ray for the top spells of BG2.
If you add some disintegrate or turn to stone, it really adds fun, even if, like Zanath said, there is the problem of saves on these spells.
I'm not sure of the number of NPC specialists i want to have in my group, but it could be fun to make a party of 3 / 4 different specialists mages, for sure.
About colors, remember that all spells of the same school have the same color. It adds to RP, in my opinion.
But that's the whole point. It's supposed to be hard hahaha. Think of it as Invokers/Necromancers/Conjurers easy, Illusionist/Enchanter/Transmuter medium, Abjurer/Diviner hard. This is within the context of it already being difficult, of course.
Illusionists don't get THAT screwed. Spook, Blind and Deafness are surprisingly effective spells in BG1, Invisibility is always nice to have around, and Mirror Image and Blur are both essential spells for the spellcaster who wants to survive. Granted, they pretty much get, at most, one spell per level after that, and they're all invisibility spells. An Illusionist might therefore find themselves in the strange position of the first few levels being their easiest time.
Unless, of course, you go for a Gnomish I/T, in which case all bets are off.
But I suppose this might be an interesting thing to try... Except that my favorite specialist still happens to be Necromancer... Throwing those Minor drains at anything with over 3 hit dice might just be a waste of time... and that's the only damage spell you'll have before Skull Trap...