I'm DM for a group doing the Curse of Strahd campaign, and one of my players, the Gnome Wizard, is not having a lot of fun. Of the reasons in play, one of them is that she's overwhelmed by how much there is to learn as Wizard. You have to review so many spells to Learn, then you have to choose which ones to Prepare, then you have to choose When to use them, all while making sure to fit in with the rest of her team (Of six total). It's daunting, as she's never played a character class of this complexity in a tabletop Roleplaying Game before.
I'm too new to DnD to provide her with great help. LOTS of experience DMing games besides DnD, but this specific system is new to me.
So help me figure out how to build her character? She is a Level 3 War Mage
I think ultimately this may be more a need of taking things slow and keeping it simple than min-maxing. Perhaps try to keep down the need to switch out and prepare spells - help her pick a few 'core spells' she always has prepared, or even a complete 'main set', and only ever switch a couple she has prepared on occasion when the group know they'll be needing them. The higher level you get, and more spells you then have in the spell book, the more you'll want to switch them out, but she'll have time to grow into doing that.
Keep in mind a lot of the simple spells are the most useful, and simple means easier. You will want at least one or two to deal damage with - Chromatic Orb is typically the best one but it has both a specific material component she would need to find, and is also more complicated than some alternatives such as Magic Missile or Ice knife. One or two to defend with - Shield is brilliant but has some overlap with her War Magic feature, Arcane Deflection, and that could prove confusing for a new Wizard. And then a couple of utility spells to help the group. Finally ensure she has at least one damage cantrip or a ranged weapon, in case she runs out of spellslots.
With a fairly large group, and three other spellcasters, she doesn't have to worry about missing out on essential spells as you have a lot of coverage. D&D is about having fun at the end of the day, perhaps encourage her toward the spells she thinks she'll have fun with rather than fretting over the very best with the exact best use.
Find Familiar. Find Familiar is amazing... it's a little confusing, which is sad for new players but they are huge.
Owl Familiar is mechanically the best (it has Flyby) so it can "help" another party member in combat and leave range. It has 120' of Darkvision and can "help" you on Perception... so theoretically it could give you Adv on all passive perception tests as it's telepathically linked to you.
As for Cantrips: 1 ranged (dealers choice) and Shocking Grasp or a Save spell (so the Wizard can cast in melee). Shocking Grasp is especially nice, because if it hits they lose their reaction and you can Move away without taking an AoO... if anyone is in armor the Wizard has Adv, or the Familiar gave give the Wizard Adv on the attack with "Help". If the player is "Solider" background I recommend Mold Earth. "Loose Earth" has been clarified on Twitter to mean "not stone". So, the War Wizard could use it to make a "encampment" every night... digging a trench and piling up a spoil to protect the party. It would take a wizard roughly 1-1.5 hours to make a 10 wide and 5 foot trench around an encampment. This could make her feel very smart and doing a lot to defend against attacks at night.
Detect Magic is great because it can be cast ritually for no spell cost. I don't know if Strahd has a lot of traps, but Unseen Servant can be used to "open chest' and "open door" ahead of the party. It's also invisible. 10 minutes to cast and lasts for 1 hour.
I agree with VillainTheory, Shield is going to conflict her War Mage powers.
For this tell her to find her favorite, my wizard is a Necromancer, but built up for damage. If she wants to do boosts that’s good too. She should keep about 4 or how every many she likes using and keep them the others to fill up the rest she will just have to read the situation.
What equipment should she have?
Base gear, and pick up items on the way, some people use the gears stuff, I find myself just using the magic my character has though.
What spells to avoid?
No, spell should be avoided unless she finds it just really doesn’t help. The other magic classes can’t swap at all, she should just see it as something good to be able to swap a couple. Just don’t change it all, keep a list of the top spells she likes using.
Any Rules of Thumb to keep in mind?
I do it for all my players, but print out your spells and put them in like 2 envelops ones she has prepared and ones she has to swap from.
What compliments her group well?
Damage spells for her and bonus spells for an extra attack from the other players or even her.
Ways to make Wizards easier to digest/learn?
Part of it is just learning the spells and most of it is just being able to get the versatility down of the Wizard. She can almost fit any role.
Side note: My party is almost the same just no Bard and we have a Ranger and Paladin. My party is a group of 7.
My Wizard acts as the leader and just fills in where he needs to. Most of it is making suggestions to the party that better help my Wizard, but also knowing he can take the supporting role when need be for all kinds of combat.
I forgot so my character right now is a lvl 4 Wizard with lvl 1 Sorceror, just to get some other supporting spells Wizards can’t get. Now looking at adding lvl 1 Fighter to add to class list and work it out with myself, as the DM, to be able and cast 2 spells at once.
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I'm DM for a group doing the Curse of Strahd campaign, and one of my players, the Gnome Wizard, is not having a lot of fun. Of the reasons in play, one of them is that she's overwhelmed by how much there is to learn as Wizard. You have to review so many spells to Learn, then you have to choose which ones to Prepare, then you have to choose When to use them, all while making sure to fit in with the rest of her team (Of six total). It's daunting, as she's never played a character class of this complexity in a tabletop Roleplaying Game before.
I'm too new to DnD to provide her with great help. LOTS of experience DMing games besides DnD, but this specific system is new to me.
So help me figure out how to build her character? She is a Level 3 War Mage
Notes on her group:
Thank you so much!!
Geek and Sundry have a guide for Wizard beginners that's pretty easy to digest - https://geekandsundry.com/the-complete-beginners-guide-to-starting-a-wizard-in-dd/
I think ultimately this may be more a need of taking things slow and keeping it simple than min-maxing. Perhaps try to keep down the need to switch out and prepare spells - help her pick a few 'core spells' she always has prepared, or even a complete 'main set', and only ever switch a couple she has prepared on occasion when the group know they'll be needing them. The higher level you get, and more spells you then have in the spell book, the more you'll want to switch them out, but she'll have time to grow into doing that.
Keep in mind a lot of the simple spells are the most useful, and simple means easier. You will want at least one or two to deal damage with - Chromatic Orb is typically the best one but it has both a specific material component she would need to find, and is also more complicated than some alternatives such as Magic Missile or Ice knife. One or two to defend with - Shield is brilliant but has some overlap with her War Magic feature, Arcane Deflection, and that could prove confusing for a new Wizard. And then a couple of utility spells to help the group. Finally ensure she has at least one damage cantrip or a ranged weapon, in case she runs out of spellslots.
With a fairly large group, and three other spellcasters, she doesn't have to worry about missing out on essential spells as you have a lot of coverage. D&D is about having fun at the end of the day, perhaps encourage her toward the spells she thinks she'll have fun with rather than fretting over the very best with the exact best use.
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Find Familiar. Find Familiar is amazing... it's a little confusing, which is sad for new players but they are huge.
Owl Familiar is mechanically the best (it has Flyby) so it can "help" another party member in combat and leave range. It has 120' of Darkvision and can "help" you on Perception... so theoretically it could give you Adv on all passive perception tests as it's telepathically linked to you.
As for Cantrips: 1 ranged (dealers choice) and Shocking Grasp or a Save spell (so the Wizard can cast in melee). Shocking Grasp is especially nice, because if it hits they lose their reaction and you can Move away without taking an AoO... if anyone is in armor the Wizard has Adv, or the Familiar gave give the Wizard Adv on the attack with "Help".
If the player is "Solider" background I recommend Mold Earth. "Loose Earth" has been clarified on Twitter to mean "not stone". So, the War Wizard could use it to make a "encampment" every night... digging a trench and piling up a spoil to protect the party. It would take a wizard roughly 1-1.5 hours to make a 10 wide and 5 foot trench around an encampment. This could make her feel very smart and doing a lot to defend against attacks at night.
Detect Magic is great because it can be cast ritually for no spell cost. I don't know if Strahd has a lot of traps, but Unseen Servant can be used to "open chest' and "open door" ahead of the party. It's also invisible. 10 minutes to cast and lasts for 1 hour.
I agree with VillainTheory, Shield is going to conflict her War Mage powers.
What spells are necessary?
For this tell her to find her favorite, my wizard is a Necromancer, but built up for damage. If she wants to do boosts that’s good too. She should keep about 4 or how every many she likes using and keep them the others to fill up the rest she will just have to read the situation.
What equipment should she have?
Base gear, and pick up items on the way, some people use the gears stuff, I find myself just using the magic my character has though.
What spells to avoid?
No, spell should be avoided unless she finds it just really doesn’t help. The other magic classes can’t swap at all, she should just see it as something good to be able to swap a couple. Just don’t change it all, keep a list of the top spells she likes using.
Any Rules of Thumb to keep in mind?
I do it for all my players, but print out your spells and put them in like 2 envelops ones she has prepared and ones she has to swap from.
What compliments her group well?
Damage spells for her and bonus spells for an extra attack from the other players or even her.
Ways to make Wizards easier to digest/learn?
Part of it is just learning the spells and most of it is just being able to get the versatility down of the Wizard. She can almost fit any role.
Side note: My party is almost the same just no Bard and we have a Ranger and Paladin. My party is a group of 7.
My Wizard acts as the leader and just fills in where he needs to. Most of it is making suggestions to the party that better help my Wizard, but also knowing he can take the supporting role when need be for all kinds of combat.
I forgot so my character right now is a lvl 4 Wizard with lvl 1 Sorceror, just to get some other supporting spells Wizards can’t get. Now looking at adding lvl 1 Fighter to add to class list and work it out with myself, as the DM, to be able and cast 2 spells at once.