Somewhat new player - Transmuter help needed

[Thaiphoon]

First post here. Glad to be part of the forum.

I've tried to find as much information on the forums as I can but since there's a lot of knowledgeable discussion that is going over my head, I thought I'd ask a specific question in regards to my character.

Ok, so it had been 20 years since I last played D&D (last time it was 2nd Edition). And I usually only played fighter types or a cleric (my favorite).

I joined a group in a homebrewed campaign (it closely follows the core books but with some variations) that already had a monk, 2 fighter types, a cleric and a sorceror.

So I chose to play something I had never played...a non-cleric spell caster.

I chose a wizard and chose to be a Transmuter as the spells later on looked to be fantastic! I banned Evocation and Necromancy (probably should've banned Evoc and Ench instead??).

I've gotten to 3rd level and somehow I think I'm making bad choices in terms of maybe later being able to Prestige class or in terms of gimping my casting ability if I stay a vanilla wizard. Or maybe I've made poor choices in terms of spells?

My stats are:

3rd level/Human/Male

STR = 10
DEX = 14
CON = 14
INT = 16
WIS = 14
CHA = 10

I've either learned via level up or copied from another grimoire the following spells into my book. These are not my memorized ones, just the list of the ones I can memorize (in his campaign we can burn an action point to get a memorized spell back):

0- level

Mage hand, Detect Magic, Read Magic, Resistance

1- level

Mage armor, Color spray, Detect Secret Doors, Feather Fall, Grease, Enlarge Person, Identify, Sleep, Shield, Magic Aura, Alarm

2- level

Glitterdust, Knock, Web, Invisibility, Resist Energy


Feats (some of these are affected by homebrew rules)

Scribe Scroll, Spell Focus (Conj), Spell Mastery (Detect Secret Doors, Feather Fall, Expeditious Retreat), Combat Casting

Skills

I've ranked up the following skills (others I left unmodified):

Craft: Alchemy = 3
Heal = 2
Knowledge: Arcana = 6
Knowledge: Dungeon = 1
Knowledge: Engineering = 1
Knowledge: Geography = 1
Knowledge: History = 1
Knowledge: Local = 2
Knowledge: Nature = 1
Knowledge: Religion = 1
Linguistics = 4
Perception = 1
Spellcraft = 6
Swim = 3

Ok, my goal is to not sacrifice myself at higher levels as a caster. If you were me (other than re-rolling) what would you optimize or progress with this character moving forward in terms of feats, skills, spells?

I'm also curious about prestige classes. I've been reading up on them but I see more advanced discussion about them but nothing that says "at X level you would need to have Y in order to move to this PrC".

Ok, so ... verdict? Am I screwing this wizard up?

[GilesTheCleric]

Welcome to the playground!

If some things are going over your head, is it perhaps because of the terminology, or because of the variety/ complexity of sources and rules? If it's the former, I have a nice dictionary (https://docs.google.com/document/d/14D5o2dCyDVgni91iuVFrs2RDRDaCD7O-dUkcO5CCIcE/edit?usp=sharing) that might be handy. Incidentally, if you have some 2e terms you think are worth including, let me know and I'll add them (I think right now all I have are NWP, THAC0, and kit).

Banning Evo and Necro is fine; it just means you'll need to be a little pickier if you want to find some direct blasting spells. Popular choices include the Orb of [Fire] line of spells from Spell Compendium (If you're allowed any single book outside core, this is the one to ask for), which are Conj. Rolling with a Wizard 20 isn't bad -- the spell list is the key part. PrCs just give you access to additional options. If you're limited to core, check out the Archmage in the DMG and see if it looks appealing. If your GM gives you freer reign and you're not intimidated by book diving, Troacctid has a handy-dandy spreadsheet (https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1geywITbI4M-Up08SGD-rUHlnobR66aIgKqu7mILkmhU/edit#gid=691970088) of all PrCs that progress casting -- just find one with 10/10 progression for arcane or any casting. All PrCs state what requirements they have for entry near the beginning of the description.

Your stats look like they're rolled? Not having really high int isn't terrible, but it's worth grabbing a +X int item once you're able to afford it, since that'll improve the DCs on your spells. That said, I think your spell list as-is is pretty good, with a nice variety of spells, including save-or-suck (SoS) spells and battlefield control (BFC).

I don't have the time right now to give specific spell suggestions, but all you need to do is continue to pick the same sorts of spells as you level up and you'll do well.

Your skills list is interesting -- are you using PF skills? If so, that would explain the absence of concentration; if concentration is available, I recommend maxing it ASAP, and making sure to keep your Spellcraft high as well. Feats seem fine. Folks would probably recommend Skill Focus: Concentration over combat casting, since it's more widely applicable, but that's not a big deal.

Hope that helps!

Edit: Here's some good core-only spells at later levels, assuming you're playing 3.5 and not PF.

2: Mirror Image, Alter Self, Rope Trick

3: Dispel Magic, Fly, Haste, Magic Circle against Evil, Stinking Cloud, Hold Person, Displacement, Major Image, Shrink Item, Greater Magic Weapon

4: Polymorph, Dimensional Anchor, Dimension Door, Evard's Black Tentacles, Solid Fog, Scrying, Charm Monster, Greater Invisibility, Shadow Conjuration, Stone Shape

5: Dismissal, Cloudkill, Lesser Planar Binding, Teleport, Wall of Stone, Contact other Plane, Dominate Person, Feeblemind, Shadow Evocation, Baleful Polymorph, Permanency

6: Greater Dispel Magic, Planar Binding, True Seeing, Disintegrate, Flesh to Stone

7: Banishment, Mordenkainen's Magnificient Mansion, Plane Shift, Greater Teleport, Greater Scrying, Project Image, Greater Shadow Conjuration, Simulacrum, Ethereal Jaunt, Reverse Gravity, Limited Wish

8: Dimensional Lock, Mind Blank, Greater Planar Binding, Moment of Prescience, Otto's Irresistable Dance, Greater Shadow Evocation, Polymorph any Object

9: Mordenkainen's Disjunction, Gate, Teleportation Circle, Foresight, Dominate Monster, Shades, Etherealness, Shapechange, Time Stop, Wish

Summon Monster X is good at any level; as you can see, a pretty big chunk of the wiz list is great. It's difficult to go wrong, really, especially when you can just buy more scrolls to add new spells to your book if your current ones aren't working out.

[Mordaedil]

Hey, you're playing the same as me, neat.

Consider the PRC Master Specialist and going into it either at 4th level or 6th level. As a fellow transmuter, I can tell you that the actual class benefits aren't that great for you, but you could consider sticking out for 6 levels (for +1 to caster level checks), or just take 3 levels (for a bunch of free feats and easy entry into archmage later on).

Also, concentration is a valuable skill to have, as it allows you to cast defensively.

[Khedrac]

Skills: see if you can get approval to re-do your skills or do some retraining, because unfortunately you have missed out the single most important skill for any spell-caster: concentration.

Spellcraft is a nice thematic skill - it means you know what spells are being or have been cast.
Knowledge: Arcarna depends on the DM, it means you can recognize many magical monsters and may know other interesting magical stuff.
Concentration means you can actually cast spells in adverse circumstances.

One of the most important rules changes from 2nd Ed to 3rd Ed was "casting defensively". In 3.5 if someone can hit you with a weapon when you cast a spell, they (by default) get a free attack to do just that (an 'Attack of Opportunity').
'Casting Defensively' (which is a concentration skill check, DC 15 + level of the spell) negates this attack possibility.
Then, if you take damage while casting, a concentration check (DC 10 + level of spell + damage taken*) can prevent you losing the spell.

Whilst spellcasters do everything they can to not be where someone can hit them (not 'threatened' in 3.5 terminology), sometimes one has to cast when threatened and without concentration there is little point in trying.

* If you are taking continuous damage, e.g. being on fire, only add half the damage taken.

[GilesTheCleric]

Spellcraft is a nice thematic skill - it means you know what spells are being or have been cast.

I agree that spellcraft is great thematically, but I think it's also the second most important tactical skill in the game (after concentration). Having more infomation about your enemy's capabilities is crucial to making smart decisions.