Subjective Magic Schools

[HalfGrammarGeek]

If you've played D&D long, you've probably realized how arbitrary spell placement, and the magic schools themselves are. (Not to mention the arcane-divine divide.) What makes the Orbs conjurations rather than evocations, or healing spells conjurations rather than necromancy? And why are some schools based on their purpose, and some based on what they do? (Abjuration uses all kinds of effects to attain one goal, while conjuration uses one effect to attain many goals.)

The traditional take on all of this is that there's some objective reason for the schools and which spells fall into which school. Fireball is in evocation, because it's inherently evocation-y; conjuration differs from evocation due to fundamental magical laws; and so on.

But has anyone played a campaign under more subjective assumptions? That spells are just spells, and their placement in schools is a coincidental result of a quirky academic community? For example, Bartleby's Bombastic Academy trains young conjurers. The curriculum doesn't include many explosive spells (evocations) or protective spells (abjuration) because Bartleby the founder believed that the best offense is a summoned pet. Although he did find a few Orb spells in a "borrowed" spell book, and added them to the curriculum because it turns out they do come in handy on occasion. (Although not handy enough that, immediately prior to his death in the Battle of Four Flagons, he didn't regret learning how to Heal instead.)

Just curious!

[Lactantius]

- In 2E, healing was indeed necromancy, mage armor was abjuration and after all, the school were a bit different (e.g. alteration).
- The balance problem with conjuration is that it consists of many subschools with a broad pattern (travel, summon, crowd control).
- orbs are just a splatbookidea which took evocation the superiority of damage spells. Our group houseruled it into evocation school, so that SR: yes applies and that conjuration is not the school which covers damage too good.

If you would like to balance it, just split up conjuration and transmutation.
Maybe make travel spells universal (non-school), make protective spells like mage armor abjuration, orbs evocation. Then, people wouldnt specialize into conjuration as a no-brainer and reconsider what they would lose.
Furthermore, you could even make conjuration as a forbidden school since many signature spells arent boudn to conjuring.

Transmutation could be split up into alteration of living and non-living stuff.
So, greater magic weapon would be another school like bull's strength.

After all, the schools should be more equal OR you should give the smaller school some other focus as soon as someone specializes in them.
For example, give an enchanter/diviner etc something like a class feature which improves the special school.