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My first Wizard, opinions please.
- Thread starter Angerland
- Start date
Here's my opinions.
1) Keep the leather armor. The people who recommended that you ditch it seriously do not know what they are talking about. I have played first level Dwarven Wizards and leather armor is a big boon for a slow moving PC. You can always take it off when you have the Mage Armor spell up pre-combat. The spell failure chance is low enough that you will probably only fail a few spells before second or third level when you can ditch it. If the combats are so close that those spells mean the difference between life and death anyway, then you are already dead due to sheer bad luck day.
2) Keep the Obscuring Mist spell. Opponents typically cannot hit what they cannot see.
3) Consider taking the Shield spell instead of Mage Armor. Although the duration tends to only be one combat, Shield does stack with the Leather armor getting your AC up to 19 when necessary. You can always get Mage Armor at second level and later on, you can put the Shield spell on a scroll for emergencies. The alternative of the Mage Armor spell plus a shield prevents you from using the crossbow and having an AC of 19 at the same time.
4) Drop the Ray of Enfeeblement spell and replace it with either Sleep or Color Spray. Possibly affecting one opponent once per day is not very strong.
5) Drop Magic Missile for either Burning Hands or Summon Monster I.
6) Consider preparing two offensive spells per day instead of one defensive and one offensive. If you are in combat, you are close to dead anyway. My suggestion is to take Sleep / Color Spray as your first prepared spell most days (situational dependent) and then Burning Hands / Summmon Monster I as your second (or sometimes take Grease instead of one of these). Most of the time, use a light crossbow most rounds until the situation is dire. If opponents come up to you, use Burning Hands. If the group gets outnumbered, use Sleep or Color Spray. Personally, I like defense over offense in DND, just not as a first level Wizard. In order to get to second level, you have to prevent any opponents from taking you out. A high AC will not do that at first level because anyone can get lucky. At second level, your hits points will tend to protect you for a few rounds as necessary. At first level, they will not.
7) Consider switching the 12 Str and 8 Cha (i.e. getting 10 in both stats). Your character should not ever be fighting. But, dumping Cha will not help the character at higher level. Granted, if you want to have a fighting Dwarven Wizard, then the Str is more important (course, if you go that route, you should consider making the Wizard a specialized wizard like an illusionist).
8) Drop Point Blank shot. Sure, it helps a little at first level, but not enough to use up a feat that by 4th level or so, you will almost never use again. A better choice might be Spell Mastery followed by Signature Spell for higher level instead of weapon feats. Silent spell is good later on too (at higher level, always have at least one Silent spell prepared). There are a lot of good wizardly choices. Don’t screw yourself at high level, just to have a little boost at low level.
9) As for your future feats, I've always considered Improved Initiative to be vastly overrated. Typically, it usually only allows you to beat one or two opponents per combat (who you would have not beaten anyway) and the chances of that being a spell caster (or the BBEG) are not usually great in most combats. I don't know how many times that I have seen arcane types with Improved Initiative delay or ready an action, hence, lowering their init anyway because going first or early is often not the best option.
10) Take at least one rank in the Tumble skill (more if you can afford it). It will save your bacon some day and you have a decent Dex to help it out. In addition to sometimes letting you tumble past a group surrounding you so that you can either get away or cast a spell (without having to cast defensively and risk losing the spell), if you can get it to 5 ranks someday, it will up your Fighting Defensively / Total Defense for those rare occasions when you need to do that.
11) Once you get some experience, put your defensive spells (like Shield or Mage Armor if you keep that, and Obscuring Mist) on scrolls. Don’t put offensive spells on scrolls (at least not at first level).
12) Forgot to mention. Put your fourth level ability score add in Con. Don't bother ever upping the Wis. Up Int at 8th level and onwards.
But most of all, have fun with your character.
1) Keep the leather armor. The people who recommended that you ditch it seriously do not know what they are talking about. I have played first level Dwarven Wizards and leather armor is a big boon for a slow moving PC. You can always take it off when you have the Mage Armor spell up pre-combat. The spell failure chance is low enough that you will probably only fail a few spells before second or third level when you can ditch it. If the combats are so close that those spells mean the difference between life and death anyway, then you are already dead due to sheer bad luck day.
2) Keep the Obscuring Mist spell. Opponents typically cannot hit what they cannot see.
3) Consider taking the Shield spell instead of Mage Armor. Although the duration tends to only be one combat, Shield does stack with the Leather armor getting your AC up to 19 when necessary. You can always get Mage Armor at second level and later on, you can put the Shield spell on a scroll for emergencies. The alternative of the Mage Armor spell plus a shield prevents you from using the crossbow and having an AC of 19 at the same time.
4) Drop the Ray of Enfeeblement spell and replace it with either Sleep or Color Spray. Possibly affecting one opponent once per day is not very strong.
5) Drop Magic Missile for either Burning Hands or Summon Monster I.
6) Consider preparing two offensive spells per day instead of one defensive and one offensive. If you are in combat, you are close to dead anyway. My suggestion is to take Sleep / Color Spray as your first prepared spell most days (situational dependent) and then Burning Hands / Summmon Monster I as your second (or sometimes take Grease instead of one of these). Most of the time, use a light crossbow most rounds until the situation is dire. If opponents come up to you, use Burning Hands. If the group gets outnumbered, use Sleep or Color Spray. Personally, I like defense over offense in DND, just not as a first level Wizard. In order to get to second level, you have to prevent any opponents from taking you out. A high AC will not do that at first level because anyone can get lucky. At second level, your hits points will tend to protect you for a few rounds as necessary. At first level, they will not.
7) Consider switching the 12 Str and 8 Cha (i.e. getting 10 in both stats). Your character should not ever be fighting. But, dumping Cha will not help the character at higher level. Granted, if you want to have a fighting Dwarven Wizard, then the Str is more important (course, if you go that route, you should consider making the Wizard a specialized wizard like an illusionist).
8) Drop Point Blank shot. Sure, it helps a little at first level, but not enough to use up a feat that by 4th level or so, you will almost never use again. A better choice might be Spell Mastery followed by Signature Spell for higher level instead of weapon feats. Silent spell is good later on too (at higher level, always have at least one Silent spell prepared). There are a lot of good wizardly choices. Don’t screw yourself at high level, just to have a little boost at low level.
9) As for your future feats, I've always considered Improved Initiative to be vastly overrated. Typically, it usually only allows you to beat one or two opponents per combat (who you would have not beaten anyway) and the chances of that being a spell caster (or the BBEG) are not usually great in most combats. I don't know how many times that I have seen arcane types with Improved Initiative delay or ready an action, hence, lowering their init anyway because going first or early is often not the best option.
10) Take at least one rank in the Tumble skill (more if you can afford it). It will save your bacon some day and you have a decent Dex to help it out. In addition to sometimes letting you tumble past a group surrounding you so that you can either get away or cast a spell (without having to cast defensively and risk losing the spell), if you can get it to 5 ranks someday, it will up your Fighting Defensively / Total Defense for those rare occasions when you need to do that.
11) Once you get some experience, put your defensive spells (like Shield or Mage Armor if you keep that, and Obscuring Mist) on scrolls. Don’t put offensive spells on scrolls (at least not at first level).
12) Forgot to mention. Put your fourth level ability score add in Con. Don't bother ever upping the Wis. Up Int at 8th level and onwards.
But most of all, have fun with your character.
Last edited:
Thanee
First Post
Looks good.
I also agree with losing the armor (and get Mage Armor for protection). A shield could work and you can always drop it.
Point Blank Shot, while you have a good Dex, doesn't seem like such a good idea, but if you also pick up Precise Shot later, you can apply those to your ranged touch attacks, which could be handy, if you want to use those a lot. If you want to head for a prestige class, you should start considering taking feats to meet the prerequisites at 1st level already.
I would probably switch Str and Wis. Str 15 could be quite useful every now and then, especially at lower levels.
Good spells on scrolls - in general - are those, that do not allow a save and are not highly dependant on caster level. For example, Shield, Enlarge Person, Identify, Silent Image, Ray of Enfeeblement, etc.
Bye
Thanee
I also agree with losing the armor (and get Mage Armor for protection). A shield could work and you can always drop it.
Point Blank Shot, while you have a good Dex, doesn't seem like such a good idea, but if you also pick up Precise Shot later, you can apply those to your ranged touch attacks, which could be handy, if you want to use those a lot. If you want to head for a prestige class, you should start considering taking feats to meet the prerequisites at 1st level already.
I would probably switch Str and Wis. Str 15 could be quite useful every now and then, especially at lower levels.
Good spells on scrolls - in general - are those, that do not allow a save and are not highly dependant on caster level. For example, Shield, Enlarge Person, Identify, Silent Image, Ray of Enfeeblement, etc.
Bye
Thanee
I don't agree with everything, but KarinsDad has some good points.
I don't agree about the leather armor, especially since, once you can scribe some scrolls, you can get Shield and Mage Armor going for most encounters. A high AC is important at 1st level, because, even though most opponents have low BAB, hitting a 13 is fairly likely, whereas hitting a 17 or a 21 is much less so. You could also go for a buckler, rather than a small or large shield, and retain the ability to fire your crossbow (at the expense of the AC bonus). All of this also partly depends on how often you can rest. The more you can rest (or the shorter time per day adventuring), the more you can rely on your spells, rather than the leather.
It's a good idea to choose spells that give you offense and defense and do things (like aoe) that others in the party can't. RoE is a good spell, but probably not the best to start with. I would suggest replacing it with shield. Others have suggested Color Spray and Sleep, but you do have an aoe spell on your list: Grease. Consider starting out taking the defensive spells at first (Mage armor and shield), then write scrolls of these as early as possible (as well as of obscuring mist) and prepare Grease and Magic Missile. The latter is probably considered to be a boring choice, but a never-miss ranged attack is pretty nice at first level.
As far as what to put on scrolls, Thanee's response is right on. More specifically, consider spells that have a duration of a minute/level or longer as good candidates. Low-level encounters usually don't last more than ten rounds, so a one-minute Shield scroll will do the trick in most combats.
Taking a rank in Tumble is good advice.
As far as feats go, consider Extend Spell or Spell Focus: Conjuration. Extend will help you out later (3rd level) when you can scribe extended Mage Armor scrolls that will last 6 hours, or just prepare the spell extended. SF will make your Grease spell more effective, and there are other good conjurations to take later, namely Web and Glitterdust. Alternatively, take SF: Enchantment or Illusion and go with Sleep or Color Spray instead of Grease.
--Axe
I don't agree about the leather armor, especially since, once you can scribe some scrolls, you can get Shield and Mage Armor going for most encounters. A high AC is important at 1st level, because, even though most opponents have low BAB, hitting a 13 is fairly likely, whereas hitting a 17 or a 21 is much less so. You could also go for a buckler, rather than a small or large shield, and retain the ability to fire your crossbow (at the expense of the AC bonus). All of this also partly depends on how often you can rest. The more you can rest (or the shorter time per day adventuring), the more you can rely on your spells, rather than the leather.
It's a good idea to choose spells that give you offense and defense and do things (like aoe) that others in the party can't. RoE is a good spell, but probably not the best to start with. I would suggest replacing it with shield. Others have suggested Color Spray and Sleep, but you do have an aoe spell on your list: Grease. Consider starting out taking the defensive spells at first (Mage armor and shield), then write scrolls of these as early as possible (as well as of obscuring mist) and prepare Grease and Magic Missile. The latter is probably considered to be a boring choice, but a never-miss ranged attack is pretty nice at first level.
As far as what to put on scrolls, Thanee's response is right on. More specifically, consider spells that have a duration of a minute/level or longer as good candidates. Low-level encounters usually don't last more than ten rounds, so a one-minute Shield scroll will do the trick in most combats.
Taking a rank in Tumble is good advice.
As far as feats go, consider Extend Spell or Spell Focus: Conjuration. Extend will help you out later (3rd level) when you can scribe extended Mage Armor scrolls that will last 6 hours, or just prepare the spell extended. SF will make your Grease spell more effective, and there are other good conjurations to take later, namely Web and Glitterdust. Alternatively, take SF: Enchantment or Illusion and go with Sleep or Color Spray instead of Grease.
--Axe
KarinsDad said:Here's my opinions.
1) Keep the leather armor. The people who recommended that you ditch it seriously do not know what they are talking about. I have played first level Dwarven Wizards and leather armor is a big boon for a slow moving PC. You can always take it off when you have the Mage Armor spell up pre-combat. The spell failure chance is low enough that you will probably only fail a few spells before second or third level when you can ditch it. If the combats are so close that those spells mean the difference between life and death anyway, then you are already dead due to sheer bad luck day.
2) Keep the Obscuring Mist spell. Opponents typically cannot hit what they cannot see.
3) Consider taking the Shield spell instead of Mage Armor. Although the duration tends to only be one combat, Shield does stack with the Leather armor getting your AC up to 19 when necessary. You can always get Mage Armor at second level and later on, you can put the Shield spell on a scroll for emergencies. The alternative of the Mage Armor spell plus a shield prevents you from using the crossbow and having an AC of 19 at the same time.
4) Drop the Ray of Enfeeblement spell and replace it with either Sleep or Color Spray. Possibly affecting one opponent once per day is not very strong.
5) Drop Magic Missile for either Burning Hands or Summon Monster I.
6) Consider preparing two offensive spells per day instead of one defensive and one offensive. If you are in combat, you are close to dead anyway. My suggestion is to take Sleep / Color Spray as your first prepared spell most days (situational dependent) and then Burning Hands / Summmon Monster I as your second (or sometimes take Grease instead of one of these). Most of the time, use a light crossbow most rounds until the situation is dire. If opponents come up to you, use Burning Hands. If the group gets outnumbered, use Sleep or Color Spray. Personally, I like defense over offense in DND, just not as a first level Wizard. In order to get to second level, you have to prevent any opponents from taking you out. A high AC will not do that at first level because anyone can get lucky. At second level, your hits points will tend to protect you for a few rounds as necessary. At first level, they will not.
7) Consider switching the 12 Str and 8 Cha (i.e. getting 10 in both stats). Your character should not ever be fighting. But, dumping Cha will not help the character at higher level. Granted, if you want to have a fighting Dwarven Wizard, then the Str is more important (course, if you go that route, you should consider making the Wizard a specialized wizard like an illusionist).
8) Drop Point Blank shot. Sure, it helps a little at first level, but not enough to use up a feat that by 4th level or so, you will almost never use again. A better choice might be Spell Mastery followed by Signature Spell for higher level instead of weapon feats. Silent spell is good later on too (at higher level, always have at least one Silent spell prepared). There are a lot of good wizardly choices. Don’t screw yourself at high level, just to have a little boost at low level.
9) As for your future feats, I've always considered Improved Initiative to be vastly overrated. Typically, it usually only allows you to beat one or two opponents per combat (who you would have not beaten anyway) and the chances of that being a spell caster (or the BBEG) are not usually great in most combats. I don't know how many times that I have seen arcane types with Improved Initiative delay or ready an action, hence, lowering their init anyway because going first or early is often not the best option.
10) Take at least one rank in the Tumble skill (more if you can afford it). It will save your bacon some day and you have a decent Dex to help it out. In addition to sometimes letting you tumble past a group surrounding you so that you can either get away or cast a spell (without having to cast defensively and risk losing the spell), if you can get it to 5 ranks someday, it will up your Fighting Defensively / Total Defense for those rare occasions when you need to do that.
11) Once you get some experience, put your defensive spells (like Shield or Mage Armor if you keep that, and Obscuring Mist) on scrolls. Don’t put offensive spells on scrolls (at least not at first level).
12) Forgot to mention. Put your fourth level ability score add in Con. Don't bother ever upping the Wis. Up Int at 8th level and onwards.
But most of all, have fun with your character.
Findlefarb
First Post
Racial choice tends to be a more personal issue, so please feel free to ignore my input. However, since I've said it in other threads, I'll say it again here: consider being a gnome.
You still get your +2 Con, so you're still Dex 16, Con 17, Int 16. That's great. Either keep your other scores where they are (giving you Str 10 and Cha 10) or filp them (Str 8 and Cha 12). You get three more cantrips each day, +1 AC and +1 to hit. You can then swap out a spell for Color Spray and get +1 DC (total DC 15) for the spell. Alternately, keep things where they are and pick up Color Spray (and other Illusions) at your earliest opportunity. You have a good set of starting spells already, so either strategy is viable.
You keep the same HP and move rate, have a better AC and to hit. Your weapons do less damage (effectively -1 damage on average), but you hit more often.
Still, dwarves are good wizards, and there are plenty of non-mechanics reasons to play dwarves. So there's nothing wrong with sticking to the dwarf.
Definitely dump the leather armor. Armor interferes with spellcasting, and that's why you don't use it. Spellcasting is your bread and butter, and it's important to do whatever you can to keep it up. A gnome with a buckler has the same AC as a dwarf with leather armor.
Pickaxe is right on with the feat choices. I, too, am not a fan of Improved Initiative. It only really helps if you can drop an opponent in a single round, or get some added benefit (like sneak attack). Otherwise, no matter where you are in initiative order, it's they go, you go, they go, you go... Spell Focus: Conjuration or Spell Focus: Illusion are good first level feat choices. Great with Grease or Color Spray. Extend Spell is a good choice at third level.
You still get your +2 Con, so you're still Dex 16, Con 17, Int 16. That's great. Either keep your other scores where they are (giving you Str 10 and Cha 10) or filp them (Str 8 and Cha 12). You get three more cantrips each day, +1 AC and +1 to hit. You can then swap out a spell for Color Spray and get +1 DC (total DC 15) for the spell. Alternately, keep things where they are and pick up Color Spray (and other Illusions) at your earliest opportunity. You have a good set of starting spells already, so either strategy is viable.
You keep the same HP and move rate, have a better AC and to hit. Your weapons do less damage (effectively -1 damage on average), but you hit more often.
Still, dwarves are good wizards, and there are plenty of non-mechanics reasons to play dwarves. So there's nothing wrong with sticking to the dwarf.
Definitely dump the leather armor. Armor interferes with spellcasting, and that's why you don't use it. Spellcasting is your bread and butter, and it's important to do whatever you can to keep it up. A gnome with a buckler has the same AC as a dwarf with leather armor.
Pickaxe is right on with the feat choices. I, too, am not a fan of Improved Initiative. It only really helps if you can drop an opponent in a single round, or get some added benefit (like sneak attack). Otherwise, no matter where you are in initiative order, it's they go, you go, they go, you go... Spell Focus: Conjuration or Spell Focus: Illusion are good first level feat choices. Great with Grease or Color Spray. Extend Spell is a good choice at third level.
Ok, since people continue to support the "get rid of the leather armor at first level" idea, I have to chime back in with why this is a mistake.
The character has an AC of 13 without any armor. He can cast either Mage Armor or Shield to get it to 17. Let's assume he takes Mage Armor for the greater duration.
This means that outside of his defensive spell, he has ONE spell per day to cast. One (not including dinky zeroth level spells). His entire decent repetoire can be gone in two rounds.
If he were to face a combatant type, the minimum to hit of such an opponent is probably +2 (e.g. first level opponent Fighter with 12 Str). The maximum is maybe +5 (e.g. first level opponent Fighter with 18 Str or Fighter with 16 Str and Weapon Focus or Fighter with masterwork weapon, 14 Str, and Weapon Focus).
That means that most combatant type opponents will hit him anywhere from 50% of the time to 65% of the time.
If he manages to cast Mage Armor (or Shield) before this happens, it means his odds go up to 30% to 45% of the time.
Since the opponent Fighters will average 6 to 10.5 points of damage per hit (including criticals and assuming longswords and not two handed weapons), almost any hit will take the Wizard out.
That means that the Wizard will be taken out on average in 2 to 3 rounds if he has Mage Armor up, typically less than 2 rounds if he does not, and sometimes in 1 round in melee combat (which regardless of what people say, you cannot avoid every single combat). It will probably take more rounds to take him out (with one opponent) with missile combat, especially if he can find cover.
The Mage Armor lasts one hour per day. The Leather Armor lasts 24 hours (23 if he takes it off before casting Mage Armor).
Chances are that if he casts Mage Armor, within an hour, he will also cast his other first level spell most days.
Hence, it is critically important that he have at least some armor on for the majority of the day when he is out of first level spells to cast anyway. Plus, he can sleep in Leather Armor with no penalties.
Now, if he decides to go with one offensive spell and one defensive spell every day, then he might not want to wear his leather armor until after he has cast his Mage Armor spell. But once the Mage Armor spell is gone (regardless of whether he has cast his other spell), he should be putting on the Leather Armor. It is only prudent to do so. If he goes with two offensive spells, it is probably better to wear the Leather Armor right off the bat.
Look at the math. If he decides to go with two offensive spells and Leather Armor, his odds of casting x number of offensive spells per day are:
2: 81%
1: 18%
0: 1%
His odds when using Mage Armor are:
2: 0%
1: 100%
0: 0%
So, only 1% of the time will he lose both offensive spells (which means it will probably never happen before second level). Using Mage Armor, he never gets two offensive spells cast in the same day (not including the dinky zeroth level ones which his crossbow typically is superior to).
Additionally, the odds are good that he will not have a lot of gold to both scribe scrolls and put spells into his spellbook (and acquire another magical item if possible, i.e. if he gets a magical item, the rest of the PCs will probably split up any other treasure). Hence, he typically will not have a lot of scrolls to use on any given day either.
For all intents and purposes, the Wizard will typically do more damage in a day with a Light Crossbow (at +3 to hit) than he will with spells. Spells are NOT his bread and butter at first level. His crossbow is his bread and butter. At first level, spells are the icing on the cake. He's better off trying to find cover and fire his crossbow and save his one or two offensive spells for super critical situations. If he has two offensive spells, that means that he will be successful in 99% of those first time of the day super critical situations.
The character has an AC of 13 without any armor. He can cast either Mage Armor or Shield to get it to 17. Let's assume he takes Mage Armor for the greater duration.
This means that outside of his defensive spell, he has ONE spell per day to cast. One (not including dinky zeroth level spells). His entire decent repetoire can be gone in two rounds.
If he were to face a combatant type, the minimum to hit of such an opponent is probably +2 (e.g. first level opponent Fighter with 12 Str). The maximum is maybe +5 (e.g. first level opponent Fighter with 18 Str or Fighter with 16 Str and Weapon Focus or Fighter with masterwork weapon, 14 Str, and Weapon Focus).
That means that most combatant type opponents will hit him anywhere from 50% of the time to 65% of the time.
If he manages to cast Mage Armor (or Shield) before this happens, it means his odds go up to 30% to 45% of the time.
Since the opponent Fighters will average 6 to 10.5 points of damage per hit (including criticals and assuming longswords and not two handed weapons), almost any hit will take the Wizard out.
That means that the Wizard will be taken out on average in 2 to 3 rounds if he has Mage Armor up, typically less than 2 rounds if he does not, and sometimes in 1 round in melee combat (which regardless of what people say, you cannot avoid every single combat). It will probably take more rounds to take him out (with one opponent) with missile combat, especially if he can find cover.
The Mage Armor lasts one hour per day. The Leather Armor lasts 24 hours (23 if he takes it off before casting Mage Armor).
Chances are that if he casts Mage Armor, within an hour, he will also cast his other first level spell most days.
Hence, it is critically important that he have at least some armor on for the majority of the day when he is out of first level spells to cast anyway. Plus, he can sleep in Leather Armor with no penalties.
Now, if he decides to go with one offensive spell and one defensive spell every day, then he might not want to wear his leather armor until after he has cast his Mage Armor spell. But once the Mage Armor spell is gone (regardless of whether he has cast his other spell), he should be putting on the Leather Armor. It is only prudent to do so. If he goes with two offensive spells, it is probably better to wear the Leather Armor right off the bat.
Look at the math. If he decides to go with two offensive spells and Leather Armor, his odds of casting x number of offensive spells per day are:
2: 81%
1: 18%
0: 1%
His odds when using Mage Armor are:
2: 0%
1: 100%
0: 0%
So, only 1% of the time will he lose both offensive spells (which means it will probably never happen before second level). Using Mage Armor, he never gets two offensive spells cast in the same day (not including the dinky zeroth level ones which his crossbow typically is superior to).
Additionally, the odds are good that he will not have a lot of gold to both scribe scrolls and put spells into his spellbook (and acquire another magical item if possible, i.e. if he gets a magical item, the rest of the PCs will probably split up any other treasure). Hence, he typically will not have a lot of scrolls to use on any given day either.
For all intents and purposes, the Wizard will typically do more damage in a day with a Light Crossbow (at +3 to hit) than he will with spells. Spells are NOT his bread and butter at first level. His crossbow is his bread and butter. At first level, spells are the icing on the cake. He's better off trying to find cover and fire his crossbow and save his one or two offensive spells for super critical situations. If he has two offensive spells, that means that he will be successful in 99% of those first time of the day super critical situations.
Patryn of Elvenshae
First Post
Summon Monster 1 is a horrible choice for your first set of spells.
It lasts 1 round per level.
That means, at CL 1, you'll summon a creature who will get all of one single attack - which may or may not hit. Sure, it can provide a single round's worth of flanking bonuses, or take a single hit from a bad guy, but that's about it. Your summon choices at this level lack the AC, HP, or special abilities to accomplish anything particularly useful.
If you simply must have a summoning spell, go for it - but wait until you're higher level, when it will be at least marginally useful.
It lasts 1 round per level.
That means, at CL 1, you'll summon a creature who will get all of one single attack - which may or may not hit. Sure, it can provide a single round's worth of flanking bonuses, or take a single hit from a bad guy, but that's about it. Your summon choices at this level lack the AC, HP, or special abilities to accomplish anything particularly useful.
If you simply must have a summoning spell, go for it - but wait until you're higher level, when it will be at least marginally useful.
Patryn of Elvenshae said:
The value of it lies in getting one attack, one potential AoO, one flank by a party Rogue (or other PC), and it might draw one or two attacks off of the PCs for one round.
All in all, such a spell in the right circumstances can do more damage than any of the other damaging spells (i.e. Magic Missile, Shocking Grasp, Burning Hands, etc.).
It is more useful, for example, than Sleep or Color Spray against undead. And, it can be more useful than even Grease if the area is too small to not get both friends and foe in the Grease spell (or if you can only get one foe in the Grease where he might just walk out if he makes the save).
It is obviously not a great spell, but then again, there are circumstances where the other first level offensive spells are not great either.
Summon Monster also has a 1 round casting time.
Way too long to be effective for a 1st level wizard. He can be hit anytime during from when he starts casting until his next action and be subject to making a concentration check, as well as being outright killed.
KarinsDad, you seem to be really focused on how well a wizard can handle himself when in melee. Bottom line is a 1st level wizard in melee is usually an ex-wizard. Just not enough hit points to survive and pretty much can't get his AC up high enough to matter. If in melee he generates an AoO when he tries to cast, if he takes a 5 ft step and then casts (to avoid the AoO) the opponent steps up and then hits him (assuming he didn't have a readied action).
First option for a low level wizard is to run away as fast as possible if his allies are falling. He is a support character and not a primary combatant and needs to remember to be such.
Now since the wizard gets scribe scroll for free as a 1st level class ability and the cost to scribe a scroll of Mage Armor is (Base price of CL x 25 gp which translates into CL x 12.5 in gp and 1/25 of the base cost in exp (CL x 1)). Well, survive the first encounter and then make a few scrolls of mage armor to have on hand. Like several of us have said.
We did say to stay behind the rest of the party for support right?
Way too long to be effective for a 1st level wizard. He can be hit anytime during from when he starts casting until his next action and be subject to making a concentration check, as well as being outright killed.
KarinsDad, you seem to be really focused on how well a wizard can handle himself when in melee. Bottom line is a 1st level wizard in melee is usually an ex-wizard. Just not enough hit points to survive and pretty much can't get his AC up high enough to matter. If in melee he generates an AoO when he tries to cast, if he takes a 5 ft step and then casts (to avoid the AoO) the opponent steps up and then hits him (assuming he didn't have a readied action).
First option for a low level wizard is to run away as fast as possible if his allies are falling. He is a support character and not a primary combatant and needs to remember to be such.
Now since the wizard gets scribe scroll for free as a 1st level class ability and the cost to scribe a scroll of Mage Armor is (Base price of CL x 25 gp which translates into CL x 12.5 in gp and 1/25 of the base cost in exp (CL x 1)). Well, survive the first encounter and then make a few scrolls of mage armor to have on hand. Like several of us have said.
We did say to stay behind the rest of the party for support right?
irdeggman said:
irdeggman, you seem to be really focused on the rest of the party always protecting the Wizard.
Were you not aware that some monsters can run faster than a running Wizard?
Or that some creatures and NPCs have ranged attacks?
Or that sometimes, other PCs will be busy in a fight?
Or that the PCs might be outnumbered?
And some opponents will focus on a Wizard precisely because the Wizard is not wearing armor (i.e. an easy unarmored target that taking out will help the odds of the opposing group).
Or, do you play in a safe and cheerful world where the DM would never dream of attacking the PC Wizard at first level?
Btw, thanks for reminding me that a Wizard in Leather Armor should often be considered a semi-combatant type for enemies and hence, should not be auto-targeted immediately because he does not look like a Wizard (i.e. no robes, etc.). I know most intelligent opponents in our games target spell casters as soon as they find out about them precisely because they can be the greatest threat.
Yet another very good reason to wear Leather Armor as a first level Wizard. Camouflage.
Personally, when I play a first level PC non-combatant Wizard (and I sometimes play melee combatant Wizards), I do all of the things you suggest (i.e. find cover, allow my fellow PCs to protect me, avoid melee, stay in the back of the party, scribe scrolls ASAP, etc.). But, I also protect myself and that means leather armor. I might take it off out of combat to put up a Mage Armor spell and protect myself even more, but I never rely solely on my allies to protect me. Adventuring without a good AC is not what an intelligent Wizard should do.
Gosh, you guys are so stereotype minded.
