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Your favorite spell school on D&D/Pathfinder.

Your favorite spell school


  • Total voters
    13
  • Poll closed .

Cryomancer

Arcane
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Jul 11, 2019
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Frostfell
The schools are :
  • Abjuration: Spells that protect, block, or banish. Imprisoment, Freedom, Banishment Spell Immunity, Mantle, lower resistance, Dispel, Disjunction.
  • Conjuration: Spells that bring creatures or materials to the caster. A conjuration specialist is called a conjurer. Summon monster, Grease, Glitterdust, Summon demon, summon Efreet, Summon elemental and some offensive spells like incendiary cloud and cloudkill.
  • Divination: Spells that reveal information. Identify, Known Alingment, detect secret doors.
  • Enchantment: Spells that imbue the recipient with some property or grant the caster power over another being. Eg : Charm Person, Sleep, Hold Person, Confusion, Emotion: Hopelessness, Chaos, Domination, Feeblemind and Hold Monster.
  • Evocation: Spells that manipulate energy or create something from nothing. Burning hands, Fireball, Lightning Bolt, Cone of Cold, Sunfire, Chain Lightning.
  • Illusion: Spells that alter perception or create false images. Blur, Mirror image, phantasmal killer, shadow conjuration, shadow evocation, shades, Project Image, simulacrum.
  • Necromancy: Spells that manipulate, create, or destroy life or life force. Animate dead, boneshatter, Create undead, Control Undead, Finger of Death, Abi-Dalzim's Horrid Wilting, Wail of the Banshee.
  • Transmutation/Alteration: Spells that transform the recipient physically or change its properties. Eg Slow, , Polymorph, Disintegrate, Flesh to Stone, Stoneskin, flesh to stone, stone to flesh, control weather, stop time.
------------------------------

On video games, my favorite schools are necromancy and conjuration. But in tabletop games, I would say Transmutation/Alteration. This topic is about TT games, not video games.
 

Alex

Arcane
Joined
Jun 14, 2007
Messages
8,750
Location
São Paulo - Brasil
(...snip)
  • Enchantment: Spells that imbue the recipient with some property or grant the caster power over another being. Eg : Charm Person, Sleep, Hold Person, Confusion, Emotion: Hopelessness, Chaos, Domination, Feeblemind and Hold Monster.
(snip...)

One of my most hated changes from 3e onwards is how they removed spells that didn't focus on mind manipulation. In 2e, there were quite a few enchantment spells that didn't affect people, and enchanting items was considered part of the enchantment school.
 

deuxhero

Arcane
Joined
Jul 30, 2007
Messages
11,326
Location
Flowery Land
Universal has the highest gems to shit ratio. Prestidigitation, Permanency, Limited Wish, and Wish are all really fun spells. Arcane Mark isn't as obviously awesome, but fun to bling out your stuff with on top of letting you mark your way through a dungeon, and has a few spells dependent upon it. Supplements for both D&D and PF added some spells that allow cooperative spellcasting, which is an underutilized mechanic and a good fit for the school. Dragoneye Rune from Dragon Magic is good (it's improved Arcane Mark) but really should just be a divination spell. The worst are the familiar boosting spells from Tome and Blood (which were reprinted twice in CA and SC) which are merely OK and really shouldn't be in the school.
 

Cryomancer

Arcane
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Video games are a personal experience. Is important that you have fun. Tabletop gaming is a group experience. Is important that the group(including the DM) have fun. That said, alteration has his fair share of amazing group benefiting spells, NPC trolling spells and destroying enemy spells.
 

Fluent

Arcane
Patron
The Real Fanboy
Joined
Apr 8, 2021
Messages
830
Enchantment here. Because recently, playing Sword Coast Legends, my Drow Rogue can dip into the Arcane spell world with a few Enchantment spells. Sleep has been incredibly valuable, as has Hold Monster. I just got Confusion and look forward to using it. And I also have some Distracting Something-or-other spell, that distracts the enemy based on a WIS saving throw and for 16 seconds the target grants combat advantage to its attackers. So yeah, Enchantment is cool. :)
 

Erebus

Arcane
Joined
Jul 12, 2008
Messages
4,763
One of my most hated changes from 3e onwards is how they removed spells that didn't focus on mind manipulation. In 2e, there were quite a few enchantment spells that didn't affect people, and enchanting items was considered part of the enchantment school.

It didn't make any sense to have mind-affecting spells in the same school as spells that magically enhance objects.
 

oldmanpaco

Master of Siestas
Joined
Nov 8, 2008
Messages
13,609
Location
Winter
One of my most hated changes from 3e onwards is how they removed spells that didn't focus on mind manipulation. In 2e, there were quite a few enchantment spells that didn't affect people, and enchanting items was considered part of the enchantment school.

It didn't make any sense to have mind-affecting spells in the same school as spells that magically enhance objects.

I don't know, you are changing the nature of things. Does it mater if they are organic or inorganic?
 

Cryomancer

Arcane
Glory to Ukraine
Joined
Jul 11, 2019
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Frostfell
Enchantment here. Because recently, playing Sword Coast Legends,

I was talking about TT games, SCL is not even close to be a faithful D&D adaptation and even the D&D adaptations, on PC's and TT games are different. For eg, when I an playin Baldur's Gate 2, I wanna to have fun. When I an playing a TT group, I wanna my group to have fun. Also, you can't "quickload" in TT game. For example a spell like Summon Elemental, in BG2, if summons a 24 HD elemental and the player loses control over it, he can solve the problem by pressing a key and quickloading. On tabletop, it can mean a party wipe. Other spells just can't be translated and have his usage severely limited. Dominating a NPC in TT game is completely different than dominating a NPC a video game.

It didn't make any sense to have mind-affecting spells in the same school as spells that magically enhance objects.

It made as : "imbue the recipient with some property or grant the caster power over another being"

In fantasy, you can say that the paladin is enchanted by a succubus or that his mace is enchanted to indicate that the mace is imbued with some type of magic.
 

Jvegi

Arcane
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Joined
Nov 16, 2012
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5,065
Old school is the best school.
 

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