Hey all. I'm GMing an AP that has a magical mace that I'm considering converting for use by the party's wizard, who doesn't have much to do when he needs to conserve spell resources. Any idea why wizards are proficient in clubs but not light maces? It doesn't seem like the light mace would be much harder to use, although it is one pound heavier. I suppose I could always home rule proficiency.
Anyhow, more generally, any ideas on what a wizard PC should do to get more versatility in attack options without having to devote too much gp (on wands) or feats (on becoming effective at ranged weapons into melee)? The wizard in the group I'm GMing for is burning through his spell resources, largely because he can't think of anything better to do than cast a spell every round.
Thanks all.
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If your wizard burn threw spells he need to learn acid splash or ray of frost(cantrip's can be cast an unlimited number of times). You can make any house rules you want about the mace, the low number of weapons is a carry over from 3.5. But if your wizard is running into combat quickly your gonna have a dead wizard very soon.
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Wizards don't have a lot of proficiencies because they suck in melee combat. In other words, don't give the wizard an expensive melee weapon. He won't need it.
Clever use of cantrips and his school powers might help. As does a light crossbow.
Edit: Now you got me pondering about the viability of a melee wizard...
Yeah, on further reflection, I think you're right about not giving him the mace because I doubt he'll use it. But I'd still like to find a solution for the dilemma. The cantrips were fine at low levels, but at higher levels the amount of damage is useless. And he has a crossbow, but the -4 for firing into melee combat is pretty prohibitive.
The world doesn't break if you give wizards profiency in all simple weapons or all the 3/4 BAB class proficiency in all martial.
Anyways, maybe a mace just needs to come with better instructions? My sword came with great instructions. Said to hit them with the pointy end.
Give the mace a custom enchantment 'proficient' that means whoever wields it is automatically considered proficient with it.
Give the crossbow the 'Precise' enchantment from 3rd, which gives it inherent Precise Shot.
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The wizard in the group I'm GMing for is burning through his spell resources, largely because he can't think of anything better to do than cast a spell every round.
The PC is acting like a true wizard - unable to comprehend there are solutions other than magic to life's problems. ;)
The versatility of low-level arcanists lies in equipment; but not the crossbow or club. Instead, they are better off buying acids, tanglefoot bags and above all: a net. Nets are great, the non-proficiency penalty isn't a big problem when you only have to roll a ranged touch attack.Whenever anything gets too near, you throw a net over it. And then let others bludgeon it to death.
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Also, by the point where cantrips really become useless, the wizard should probably be toting around wands and scrolls and such he can use for basic offense.
There's also no shame in just sitting back and using a round to move or observe or something. When most of your resources are limited, you have to use them when you need them, not just when you feel like it.
VRMH, you're right that he is conducting himself as a real wizard. Your suggestions are great for lower levels, but not really at the level we're playing at. Although the net could still be cute in some situations.
Zhayne, he is higher level, but he claims wands are too expensive to make sense. At, for example, 5,250 gp for a 7th level wand of magic missile, I understand his point. But I'd love to hear more suggestions for particular wands or scrolls that have a reasonable effect without being too expensive.
Easy by-the-book solutions:
Heirloom Weapon trait grants a weapon + proficiency
Weapon Proficiency feats
Certain races with Weapon Familiarity traits (elves, half-orcs, and dwarves commonly),
Sorcerer gets simple weapons.
But I'd love to hear more suggestions for particular wands or scrolls that have a reasonable effect without being too expensive.
Wand of infernal healing. Scroll of Identify, alarm, or arcane lock. If I remember correctly, ideally, you want a wand of something you might use a lot, and a scroll for those once in a while things. Scrolls and Wands don't tend to have great CL or DCs, so its best to use ones that don't require one. Imo anyway.
Alternatively, you could throw a chain on that mace, make it a morningstar, and the wizard will be proficient.
Wands. Lots of wands.
He should be using wands, imo. Picking spells that are useful even without good cl/dc. A few suggestions:
Mage armor - can save a slot per day and if the party has another unarmored char its really useful.
Grease - create difficult terrain or get a phat bonus vs grapples.
Protection from evil: Deflection bonus so will stack until people get RoP+2, and great defense against evil spellcasters.
Keeping one of each and using them whenever they are useful should conserve a lot of spell slots. And as has been said before, tanglefoot bags are great. Really great. Keeping a smokestick or three around is also nice, but they are mosly useful when things go crap and thats when you want to use the highest-level spells.
Also, if his spell list is heavy with instant effects he might want to consider preparing more lastig effects so he doesnt feel as useless on the rounds he cant cast. Less fireball, more stinking cloud.
Thanks, Ilja. I think it is a good idea for him to use a wand for things like mage armor and grease, and leave the daily slots open for spells that can take advantage of his CL, like magic missile and shocking grasp. I agree he also should be thinking about utility items, that may not be too expensive.
Give the crossbow the 'Precise' enchantment from 3rd, which gives it inherent Precise Shot.
Zhayne, is "precise" a weapon enhancement in RAW? I don't see it, but it would make a lot of sense in terms of making his crossbow more useful. He could probably investigate custom bolts too, which might be fun and not too costly.
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Yeah, on further reflection, I think you're right about not giving him the mace because I doubt he'll use it. But I'd still like to find a solution for the dilemma. The cantrips were fine at low levels, but at higher levels the amount of damage is useless. And he has a crossbow, but the -4 for firing into melee combat is pretty prohibitive.
I know you don't want him to have to "waste" feats and such to make his ranged weapon better, but consider this; Point Blank Shot and Precise Shot affect Ranged Touch spells as well as his light crossbow. So by taking those feats, you are improving your overall performance, not just one aspect. Now if you were to take Deadly Aim or Focused Shot, that I would consider a waste UNLESS that crossbow has some good enchantments on it like holy, flaming, shocking or a combination to really outshine the pathetic damage of your cantrips. At that point I would even consider taking Weapon Focus: Light Crossbow to be able to hit better. At level 11 (or 12 if a sorcerer) take the spell Transformation and other buffs to really add credibility to your crossbow training.
Mudball makes an awesome wand
What's his school? Each school has extra powers, and a number of them are fairly nice little attacks which work fine at lower levels.
But he's a WIZARD fercrikiessakes. He should be using magic, not mundane weapons.
And, he doesn't have to cast a spell every round.
Zhayne, is "precise" a weapon enhancement in RAW? I don't see it, but it would make a lot of sense in terms of making his crossbow more useful. He could probably investigate custom bolts too, which might be fun and not too costly.
It's a 3e enhancement, so not PF RAW.
And what level is everyone?
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If he isn't obsessed with action economy he could buy a wand of Spectral Hand set at CL 2 (minimum) and cast the various touch spells at range. They tend to have a lot more oomph despite being lower level, require lower level slots which he will have more of and Spectral Hand negates their one major drawback (melee combat for a Wizard).
Also, he should take a closer look at the spell Mnemonic Enhancer. Most players and GMs turn their nose up at it, assuming it wastes their precious 4th Level slots for extra lower level slots. However, most folks miss that spells prepared with it are retained for 24 hours. You are supposed to use it as such; the day before you expect things to get hairy, you prepare Mnemonic Enhancer into all your 4th Level slots. You then chain cast it a short time (1 hour, 20 minutes to 2 hours) before you go to sleep, opting for the Prepare variation of the spell, filling the phantom spell slots with whatever you might need the next day. Then you rest for 8 and prepare your refreshed spell slots as normal while retaining the ME phantom slots for the 13 or so hours left on their 24 hour limit.
Using this method to get more spell slots really encourages the use of a Ring Of Sustenance as well as the feats that allow a Wizard to prepare their spells quicker to better maximize the use of that 24 hour period permitted by Mnemonic Enhancer.
The OP seems to have left the building.