Post/Author/DateTime	Post
kinjojones 09-18-06, 11:13 AM	I'm thinking of a character concept in which a person who grew up in a very anti-arcane magic society became a self taught wizard. In doing so he had become proficient in using magic covertly and just generally disguising his wizardly powers passing himself off as an educated but mundane accountant type. I'm wondering what kind of spells a wizard like that might learn and what school if any he might specialize in as well as feat selection. Also I'd like advice for in game on how to disguise his wizardly powers at least for awhile from the party. The party only keeps him around because no one bothered to take ranks in appraise and got duped into taking what they thought was 300 GP worth of gems but turned out to be less than 100. Also he seems to be a bit of a lucky charm and good almost bordering on miraculous things seem to happen with him around. Then a few levels down the road they get in a jam and the party's accountant shoots a fireball out of his hand. I'm thinking he'd either have largely Enchantment of Illusion spells or might specialize in one of them or even Divination. Obviously Still/Silent Spell and Eschew Materials would be a good choice. Any suggestions appreciated.
mightymouse1107 09-18-06, 11:33 AM	He would more than likely have spells that have results that are not readily apparent, or would duplicate abilities of other classes, allowing him to claim it was just something he "picked up somewhere". While the "fireball" example may make a great dramatic scene, its more likely he would have any flashy spell (almost any evocation or conjuration, for example) as a result of copying from a scroll or a stolen spellbook rather than from his own intentional research. Suggestion for a 5th level wizard spell book (enchanter. probably prohibits evocation. Trust me, as someone who has played mages for more than 15 years, it is the single MOST overrated school of magic in the game. You won't miss it.) 1st level: Charm Person, sleep, Protection from Evil, Comprehend languages, detect secret doors, true strike, Ventriloquism, Cause Fear, Alarm (silent version), Expeditious Retreat 2nd level: Resist elements, Locate Object, Tasha's laughter, Touch of Idiocy, Bear's Endurance, Knock 3rd level: Dispel Magic, Clairvoyance/Clairaudiance, Suggestion
kliate 09-18-06, 02:15 PM	Specialize in the ultimate school of subtlety: Enchantment. Forbid the overtly obvious Conjuration and Evocation. Focus on buff spells without obvious manifestations - Heroism, Bull's Strength, etc. Make frequent use of Charm spells to get people to like you When confronted by a monster, a well hidded Suggestion might look like "Why don't you find some other adventurer to bother?" (go away) A slight focus on Abjuration and Transmutation will also go a long way.
trapspringer 09-18-06, 02:50 PM	I'm gunna' disagree here. Grab conjuration. Take divination as your specialist school and drop evocation. "Hey, look, a sword!" "Wow, sure was lucky that dog ran in and ate that berserking orc..." I mean, of all the subtle magic arts, conjuration pretty much takes the bill. Divination is an obvious choice for this character, and with the new spells in spell compendium it is actually quite useful. Many of them are subtle to boot.
kinjojones 09-18-06, 03:22 PM	I have to say I am torn between specializing in Divination or Enchanment. I'm have no problem with dropping evocation entirely though, but I wonder if this could be pulled off as a generalist. Anyone else with suggestions for spell selection? I like the list mightymouse put together but if I were to decide to be specialized in Divination what Conjuration spells could be used subtley? Conjuration would definately increase his offensive capabilities so perhaps if at higher levels the character might feel powerful enough to not have to hide his abilities.
trapspringer 09-18-06, 03:36 PM	Unseen servant would be fun. Push a barrel onto someone's head, that kind of thing. Grease would also be hilarious. Sudenly one of the orcs trips and goes flying across the room, landing at the fighter's feet. At second level I'd grab Summon Monster II and/or Fog Cloud.
Piggyfreak6 09-18-06, 05:04 PM	I wouldn't take spells like flare or anything to do with fire.
Reversefigure4 09-18-06, 05:33 PM	Be a reader. Your party is going to notice that you feel the need to read from a certain book once every day. Carry multiple books with dust jackets that you can switch over onto your spellbook so it looks like a different book. Establish that you love to read, and you just don't feel right if you don't spend an hour a day reading. If anyone wants to see your spellbook, tell them it's a book written in Ignan, or some other obscure language nobody knows. Secret Page and other such spells will be your friend. Be a non-magical "alchemist", or suchlike. You know how to combine sulpher and bat guano in such a way that you can make an explosion of fire.
Terraneaux 09-18-06, 09:11 PM	You might want to keep evocation around just for when you become more powerful later and don't give a damn about who knows you're a wizard. Evocation isn't so good for damage (because melee characters outdamage arcane casters), but Telekinesis, Wall of Force, and some others are are really good spells.
Wuggadad 09-18-06, 10:50 PM	Don't forget to get Secret Page. An anti-arcane society might burn obvious spellbooks. If your spellbook appears to be a boring treatise on growing cabbages, it might not get burnt. Focus on buffs, divinations, and spells to get past obstacles. Get Message, Spider Climb, Feather Fall... Get spells that have decent durations and use them for trickery. That is, you cast the spell mostly out of sight of anybody, then use Alter Self and Comprehend Languages to infiltrate and find out information.
infideli 09-19-06, 12:00 AM	I would say that there is no need to be a specialist and lose a school. You can always specialize later if you feel it fits the character. If you did specialize, divination is a great school to have. Necromancy is an easy school to drop: "I shun the black arts". Be a reader. Your party is going to notice that you feel the need to read from a certain book once every day. Carry multiple books with dust jackets that you can switch over onto your spellbook so it looks like a different book. Establish that you love to read, and you just don't feel right if you don't spend an hour a day reading. If anyone wants to see your spellbook, tell them it's a book written in Ignan, or some other obscure language nobody knows. Secret Page and other such spells will be your friend. Be a non-magical "alchemist", or suchlike. You know how to combine sulpher and bat guano in such a way that you can make an explosion of fire. ALL good stuff, Reverse. An alchemist might work better than the OP's accountant idea and actually have adventure-worthy skills of analysis... and possibly even be trained in mechanics and engineering along with his "university" education. I don't know the game world, so it might not apply. There are spells to fake or enhance skill checks so a diviner can search a room with magic like a rogue or open locks, translate, decipher, research... Another spell book idea is to use tokens for spells... little figurines and stones that don't look like typical wizard gear. The PC could be a collector and curator and have the Indiana Jones sort of adventuring sage thing going for him. I am starting a wizard in a week that uses token Alternate Spellbooks from Complete Arcane, Pg 187. G
Deathstalker 09-20-06, 11:23 AM	Well, if I had to offer advice, it would be two things: 1)choose spells that have no visual effects, and 2)back it up with things that will easily hide your visible effects or back up your cover. For example, spells like bulls strength, and the other stat boosters have no visible effects and are easily explainable, "It was the heat of battle, the adrenaline surge made you a little stronger this time, but you can't be sure", "You're not actually any smarter, you're just thinking more clearly today". Likewise, suggestion, charm and most other enchantment spells have no visible effects, but you'll need to be more careful with them because if used incorrectly, they could arouse suspicion. If the leader of the angry mob suddenly realizes you're his best friend and radically alters his behavior, people will wonder what's going on, for example. Abjuration might be a good choice if you're already considered a "lucky charm" by the party, your (and their) unexpected bonuses in the form of energy resistances and other things that reduce damage will help to promote the idea that you live a charmed life. Also, still, silent and eschew materials will be a must. I think you should probably grab silent and eschew materials first since if you smell like guano and speak loudly in strange languages, the jig might be up. Somatic components are easier to hide, just lag behind the party or offer to go ahead, as long as they cant see you, they won't know what you're doing. Later you should get still spell as well since spells with no somatic components have no spell failure chance and wearing armor is a good way to deter suspicion. After all, what wizard wears armor? I would also back up my subtle magic with other things to help me hide my arcane abilities. Consider taking a few levels in bard or rogue so you can take ranks in bluff and perform (stage magic or something). This will also give you light armor proficiency and a die of sneak attack. If you wield a weapon and wear armor (however ineffectively) you'll help to promote the idea that you're not a caster. Wear leather armor, it's only a 10% spell failure chance. Use a crossbow or shortbow to stay in the fight without joining melee. Don't dress like a wizard, no robes. Try not to act like a wizard. No big words, no "Everyone down, it's a fireball!" via a handy spellcraft check, drink with the fighter, throw dice with the rogue and pray with the cleric. If you really want to hide your magic, you need to be practiced in deceit. Think about what you'd look for if you were hunting someone who was a wizard or a sorceror, for example. What tell-tale signs would you look for? Ask other people, hell, ask the other party members in game, after all, you come from a magic hating society, it's only reasonable that you'd be interested in knowing how they'd spot a wizard. Once you have a list of signs, it'll be easier to avoid them. Remember, this is not a mmorpg, your name, level and class don't float above your head and "Wizard" is not tattooed on your body anywhere. They can make whatever assumptions they want out of game, but unless you give them something to go on in game, they'll have no way of knowing what you can do.
chava 09-22-06, 08:30 PM	I'm thinking of a character concept in which a person who grew up in a very anti-arcane magic society became a self taught wizard. In doing so he had become proficient in using magic covertly and just generally disguising his wizardly powers passing himself off as an educated but mundane accountant type. I'm wondering what kind of spells a wizard like that might learn and what school if any he might specialize in as well as feat selection. Also I'd like advice for in game on how to disguise his wizardly powers at least for awhile from the party. The party only keeps him around because no one bothered to take ranks in appraise and got duped into taking what they thought was 300 GP worth of gems but turned out to be less than 100. Also he seems to be a bit of a lucky charm and good almost bordering on miraculous things seem to happen with him around. Then a few levels down the road they get in a jam and the party's accountant shoots a fireball out of his hand. I'm thinking he'd either have largely Enchantment of Illusion spells or might specialize in one of them or even Divination. Obviously Still/Silent Spell and Eschew Materials would be a good choice. Any suggestions appreciated. Silent Spell Still Spell Eschew Materials Ranks in Bluff and Sleight of Hand (so that when you can't use your feats you can still make it seem like you didn't cast a spell) However if he is self taught, unless he was naturally drawn to a paticular school of magic (bloodline/race), it's more likely that he would have developed a hodge-podge of spells that work along with what other people know he has been trained to do.