Prohibited magic spell schools?

[Driddle]

Wizardly spellcasters, which two of the magic schools do you pick as PROHIBITED when you decide to become a specialist? (Multiple options; pick only two. Divination is not an option.)

 

[Felix]

Depends a whole lot on what kind of specialist you're playing. And not every specialist has the same flavor. Some Diviners might eschew Necromancy because they don't like undead, while another might favor Necromancy because they want to divine the relationship between Life/Death/Unlife/Undeath. The same is true for all the other specialists.

This should actually be 8 polls: For a _________ specialist, what schools would you ban?

 

[npiccini]

I actually prefer to play the necromancer so I was surprised to see it as tied early on as the one people most often ban. I usually ban enchantment schools. No particular reason, although I have to admit id be surprised to see just how many people ban evocation spells just because of the amount of tank spells like fireball in there.

 

[derelictjay]

Any specialist wizard I play ditches evocation (except for the evoker, duh). Is there a more singleminded spell school, damage more damage and even more damage. The worst part is I've had DM's who's every other monster/NPC had evasion and a high reflex save. Always making the evoker nearly worthless.

My second school on the chopping block is usually Necromancy. I don't tend to like undead or sucking opponents dry (you'll notice, I don't like most damage spells).

 

[Laman Stahros]

Can't Vote - Not enough options

How can anyone vote on this? If i'm playing a transmuter, then I give up such & such. If an evoker, such & such. Sorry, but, this is an impossible poll.

 

[Ahnehnois]

I'm playing a diviner so I forbid only necromancy. But if I were playing almost any other specialist I would most likely forbid divination and enchantment. Enchantment, excepting Heroism and maybe a couple other things, is all will negates, so unless you're specializing in it and taking spell focus and stuff it isn't all that useful. And even after 3.5 changes, divination and necromancy are still the schools with the least number of useful spells.

I think one generic poll is valid if you're trying to figure out which schools are overall the weakest. It seems to me that people will forbid largely the same schools that they don't like no matter which specialist they play.

 

[jmucchiello]

I'm surprised at Necromancy. False Life is an automatic 2nd level spell for me. I picked Enchantment (yes, me) and Illusion because just about everything they do is limited in some annoying way: Will saves, HD limits. They are also the most all-or-nothing spells. The person is held or not. And of course, not having access to (improved) invisibility means the rogue can go steal potions of them from a brewmaster instead of bugging my wizard to cast it on him.

OTOH, I never really play specialists. I don't think losing access to a bunch of spells is worth the extra spells per level in the long run.

 

[Patlin]

OTOH, I never really play specialists. I don't think losing access to a bunch of spells is worth the extra spells per level in the long run.

I agree. I planned to specialize in illusion and give up enchantment prior to 3.5 coming out, but when 3.5 hit I decided not to specialize at all. I just find mind control vaguely distastefull, and even my generalist mage avoids using dominate person and other such spells.

My second choice was necromancy, although I'd miss Horrid Wilting and False Life.

I did specialize on one recent character build, choosing no enchantment or necromancy for my cerebremancer. Vigor is better than False Life and I planned to emphasise psionics over magic, so Horrid Wilting wasn't in the cards anyway.

 

[The Lemon Merchant]

When I play a specialist, it is usually a Diviner. They aren't terribly powerful, but it basically means I have a free Identify on hand when needed. I've never been a fan of the Enchantment school, so to loose it is no big deal to me.

 

[Nightfall]

I'd toss Necromancy..if this was still in 3.5.