Specialist Wizard (Apath)

Unofficial rules compendium

This is a work in progress.

A specialist wizard has more focus on his magic that normally afforded by arcane schools, giving up some areas of magic completely to focus on the school in question.

Not all these specializations may exist in all worlds. Even in settings that allow some of them, others might be unavailable. Historically illusionists are the most common specialist wizards.

Class Abilities

The specialist has all the standard wizard's class abilities except as noted below.

School Specialization

The specialist wizard specializes in one school of magic and gains great advantage in this field. In return, they give up several other schools of magic completely.

Spells of the school the specialist is focused on are prepared in a spell slot one level lower than normal. This means that an illusionist casts illusion spells as if they were all one spell level lower. Shadow conjuration is a 4th level wizard spell, but is only a 3rd level spell to a specialist wizard of the illusionist school. What is ordinarily first level spells of the chosen school now becomes cantrips and can be cast any number of times in a day. This bonus does not apply when creating magic items; the cost of a scroll, potion, wand or other magic item is always calculated based on the spell's normal level, tough a specialist wizard may learn the prerequisites for creating a magic item earlier than a normal wizard.

This replaces the arcane school ability. Specialist wizards do not receive school slots or school powers.

Prohibited Schools

A specialist does not get to customize his choice for opposition schools, his opposition schools are determined for him when he chooses his specialization. These restrictions are more significant than those most wizards follow, and are known as prohibited schools.

A specialist wizard can never prepare a spell that is in one of his prohibited schools-he treats these spells as if they were not on the wizard spell list. If using a spell trigger or spell completion item to cast a spell from one of his prohibited schools, he must use the Use Magic Device skill to do so.

Hindered Schools

Universal spells are the only spells a specialist wizard casts normally. Schools of magic which are neither preferred, specialized, or belong to the universal school are hindered. Hindered spells are prepared and cast as if they were one level higher than their actual spell level. They are still on the specialist wizard's spell list and he can use and create magic items based on such spells normally.

Classic Schools of Specialization

School Name	Description	Opposed Schools
Abjuration	The art of suppressing and trapping magic.	Divination, transmutation, illusion.
Conjuration	Calling agents and minions, or creating what you need.	Transmutation, divination, evocation.
Divination	Gaining information.	Enchantment, conjuration, abjuration.
Enchantment	Controlling minds.	Divination, evocation, necromancy.
Evocation	Channeling forces, mainly for destruction.	Illusion, enchantment, conjuration.
Illusion	Deceiving the senses.	Evocation, necromancy, abjuration.
Necromancy	Magic of death.	Transmutation, illusion, enchantment.
Transmutation	Transforming creatures, objects, and forces.	Necromancy, abjuration, conjuration.

Abjurers: Specialists in negating magic and using magic to negate other effects, abjurers are hindered from using subtle magics that divine or change qualities of reality.

Conjurers: Callers of creatures and relatively advanced phenomena from other planes, they are unable to evoke raw energies or to either change or divine what is already present.

Diviners: Masters of the truth, diviners are repelled by the falsehood of illusions, enchantments, and the anti-life of necromancy.

Enchanters: Masters of the mysteries of the mind and how to deceive it, enchanters are limited in their ability to work the straight-line effect of evocation, the truth-finding of divination, or the rigidity of the undead.

Evokers: Masters of the direct application of energy, evokers have trouble with subtlety and fine control. Things the call from other planes are raw and unformed.

Illusionists: Masters of the ephemeral, illusionists have trouble with the straightforward effects of evocation and abjuration and like enchanters are baffled by undeath.

Necromancers: Masters of the barrier between life and death, necromancers are the ultimate realists and won't meddle in the deceptive abilities of transmutation, illusion, and enchantment.

Transmuters: Masters of form, their control is disrupted by the forces of undeath and cannot tolerate abjuration. They can call raw energies, but their control of planar forms is too lacking for conjuration.

Summary of Changed Class Abilities

These abilities of the original class are lost or modified in this archetype:

• Arcane School