Offensive spells for a pacifist wizard

[MichielHagen]

I am working on a wizard that has sworn not to kill a living thing.

It has all kinds of protection, party-buff and battle-field control spells.

But i am in need for more offensive spells.....ones that do not kill....

I do want to summon things or use enchantment effects like charm.

Currently i only have "Ray of Stupidity", which does not kill, but comatizes (is that a word?).

Does anyone have any other suggestions, preferably one that does not have spell resistance (since Ray of Stupidity has) and if it's a ray spell that would be icing on the top

[kamikasei]

What do you have access to? Off the top of my head, the PHB2 has the whelm line of spells, which deal nonlethal damage to let you knock out your enemies. There are also various mind-affecting spells which let you shut down a target, and power word: stun.

There are of course a whole bunch of non-lethal debuffs that you can use if you think you can trust the rest of your party to just beat up, rather than kill, the weakened enemy.

[MichielHagen]

What do you have access to? Off the top of my head, the PHB2 has the whelm line of spells, which deal nonlethal damage to let you knock out your enemies. There are also various mind-affecting spells which let you shut down a target, and power word: stun.

There are of course a whole bunch of non-lethal debuffs that you can use if you think you can trust the rest of your party to just beat up, rather than kill, the weakened enemy.

I dont know what you mean with access, but currently i have evocation, illussion and enchantment dropped. I have access to any 3.5 book (not including the specific campaign setting books.

This would rule out PW: Stun, but it also allows spell resistance.

Debuffs i have, but is not what i am looking for, stunning (like PW: Stun) or in other ways render the opponent useless is what i want.

I will look into the "Whelm" line of spells, thank you

[monty]

You are taking Vow of Nonviolence, right? +4 to all save DCs is pretty absurd.

[MichielHagen]

You are taking Vow of Nonviolence, right? +4 to all save DCs is pretty absurd.

I have not, i assume that is in Book of Exalted Deeds, checking that out too...

[Fax Celestis]

BoED has Energy Substitution (Nonlethal).

[MichielHagen]

BoED has Energy Substitution (Nonlethal).

That seems interesting....what kind of damaging am i dealing then anyway? will a non-lethal fireball be subject to fire-immunity? or DR 5/-?

[Fax Celestis]

Prerequisite: Knowledge (arcana) 5 ranks, any metamagic feat.
Benefit: Choose one type of energy (acid, cold, electricity, or fire). You can then modify any spell with the chosen descriptor to deal nonlethal damage instead of normal energy damage. The nonlethal spell works normally in all respects except the type of damage dealt-for example, a nonlethal fireball has the same range and area, but since it deals nonlethal damage instead of energy damage, it will not damage objects or set fire to combustibles in the area.
A nonlethal spell uses a spell slot one level higher than the spell's normal level.

Quoted under fair use.

[SoD]

And, if I remember correctly, you can 'accidentally' cast a leathal spell and say "No! I didn't mean it to do that! Honest..."

[ShneekeyTheLost]

I would, if possible, change your banned schools. Illusion and enchantment are the two biggest schools you want to draw nonlethal 'shut down' effects from. Ban Necro and Evocation. Both do nothing but kill.

Slow sticks out large in my mind. Will save, not mind affecting, and opponents get nerfed hard.

Various Charm/Dominate/Hold spells work well.

Resilient Sphere is another good 'shut down and imobilize' spell.

Feeblemind does no damage... technically...

Solid Fog is good for sticking things in place for a while. Does absolutely no damage.

Stinking Cloud does no damage, it just makes them loose their last meal.

Reverse Gravity is a fun one. Toss them around in the air until they surrender.

[herrhauptmann]

So after you drop your enemy into a coma, or beat them into unconsciousness, what does your party do to the enemy? Do they walk off and let the enemy recover a few dozen nonlethal points of damage on his own, on the assumption that no monster will start eating him? What about the wizard you turned into a drooling idiot with feeblemind? He'll never recover without magical aid, and he'll die if left alone for a few days.

I'm not referring to the rule mechanics for vow of nonviolence, since I assume your goal to not kill is solely Role Play reasons.

[ShneekeyTheLost]

So after you drop your enemy into a coma, or beat them into unconsciousness, what does your party do to the enemy? Do they walk off and let the enemy recover a few dozen nonlethal points of damage on his own, on the assumption that no monster will start eating him? What about the wizard you turned into a drooling idiot with feeblemind? He'll never recover without magical aid, and he'll die if left alone for a few days.

I'm not referring to the rule mechanics for vow of nonviolence, since I assume your goal to not kill is solely Role Play reasons.

I was assuming the wizard in question wanted to capture/incapacitate in order to deliver them to an appropriate representative of the local law enforcement agency.

Feeblemind is sometimes an unfortunate necessity, for this will calm the innate and irrational anger issues which so often plague them. On the upside, this also grants them the prime prerequisite to enter any job within the government clerk system, so they have a place within society after their re-education

[aje8]

Honestly, you don't actually need any purley offensive spells. If you've got a decent party, BC and Buff with a spice of Debuff should do just fine. You personally don't need to kill, leave that to the party.

If you need Offense, I'd just stick to Debuff. Enervation is a good one. Actual Damage is not very good for wizards in general.

If your whole party needs to not kill (for an in-game reward or what-have you) just have the Fighter take a penalty to deal non-lethal damage while you keep doing the BC/Buff thing.

I dont know what you mean with access, but currently i have evocation, illussion and enchantment dropped. I have access to any 3.5 book (not including the specific campaign setting books.

If possible it may be worth it to change your banned schools. Illusion gives you all of the best defensive spells and soothes the loss of evocation with Shadow Evocation. I'd probably swap Illusion for either Abjuration or Necromancy. (Abjuration if you want the Necromancy Debuffs) This isn't all that relevant to your question, but will probably make sure your non-violent wizard doesn't get killed.

[Little_Rudo]

I'm playing a pacifist spellcaster as well (a healing-focused cloistered cleric), so I can relate, although Wizard's probably have it tougher. What spells are 'allowed' will vary based on your wizard's specific code (I personally use the Hippocratic Oath as a rough guideline, but that's because of her healing focus), so I'll just give some suggestions, based on a quick overview of the Wizards spell list.

I also agree with aje; if you wish to somehow deal with your opponents without necessarily dealing damage, the enchantment and illusion schools will be invaluable. In my overview I'll include spells from every school, just for reference's sake.

Spoiler

Show

Level Zero
Daze
Flare
Touch of Fatigue

Level One
Grease
Charm Person, Hypnotism, Sleep
Color Spray
Cause Fear
Ray of Enfeeblement

Level Two
Glitterdust
Daze Monster
Hideous Laughter
Touch of Idiocy
Shatter (this is a personal favorite)
Hypnotic Pattern
Blindness/Deafness
Ghoul Touch
Scare

Level Three
Deep Slumber
Hold Person
Suggestion
Ray of Exhaustion

That should give you some ideas, at least. Again, a lot of what is and isn't acceptable for your character will depend on their own ideas of what is or isn't kosher. I personally have a lot of fun playing a pacifist, though, so best of luck to you!

[ericgrau]

For the longest time a sorc I played didn't even do a point of damage. My party already included a couple other serious damage dealers (one caster, one melee). Eventually he did deal damage, but only b/c he didn't have anything better to do against some weak opponents. Honestly, if you're doing battlefield control right and your party handles damage, you should get along just fine.

This thread has some good spell choices, included my spell list from that same sorc: http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=102493

[Devils_Advocate]

Ban Necro and Evocation. Both do nothing but kill.

Cease your filthy lies, you filthy liar.

Touch of Fatigue. Ray of Enfeeblement. Ghoul Touch. Blindness/Deafness. Ray of Exhaustion. Bestow Curse. Waves of Fatigue. Waves of Exhaustion.

Darkness. Gust of Wind. Wind Wall. Daylight. Resilient Sphere. Wall of Ice. Wall of Force. Contingency. Forcecage. Telekinetic Sphere. Bigby's various Hands.

No school of magic "does nothing but kill." You can argue about which ones are most useful for things other than killing -- I'd definitely balk at the idea of giving up Illusion, personally -- but don't go making such overblown claims.

[ShneekeyTheLost]

Cease your filthy lies, you filthy liar.

Touch of Fatigue. Ray of Enfeeblement. Ghoul Touch. Blindness/Deafness. Ray of Exhaustion. Bestow Curse. Waves of Fatigue. Waves of Exhaustion.

Darkness. Gust of Wind. Wind Wall. Daylight. Resilient Sphere. Wall of Ice. Wall of Force. Contingency. Forcecage. Telekinetic Sphere. Bigby's various Hands.

No school of magic "does nothing but kill." You can argue about which ones are most useful for things other than killing -- I'd definitely balk at the idea of giving up Illusion, personally -- but don't go making such overblown claims.

for all your Contingency, forcecage, Spheres and walls of Force needs, there is Greater Shadow Evocation. The rest of the evocation spells are worthless.

Of all the necro spells you mentioned, none of them are really all that worth it. Sure, exhaustion is okay, I guess, but Ray of Enfeeblement is a penalty, not damage, and anything with a requirement of touch is just asking for a beat down.

[Draz74]

I had a pacifist wizard. Fear was a good way he ended some encounters. (And it's necromancy, too! He banned Evocation and Enchantment.)

Besides Fear ... do you consider Flesh to Stone "killing"? Baleful Polymorph works, too.

[Dacia Brabant]

I've actually thought about doing this myself. I wouldn't ban any schools honestly, with the kind of limitations you're putting on this character to never kill or deal lethal damage you'll want all other possibilities available to you, so go generalist--an elf with the Generalist Wizard Racial Substitution from Races of the Wild would be a good option if you don't mind playing an elf. (Actually not a bad option flavor-wise for a pacifist).

Every school that you could ban has something useful for you. Abjuration has a lot of your good defensive spells, Conjuration has lots of save-or-suck effects, Enchantment has your Charm/Suggestion/Dominate line, Devils_Advocate already explained some of the non-lethal usefulness of Evocation and Necromancy, Illusion has save-or-sucks, defenses/avoidances and mad utility out of the Image line, and Transmutation has lots of good buffs.

Wizards are Batman, Batman doesn't kill people (usually), so there's no reason why Wizards have to be killers to be effective.

[Canadian]

Bigby's middle finger. Offensive but non violent.

[ShneekeyTheLost]

Bigby's middle finger. Offensive but non violent.

Nono, didn't you see the comic? It's Bugsby's Expressive Single Digit!