[Optimization] How Many Schools Can You Ban?

[Fax Celestis]

How many schools can you ban, and how effective can you be while you're at it?

Any book, level 20. Go.

[Damionte]

What? What do you want?

[Jack Mann]

He's trying to make a wizard that loses access to as many schools of magic as possible. Say, a focused abjurer with the incantatrix and red wizard prestige classes. Now only has access to three schools.

[Lord Lorac Silvanos]

You really should have given it a [Minimization] tag :smallwink:

Add a dash of Wizard of High Sorcery from DragonLance and I think we are there :smallbiggrin:

[Piccamo]

How many schools does that one ban? Could you post a proposed build?

[Fax Celestis]

Focused Abjurer 5/Red Wizard 5/Wizard of High Sorcery 5/ Incantatrix 10. I cast nothing but Abjuration and Universal spells.

Focused Abjurer: 3 schools
Red Wizard: 1 more
Wizard of High Sorcery: 2 more
Incantatrix: 1 more

[Piccamo]

Is it possible to get rid of abjuration, too?

[Fax Celestis]

...You know, I dunno. Is there another PrC that bans a school?

[Jack Mann]

Incantatrix won't let you. If you lose abjuration, you lose all class features, which includes focused studies.

EDIT: As well, how are we getting rid of divination?

[Fax Celestis]

Incantatrix won't let you. If you lose abjuration, you lose all class features, which includes focused studies.

EDIT: As well, how are we getting rid of divination?

Red Wizard.

[barawn]

Incantatrix won't let you. If you lose abjuration, you lose all class features, which includes focused studies.

EDIT: As well, how are we getting rid of divination?

Where does it say that? At least in the Excerpt version, it doesn't say anything like that at all. edit: whoops, that's the 3.0 version, I think. Geh, I thought it looked wrong.

Red Wizard and WoHS require specialist wizards, don't they? Which is too bad, as you could always start from a base spellcasting class with schools already banned. Spellthief in effect has 4 schools already banned. If it were possible, that'd give you the extra ban right there.

[Jack Mann]

"The Red Wizard must choose an additional prohibited school or schools using the rules in the Player's Handbook." I don't think it'll work, Fax. Does Wizard of High Sorcery allow you to give up divination?

[FireSpark]

"The Red Wizard must choose an additional prohibited school or schools using the rules in the Player's Handbook." I don't think it'll work, Fax. Does Wizard of High Sorcery allow you to give up divination?

And just so I can looko all this stuff up myself, can someone point out the source material for Wizard of High Sorcery? SOunds familiar, but I can't remember where I saw it.

[Jack Mann]

I'm pretty sure it's in the Dragonlance Campaign Setting, which I sadly don't have access to.

[Jack Mann]

Okay, borrowed the book from a friend. It won't let you ban divination either. And it only bans one extra school.

So, we need a new approach. We've only banned six schools this way, and are left with divination and abjuration. We need to find either one or three new ways to ban new schools.

One is if we can find one that allows us to ban divination. If we can, then we're set. If we can't, though, we have to go diviner, which means one fewer school banned, and we can't go with incantatrix, which means another school we have access too.

[Piccamo]

In exchange for this enhanced focus on one school, the wizard must give up one additional school of magic, chosen from among the schools that the other two orders of High Sorcery specialize in

Unfortunately the groupings are Abjuration + Divination (White Robe), Illusion or Transmutation (Red Robe), or Enchantment + Necromancy (Black Robe). If you go in as a white robe you can't give up divination.

[Kurald Galain]

How many schools can you ban, and how effective can you be while you're at it?

Fighter/20. All of them. Hah!

[Fax Celestis]

Fighter/20. All of them. Hah!

I said effective. :smallbiggrin:

[Gralamin]

Interesting Note from Red Wizard


Enhanced Specialization
...The Red wizard must sacrifice study in one or more schools. The Red Wizard must choose an additional prohibited school....
The way that reads to me, is that you can sacrifice as many schools as you want as a Red Wizard.
If I'm correct, go Diviner, drop everything else.

[Koji]

Focused Specialization and Master Specialist from complete mage. I think it's 3.0, but hey.

[Seffbasilisk]

The flaw Restricted Sorcery from Dragon Mag# 327. 2 Schools are prohibited to you. Only limit is you can't choose divination as one of 'em.

Additionally, keeps you from using wands or scrolls from those banned schools.

[Nebo_]

Focused Specialization and Master Specialist from complete mage. I think it's 3.0, but hey.

Master Specialist doesn't make you give up any more schools than you already have.

[Ditto]

So, how effective can you be, eh? Once you clever folks find how to knock off Abjuration and Divination, only Universal... Let's contemplate a world where all you can do once your Wish has failed is cast a permanent Arcane Mark on the BBEG's face and die laughing.

This game is awesome. :smallbiggrin:

[V]

Heh,

How about a warmage/Incantatrix, banning evocation?

Would leave you with only a few conjuration spells to apply all that nifty metamagic to.