The Wizard [generic spellcaster, PEACH]

[Belial_the_Leveler]

This is a new wizard class, partially inspired by Diablo 3 and partially based off invocation-using classes. The intent of the class was;

a) Significantly limit the number of spell slots of wizards so they can no longer "do everything" in a campaign due to number of spell limitations, and require them to think before using their big magic.

b) Enhance the usefulness of wizards at low levels without giving them any potentially broken options.

c) Have a less complex class due to no longer needing to memorize a bazzillion spells. (only about a dozen).

d) Make magic be more epic and less cheap at high levels.



The Wizard
http://www.gosugamers.net/starcraft2/images/2012/may/fanart-0079-large-480.jpg

Class Skills: The invoker's class skills (and the key ability for each skill) are Concentration (Con), Craft (Int), Decipher Script (Int), Diplomacy (Cha), Knowledge (All) (Int), Profession (Wis), Speak Language (N/A), Spellcraft (Int), Use Magic Device (Cha).
Skill Points at 1st Level: (2 + Int modifier) x 4.
Skill Points at Each Additional Level: 2 + Int modifier.
Proficiencies: Simple Weapons, Light Armor. No spell failure from light armor.
Hit Die: d4

{table=head]Level|
BAB|Fort Save|Ref Save|Will Save|
Special Abilities|Major Working

1st|
+0|
+0|
+0|
+2|
path, cantrips, raw magic|
1st

2nd|
+1|
+0|
+0|
+3|
mastered spell (1st)|

3rd|
+1|
+1|
+1|
+3|
mastered spell (1st)|
2nd

4th|
+2|
+1|
+1|
+4|
mastered spell (1st)|

5th|
+2|
+1|
+1|
+4|
bonus feat|
3rd

6th|
+3|
+2|
+2|
+5|
mastered spell (2nd)|

7th|
+3|
+2|
+2|
+5|
mastered spell (2nd)|
4th

8th|
+4|
+2|
+2|
+6|
mastered spell (2nd)|

9th|
+4|
+3|
+3|
+6|
bonus feat|
5th

10th|
+5|
+3|
+3|
+7|
mastered spell (3rd)|
6th

11th|
+5|
+3|
+3|
+7|
mastered spell (3rd)|

12th|
+6/+1|
+4|
+4|
+8|
mastered spell (3rd)|
7th

13th|
+6/+1|
+4|
+4|
+8|
bonus feat|
8th

14th|
+7/+2|
+4|
+4|
+9|
mastered spell (4th)|

15th|
+7/+2|
+5|
+5|
+9|
mastered spell (4th)|
9th

16th|
+8/+3|
+5|
+5|
+10|
mastered spell (4th)|
10th

17th|
+8/+3|
+5|
+5|
+10|
High Arcana|

18th|
+9/+4|
+6|
+6|
+11|
High Arcana|
11th

19th|
+9/+4|
+6|
+6|
+11|
High Arcana|
12th

20th|
+10/+5|
+6|
+6|
+12|
High Arcana|
13th
[/table]

Choose Path
At 1st level, a wizard must choose the path her magic will take; this significantly impacts most of her other abilities. She may choose her primary spellcasting stat to be either Intelligence or Charisma. A wizard focusing on Intelligence ends up with far more skill points and a learned/studious approach to magic while one focusing on Charisma boosts her social interaction and has access to more raw magical power. Once chosen, the path cannot be changed.

Spells
A wizard's primary strength is her magical knowledge. At 1st level, she knows a number of cantrips equal to her spellcasting ability score modifier and two 1st level spells from the wizard list. At every level thereafter, she gains an additional spell known of a level she has access to. At 3rd, 5th, 7th, 9th, 11th, 13th, 15th and 17th level, she gains access to higher levels of spells and can pick new spells known to be from them. Basic spells known always come from magic commonly and widely available - obscure spells have to learned via other means.
Spell Learning: A wizard with Intelligence-based casting can study and learn new spells. If provided with a written record of a spell of a level they have access to (such as a scroll, tablet or spellbook) and study it for 8 hours they can exchange one of their known spells (of any level) for that spell. From then on, they can memorize and use that spell.
A wizard may research a spell instead of copying it from an existing record; he must have seen the spell used at least once or otherwise encountered it. This research requires 16 hours of work for every level the spell possesses. Once it is complete, the wizard can either archive the researched spell (see below) or exchange one of their spells known.
Because magic is extremely complex and it is impossible to remember more than a few spells at a time, wizards can archive spells. They get Scribe Scroll for free. In addition, they can scribe nonmagical copies of the spells to pass on the knowledge; the process requires half the materials and time of a scroll of that level and requires no XP. Wizards usually keep multiple archives in single tomes called spellbooks.
Regardless of how many spells a wizard exchanges, she can never know more spells in one level than her Intelligence modifier.
Innate Casting: A wizard with Charisma-based casting shapes her magic with force of personality and inborn talent rather than scholarship. She can cast spells without material aids gaining the "Eschew Materials" spell for free. She can naturally develop uncommon spells innately; any spell known of a given level beyond the first can be of the less common varieties, provided it would exist in the campaign world (she does not need to know that the spell exists in character as her powers develop naturally - its existence is enough). Last but not least, at every level she can exchange a previously known spell with a new one of any level she can cast. She still cannot know more spells per level than her Charisma modifier.

Major Working [Sp]
Wizards do not gain additional spells per day with a higher class level. Instead, their magic is very limited; they always have a number of spell slots (called "Major Workings") per day equal to their casting ability modifier, usually 3-4 at low levels and as many as 10-11 at the highest levels.
Those spell slots follow the usual Vancian magic rules for prepared arcane spells. However, those few spell slots are all of the maximum level the wizard can cast as shown on the table above. Those Major Workings might be few in number but they are of significant power; eventually a wizard can cast higher-power major workings than she knows normal spells and thus often adds metamagic to them.
Major Working limitations: Casting a Major Working is at least a full-round action rather than a standard action (unless the spell is Quickened). Major Workings do not benefit from the Heighten Spell and Persistent Spell feats and no effects that reduce the cost of or automatically apply metamagic can be used. Metamagic Rods function normally, though eventually the Major Workings become too powerful for even greater rods to affect them.
Spontanteous Casting: While Intelligence-based wizards can archive countless spells and learn them rapidly, Charisma-based wizards (often called "sorcerers" and "sorceresses") do not need to memorize Workings in advance and can cast them spontaneously (including applying metamagic feats).
Rest and Major Workings: Six hours of rest are required to open a wizard's mind to regaining her spell slots, followed by 10 minutes of intense focus. Channeling the forces of magic is spiritually taxing however; a wizard can't begin mentally resting again for 12 hours after regaining her spell slots.

Cantrips [Sp]
Wizards can cast all cantrips they know at will.

Mastered Spell [Sp]
Wizards eventually master a (very small) number of spells to such extent that they can cast them at will. The first spell they master of a given spell level must be an evocation or divination spell they know at the time of the choosing. The second spell they master can be an evocation, divination, abjuration or necromancy spell. The third spell they master can be of any school.
A wizard will eventually master a total of 12 spells, 3 each from 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th level spells.

Raw Magic [Su]
Instead of weaving magical energy into a spell, a wizard can attempt to unleash the raw magic within her as a ranged touch attack with a range increment of 100 ft, dealing 1d6 damage per level of Major Working the wizard has achieved. If she does, the Wizard must make a will save DC 15+the number of damage dice dealt. Failure means the damage affects both her and the target. Raw Magic is unaffected by Antimagic.

Bonus Feats
A wizard gains a bonus feat from the wizard list at th, 9th and 13th level.

High Arcana [Sp]
At the indicated levels, the wizard chooses one of the following abilities;
Mastery of Energy: Change the energy damage of a mastered spell to another descriptor as part of casting. Change the energy damage of a Greater Working to another descriptor by increasing casting time to 1 round.
Mastery of Shaping: Open 5-ft gaps in the Area of Effect of mastered spells as part of casting. Do the same to Greater Workings by increasing casting time to 1 round.
Mastery of Counterspelling: Get Greater Dispel Magic as a mastered spell. Can only be used to counterspell 1/round as an immediate action but you lose your following standard action if you use it.
Mastery of Traveling: May expend a Greater Working to open a portal between two locations in the same plane or other planes. The portal functions as a Gate for traveling and stays open for 1 round per spell level.
Mastery of Metamagic: Change the metamagic feats added to a prepared Greater Working as a free action during casting.
Mastery of Essence: Change the alignment descriptor of a mastered spell or Greater Working as a free action. All alignment-dependent effects and limitations change accordingly.
Mastery of Unraveling: Get Greater Dispel Magic as a mastered spell. Can only be used to target effects or creatures (not items or eployed as counterspell)
Mastery of Artifice: Destroy an existing magic item; use its crafting XP cost towards crafting of a new item. If a magic item cost no XP to create then transfer its gp cost instead.

[PEACH]

The wizard is probably weaker at lower levels* (which wasn't part of your design), but since it still has access to all 9th level spells, it's probably still reasonably a T2 class and very powerful at high levels. So I don't really think this has met your design goals.

*An at will level 1 evocation spell at level 2 isn't terrible, but it lacks battlefield control and they get second levels later, so I'd hardly consider that ideal. At most the power level is roughly the same.

[Amechra]

Interesting.

I like the number of slots they get, not so much a fan of them getting 9th level spells at 15th level; maybe change it so that they get the normal level progression for a Wizard, and then give them a scaling class feature that makes their highest level of spell X levels higher for the purposes of metamagic?

I'm reminded of this class here. (http://brilliantgameologists.com/boards/index.php?topic=13010)

[PEACH]

They don't get 9th level spells at level 15, and they do have a scaling feature that makes their highest level castable spell higher level for the purposes of applying metamagic; that's exactly what Major Workings are.

[Amechra]

Ah, misread that. Good to see that I was thinking in the right direction.

Might do with having another column that tells you your maximum spell level for each level. Makes it easier to tell.

[Gnorman]

I literally do not understand Major Workings. If they're limited by ability score, what's the number in the table for? How many Major Workings can a wizard prepare per day? How many can they cast? You don't specify. All of their spell slots are the highest level they can cast? So, what, when they are capable of casting 9th-level spells, they can cast 11 of them per day? That's almost three times the core wizard.

What are the "usual Vancian magic rules"? Does that mean their spells per day is equal to the wizard's? Or do you mean arcane spell failure, verbal and somatic components? You need to be specific here.

Why would anyone choose Charisma over Intelligence? Intelligence gets, as a bonus, "can learn every wizard spell," in addition to its skill-based superiority. Charisma gets nothing, except better "social interaction," which isn't actually true because the Intelligence wizard can afford to invest more points into those skills. You're implying that they get more raw magical power but they have no ability that actually does so, so far as I can tell.

EDIT: Ah, now I see where Charisma comes in.

This needs a lot of cleanup. As it is, I can't figure out what half its abilities actually do. In trying to create one class to do the job of both the wizard and the sorcerer, you've completely jumbled them up.

[Belial_the_Leveler]

At low levels;
a) They get light armor.
b) They get cantrips at will. There's good utility in those lowly spells.
c) They get 1 at-will spell for levels 2-4.
d) Spellbook is no longer absolutely crucial.

At high levels;
a) limited spell slots prevents the "I get protection from everything, all the time" and the "use spells instead of skills or thinking" tactics.
b) metamagic abuse resolved.
c) easier to play for new players
d) magic still feels epic (Maximized Energy Drain, dumbass!!!)


Major Workings;
a) The numbers indicate the level of the spell slot, not the spell.
b) Spell slots will be higher than spells you know. You add metamagic.
c) Yes, by the time they get 9th level spells, they could cast 10-11 of them. But those are all the slots they get per day, period. No multiple buffing pre-combat. No using multiple mid-level divinations to know what danger lurks ahead. No binding and then dominating dozens of Outsiders. No warding your HQ all the time. Not enough buffs for the whole party.


Basically, they are Warlock-equivalents that can also cast a big spell 2 times per encounter.

[Gnorman]

Let me see if I understand this correctly.

A 20th-level wizard with a 30 INT can prepare 10 Workings per day. They can only cast each one once. Those workings can be up to 13th-level, so 9th + 4th-level metamagic.

So instead of being a 20th-level core wizard with 4 9th-level spells per day, 4 8th-level spells per day, etc., I can cast 10 13th-level spells per day. And this is supposed to make wizards weaker?

EDIT: Also, wizards can now cast True Strike at will. At level 2.

[Belial_the_Leveler]

Yes, it is. The old wizard could already use metamagic rods to metamagic 9th level spells (while this one can't by that time - no rods affect 13th level slots) and with 30 INT they were getting six 9th level spells and six 8th level ones, plus a bazillion mid-level slots. High-level wizard get much of their power from the mid-level slots, especially defense, buff, debuff and utility.



Also, wizards can now cast True Strike at will. At level 2.
And they'll use it with what? Their 1d3 orb spells or the 1d6 crossbow every second round? Casting magic-missile that autohits is more effective.
The Fighter at that level is swinging for 2d6+6 at +8 attack roll and will hit every second round anyway. So they still deal twice the damage.

[Gnorman]

So instead of using their various spells to intelligent and tactical uses, now wizards just walk around permanently shapechanged, throwing around maximized energy drains. Giving them more of their best spells, and free metamagic for it on top is not going to make them weaker.

EDIT: You're right. Magic Missile at will is the better option. Except I'm not talking about everyday attacking, I'm talking about ranged and melee touch attacks like Disintegrate and Shivering Touch. Now they're guaranteed to destroy dragons!

[Belial_the_Leveler]

Shapechange will be broken due to the spell itself, not the class. Use the Pathfinder version instead which is actually fixed balance-wise (something normal DnD failed to do for over a decade).

Maximized Energy Drain will hit 70% of the time against the Balor, and penetrate its SR 70% of the time assuming your optimization bonus to SR/CL checks is 4 higher than the Balor's optimization bonus to SR, for a 49% chance it does something. To kill the Balor, you need to hit it 3 times, so you wasted 6 Greater Workings.
In the same 6 rounds, the fighter has kicked the Balor's @ss real hard.


Disintegrate still has to contend with SR and fortitude saves.

Shivering touch is a problem with the spell, not the class. Not that it always works - if the wizard optimizes with shivering touch, the dragon will optimize with Wings of Cover, the 2nd lvl sorcerer-only spell that says "total cover as immediate action".

[PEACH]

I don't know why you're assuming a fighter could actually take a Balor. Fighters really can't do much to a Balor.

Regardless, while this is not necessarily more powerful than a standard wizard, it is still a class that has access to all arcane spells, access to 9th level spells, and (in a fashion) a metamagic enhancer. It's pretty clearly still T2, and T1 isn't necessarily inarguable.

Also, I don't think your numbers for the Balor are accurate. With a +6 item of dexterity and a starting 14, you can't miss a Balor with Energy Drain except on a natural 1. Likewise, with At-Will Assay Spell Resistance (not a terrible choice for a fourth that scales forever), you'd have no problem overcoming the Balor's spell resistance.

[Gnorman]

Shapechange will be broken due to the spell itself, not the class. Use the Pathfinder version instead which is actually fixed balance-wise (something normal DnD failed to do for over a decade).

If this is for Pathfinder, you should demarcate that. Nothing in the class indicates that it is intended for that system.


Maximized Energy Drain will hit 70% of the time against the Balor, and penetrate its SR 70% of the time assuming your optimization bonus to SR/CL checks is 4 higher than the Balor's optimization bonus to SR, for a 49% chance it does something. To kill the Balor, you need to hit it 3 times, so you wasted 6 Greater Workings.

Your math is way off.

1. Energy Drain is a ranged touch attack. A balor has a touch AC of 16. A 20th level wizard with a reasonable DEX score of 20 (14 starting, +6 gloves) cannot fail except on a one. So 95%, not 70%.

2. Assay Spell Resistance is castable at-will by this class. So the wizard's base caster level check is actually 30, 2 more than the balor's SR of 28. So it's actually 100% here.

3. 19 out of 20 times, the wizard can inflict 8 negative levels on the balor in one round, killing it in 3, 4 if you're quite unlucky. That's a reasonable expenditure of the class's resources - between 1/3 and 1/4 of its available spells per day (assuming 12 Workings per day at an easily-attainable INT of 34) based on the average encounter-per-day. Even if the wizard only expends one Working, the balor is significantly hindered.


In the same 6 rounds, the fighter has kicked the Balor's @ss real hard.

Not even a little bit.

[Belial_the_Leveler]

1) The Balor has a touch AC of at least 20 because it's running around with Unholy Aura (+4 deflection to ac, +4 resistance to saves) always on. That's before feats, other buffs and items.

2) You can only Assay Resistance what you can see. What's the spot modifier of a typical wizard again? Cause the Balor is using its normally +38 spot (more if optimized) to hang out beyond your sight range and telekinetically hurl stuff at you till you die. (technically, it can do that to the entire group except the cleric but that's a CR 20 encounter for you)

2b) Assay Resistance doesn't exist in a balanced spell list. (Pathfinder for example). If it does exist and optimizers use it to ignore normal SR that was intended to balance the casters, the DM should feel free to optimize the Balor's SR enough to force the exact same failure chance against SR as before. (by optimizing it up to, say, 38ish. A SR of 51 is possible for the Balor if you also need to account for Truecasting and CL boosters.)

[wayfare]

1) The Balor has a touch AC of at least 20 because it's running around with Unholy Aura (+4 deflection to ac, +4 resistance to saves) always on. That's before feats, other buffs and items.

2) You can only Assay Resistance what you can see. What's the spot modifier of a typical wizard again? Cause the Balor is using its normally +38 spot (more if optimized) to hang out beyond your sight range and telekinetically hurl stuff at you till you die. (technically, it can do that to the entire group except the cleric but that's a CR 20 encounter for you)

2b) Assay Resistance doesn't exist in a balanced spell list. (Pathfinder for example). If it does exist and optimizers use it to ignore normal SR that was intended to balance the casters, the DM should feel free to optimize the Balor's SR enough to force the exact same failure chance against SR as before. (by optimizing it up to, say, 38ish. A SR of 51 is possible for the Balor if you also need to account for Truecasting and CL boosters.)

Pathfinder is better, but I wouldnt say any of the Wizards based classes are balanced, and I extend that to their spell lists. They fixed a few major problems, and left a whole bunch more laying on the floor.

Its not a bad idea, but a limited spell list will go miles to making this a more balanced class.

[Gnorman]

1) The Balor has a touch AC of at least 20 because it's running around with Unholy Aura (+4 deflection to ac, +4 resistance to saves) always on. That's before feats, other buffs and items.

2) You can only Assay Resistance what you can see. What's the spot modifier of a typical wizard again? Cause the Balor is using its normally +38 spot (more if optimized) to hang out beyond your sight range and telekinetically hurl stuff at you till you die. (technically, it can do that to the entire group except the cleric but that's a CR 20 encounter for you)

2b) Assay Resistance doesn't exist in a balanced spell list. (Pathfinder for example). If it does exist and optimizers use it to ignore normal SR that was intended to balance the casters, the DM should feel free to optimize the Balor's SR enough to force the exact same failure chance against SR as before. (by optimizing it up to, say, 38ish. A SR of 51 is possible for the Balor if you also need to account for Truecasting and CL boosters.)

1 is a valid point.

EDIT: 2a has been thoroughly deconstructed below.

2b invokes the Oberoni Fallacy, and I don't agree with that. Just because Mister Cavern can fix it with artificial inflation doesn't mean it isn't a problem. As it is, SR is usually trivial to overcome. Additionally, Pathfinder claims to be 100% backwards-compatible with 3.5, so Assay Resistance does technically exist in the Pathfinder spell list.


Its not a bad idea, but a limited spell list will go miles to making this a more balanced class.

Second.

[PEACH]

1) The Balor has a touch AC of at least 20 because it's running around with Unholy Aura (+4 deflection to ac, +4 resistance to saves) always on. That's before feats, other buffs and items.

2) You can only Assay Resistance what you can see. What's the spot modifier of a typical wizard again? Cause the Balor is using its normally +38 spot (more if optimized) to hang out beyond your sight range and telekinetically hurl stuff at you till you die. (technically, it can do that to the entire group except the cleric but that's a CR 20 encounter for you)

2b) Assay Resistance doesn't exist in a balanced spell list. (Pathfinder for example). If it does exist and optimizers use it to ignore normal SR that was intended to balance the casters, the DM should feel free to optimize the Balor's SR enough to force the exact same failure chance against SR as before. (by optimizing it up to, say, 38ish. A SR of 51 is possible for the Balor if you also need to account for Truecasting and CL boosters.)

1 is reasonable; however, that is still not going to bring a typical wizard down to 70% to hit. 75%, perhaps worse if the caster has any other way of improving touch attacks besides just a dex score of 20 (which is unlikely but not totally impossible if they're the type to rely on energy drains).

Both portions of 2 are not, however. Your version of Spot is not how spot works. In reality, the Balor as written uses it's 26 hide (not terrible) to remain hidden... but any sort of magical detection ability will still screw that over (and with unholy aura up, it's going to be positively glowing to Arcane Sight), and even without that, hide is at a -20 penalty when attacking, and requires the Balor to hvae some form of cover or concealment. A +6 hide check, at level 20, is not so significant that a Wizard is unlikely to succeed, and Arcane Sight can be permanencied, and by RAW that probably screws over its attempts to hide without a very specifically planned trap for the wizard.

Secondly: If you are saying that certain spells are overpowered, then... so what? This wizard has access to them! At-Will access to them! And the Energy Drain suggestion isn't even the best way this caster can go about things, just a fairly strong one. By complaining that certain spells are overpowered and shouldn't be used, you are making a point for the people saying this is still T2. Because, really, this is still T2, if not T1. It has the typical wizard knowledge of a lot of spells, and semi-free metamagic enhancement on them, and some good at will abilities, in exchange for less spells per day. While it's a dip in power from optimized wizards, it offers a pretty high optimization floor and still has more than enough to be T2 or T1.

Finally, I'd like to point out that the suggestions you are making, regarding optimizing the Balor against the Wizard? Most of those work as well, if not better, on the Fighter you suggested could just punch it in six rounds. Fighters do not compare to normal wizards, so of course they don't compare to a slightly-nerfed and mostly tweaked wizard.

[Gnorman]

It is still Tier 1 as it is theoretically capable of breaking the game a multitude of ways, and it can change those ways on a daily basis. It might be a lower T1.

You can't give a class wizard-casting (complete with spellbook and theoretically unlimited access to spells) and expect it to come in much lower than that.

[wayfare]

Belial:

Even if you restrict access to Evocation, Abjuration, Divination, and Illusion you might still count as T2 based on the "I can see and know everything" aspects of Divination (i think you'd be T3, but still).

Wizard casting is so powerful that you can get rid of the two most powerful schools, and still be a major contender.

[Belial_the_Leveler]

Doesn't restricted spells per day prevent them from doing so, though? A day in a PC party's life has several challenges. Take a typical underground dungeon for example. To get to the Mc Guffin inside the dungeon you must;

1) Enter the dungeon through its big, heavy gate, or another way if you can find one. (terrain obstacle)
2) Find your way through the intentionally convoluted/labyrinthine dungeon, or another way if you can find one. (terrain obstacle)
3) Find in which room the McGuffin is behind their locked portcullis and decoys. (terrain obstacle)
4) Fight the dungeon's guardians. (2x CR-appropriate fight/challenge)
5) Overcome the traps in the McGuffin's chamber. (1x CR-appropriate challenge/fight)
6) Get the McGuffin's command words from the previous holder's fading ghost. (social interaction/riddle)
7) Fight the McGuffin's guardians. (2x CR-approariate fight/challenge)


Now, the wizard has 10 spell slots. How many spell slots is he willing to use up on terrain obstacles and social interactions before he has too few left for the CR-appropriate fights?

[Realms of Chaos]

First of all, I do understand the argument in favor of this fix.

Using maximized energy drains, a wizard can probably take down Balor in 3-4 rounds using 3-4 spells. With that said, the wizard can take down 3-4 Balors all by itself (which is pretty impressive) before losing the ability to do anything else of particular note for the remainder of the day other than an at-will beam and a few at-will support spells. Wizard in this fix is capable of mustering more raw power but is rendered less capable of acting as a one-man party like it could in a traditional game.

With that said, I believe there is a bit of a fatal assumption in this fix:
The fix seems to assume that because you have those utility abilities and an at-will blast, wizards will still be willing to adventure even after using up all of their spells. I personally expect that the 15-minute workday lives on within this fix, actually made worse than the original class at high levels (you have much fewer powerful spells to call upon and you are literally letting them use rope trick at will). It's true that a DM can always give deadlines to rush wizards along but I still think that the problem exists in general.

As for what I would suggest: nerf the spellbook. Don't let them scribe new spells or do let them but restrict the wizard to having only a single 100 page spellbook at a time. As you've already delayed spell progression to sorcerer levels, give some concrete limit on spells known and the wizard instantly plummets to low tier 2.

[Belial_the_Leveler]

With that said, I believe there is a bit of a fatal assumption in this fix:
The fix seems to assume that because you have those utility abilities and an at-will blast, wizards will still be willing to adventure even after using up all of their spells. I personally expect that the 15-minute workday lives on within this fix, actually made worse than the original class at high levels (you have much fewer powerful spells to call upon and you are literally letting them use rope trick at will). It's true that a DM can always give deadlines to rush wizards along but I still think that the problem exists in general.
Thanks for pointing this out. My solution for this basically in-character problem (the wizard convincing the others to rest before getting their goals) would be this one; the books suggest X number of encounters per day before rest so it's the GM's job to provide. And the world doesn't revolve around the wizard;



a) The world moves on. Reaching the McGuffin requires X challenges. If the wizard helps the party beat X-2 and then convinces them to rest because he's out of spells, have some NPCs beat the remaining 2 challenges and get the McGuffin. Next day, the party finds out the McGuffin has been taken (because the wizard wanted to rest prematurely) and they now have to face again X challenges (though different ones) in order to get it back.

b) Rest Interruption. The wizard convinces the party to rest ahead of time when there are X-2 challenges left for the day? The party faces the remaining 2 challenges during their rest. Rope Trick can be dispelled after all - it's as easy as putting the rope-focus that hangs out on fire and that pretty much anyone can do. (at least with the fixed PF rope trick version)

c) Things get worse. Because the party only faced X-2 challenges in one day and didn't do everything it could to achieve its goals, achieving those goals now requires X+2 challenges in the following day. I.e. the "if we don't clear all of the enemies, the survivors call reinforcements" problem.

d) Challenge reset. Simply put, beating a challenge and then retreating means the challenge grows back. Vampires and some forms of undead reform in an hour or two after being beaten, slain summoned creatures can be summoned anew, and so on and so forth.

e) Time limit. I wouldn't use this one too much as it is fairly arbitrary and it is a pass-fail test. Still useful on occasion though.

[Gnorman]

Are you familiar with the Oberoni Fallacy?

It states, basically, "Just because a DM can Rule Zero the problem away doesn't mean it's not a problem."

A class should not have to depend on DM adjudication to be rendered balanced. It should be balanced on its own merits. The five solutions you present are all examples of the DM interfering (by creating additional encounters or limits).

In my opinion, the goal should be to design a class that doesn't suffer from the 15-minute workday problem, rather than try to come up with ways to get around it. In that respect, having less spells but more powerful spells just encourages the wizard to "go nova" and have to rest earlier.

In my perfect wizard world, lower-level spells eventually become at will. Say, between three and five levels below the highest level you have to cast. That allows a wizard to continue contributing even after his high level slots are gone. Of course, I also don't use the wizard, replacing all the casting classes with spontaneous fixed-list versions. The limited spell lists there also do wonders - increased endurance, decreased versatility means they are more on par with the other party members.

[Belial_the_Leveler]

Are you familiar with the Oberoni Fallacy?

It states, basically, "Just because a DM can Rule Zero the problem away doesn't mean it's not a problem."
I am familiar with it. Remember however that the rule of "4-5 CR-appropriate encounters per day" is not Rule Zero. It is an actual rule of the game as much as the spellbook rules for the wizard. The wizard cannot be allowed to conveniently avoid one rule while gaining the benefits of the other; it's a game rule and it should apply, however clever the wizard is being about it.
This kind of thing happens every single time a wizard tries to become a god-wizard by conveniently ignoring such rules. Such as the rules of "XP and treasure awards are CR-dependent" and "a CR-appropriate fight is one where 20% of the PCs' resources are expended"

Here's a relatively blunt/unpopular idea that's actually RAW;
When next you got a god-wizard in the group, actually enforce the last 2 rules. The wizard won the fight by expending 5% of its spell slots while the fighter lost most of his HP? Then according to those rules the encounter was "Very Hard" for the fighter and "Trivial" for the wizard; the Wizard gets 500 xp and the Fighter gets 20.000 xp.


That's not Rule Zero. That's existing rules being applied.

[Gnorman]

I am familiar with it. Remember however that the rule of "4-5 CR-appropriate encounters per day" is not Rule Zero. It is an actual rule of the game as much as the spellbook rules for the wizard. The wizard cannot be allowed to conveniently avoid one rule while gaining the benefits of the other; it's a game rule and it should apply, however clever the wizard is being about it.
This kind of thing happens every single time a wizard tries to become a god-wizard by conveniently ignoring such rules. Such as the rules of "XP and treasure awards are CR-dependent" and "a CR-appropriate fight is one where 20% of the PCs' resources are expended"

Here's a relatively blunt/unpopular idea that's actually RAW;
When next you got a god-wizard in the group, actually enforce the last 2 rules. The wizard won the fight by expending 5% of its spell slots while the fighter lost most of his HP? Then according to those rules the encounter was "Very Hard" for the fighter and "Trivial" for the wizard; the Wizard gets 500 xp and the Fighter gets 20.000 xp.

That's not Rule Zero. That's existing rules being applied.

I'm going to bold "PCs'" above because it's a plural possessive, and I think that has some relevance to your "it's actually RAW" argument. The rule is not the individual character's resources, but the resources of the party as a whole. So you average "Very Hard" and "Trivial," it comes out to "Average," each one gets equal experience. Giving out differential experience amounts is a step backwards (towards 2E), and I think a punitive one. Also, HP and spell slots are not equivalent resources.

Additionally, 4-5 CR-appropriate encounters per day is really more of a guideline. Given the vast difference in play between tables, you can't make a hard and fast rule about this. The DM who runs 3 encounters per day, or 6, is he or she "breaking the rules"? In the same way that a player wizard is "breaking the rules" when he or she puts more spells in their spellbook than is allowed? What you're saying seems to be more along the lines of "if the DM finds this class is resting too much, they should add more encounters. Because they can do that, it's balanced."

The at-will spells are a step in the right direction.

[Doxkid]

Mastery of Traveling is unfinished.
----
The benefit for casting with Charisma barely exists. In theory having the ability to cast any of your spells with a pile of metamagics is really good...but in practice you'll only be stacking Metamagics for specific spells anyway.

Polymorph doesn't need Maximize. Energy Drain doesn't need extend. Optimally, you'll be using a spell within 1 level of the maximum you can do; when you get access to 13s you'll be doing 12s or 13s when possible. No one is going to use that slot for a Magic Missile unless that magic Missile is packing more adjustments than Michael Jackson's nose.

Once you accept that your meta magics will determine what spells will be used for these long before you actually 'pick' what goes into each slot., being able to select something else for that one odd circumstance you didn't expect every once in a while is much less optimal.

Furthermore, you knew fewer spells if cast with Charisma. The odds of you actually knowing that one rare spell for you to adjust is much lower...so the odds of you needing to Maximize or Quicken some niche spell is so low it's barely worth mentioning.

I would suggest giving Charisma casters something else or something extra. They are already getting screwed over in skill points and spells known...

[Yakk]

The idea of trading slots for metamagic is good. But post-level-9 metamagic is not required.

Limit the wizard to 1 major arcana per spell level known per day. Getting a new major arcana is worth a class level, so that is 9/20 levels done.

You start with 0 level spells known at-will (mastered spells). Learning a new spell to be used at-will is worth a class level.

Add in metamagic points. Metamagic points can be used to boost a spell you know, but never higher than the highest level major arcana you have.

So:



Metamagic 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
1 4/1 0/0
2 4/1 0/1
3 1 4/1 0/1
4 1 4/1 0/1 0/1
5 2 4/1 0/1 0/1
6 2 4/1 0/1 0/1 0/1
7 2 4/1 1/1 0/1 0/1
8 2 4/1 1/1 0/1 0/1 0/1
9 3 4/1 1/1 0/1 0/1 0/1
10 3 4/1 1/1 0/1 0/1 0/1 0/1
11 3 4/1 1/1 1/1 0/1 0/1 0/1
12 3 4/1 1/1 1/1 0/1 0/1 0/1 0/1
13 4 4/1 1/1 1/1 0/1 0/1 0/1 0/1
14 4 4/1 1/1 1/1 0/1 0/1 0/1 0/1 0/1
15 4 4/1 1/1 1/1 1/1 0/1 0/1 0/1 0/1
16 4 4/1 1/1 1/1 1/1 0/1 0/1 0/1 0/1 0/1
17 5 4/1 1/1 1/1 1/1 0/1 0/1 0/1 0/1 0/1
18 5 4/1 1/1 1/1 1/1 0/1 0/1 0/1 0/1 0/1 0/1
19 5 4/1 1/1 1/1 1/1 1/1 0/1 0/1 0/1 0/1 0/1
20 5 4/1 2/1 2/1 2/1 2/1 0/1 0/1 0/1 0/1 0/1

At will/prepared spells per day in each column.

Metamagic can be used to spontaneously boost a spell, either a prepared or at-will one, up to the level that is the highest you can cast.

Spells known: stat bonus level 0 spells. For non-zero level spells: 1 of the highest spell level they can cast, 2 of the next highest, etc. You prepare spells from this list.

Bonus at-will spells: You get bonus 0 level spells at-will based on your casting attribute bonus.

[Belial_the_Leveler]

Ok, changed access to spells considerably;

1) Both prepared and spontaneous wizards "know" a total of 21 spells at level 20, not counting cantrips. Those spells can be concentrated to higher levels but there are a) not enough to cover every situation and b) they must be from "commonly available magic" to begin with. I.e. a wizard doesn't automatically have access to every spell in every splatbook for her spells known; she starts with the Core spells.
2) Prepared casters can scribe scrolls and archive spells in spellbooks and research spells. Having a bazillion spells in your spellbook no longer makes them spells known though; the wizard needs to study a spell for 8 hours before exchanging it for a known spell. Also, to archive a spell or research it, you need to have encountered it in some way or form. I.e. spells from obscure splatbooks still need to appear in-world before the wizard gets to learn them.
3) Spontaneous casters can't scribe scrolls or archive spells. They get spontaneous casting which is the big advantage and they get slightly easier access to uncommon spells.


I think this fixes the "I can do everything" problem without either limiting the wizard to single-school casting or greatly limiting her raw magical power and the epic feel of arcane magic in higher levels.

EDIT:
I added a fix to the 10-minute workday. Now after regaining spell slots, the wizard can't begin resting to regain them for at least 12 hours. So even if she does expend her spell slots early, there is no early rest.
The original 3.5 limitation was that an expended spellslot couldn't be regained for 8 hours, which was a moot point since resting took those 8 hours anyway. But by changing it to "can't begin resting" and by increasing the interval, it is made meaningful.

[Zale]

3) Spontaneous casters can't scribe scrolls or archive spells. They get spontaneous casting which is the big advantage and they get slightly easier access to uncommon spells.


If I were picking which one to go with, I wouldn't want the one that was up wholly to DM Adjunction.

"Does X spell count as uncommon?"



EDIT:
I added a fix to the 10-minute workday. Now after regaining spell slots, the wizard can't begin resting to regain them for at least 12 hours. So even if she does expend her spell slots early, there is no early rest.
The original 3.5 limitation was that an expended spellslot couldn't be regained for 8 hours, which was a moot point since resting took those 8 hours anyway. But by changing it to "can't begin resting" and by increasing the interval, it is made meaningful.


That fixes nothing at all really.

It only increases the time that the party has to wait.

[Belial_the_Leveler]

If I were picking which one to go with, I wouldn't want the one that was up wholly to DM Adjunction.
"Does X spell count as uncommon?"
Uncommon are all spells not in Core. (i.e. PHB or Pathfinder SRD depending on edition)



That fixes nothing at all really. It only increases the time that the party has to wait.
Since the wizard gains nothing by waiting for those 12 hours, what's the rationale for waiting anyway? If the wizard's contribution after the big spells are gone is so minor as to not matter (it isn't), the rest of the party could face a given challenge whether the wizard is present or not (and they will gain XP/gp for it).

[Realms of Chaos]

If you required wizards to wait a full week before they could reclaim spells, they'd expend all of their resources in 15 minutes and force the party to wait an entire week before continuing on.

"common sense" and/or DM intervention would still be required no matter how long you make them wait so I suggest pursuing another tact. Perhaps forcefully spacing out how frequently wizards can use their full-power spells? It's not a great idea but it would help kill the 15-minute workday, force the wizard to use its blast/utility spells, and prevent issues like instantly killing balors in 3-4 rounds.

[Siosilvar]

I am familiar with it. Remember however that the rule of "4-5 CR-appropriate encounters per day" is not Rule Zero. It is an actual rule of the game as much as the spellbook rules for the wizard.

That's not a rule.

DMGp49: "This means, on average, that after about four encounters of the party's level the PCs need to rest, heal, and regain spells. A fifth encounter would probably wipe them out.
The party should be able to take on many more encounters lower than their level but fewer encounters with ELs higher than their level."

On the same page, the guideline for adventure design states that only half of encounters should be the same as party level. The remainder is split between easier and harder encounters, slightly favoring easier ones.

The fact that four encounters with an EL equal to party level is what they're expected to be able to take does not mean that they're expected to run into conveniently four encounters every day. It doesn't say anything about what they're going to face, only what they could and still survive.