TooCan's page

i still don't get why this change was made from 3.5? I'm afraid the PF beta has fixed something that was not broke, and in the process - broke it.

IF the reason was to add more special flavor to the specialist, I would argue there is less - for instance in 3.5 50% of your automatically gained spells had to be in your focus school. now 0% have to be. I could be an evoker, and never put an evocation in my spell book. it's crazy. If I wanted, I could be an evoker, with no evocations, opposed to transmutation and only use polymorph spells all day. it's silly, and I don't like it.

so, I am a player who plays wizards most, and always specialized... in pf beta I plan to run a univeralist and just "specialize" myself.

At this point, I'm almost certain that the powers are getting overhauled. No worries.

So, no changes yet... I hope they do fix this!

Well, yeah. Castle mike is not correct about the rul, but it isn't completely clear either. I am playing a necromancer who is level 7, and so having studied how that all works, I fully realized that this was a bonus that kicks in later once you could animate/control undead. (someone less familiar with the rule could easily wonder if he gets' sumthin at 1st level)

It goes from a completely useless power to one of the more over powered specialists once you hook up with animate dead.

I mean, based on my experience with animate dead, it's a pretty sick spell if the rest of your party can deal with the fact that you’re using it. Then you get to double what you can control... so you could at 8th level be walking around with 10 6 HD troll skeletons (previously 5) then you hook up with mind poison to keep the enemy clerics at bay and your roll over everything.

Anyway, even my DM was confused about how you use this power at 1st level…

What about this:

Every specialist gets to pick one spell from each spell level he can cast that is in his school (and on his spell book) and once per day, he can cast those spells as a spell like ability, except unlike a normal SLA, he can use his normal DC for that spell level and school AND he has to abide by the normal requirements for the spell.

That would maintain the backwards compatibility aspect of the plan.

isn't it assumed that you need a way to gain control? I don't think that ability kicks in until you get animate dead or something similar...

Right, but still to me this sounds like YOU get to pick for ME the spells I get to use. Sure, you call them spell like abilities so that they are less powerful, but still.

yeah, I guess they just don't need a boost and they are getting one so it seems silly.

oh and

"6. Necromancers:

--As with the enchanter, a necromancer trying to use this ability is a dead necromancer. I understand that it's supposed to "finish off" wounded enemies, but a range on it would be nice (especially considering that enemies don't really have a chance to stabilize)."

toss in spectral hand (2nd lvl spell) and you have a decent range on any touch spell and a +2 to hit.

Ah, that. Well, if it makes you feel any better, necromancers would still be overpowered without the doubling.

Well, ok sure. Maybe. So then you double their key ability?

In general - fewer spells and more abilities - why grant spells to people who cast spells, give them something more unique when possible

I dont' really agree with that... spells are why you become a wizard and the spells you pick make you unique. For a 3.5 specialist, you are supposed to give up 2 schools AND 1/2 of your free spells should come from your specialist school.

If the goal of this change was to give abilities instead of spells to make you unique - then it fails at that by replaceing self selected spells (unique) with pre selected abilities (same for everyone) that mostly mimic spells but are less likely to work becasue they rely on cha not int.

Well, i am assuming he means doubling the HD of undead I can control. Having quadruple the melee power of my 4 player party (and all the other wizard spells) just seems bad for the enjoyment of the rest of the players. and my hit dice are better.

for me, I don't like my extra spells that I pick getting traded for spell likes someone else picked and havine the DCs all shrink because my charisma is 5 (Int 18 or 20 with new elf rules)