Hey! Help me decide kit for my signature character!

O_Bruce

Hello there.

I happen to have my own playthrough thread that is just hanging there and I want to do something about it. In fact, I want to have a playthrought with my signature character, which will be CG, human, female magic user. That much is always true for her, but...

In the past, the character was changing in regards to kits and whether she was mage or sorceror. But now I would want to finally establish her firmly on one kit. However, I can't decide on the kit I would like her to have.
And the kit is crucial, because it can affect how I imagine character and therefore how I roleplay her during my playthorught.

So, I kindly encourage you to vote on the kits. If you feel like it, you can also comment and justify your choice. Please also note that I don't care about what kit is most powerfull, or most meta. I'm interested in roleplaying an interesting character, rather than powerbuilding.

Arctodus

I'd say that diviner would be great for a RP playthrough. You can thus involve meta game knowledge with a good reason. And by that, I don't only mean prebuffing-wise, I mean decision making. For example, instead of going right at the Friendly Arm Inn after Gorion's murder, your mage could go elsewhere, because he would have a bad feeling about the place (Tarnesh). But it could go both ways : your mage could forsee some key elements, but also could have some kind of a small crisis when real bad things happened that he could not forsee (an ally being chunked for instance).

Abjurer would be great too. He could act like a independant vigilante of magic usage. I would give that character a small boost in caster level, only to have a slightly meaner dispel/remove magic (not by much, maybe only 2 level). The saving throw bonus from specialist school being useless for an Abjurer (if I'm not wrong), I would balance that out this way.

O_Bruce

Hey, that's very neat approach to roleplaying Diviner mage. I was considered class for other reasons, but your idea is really cool.

Regarding Abjurer, if I decided to go with it, I wouldn't modify the caster level. I get the point that this specialization gets shorter end of the stick when it comes to saving throws bonuses, but I don't really care about that aspect.

That all being said, thank you for your opinion. It wouldn't be very wise from me to make decision just yet.

Blackraven

I'd definitely pick a specialist mage as a specialization school adds a lot of RP flavor. I might have voted Enchanter but I see you left that kit out. That made it easier for me to vote Transmuter, my favorite mage.

The ethos description of the Complete Wizards Handbook provides some leads for your character's personality:
Wizards drawn to the specialty of alteration are typically curious, sharp-minded, and deeply analytical. Fascinated by putting things together and taking them apart again, they are natural tinkerers, more interested in objects than in people. Transmuters generally aren't prone to profound philosophic insights, as their minds are more attuned to how things work than how a society functions. To a transmuter, a person is essentially a complicated, difficult-to-understand machine. They are obsessive collectors, excellent scholars, and clear thinkers. According to a transmuter, the only constant in the universe is change; concepts of good and evil are relative, dependent on existing conditions, and seldom permanent. Forces of good and evil are constantly at work on neutrality, but since good causes less disruption than evil, good is preferable. Consequently, many transmuters are of good alignments.
Eager to explore the world around them, transmuters are willing members of adventuring parties. They are loyal followers but reluctant leaders, since they have trouble making decisions based on instinct alone. Although loyal to their friends, they seldom establish close relationships. Married transmuters are few.
Transmuters are most comfortable in large cities where they have access to a variety of supplies, consultants, and other resources for their studies. Most societies welcome transmuters,
generally considering them to be emotionally distant but harmless eccentrics. Transmuters commonly earn their livings as teachers, advisors, inventors, and manufacturers of medicines, potions, and other preparations.

You could also have the character emphasize on Alteration spells, most of which are a lot of fun to use.

O_Bruce

Well, the reason there is no Enchanter here is because it is reserved for other character already

Much thanks for mentioning the ethos and the Complete Wizards HAndbook. It gave me something to read about.

mlnevese

A proper Wild Mage not the ones depicted in BG who can barely control their power. The Wild mages were originally wizards who found a way to manipulate raw magic without help of the Weave... it was dangerous, complex and an entirely new way of working with magic but many wild mages saw it as a way to completely ignore Mystra's limitations on mortal magic.

Ravenslight

Well, it ultimately comes down to what you yourself find is the most suited to your own play style. I have personally tried several types, but I always find myself returning to the generalist mage.

I like having the option to use whatever school of magic might seem appropriate to the situation. But then I like role-playing situations like sitting in the common room of the local Inn, poring over her spell book in preparation for the adventures of the day to come. I also get a kick out of each new spell that my party might find on the bodies of their vanquished foes. I find myself missing the ability to be able to study and learn them all.

ThacoBell

In the absence of my usual top 2 picks, @mlnevese has really made me want to see a fully competent wild mage. I do feel slightly uncomfortable picking a kit for someone else's signature character though.

CrevsDaak

I meant to vote Transmuter, such a terrible but fun to play kit. I suck at this. Also,

ThacoBell said:

I do feel slightly uncomfortable picking a kit for someone else's signature character though.

this.

mlnevese

@ThacoBell A proper high level wild mage actually had uses for wild surges and many ways of controlling or supressing them. They also could make the lifes of other casters difficult to say the least by making sure every single spell they cast would surge

If you're interested I have an old post here that explains it better

WarChiefZeke

Invoker. Gorion wanted you to be capable of defending yourself, and taught you well in the art of offensive magic.

But really, the main draw is the ability to burn things more effectively.

ThacoBell

@mlnevese That was very interesting. Now I wish we had a mod that gave Wild Mages more of their unique spells.

O_Bruce

Hi there again. Thank you for newest comments, they were food for thoughts, as Illidhids are fond of saying.

The information provided by @mlnevese regarding Wild Mages was really interesting, I also would like to see mod that would give Wild Mages some additional abillities. Although I think it will also need to introduce some drawbacks, like changed experience table, since mastering magic to such extent would certainly require much more time. I also thank for fresh perspective for a Wild Mage, as initially I considered it just a generalist mage with a twist.

Speaking of generalist mage, I also like the idea of potentially being able to learn spells from different schools of magic. The thing is, CHARNAME is young and such universal approach of magic would require much time to learn. Or extraordinary talent, which is why I included Sorceress and Dragon Disciple as a choices in the pool. Although obviously difference between mage and sorceror is evident to me, and thus this difference alone would affect the role-playing aspect greatly.

As for now, the strongest candidates are Wild Mage and Diviner. Transmuter is also tempting, but definitely not for that extent. I'll probably not start making the character until weekend hits, so until that time I'm still open to suggestions.

So, thank you all. And also, you don't have to participate if you feel uncomfortable.

Edit: Added CHARNAME. It somehow disappeared before.

Wandering_Ranger

Ravenslight said:

But then I like role-playing situations like sitting in the common room of the local Inn, poring over her spell book in preparation for the adventures of the day to come. I also get a kick out of each new spell that my party might find on the bodies of their vanquished foes. I find myself missing the ability to be able to study and learn them all.

@Ravenslight - this is awesome! Makes me want to roll a quiet, determined mage character. Thanks for the nice vision you painted here.

@Blackraven thanks for sharing that. I looked through the Wizard's handbook and found the other descriptions equally fascinating.

As for why I picked Abjurer... well, it is a rare specialisation, and would be good to RP with Abjurer-only spells to protect the rest of your party. I can imagine a novice mage under Gorion's cautious tutelage being well-versed in protective spells before anything else.

O_Bruce

Hi friends!

The time for my decision has come. From the poll results and your comments, I considered following picks:

Wild Mage - What I like about this kit is that, based on what @mlnevese said and link he provided, Wild MAge essentialy shows middle finger to the one things that I hate about magic system in DnD and its limitation - spell comonents. Nothing is such an epic-killer like mage playing with guano to cast fireball. And Wild Mage skips the limitations throught utter understanding how how magic works, and playing with fire - or more importantly, Wild Magic. On the down side, 20-year old Wild Mage is unlikely, unles he/she possess an mind-blowing magical and intelectual potential, therefore making character's innate potential matter much more than struggles or practice. Being a generalist wizard and much more than that in such a young age is unlikely.

Sorceror - A twist on "generalist mage" idea. Since being a generalist, and thus having universal skills would take more practice to earn good results than being specialsit, the character would be easier to justify and roleplay, when assuming the character would posses huge potential. And Sorcerors are just like that - they rely on their innate potential, rather than study on practice, so they are much easier to justify. Bad side of the idea, I would have to roleplay character that doesn't have to give much effort to improve, and in general I'm not very fond of characters like that in fiction.

Diviner - First of all, it's a specialization, so I can justify easier a very young person being able to excel in certain area of magic, while sacrificing the opposite school. Second, I like the etos very much and it quite fits the character I have in mind. Downsides: bat's guano to fireball still apply.

Unless, of course, I assume that BG saga takes place in AU when components aren't needed...

What my final pick is? The Diviner. Reasons are:
- I like the etos, and it fits the character neatly. Not every single thing, but the etos is just a general idea, so some differences are acceptable
- CHARNAME lives in Candlekeep, a great library, for about 20 years. That fits neatly with a desire to seek knowledge, search for information, solving mysteries, discovering hidden secrets and so on.
- Diviner often lack many means to protect themselves, and thus I can see the character relying on her comrades for protection, while assisting them best way she could.
- Also, idea with using my meta knowledge for roleplyaing purposes I like very, very much.

So, Diviner it is. Areina of Candlekeep, the Diviner. Doesn't sound so bad, not at all.

thank you for everyone for participating in the thead. The final thing is: when my playthough will start? Well, after I deal with my current mods problems. I can start playing tomorrow, within a week or maybe even later. I don't really know for sure.

Anyways, thank you again.