Control wizard in BG (DnD in general)
MWO
Member Posts: 214
Hey!
I was wondering about running the game with an enchanter. However, losing evocation sucks abit. I've the SCS installment, meaning I still get all the sequencers. I still have the conjuration spells and some of the necromancy spells capable of dealing out damage - not to mention summoning monsters.
However, I've encountered a roleplaying issue of which I thought to ask you guys.
Is a control wizard/specialist only into disabling spells/protection/crowd control and no damaging spells at all, or would it be possible to take some few damaging spells aswell? I mean, being a wizard/specialist, is also about utility and having some kind of flexibility. What do you think?
Have a good day!
Cheers,
I was wondering about running the game with an enchanter. However, losing evocation sucks abit. I've the SCS installment, meaning I still get all the sequencers. I still have the conjuration spells and some of the necromancy spells capable of dealing out damage - not to mention summoning monsters.
However, I've encountered a roleplaying issue of which I thought to ask you guys.
Is a control wizard/specialist only into disabling spells/protection/crowd control and no damaging spells at all, or would it be possible to take some few damaging spells aswell? I mean, being a wizard/specialist, is also about utility and having some kind of flexibility. What do you think?
Have a good day!
Cheers,
2
Comments
I tend to use the NPC Xan in this manner and it is quite enjoyable. I always play six person parties and it is usually nuke and shoot to decimate enemies quickly but without evocation spells you have to do things differently.
What I'm trying to say is : create your mage based on a clear concept, but allow yourself some versatility .
level1;
larloch minor drain; damage isn't much, but damage i still damage, unless you like to get close and personal with your enemies you can always use burning hands
blindness or charm person ( and especially sleep at lower levels ) there are absolute killer spells, best part about charm person, is that if they are a spell caster you can get them to cast all their good spells on your team before you "equip" their fist, and then pound them into pulp
level 2;
melf's acid arrow, not bad, and especially at higher levels, deals continuous damage, plus it stacks on itself, pretty solid
glitterdust and ray of enfeeblement, glitterdust is a nice area blindness spell, plus it can dispel invisibility, but ray of enfeeblement, since you are an enchanter, it comes with a nifty -2 penalty, use this on strong warrior/ bad guy types and then they will start hitting you with the ferocity of new born baby's loving smile
level 3;
flame arrow, may not be radius, but deals more damage than fireball and lightning bolt to a single target once you hit level 15, plus that is the upside; you dont have to worry about hurting party members, so you can shoot this into the fray
slow, this spell already comes with a brutally beautiful -4 penalty and effects all enemies and not team mates, absolutely wicked spell
dire charm, for those with better saves, and can affect more monster types i believe
level 4;
this is where things start getting real good;
greater malison, oh man, just more icing on the cake
emotion hopelessness, mammoth radius, and when enemies fall down, its game over man, game over
level 5;
hold monster, gorgeous spell, comes with a -2 penalty which means when you cast it enemies get a -4, cast that with a greater malison and its -8, do you know what the best part of a held enemy is? a held enemy is a dead enemy
level 6;
pierce magic, now this may seem silly, but even if they don't have any spell protections on, this spell will still lower their MR, so cast this on a spell resistant enemy a couple of times, and give them a nifty MR penalty so your spells have a better chance of going through
level 7;
finger of death or power word stun, both are awesome, both can destroy worlds, best part of power word stun though; no save ( but has to be under 90 HP ) great for SoA
level 8;
horrid wilting ( no brainer ) or symbol stun with its amazing already -4 penalty, both amazing both get the job done nicely
level 9;
need damage? comet is great
want to kill everything in a radius? wail of the banshee is awesome
want to be invincible pratically? spell trap with an absolute immunity
need to empty a spell book on to an enemy? time stops with some improved alacrities
the choice is up to you
- an affinity with an elemental plane (like fire to allow you some fire-damaging spells + summons) ;
- an affinity to control over life & death (necromancy spells)
- since your CHA is high already as an enchanter, your natural "charming" personality could extend to extraplanar summons (conjuration spells)
- your studies in Candlekeep let you learn the importance of defense and barrier spells (abjuration)
- etc.
I would implement it this way:
- 90% of my spellbook would be focused on mind-control spells (enchantment+illusion, stun/control spells)
- 1 spell per day would be allowed for the "minor" sphere.
I always felt that specialist mages were not specialized enough. I always play it that AT LEAST 1 spell per level is from the specialist school.
Oftentimes, I play my specialist mages so that they can only learn spells from a maximum of 2 schools.
Enchanter opposes Evocation and Necromancy
Illusionist opposes Necromancy, Abjuration and Evocation (ouch!)
Diviner opposes Conjuration only
Conjurer opposes Divination and Evocation
Focussing again on enchanters, the additional exclusion of necromancy greatly reduces direct damage/death dealing spell options. Further reinforcing that this is not the way of the enchanter. If you wanted to hard core role play the idea of an enchanter/cleric, you could exclude the use of all items and divine spells that replicate necromantic and evocation spell effects.
Another rule from PnP is that the extra +1 spell memorisation slot is supposed to be from your specialist school. But in BG some schools have no spells at certain levels so I see why they did not force that mechanic.
I like your highly restrictive concept @monico but that is probably most suitable for a 30th run through of the game!
To be frank, I only do this "2 magic schools only" when I play with more than 1 arcane caster.
I once planned to do a 4-mage-custom party with the following repartition of the 8 schools :
- an enchanter also using conjuration (crowd control & summons specialist)
- a transmuter/illusionist (self buffs & melee specialist)
- an invoker + abjuration spells (focusing on single target damage spells & debuffs)
- a necromancer aided by divination (when you dabble with death magic, it is important to know what's coming to you)
In the end, I created the party but never played it.
In retrospect, I feel that the following school-combinations fit a bit better:
- enchantment + illusion: as stated above, playing with your opponent's mind & senses
- evocation+alteration : channeling the very fabric of reality & elemental particles to "transmute" it into something else
- conjuration + abjuration: the lore behind abjuration mentions banishing/communicating with other planes of existence, which synergize well with conjuration. In BG spellbooks, though, it doesn't fit so well, alas.
- necromancy + divination: as stated above, I find there is a link between studying and trying to master life and death, and deciphering the past, present and future. In a sense, I think those two studies of magic are the most "fundamentalist" schools, almost philosophical, more than magical.
I guess necro+conjuration / abjuration+divination also combine well, but in a gameplay perspective, I feel the abjurer would probably get bored during fights, whereas the necro-conjurer would be overwhelmed.