musing about Specialisations (low information content)

[Gairus]

Just a curious question, don't go shooting me. This would have a snowflakes chance of being a priority even if it truly bothered me.

Was playing a bit of Icewind Dale 2 before I made V'heress, and diviners in that game have Evocation as an opposed school. When I started V'heress, with "subtle" as his theme I went looking for the specialisation with Evocation as an opposed school... and it was my first discovery of just how much Bioware seem to like Evocation - you can NOT choose it as an opposition school.

Is there anyone else out there who doesn't think brute force/power when they think of wizards and magic? Modern times have artillery, they don't have timestops and similar interesting stuff

So then, i'm curious. Can this sort of thing be changed, or is it hard coded stuff? Again, note the theory nature of this question and don't shoot me for making impractical suggestions for Avlis, mkay?

From the player point of view, it's easy enough to fudge - simply don't use evocation spells

/ramble

[Vergilius]

I wish the specializations would follow PNP rules rather than have a must have opposed school for each specialization. Granted, some schools just seem to be "made" opposites, but it really inhibits the variety with which you can develop your wizard.

[Titanium Dragon]

It would be nice.

Also, Evocation is not just focused on by Bioware; it is focused on by WotC. Some schools of magic (Evocation, Conjuration, Alteration, Transmutation) have long been the "strong" schools of magic, while others (Necromancy, Illusion, and Divination) are the "weak" ones. Evocation and Conjuration are the strongest, while Illusion and Divination are the weakest, especially in NWN. Necromancy got a big boost with 3rd edition, and though they may not have great variety they do get some really nasty spells (though I don't know why Power Word: Kill is Conjuration; I think that's a bit silly).

Sh'lieulias misses his Divination spells though. Why on earth the opposite of Necromancy is Divination is beyond me; I would have thought it would have been something else (perhaps illusion, for its friviolality, or maybe even Evocation for Sh'lieulias - far too flashy and cludgy, like hand to hand combat).

[Jhevon]

Is there anyone else out there who doesn't think brute force/power when they think of wizards and magic?

I've deliberately been taking nearly all only summoning and other "interesting" spells with Elwyn that both have an on-screen visual component and don't replicate (even by end-result) what a fighter can do. This was deliberate, for several reasons:

- IMHO, if a Sorceror is just going to take spells that deal damage, they might as well be a warrior. If you can't use your spells to do something that the non-arcane party members can do, then what real use are you? You're just a fighter with a crappy armour class and limited "ammunition"?

- Buffs are just so boring. They are purely for meta-gaming, have no roleplay or usually even much visual value, and generally can be reproduced via potions anyway? ("Bulls Strength"? Yawn .... give me "Web" any day. May not be quite so useful from the min-max perspective, but DAMN it looks cool!)

- I've been grooming Elwyn's Sorceror component to be more of an old fashioned LOTR type "natural" wizard, rather than a Forgotten Realms (aka Munchkin Realms) "Battle Wizard". Admittedly, this is in conjuction with a dual class fighter component (with an eye ultimately to becoming an AA) which makes the need for damage spells less vital, but I feel his constantly summoned dire badger companion is so much better an RP complement to a woodland-elven-archer-arcane spellster than a barrage of Magic Missiles would be, for example?

That's how I feel about the use of arcane magic on Avlis, anyway. If I was playing Diablo II, then maybe I'd feel differently? Hope I haven't overstated my opionion and pissed anybody off; that's just how I personally like to play the arcane.



Jhevon

[Nighthawk4]

Back on my previous PW, my first Wizard (Sorcerors were banned there, as it was based on Krynn) chose Evokation as her main school. Then, she discovered she could never use 'Raise Dead' as this was part of the opposing school. I felt it was not fair on my colleagues if I could not raise them when they fell in battle - so I created a new Wizard.

Everyone else seemed to choose 'General' as their school, so I did the same.

I happen to prefer Evokation - the 'magical energy from the fingertips' style

However, each to his (or her) own.