Hey folks, could you provide some assistance with my project? I'm trying to create unique/less common arcane school combinations for spellcasters to build some flavorful characters.
I got inspiration from the last two parts of the Jade Regent AP, Tide of Honor and The Empty Throne respectively: good people of Paizo combined illusion with necromancy twice to give us some cutting edge villains (Yugureda Shosaito, Shojinawa Ito). I found it really intriguing and surprised to see how well illusion teams up with necromancy (shadows, disguised undead soldiers etc.)
My question is: what do you think, which two schools of magic would be worth of pairing? I'm toying with the concept of a Seducer Witch, who is focusing on enchantment and divination to steal secrets, kisses and stuff.
Looking forward to seeing your amazing ideas. :)
Conjuration + Illusion is classic. Which of my summons/walls is real
Divination + Abjuration. I know whats coming and it will not work
Enchantment + Illusion. Can't find a build that makes this work but these spells make up the classic trickster spells
Evocation + Necromancy. Abuse those betrayal feats
Necromancy + Conjuration(divine). Master of life and death
Enchantment + Necromancy. Dominate everything
Conjuration + Illusion is classic. Which of my summons/walls is real
Divination + Abjuration. I know whats coming and it will not work
Enchantment + Illusion. Can't find a build that makes this work but these spells make up the classic trickster spells
Evocation + Necromancy. Abuse those betrayal feats
Necromancy + Conjuration(divine). Master of life and death
Enchantment + Necromancy. Dominate everything
Con. + Ill. is pretty clever, yet it somehow gives me the sense of being a one-trick-pony (it revolves around summoning/creation). Although, it's still a solid choice.
Div. + Abj. sound and useful, especially for NPCs or kingdom building PCs.
Ench. + Ill. classic. After a few Mythic tiers, you basically become an unstoppable force.
Evo. + Necro. never heard about this one, but fits well for a spellcasting, cruel warlord.
Necro + Con. almost the same as Ill. + Con., but with a more tangible sense of dread.
Ench. + Necro. another I never thought of, great pair. :)
Thanks for the ideas so far. Forgot to mention my story will be taking place in Ustalav. Any unconventional ideas for conventional gothic villains?
Ahh, how I pine for the old days when evocation + illusion let you toss a fake fireball right after a real one and get almost the same effect. Nothing like players knowing they're facing an illusionist and having them still sweat over whether something is real or not.
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
If it's a gothic villain, then necromancy+transmutation could work, buffing your undead beasties and making them stronger. The idea of illusion and conjuration is good, creating an illusory demon to mess with the PCs, and then summoning a different, actual demon to hurt them.
I think illusion is great if you have a GM willing to just go with it and not nit pick rules. I like the divination+illusion combo; as a GM if I had a player who took the time to learn something about an NPC and then use that in weaving a convincing illusion I'd happily give them some kind of bonus. Random thought: can undead be polymorphed?
Abjuration+Evocation: For giving the impression of godlike firepower combined with terrifying inevitability.
Divination+Evocation: A wizard with a vendetta that tracks the party's movements and attempts to murder them whenever it's least convenient. Would work best as a recurring villain who the PCs don't really want to have to deal with because they're trying to solve the main plot.
Thanks for all of the contributions you made, I love each of the concepts.
Necromancy + Transmutation. This is that one jerk who doesn't want to kill his enemies, he wants them to suffer. Curses, negative levels, diseases, and polymorphs all around
I'd never noticed that bestow curse was necromancy for some reason. Weird.
The "BattleMage" setup I use is a Wizard Specialist but is identified as one who cast from both Evocation or Conjurations any spell which has a direct HP damage effect. These are not considered different schools for the BattleMage. They may also cast from the Abjuration school without penalty, but there are no specialists bonuses for doing so and the abjuration school may not be chosen as their forbidden school.
Actually, I just saw an episode of Aladdin the animated series and I came across this amazing illusion-weaving, fire-throwing villainess called Mirage. An elemental school combined with an arcane one could be interesting as well.