EnderDDT's page

The "catch all" explanation is probably about as good a one as I can expect. It would be nice if things were divided up a bit more thematically, or more use was given to the "universal" school, but nothing is perfect.

Thanks for the replies.

Flame arrow and flash fire both "draws upon magic to create something out of nothing" (as per the description of evocation), specifically energy in the form of fire. The fact that one requires ammo (but in no way consumes or affects that ammo, meaning nothing is transformed) and the other doesn't require ammo (meaning there isn't even anything to transform in the first place); it all goes to the question of "why are these Transmutation when nothing is being transmuted?"

So I went and looked and there isn't a "game design questions" forum except as a subset of the "third party products" section. My question has nothing to do with third party material, and specifically focuses on the rules as set up by Paizo specifically. Am I missing something here?

Sorry about the wrong board. My mistake. I'll go repost in the correct forum.

As for the "the (fill in the blank) was transformed", that argument could be used for two thirds of any spell. You "transformed" a character's mind, it isn't enchantment. You "transformed" a bit of air into a short-lived creature, it isn't summoning. You "transformed" a character's broken body, it isn't healing. When the original form remains intact and something was obviously added rather than being changed, that is when I start raising an eyebrow and asking "why?"

So I've been reading through the spells and noticed that the transmutation school has easily twice the number of spells as any of the other schools. This wouldn't be such a big issue except that a lot of the spells just don't seem to fit as transmutation (ie: transformation) spells. They literally don't actually transform anything. So why are they listed in that area?

Some examples from Lv3:
Flame arrow: deals /extra/ 1d6 damage, but still does the physical arrows normal damage (so obviously something is being added, not changed, or else the arrow wouldn't be there to deal the normal damage). This should probably be evocation.

Flash Fire: specifically says that it does not require any ammo to be loaded in order to work, no transformation going on here. Also likely should be evocation.

Enter Image: nothing is actually changed, in fact you can't even be hurt by the spell if someone attacks the image you are "in", with everything going back to exactly how it was when the spell ends. Should likely be either Illusion or Divination. Possibly Necromancy.

Imbue with Addiction: You can make an argument that addictions are physiological, but they still primarily affect the mind and actions. It fits much better into the Compulsion subschool of Enchantment, perhaps as the rare "fort save" within that school.

Fractions of Heal and Harm: Healing is specifically noted as "conjuration" (subschool "healing"), even if that healing was being powered by an offensive spell it would probably fit there better than in transmutation.

Don't get me wrong, easily upward of 90% of the stuff absolutely belongs where it has been put. I just don't understand why some spells were crammed in when they really seem to belong somewhere else. Can someone explain the logic behind this?