A wisecracking wizard should not control the dead [3.5, Misc, PEACH]

[Sgt. Cookie]

The eight schools of magic

Most people know that there are eight schools of magic: Abjuration, Conjuration, Divination, Enchantment, Evocation, Illusion, Necromancy and Transmutation.

We also all know that it takes either an inborn talent or years of study to master even simple spells. Many also believe that wizards are intelligent individuals with masses of power at their fingertips.

While this may be true to a certain extent, in truth it takes a manner of different types to master different spells. An Evoker is made of tougher stuff than a Conjurer, while an Illusionist is sharp with his tongue, as well as his spells.

The crunch:

Each of the eight schools uses one of five of the ability scores. Dexterity is excluded as it, really, has no place in any of the schools.

The way this "fix" works is by forcing wizards to pick and choose which spells they really want. And by extension, force them to carefully decide which ability scores are most important.



The schools of magic require the following ability scores and by extention, the saving throws use a different score as well. (And a reason for choosing that ability), note that this only applies to Wizards. Magic is more "natural" to Sorcerers, thus all schools are based off charisma for them:

Abjuration: Intelligence. Abjuration spells are usually defensive in nature, and being wise or strong doesn't help in knowing what is going to be damaging.

Conjuration: Intelligence. Making something fly across the room is rather simple. Teleporting hundreds of miles requires you to know what you are doing.
Summoning sub school: Charisma, instead. Ordering a beast to do your work requires a forceful personality.
Calling sub school: Charisma, instead. Same reason as above.
Creation sub school: Constitution, instead. Same reason as Evocation and Transmutation.

Divination: Wisdom. Unsurprising, really. After all, the trope is a wise old oracle. Not a "Only somewhat-wise-but-can-summon-a-demon" oracle.

Enchantment: Charisma. Understanding some one's mind is the first step in getting them to do what you want. Being socially inept does not help you.

Evocation: Constitution. The evocation description states: "In effect, they create something out of nothing.". I personally think that doing that should drain the caster a lot. Thus, only the hardiest of evokers would attempt high level magic.

Illusion: Charisma. Again, understanding patterns of thought is key to manipulating those patterns.

Necromancy: Constitution. Necromancy manipulates energies that places stress on a living body.

Transmutation: Intelligence. Since you are breaking apart and reforming structures, it pays to know what those structures are.

Now then, onto the ability itself:

Spells: A Wizard casts arcane spells, the same type as a Sorcerer or Bard, which are drawn from the Wizard/Sorcerer spell list.

In order to learn or cast a spell, the Wizard must have an intelligence score of 10 + the level of the spell AND the appropriate ability score (Shown above) equal to 10 + the spells level. Saving throws are based solely off the schools associated ability score.

Like other spellcasters, a Wizard can cast only a certain number of spells of each spell level per day. The Wizard's base daily spell allotment is shown on the PHB table: The Wizard.

In addition, a Wizard receives bonus spells for having a high intelligence score.

Unlike a bard or sorcerer, a wizard may know any number of spells. He must choose and prepare his spells ahead of time by getting a good night’s sleep and spending 1 hour studying his spellbook. While studying, the wizard decides which spells to prepare.