In-game explaination for banned schools? [Archive] - Wizards Community

In-game explaination for banned schools? [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
Operation_Shoestring
03-28-08, 05:35 PM Does anyone know if there is an official explanation for how being a specialist wizard works, and why you have to ban schools. Do you just become incapable of using a school opposed to your specialization, or something?

Devoting all your time to abjuration the the exclusion of Evocation seem slike a weak justification.. what if you really need an evocation spell and someone hands you a scroll of fireball.. I mean, what trained wizard can't read scroll of fireball?
Paul_V
03-28-08, 06:01 PM Yes. The gist of it is that since you devoted all your time at Wizard Academy to a single school (almost to the point of obsession), you neglected your studies with other 2 schools simply because you didn't have the time. Obviously, you got to choose which schools to neglect.

The reason why you can't cast the spells from scrolls or wands is because they require a spell trigger (that is, a specific gesture or word that sets off the effect). It's not that you didn't bother to learn Evocation spells, it's that you have no idea how Evocation spells work. A Rogue with ranks in Use Magic Device would have a better chance of casting a Fireball from a wand than you.
Mad_Jack
03-29-08, 02:29 AM Think of it like this...

Sure, you're a trained chef... You've dedicated your entire career to making the best Italian food around. But if I asked you to make some obscure Hindu dish that you haven't been taught to make, it probably wouldn't taste all that good - you know how to cook it, you know what's in it, but you have no idea how long to cook it or how much of each ingredient to add. Instead of learning a few dishes from a bunch of different cultures, you've spent that time learning to make every Italian dish you could. So you just aren't familiar with the cooking methods of other cultures. You can bake things and use a frying pan, but you have no clue how to use a wok.
runestar
03-29-08, 09:31 AM The issue with banning schools is that you can never again learn any spell from those schools, even later on.

If I chose to study for a business degree in university, and opted to focus exclusively on operations management while completely shunning other aspects such as management or finance, there is nothing stopping me from reading up on those subjects in my spare time or taking up part-time courses. At the end of the day, I could still end up as an OM major with basic fundamentals in the other aspects of business management.

Conversely, a lv20 wizard who has banned evocation can never again cast ray of frost, the most elementary of evocation spells, barring specific options which allow him limited access to banned schools.

This clearly goes beyond simply choosing not to learn those schools of magic at all. Something about the learning process early on profoundly altered the manner in which your magical prowess developed, forever shutting out your ability to even dabble in them for some reason. It is like the magical energies used to shape your specialist caster abilities (namely the bonus spell slots) came from siphoning off/sacrificing your capabilities in other aspects (your banned schools). Once so shaped, the process is virtually irreversible.
ReaderOfPosts
03-29-08, 02:31 PM There is a series of feats in some Faerun book that slowly gives you access to a banned school. In theory it would make sense to despecialize at higher levels and start getting access to lower level spells, but I think it's so mechanically messy that allowing it as part of the specialization process wouldn't work.

One explanation for that is that once you start adventuring, it's assumed you're mostly self-taught. If you neglect in your schooling the basics of necromancy, you have no starting place to experiment from. In this case, it can be assumed that different schools of magic are sufficiently different enough to require specialized training in each.
Terjon of the Blue Rose
03-29-08, 10:35 PM I believe complete arcane also lets you pick them up with a 3 feat selection. First feat gives you a single spell, second magic items, third full access to the banned school.

Think of it as picking up extra courses.

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Operation_Shoestring 03-28-08, 05:35 PM	Does anyone know if there is an official explanation for how being a specialist wizard works, and why you have to ban schools. Do you just become incapable of using a school opposed to your specialization, or something? Devoting all your time to abjuration the the exclusion of Evocation seem slike a weak justification.. what if you really need an evocation spell and someone hands you a scroll of fireball.. I mean, what trained wizard can't read scroll of fireball?
Paul_V 03-28-08, 06:01 PM	Yes. The gist of it is that since you devoted all your time at Wizard Academy to a single school (almost to the point of obsession), you neglected your studies with other 2 schools simply because you didn't have the time. Obviously, you got to choose which schools to neglect. The reason why you can't cast the spells from scrolls or wands is because they require a spell trigger (that is, a specific gesture or word that sets off the effect). It's not that you didn't bother to learn Evocation spells, it's that you have no idea how Evocation spells work. A Rogue with ranks in Use Magic Device would have a better chance of casting a Fireball from a wand than you.
Mad_Jack 03-29-08, 02:29 AM	Think of it like this... Sure, you're a trained chef... You've dedicated your entire career to making the best Italian food around. But if I asked you to make some obscure Hindu dish that you haven't been taught to make, it probably wouldn't taste all that good - you know how to cook it, you know what's in it, but you have no idea how long to cook it or how much of each ingredient to add. Instead of learning a few dishes from a bunch of different cultures, you've spent that time learning to make every Italian dish you could. So you just aren't familiar with the cooking methods of other cultures. You can bake things and use a frying pan, but you have no clue how to use a wok.
runestar 03-29-08, 09:31 AM	The issue with banning schools is that you can never again learn any spell from those schools, even later on. If I chose to study for a business degree in university, and opted to focus exclusively on operations management while completely shunning other aspects such as management or finance, there is nothing stopping me from reading up on those subjects in my spare time or taking up part-time courses. At the end of the day, I could still end up as an OM major with basic fundamentals in the other aspects of business management. Conversely, a lv20 wizard who has banned evocation can never again cast ray of frost, the most elementary of evocation spells, barring specific options which allow him limited access to banned schools. This clearly goes beyond simply choosing not to learn those schools of magic at all. Something about the learning process early on profoundly altered the manner in which your magical prowess developed, forever shutting out your ability to even dabble in them for some reason. It is like the magical energies used to shape your specialist caster abilities (namely the bonus spell slots) came from siphoning off/sacrificing your capabilities in other aspects (your banned schools). Once so shaped, the process is virtually irreversible.
ReaderOfPosts 03-29-08, 02:31 PM	There is a series of feats in some Faerun book that slowly gives you access to a banned school. In theory it would make sense to despecialize at higher levels and start getting access to lower level spells, but I think it's so mechanically messy that allowing it as part of the specialization process wouldn't work. One explanation for that is that once you start adventuring, it's assumed you're mostly self-taught. If you neglect in your schooling the basics of necromancy, you have no starting place to experiment from. In this case, it can be assumed that different schools of magic are sufficiently different enough to require specialized training in each.
Terjon of the Blue Rose 03-29-08, 10:35 PM	I believe complete arcane also lets you pick them up with a 3 feat selection. First feat gives you a single spell, second magic items, third full access to the banned school. Think of it as picking up extra courses.