Azothath - Wizard changes for home games

[Azothath]

My suggestion for the Wizard class in a home game is to;
* 4 knowledge skill points +Int for skill points (rather than 2 +Int)
* add Spell Pools of (CstrLvl/2) Spell Levels on an individual basis with the wizard storing his swap out spells in a crystal or bonded item or familiar (who could use them for swapping if it casts) with a Conc Chk to swap out a spell as a Std actn (you lose the prepared spell) or 10 Full rnds (you exchange the prepared spell). Naturally if there are no spells in the pool than the 10rnd method stores them and the caster expends the spell.
* Spell Focus and Grt Spell Focus would allow 1 or 2 respectively extra spell levels of that school to be stored in the Spell Pool.
* eliminate the scribing cost (as spellbooks are not magical) but leave the access cost to copy from an NPCs spellbook.

that's it.

[Cyrad]

The question is...why? I like the wizard, but he's already the strongest class in the game. None of these have much of an impact aside from making the wizard flatout better.

1) 9-level spellcasters normally have only 2+Int skills. It's a deliberate weakness. Besides, such classes don't really need skills (due to spells) and the wizard already has a decent amount of points thanks to casting with Intelligence.

2) I don't understand the spell point thing at all. Part of it is just really difficult to read.

3) I'm not crazy about the idea of giving the wizard more spells by taking Spell Focus and Greater Spell Focus.

4) Scribing spells to a spellbook is free unless you make a copy of your spellbook or you copy the spell from somewhere. In either case, I think the cost should remain.

[Azothath]

Cyrad wrote:

The question is...why?

so just don't do it. That would be why it is in a homebrew section of the messageboards...

Clearly I think it's a reasonable thing to do but that it's not for everyone. In some ways it is to provide an option to the Arcanist.

1) The skill points are based on what the class description(what they do) not ability scores. Wizards study books and so SHOULD have a lot of knowledge skill points, it's that simple. I posted 4 restricted skill points for knowledge skills rather than 2 generic skill points. Restrictions mean they have less value thus 4 is balanced.

2) it is to provide some flexibility. This was really the meat of the post for GMs that want to provide that.

3) it does not give them more spells. You do not understand how the Spell Pool works. It is actually quite simple.
So there are two options, 1) to lose a spell of spell level N and gain a spell from the spell pool of spell level N or less as a standard action with concentration. 2) to store a spell of spell level N in the spell pool and gain a spell from the spell pool of spell level N or less taking 10 rounds with concentration. A requirement of having personal possession of your bonded object, familiar, or possibly some crystal as is also made. An additional requirement is that spells in the spell pool would have to be stored beforehand. The second method gives the Wiz a way to do that. You put it in and get nothing out. It's not as powerful as a spell storing device or a pearl of power as those actually give you more spells per day.

4) that's fine... it's my suggestion to remove a money drain on a class that only exists because of precedence. Spellbooks aren't magical so it becomes a tax for learning new spells beyond 4 per spell level.
I felt that paying to gain access to an NPC's spellbook is reasonable and avoids the "Researching a new spell" method.

[Cyrad]

Even when you're homebrewing, it's vital to have a good reason to change the game.

1) It's a game design thing. Every wizard will already have more skill points than most other classes because their class incentivizes maxing out Intelligence. Plus, wizards aren't a skill class. They don't need to be. They're the best spellcaster in the game.

2) Wizards are already the most versatile spellcaster in the entire game.

3) It took me three reads to figure out how spell pool works. It looks like it basically lets you swap spells prepared? I don't think that's a good thing for a powerful class deliberately given the weakness of requiring you to plan your spells ahead of time.

4) Scribing costs are really cheap. Perhaps too cheap. The only issue I had with them was that it was annoying to calculate how much a copy of my spellbook costs. Also, the inks used in spellbooks are magical.

[Kirth Gersen]

Cyrad wrote:

Even when you're homebrewing, it's vital to have a good reason to change the game.

This. Even if an idea is radically cool, it still needs to play nicely with the rest of the system you're using.

Azothath wrote:

In some ways it is to provide an option to the Arcanist.

This helps a lot with that, because at least it provides a design rationale. However, "in some ways" isn't the full picture; knowing your other goals would be helpful.

[Lazlo.Arcadia]

While I agree with the prerogative of a DM to customize their own game, I will second the idea that few things in Fantasy D20 / D&D / Pathfinder exist inside of a vacuum. For example if you are customizing the wizard to give additional spells, does this then mean the sorcerer is no longer a viable PC choice? Will it further outshine melee characters? Is it supposed to do exactly that because the campaign is such that it focuses on wizards (ala Harry Potter)? Will these changes also apply to other arcane (or even divine) spell casters such as the Bard or the Paladin?

Just some things to consider.

Lazlo

[Azothath]

Lazlo.Arcadia wrote:

... Just some things to consider.

I designed the update to the Wizard class as a small change.

It doesn't add spells. It just boosts specific skill points, dumps scribing costs, and gives a few spell levels of prepared variability. At 11th level it is 5 spell levels of generally 70 spell levels that you can change for another prepared spell.
Obviously you can extend the changes to classes that you want but this is clearly a Wizard only class change as posted.

[Klarkash-Ton]

not bad if you let Arcanist in your games. Sorcerers have their bloodline abilities.