Help with a Gnome Wizard?

[Atsull]

Me and my friends are starting a new campaign soon, and I've begun creating my character. Here's my build, so far.

Zook Moncerra Berenson, Level 1 wizard, Gnome. Chaotic Good.

STR: 11 DEX: 15 CON: 12 INT:18 WIS: 14, CHA: 16

important gear: weapons: club, sling, armor: none misc.: pony w/ saddle

I haven't chosen spells or skills yet, but I want a very offensive focused spellcaster, as We already having a healing focused bard, as well as a druid.

This is my first arcane spellcaster, the only other magic I've done is a cleric. any tips, suggestions? we are playing very core focused, as we aren't very experienced.

[Loasty625]

If you want to keep things simple I would at least include the Spell Compendium (SpC). The amount of spells in all the D&D books is overwhelming, but the SpC is one nice condensed source that I would suggest even a new player uses.

So! At level 1 you run out of spells quickly, and they don't deal that much damage. I usually start my characters out with buff spells that last longer in combat. Enlarge person + the club you wield will deal more damage than one use of shocking grasp. Fist of Stone (SpC) lasts one minute and gives you a +6 enhancement bonus to STR (but only to certain things) and a slam attack. Races of the Dragon has one spell you may want to consider, Mighty Wallop. That spell increases the damage of your bludgeoning weapon by one die category, but enlarge person has that effect and more, so you may want to wait for the greater version of that spell (3rd level), which would increase the damage by multiple die categories. But, using mighty Wallop AND Enlarge Person would make your club go from 1d4 to 1d8 (plus the extra +1 for having your strength increase by 2)

The other route I use for a mid-low level caster is control magic. Maybe you don't do too much damage by yourself, but if the enemy's weapon is hit by a grease spell and you keep getting AoO's when he goes to pick it up, you can give yourself the advantage there. Caltrops can be useful also.
In terms of your straight damage dealing spells, Magic Missile is a reliable crowd favorite. Ice Dagger (SpC) is versatile, and one of my favorite 1st level spells. And the SpC has all those Orb of X, Lesser spells which are great ranged spells.

Are you a specialist wizard? If so, what schools have you focused/banned?