D&D 5E How do you develop your Wizard?

[LegionError121]

So, I had a game recently where we (I and my party) fought hard, gained experiance, got paid, dealt with living costs and then each of us got some free time to prepare ourselves for a while in this camp with many varying stalls.

The Ranger bought a new bow and magic Arrows, the Paladin and Cleric did their religious stuff and staired longly at some armour they were saving up for. Then it was my turn to do something.

As it turns out, I didn't know what I wanted or what I should want as a Wizard. Magic items costed a lot so they were pretty much out of the question, I didn't know what to ask for in terms of upgrading my gear (Because how do you ask for a +2 to intelligence through RP?!?!) and I had no idea as to whether there were any special items I should of tried hunting down like an Arcane Focus+1 or something (yep, I'm definitly still a nooby).

So I would like to ask, "How do you develop your Wizard outside of leveling up or getting loot/getting gifts from your dm?"

 

[cbwjm]

Depending on how much time you have and whether or not you're allowed to scribe scrolls you could perhaps ask for scroll scribeing materials to create some utility scrolls. Otherwise see if there are any scroll vendors that have some low level scrolls for purchase. You could also see if another wizard is available to trade spells.

If spell research is something that might be possible in the future of this campaign then perhaps the purchase of tomes detailing arcane theories.

If you are only purchasing things for future encounters though then I'd just run with scrolls and potions if any are available.

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[TallIan]

I'd second that. Scrolls are a wizard's magic arrows.

Longer term, arcane focus +1; ring of spell storing and protection items (rings, cloaks, robes)are what you are aiming for.

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[jgsugden]

Put aside the mechanics of the game and tell a good story. What drives the character? Power? Arcane, political or social power? Maybe he wants to have all the creature comforts in the world? Or study rare lore? What drives him? Once you have those questions answered, look at what mechanics facilitate telling that story.

 

[5ekyu]

"So I would like to ask, "How do you develop your Wizard outside of leveling up or getting loot/getting gifts from your dm?""

That auestion should be directed inward as well as outward.

Internally, What do you have that you put into the person you chose that can be served by gold or downtime activities?

Externally, what has the GM put in to the campaign scenery that can be accessed by gold or downtime?

Others have mentioned the mechanical gains from scrolls and spellbook (which do require the external source) but there may also be acquisition of expensive components to consider.

Common magic items like in XGtE or just potions scrolls might also be an external source you can,leverage.

But, back to the internals what about starting a group of "informants" from people you help or fund to keep an eye out for macguffin de jour?

What about setting up rooms or safe houses you pre-arrange with folks you helped or paid to shelter those in need of your macguffin de jpur type?

What if you keep making significant donations in gold and service to a temple of certain divines to develop a strong long standing mutually beneficial relationship?

One of my players uses brewing prof and bartender history and tends to setup a bar and offer cheap drinks whenever he gets time in an area. It create roleplaying oppotunities, easy access for types of rumors and i let it give advantage to certain types of investigation checks .

Another pretty much tries to woo and win as much as possible so they are always spending on gifts, clothes, booze, jewels, etc.

Another tends to try and find displaced kids and help-train-employ them, giving purpose and opportunity beyond survival as had been done for her.

All of those spawn roleplaying, spawn potentially useful long term benefits and are fairly transplantable with minimal need for GM provided organizations.

Obviously, guilds, temples etc provide more setting/GM dependent opportunities.





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[Charlaquin]

One of the wizard class’s defining features in D&D is the ability to copy spells they come across into their spellbook. That’s a great place to look for wizard advancement. While everyone else is looking for new gear to equip, you could be looking for new spells to learn.

 

[Draegn]

For my character I chose to follow a theme of learning all the color, chromatic and prismatic spells.

 

[aco175]

Depending on your level and wealth you can look at gear and low level magic. As a mage, I always liked things like waterproof spellbook, and fireproof is able. An upgrade would be a book that is kept in a extradimentional space. One of my PCs had a necklace with the spellbook charm that opened to the real book.

You can also give your character some quirks and personality by shopping for things. Collecting things like pens or cloaks can lead to adventure and personality. A PC of mine had a cane he used as a weapon. After getting it fitted with a gen and decorated he wanted to get a way to fit an umbrella inside since he was a bit dandyish in his appearance and not liking the outdoors. Minor items like a sleeping bag that floats slightly only gives a good night rest, but is memorable.

Make it yours and see how many other players follow your lead.

 

[Horwath]

1. More spells in your spellbook. Primary rituals, for wizards, outside their casting time, they are free to do.
Writting spells in spellbook costs gold and it may cost extra to even get an access to other wizards books/scrolls to write from.

2. Magic implement, maybe DM will ge lite on rules and say that +1 quarterstaff applies to your spells attack/damage/DC also.

3. Cloak or/and ring of protection.

4. There is some crazy fun/usefull common magic items in Xanatars. Be the MacGyver of the party.

 

[The Big BZ]

I absolutely love downtime! I'm playing a Fiend Warlock with an evil God (Pale Night) as my patron and so far, after three sessions, I have sold a magic item and acquired an adversary in doing so, searched for and bought a Wand of the Pact Keeper, researched planar travel so I can learn more about my patron and possibly visit her to try kill her/offer my self to her as a serf (that one is still in the balance) and I'm currently translating a map, researching an NPC and looking more in to the Planes!

If you balance your downtime between mechanical benefits and background stuff it can be quite rewarding. DMs love it too, it's not thhhaaaat much trouble to do and it allows them to foreshadow and enrich the game. My personal favourite so far is so far is that my Warlock found a book with a descriptions of weird mechanical creatures named Modrons... That kinda thing really bridges the 3 week gap between games for me.