Greetings to all,
I am working on a Dwarf Abjuration Wizard and I was wondering the following:
1. How many spells do you normally try to have for your school of magic? For example, getting to start with 6 spells, do you normally have 2 or 3 from your school or less?
2. As you level, do you try to get at least 1 from your school every other level (so 1 out of every 4 spells you get as you level)? Do you try for higher?
3. This question is specific to AL, but how often are you able to come across spells for your wizard to copy into your spellbook as you level?
There are two things you'll want to consider. One, the abilities you get from specializing in your particular school that are dependent on casting spells from that school. Two, how specialized you want your role to be within the party. For your school, Abjuration, you're definitely going to want Alarm and either Mage Armor or Shield(maybe even both) pretty early. Why? Well Mage Armor & Shield will boost your AC, and will recharge the Arcane Ward you'll get at Level 2. If you're a Mountain Dwarf, you may be better off skipping the Mage Armor since you'll be proficient with Light & Medium armor. Alarm will also recharge your Arcane Ward, and you can cast it as a Ritual in between fights without burning a spell slot(VERY useful especially when you're still a low-level Wizard!). Beyond that, "season to taste" basically 
The next Abjuration ability that depends on casting spells from your school won't come until 10th level. That one isn't just about Abjuration spells, it's about Abjuration spells that also require you to make an ability check(note that it's spells that require you to make an Ability Check, NOT spells that require your target to make a Saving Throw). When you first get this, the two spells that are really going to matter for this are Counterspell and Dispel Magic, both of which are insanely useful 3rd-level spells, so make sure you have them by then. Beyond that, what school your spells are won't really affect your abilities as an "Abjurer", it's all about how you want to flavor your character. Obviously this will vary depending on which school you belong to. Diviners for example, eventually regain low-level spell slots by casting Divination spells, so they'll want to make sure they're casting them pretty often to get the most out of their ability. Evokers are probably going to be even more focused, since their abilities are all tied to casting Evocation spells. Transmuters on the other hand, have abilities that don't much depend on casting spells in their school(I think the only one that does is if they want to change the effect of their Transmutation stone, and don't have 8 hours to create a new one).
In the end, it's really all about what kind of a character you want to create. That's what makes the game so awesome But as a general rule of thumb you'll probably want at least SOME damage-dealing capability, with your cantrips at the very least. Maybe a combination of Fire Bolt/Chill Touch and Shocking Grasp, so you have something to shoot targets at range, and something to zap guys who get close so you can get away. You'll probably want to pick up a blasting spell here and there as you go, since there are some really nice ones available and the Wizard is SO GOOD at AoE attacks.
What pdegan said!
I'll second his question: are you a Mountain or Hill Dwarf? And what level range are you considering? At low levels (1-4), a Mountain Dwarf Wizard can perform surprisingly well in melee with medium armor and a warhammer (if your Strength isn't awful). With a ward, Shield spell and a decent Constitution you can almost be called a tank. The Thunderclap cantrip in Elemental Evil lets you wade into a crowd and AoE at-will, which is inadvisable for other Wizards. Frostbite is good for range and grants disadvantage on the target's next weapon attack if it hits, making you even harder to it.There's a lot of flavor for the character as a Dwarven rune-mage with Thunder/Lightning/Frost spells in addition to your stock Abjuration spells.
Just don't invest too much in melee past those early levels.
miniitx wrote: