Suggestions for a level 1 conjurer

[Helaman]

I get 7 spells.

This is what I have chosen.

Summon Monster I (Conj)
Mage Armour (Conj)
Shield
Prot' from Evil
Colour Spray
Grease

I get 1 more at level 1. Any suggestions or changes?

[nategar05]

All of those look good. What are your banned schools?

Anyway:

Obscuring Mist
Enlarge Person
Mount
Unseen Servant

I know you said you only get 1 more, but all of the above are good as well. Just look them all over and see what's most appropriate to your character.

After you get higher level, Vanish is quite good. Duration is too short for it to be good now though.

[Fatespinner]

Depending on your prohibited schools, either magic missile or shocking grasp is good to have available because, even though the primary purpose of a Conjurer is not damage dealing, sometimes you just NEED that little oomph.

Enlarge person is another good choice, although at level 1 the long casting time can be a liability. Expeditious retreat can boost your speed by 30', meaning you can move 60' in a round and still cast a spell or make an attack afterwards. Very handy for fights where mobility is key.

[Helaman]

Fatespinner wrote:

Depending on your prohibited schools, either magic missile or shocking grasp is good to have available because, even though the primary purpose of a Conjurer is not damage dealing, sometimes you just NEED that little oomph.

Enlarge person is another good choice, although at level 1 the long casting time can be a liability. Expeditious retreat can boost your speed by 30', meaning you can move 60' in a round and still cast a spell or make an attack afterwards. Very handy for fights where mobility is key.

I picked necromancy and charm (worshipper of Abadar, figured honest business dealings have no need of charm)

As for oomph I got those acid darts that conjurers get - At level 3 I think you are right. I will need magic missile.

As for shocking grasp... for for thought. I like the idea of Ex Retreat.

[nategar05]

If you have a decent Dex I'd prefer Mount over Expeditous Retreat. Riding the Mount would make you faster and it lasts 2 hours instead of 1 minute. It's not as good as Expeditious Retreat for what ER does, but it's still good.

You're a Conjuror who banned Enchantment and Necromancy. Small world, so am I. I'd look into Teleportation subschool from the APG as well. It's a strong option. It's a swift 5 ft. per two levels distance teleportation that doesn't provoke attacks of opportunities 3 + INT per day. For example, at 4th level it's a swift 10 foot step. Nice get out of grapple free card.

IMO you only really need blasts if the other party members aren't doing their jobs. Their job is to take the enemies down and yours is to help them have the advantage. You have a good INT and Conjurors make good Battlefield Controllers. To each their own though. Blasting is an option.

I'm not a whole lot for blasting, but when you have the 2nd level slots for them Flaming Sphere and Pyrotechnics make an amazing combo.

[Morgen]

Get a light crossbow and some bolts to back up when you don't need to use magic.

[jjaamm]

small, small world, me too with enchant and necro. plus took teleport school. Love the move out from cover, cast, shift back.
one of my favorite to add is feather fall if you have bonded object. never have to memorize it, but when you need it, you really need it. Also like vanish, since your summons dont negate it.

[ForgottenRider]

nategar05 wrote:

If you have a decent Dex I'd prefer Mount over Expeditous Retreat. Riding the Mount would make you faster and it lasts 2 hours instead of 1 minute. It's not as good as Expeditious Retreat for what ER does, but it's still good.

You're a Conjuror who banned Enchantment and Necromancy. Small world, so am I. I'd look into Teleportation subschool from the APG as well. It's a strong option. It's a swift 5 ft. per two levels distance teleportation that doesn't provoke attacks of opportunities 3 + INT per day. For example, at 4th level it's a swift 10 foot step. Nice get out of grapple free card.

IMO you only really need blasts if the other party members aren't doing their jobs. Their job is to take the enemies down and yours is to help them have the advantage. You have a good INT and Conjurors make good Battlefield Controllers. To each their own though. Blasting is an option.

I'm not a whole lot for blasting, but when you have the 2nd level slots for them Flaming Sphere and Pyrotechnics make an amazing combo.

I do want to point out that the shift power of the teleportation school works like dimension door, so after using it you end your turn. See if your gm will let you take the feat dimensional agility out of UC using shift as the prerequisite.

[Helaman]

Morgen wrote:

Get a light crossbow and some bolts to back up when you don't need to use magic.

Gravity bow is a 1st level spell... Hmmm. Food for thought.

[Paul Zagieboylo]

I'll back up the choice of enlarge person. My group just finished the first book of Serpent's Skull, by having our enlarged enraged orc-double-axe-wielding barbarian bring the boss from 90% to 0 in less than a full round (critical AoO for 54 damage (disrupting her spell) at the end of round 2, then a critical hit for 57 more damage at the top of round 3). Our DM was very sad. The base weapon damage increase from medium to large weapons are just beyond belief. Yes, it has an annoying 1 round casting time, but if your scout is doing his job that's manageable, and you will laugh and laugh when your friendly enlarged warrior strides in and one-shots things that are supposed to take 3 solid hits to kill. 1d8 to 2d6 really is that good (especially if he gets it twice!); 1d10 to 2d8 and 1d12 or 2d6 to 3d6 are only slightly behind but still amazingly good. The -2 AC on enlarge person is annoying but manageable considering how much shorter it will make combats. Plus it's only -1 if you cast it on someone who's already over their armor's max Dex bonus anyway; a dual-wield fighter (even sword-and-board types) might hit this even at 1st level.

You've got grease already, so good job. Even in its somewhat nerfed form from 3.5, it's still an insanely good spell. Color spray is a fine save-or-suck, between that and grease you shouldn't really need another one. Get a crossbow, it's better than any of the straight blasts at level 1. Plus you can use it more than once per day. If you really want a blast, drop shield; you can't cast it on other people who actually want the effect. You might also consider skipping mage armor until it lasts longer. But maybe not; if you're doing a lot of dungeon-crawling rather than exploring the wilderness, 1 hour is enough for quite a few rooms. If you're outside with hours between encounters, mage armor and shield are basically equivalent at 1st level, and neither is very good compared to other options. Mage armor gets good when you can afford a metamagic rod to Extend it and have it last all day.

I would personally recommend magic weapon, your warrior and rogue will <3 you if you take that one. At 1st level they can't even afford masterwork, so magic weapon will help them out a lot. Protection from evil and friends aren't bad either, if your buddies are having a hard time not getting hit or if they're tired of being mind-controlled.

Basically, the most effective thing a low-level wizard can do is cast one buff or debuff per combat, or maybe two for a tough fight, and then plink away with his crossbow. So you want to have a selection of buffs and debuffs, that you might be able to have an appropriate one ready at any time.

[Helic]

Mount. Being able to summon a horse can be VERY useful. Horses go fast, can be ridden, can pull stuff, can carry stuff (like injured buddies), can distract hungry monsters, dropped on people from 30' in the air (I think it's legal)...lots of uses for the humble horse. And those are just the honest uses.

[Verse]

Just wanted to pop in with another vote for the teleportation subschool shift ability. Even if you cannot take dimensional agility as ForgottenRider mentioned earlier, that swift action dim door has saved me many times and also provided many opportunities to get into the thick of the action, wreak havoc, and poof back to safety before suffering a whole lot of wrath.

Also, it's bloody well near a get out of grapple free card, even allowing you to use your actions to mess with your enemy of choice before making your exit.

Honestly, it's just a fantastic ability I use constantly.

[Helaman]

Paul Zagieboylo wrote:

I'll back up the choice of enlarge person. My group just finished the first book of Serpent's Skull, by having our enlarged enraged orc-double-axe-wielding barbarian bring the boss from 90% to 0 in less than a full round (critical AoO for 54 damage (disrupting her spell) at the end of round 2, then a critical hit for 57 more damage at the top of round 3). Our DM was very sad. The base weapon damage increase from medium to large weapons are just beyond belief. Yes, it has an annoying 1 round casting time, but if your scout is doing his job that's manageable, and you will laugh and laugh when your friendly enlarged warrior strides in and one-shots things that are supposed to take 3 solid hits to kill. 1d8 to 2d6 really is that good (especially if he gets it twice!); 1d10 to 2d8 and 1d12 or 2d6 to 3d6 are only slightly behind but still amazingly good. The -2 AC on enlarge person is annoying but manageable considering how much shorter it will make combats. Plus it's only -1 if you cast it on someone who's already over their armor's max Dex bonus anyway; a dual-wield fighter (even sword-and-board types) might hit this even at 1st level.

You've got grease already, so good job. Even in its somewhat nerfed form from 3.5, it's still an insanely good spell. Color spray is a fine save-or-suck, between that and grease you shouldn't really need another one. Get a crossbow, it's better than any of the straight blasts at level 1. Plus you can use it more than once per day. If you really want a blast, drop shield; you can't cast it on other people who actually want the effect. You might also consider skipping mage armor until it lasts longer. But maybe not; if you're doing a lot of dungeon-crawling rather than exploring the wilderness, 1 hour is enough for quite a few rooms. If you're outside with hours between encounters, mage armor and shield are basically equivalent at 1st level, and neither is very good compared to other options. Mage armor gets good...

Despite taking a 15% spell failure chance for his Parade armour, I've decided to wear it no matter what. It will be substandard at early levels (due to spell failure) and at high levels where better armour is available but thats my characters schtick. As such I'll remove the Mage Armour spell until level 2 or 3. I'll keep shield - its a useful spell. I'll think on mount.

Any suggestions on spells that have ONLY a verbal component for level 1 and 2 spells?