[3.5] Slow Progression Wizard

[Thurbane]

If you gave a standard Wizard the casting progression of an Adept (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/npcClasses/adept.htm), what tier would you earmark it at? 2? 3?

[OldTrees1]

They still get all the game breaking spells of levels 0-5 but at later levels than normal. So at high levels there would still be an argument for being Tier 1.

[Aegis013]

I'd say maybe t2. They still have access to things like Planar Binding -> Nightmare -> Astral Projection. But a lot of their world changing abilities are removed with 6th+ level spells off the table.

They'll still end encounters with a single spell most of the time, I suspect though.

[Drachasor]

I think this is generally a bad idea. It's a "quick fix" attempt for magic. The problem is, quick fixes don't really work for the following reasons:

1. Binary success failure: Either you make it so such spells don't work and are useless, or they still work and nothing has changed.
2. No Save Spells: Completely unaffected. Broken spells are still accessible.
3. Less Fun: Almost all quick fixes result in casters being less fun to play. Fewer spells per day, fewer things to do, etc.
4. Hurts Non-Broken Casters: Almost all Quick Fixes result in casters that weren't a problem (direct damage wizard for instance) being hurt badly.

Often you get the awful combination of the class still being broken AND less fun to play. Ick.

Really you need to address the problematic spells in particular. Because stuff like Meteor Swarm will never be a problem. Either remove the specific problematic spells and mechanics, or make a new system from balanced principles.

[Thurbane]

It's not a fix, it's a hypothetical.

[Drachasor]

It's not a fix, it's a hypothetical.

Sure, fine. The same criticisms apply though, yes?

[Fouredged Sword]

You know, I personally think they end up tier 3-4 for low optimization play. At high op, you do a lot with even your low level slots, and you can open up some game breaking combos without needing 9ths.

[Thurbane]

Sure, fine. The same criticisms apply though, yes?
Yeah, I guess.

I was more thinking about it as a hypothetical additional class, somewhere between Adept and Wizard in power, but it looks like it's further to the Wizard end of the spectrum.

Just wanted to point out it wasn't intended as any sort of Wizard fix by myself.

[paddyfool]

Throw in some actual class abilities, bonus feats, etc, and a few more spell points / broader list. Maybe cribbing a little from classes that are also meant to be intelligent, but in other ways than simply knowing magic alone, such as the Factotum, with the general intention to give it problem solving options that aren't simply "I cast a spell". Call the class the Scholar. And then you might have something pretty playable.

[Fouredged Sword]

Yeah, like maybe int based class features based around knowledge. Allow them to cast healing spells like CLW and restoration. Maybe an ability to power scrolls with their multiple of their spell slots X/day rather than burning the scroll. Maybe the ability to use decipher script/spellcraft to write scrolls of high level spells.

Mix that with capping spells at 6th level, giving them a much larger number of spells, and curb out some of the more gishy and solve everything spells.

That is where I would go with a scholar class.

[ericgrau]

As a baseline I assume nobody is trying to break the system. I'm sure there's some mid level calling trick for that which won't go away.

I think it would make the wizard a bit weak and a pain to play, especially for rookies, but it's still unique enough that you could do a lot with the class. It would become more of a utility class where the party uses it for tricky things. You probably wouldn't want more than 1 in a party, but there are a lot of things you'd still want it for. I wouldn't want to go this far unless the party really knew what they were doing. In the hands of a less experienced player I'd up the progression a little. Other 2/3 casting classes might need to go down at least a hair to match if this wizard only gets spell casting.