Making specialization matter

[Elandris Kajar]

This is basically like the title says, I want to make wizard specialization more interesting. As of right now, it gives very boring and generic bonuses, as in the extra spells per day. It can easily be done to have a wizard who barely uses his specialized school, and only did it for extra spells. All ideas are welcome.

Ideas so far:

1) maybe give +2 cl for spells from their school and -1 cl for those outside

2) reduced metamagic?

[eggynack]

I would advise just making use of the specialization specific ACF's from both unearthed arcana and the PHB II, along with maybe some master specialist levels and other specialization relevant things if you want specialization to mean more. The way specialization is now, you have basic specialization where you just get the boring spells/day, and you have advanced specialization, where you trade off more stuff for more specialization based powers. That way, people can choose how deep they want to go into a school of magic, instead of the base level being higher up on the chain. However, there's nothing especially wrong with just offering more trades of that sort. Your CL thing strongly resembles the spellgifted (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/variant/buildingCharacters/characterTraits.htm#spellgifted) trait, and I would advise against pushing metamagic even more, but as long as you keep the thing you're losing relatively even with the thing you're gaining, or perhaps significantly greater than the thing you're gaining, things should be pretty much fine.

[Frosty]

So...something like this? For example, if focused in Conjuration school...

Summoner's Charm (Su)

Whenever you cast a conjuration (summoning) spell, increase the duration by a number of rounds equal to 1/2 your wizard level (minimum 1). This increase is not doubled by Extend Spell. At 20th level, you can change the duration of all summon monster spells to permanent. You can have no more than one summon monster spell made permanent in this way at one time. If you designate another summon monster spell as permanent, the previous spell immediately ends.

Acid Dart (Sp)

As a standard action you can unleash an acid dart targeting any foe within 30 feet as a ranged touch attack. The acid dart deals 1d6 points of acid damage + 1 for every two wizard levels you possess. You can use this ability a number of times per day equal to 3 + your Intelligence modifier. This attack ignores spell resistance.

Dimensional Steps (Sp)

At 8th level, you can use this ability to teleport up to 30 feet per wizard level per day as a standard action. This teleportation must be used in 5-foot increments and such movement does not provoke an attack of opportunity. You can bring other willing creatures with you, but you must expend an equal amount of distance for each additional creature brought with you.

[Sacrieur]

The entire specialization system needs an overhaul. I can't think of a quick fix at the moment.

But hey, maybe there is one. I'll put some thought into it. It does bother me that you pick your school before you select your spells. It seems as though they've got this backwards.

[Troacctid]

Specialization already matters a ton due to alternate class features, feats, and prestige classes that only work for specialists. Even if all you use are the Unearthed Arcana variants, the different specialties will feel very different.

[Grod_The_Giant]

I would advise just making use of the specialization specific ACF's from both unearthed arcana and the PHB II, along with maybe some master specialist levels and other specialization relevant things if you want specialization to mean more.
This. If you wanted, you could fold multiple specialist-dependent things into the base class:

Apply the UA ACFs as per the book.
Grant the appropriate specialist wizard feat from Complete Mage (Cloudy Conjuration and the like) as a bonus feat at 1st, replacing Scribe Scroll.
Grant the PHB 2 ACF at, oh, 3rd or 4th.
Pillage the Esoterica class features from the Master Specialist (also Complete Mage), and grant them at the earliest level they'd normally be available-- Minor at 7th, Moderate at 10th, and Major at 13th. You could even perhaps continue the progression to an extent, making the Major School Esoterica usable Int Mod/day at 16th and at-will at 19th.


If you have limited book access, the "Specialist Wizard" variant in Unearthed Arcana is available online (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/variant/classes/specialistWizardVariants.htm), as Troacctid mentioned.

You could also look for homebrew to replace the overly-broad Wizard and Sorcerer with multiple Warmage-style classes, each focused around a specific style of magic. I know jiriku (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showsinglepost.php?p=10523436&postcount=110) did a bunch, as did I (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?317861-Fixed-List-Caster-Project-%283-5%29&p=16545265#post16545265).

[heavyfuel]

Specialization is already worth it due to ACFs specific to each specialization. The most famous one is probably Abrupt Jaunt which makes Conjurers crazy strong from level 1.

[Darth Ultron]

Get rid of the silly ''Universal school '' idea.

Have specialists ONLY cast spells of their school.

Add special specialist spells, and text to all the normal spells like ''when a necromancer cast this spell it...'' and add an effect.

[Grod_The_Giant]

Add special specialist spells, and text to all the normal spells like ''when a necromancer cast this spell it...'' and add an effect.
Perfect! A nice easy solution.

[Extra Anchovies]

Grant each school a different reserve feat or other at-will scaling ability at 1st level exclusive to specialists in that school, but only generalists get the familiar. Buffs a normally suboptimal choice and differentiates the specialists.

ETA: Oh, and ban specialists from taking Obtain Familiar.