So I had this idea for a change to wizards early feats, particularly Arcane recovery & ritual casting... My focus was highlighting both the flavor of a wizard as well as establishing better contrasts between wizards and other full casters.
So let me get this out of the way first: I don't think wizards should get an ability like Arcane Recovery, nor the better ritual casting... But at the same time, wizards need something interesting, strong, and on flavor for wizards, that comes online at early levels.
So here's my idea: The ability to transcribe spell scrolls of spells they know. Specifically, here's how I think it would work:
Transcribe Spell Scroll: Once per short or long rest, a wizard may transcribe a spell scroll of 1 ritual spell they know. If this is done during a long rest, they may choose to transcribe a spell scroll of any one spell they know instead, so long as they pass an arcana check of 8+ the spell level. If they succeed, they will produce 1 spell scroll, or two if the spell was a cantrip.
This would replace Arcane Recovery, and I would also change wizard ritual casting to be in line with other ritual casters (so it must be prepared to be cast as a ritual). I imagine the first three levels would change to the following:
Prof bonus +2 | Spellcasting (No Arcane Recovery)| 3 Cantrips known | Two Lvl 1 Spell Slots
Prof bonus +2 | Transcribe Spell Scroll (Move Arcane Tradition to lvl 3) | 3 Cantrips Known | Three Lvl 1 spell slots
Prof bonus +2 | Arcane Tradition | 3 Cantrips known | Four Lvl 1 spell slots & Two lvl 2 spell slots
And one final change I would make to this, is to give some sort of bonus/advantage on the Arcana check if the spell matched the Arcane Tradition school, which would massively improve the flavor of the original nine wizard sub-classes.
So in summary, the ability to transcribe a spell scroll of a known spell (with some limitations) would replace arcane recovery, wizard's ritual casting would move back in line with other ritual casters (needing to have spell prepared), and some wizard sub-classes would have more flavorful mechanisms around their specific spell school. Obviously, this is a work in progress, and some further balancing might be needed on Transcribe Spell Scroll... But as someone who both loves wizards, but hates that their abilities partially negate some other class' features (looking at Warlock spell slots & Sorcerer Font of Magic spell slot creation mechanics), I really like the answer I arrived at.
The wizard ritual casting is one of the strengths of the wizard class. All the ritual spells are utility and don't really have much of any combat effect with a couple of exception.
What is your scale? Is 1 very much disagree or very much agree?
The wizard ritual casting is one of the strengths of the wizard class. All the ritual spells are utility and don't really have much of any combat effect with a couple of exception.
What is your scale? Is 1 very much disagree or very much agree?
I'm going with 5 being like a 5 star rating, which is what I assumed from how the data shows up.
I understand that it's one of their strengths, and that's why I still think they're still a ritual caster even if they are brought back in line for simplicity. Under my idea they also can transcribe a spell with the ritual tag into a spell scroll on a short rest, which I think still puts them over the top of other ritual casters, but in a more wizard way.
I was trying to replace Arcane Recovery with a different short rest ability, and it was an angle that also streamlined the ritual casting tag/ability, while still giving them a short rest (& a stronger long rest version) in it's place... I really feel that Arcane Recovery just steps on the toes of the other Arcane casters upsides, and isn't used by a decent chunk of players anyways.
The use of arcane recovery varies by table. I can say in organized play it always comes up and is mostly used.
I personally like the current flavor of ritual casting.
As for the scrolls, wizards can already make scrolls but they cost GP and time. If you allow a free scroll per short rest then players will stockpile them, ritual tag or not. Imagine the middle of a combat where the wiz pulls out a scroll of tiny hut and casts it.
Do you allow it to happen as an action?
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So I had this idea for a change to wizards early feats, particularly Arcane recovery & ritual casting... My focus was highlighting both the flavor of a wizard as well as establishing better contrasts between wizards and other full casters.
So let me get this out of the way first: I don't think wizards should get an ability like Arcane Recovery, nor the better ritual casting... But at the same time, wizards need something interesting, strong, and on flavor for wizards, that comes online at early levels.
So here's my idea: The ability to transcribe spell scrolls of spells they know. Specifically, here's how I think it would work:
This would replace Arcane Recovery, and I would also change wizard ritual casting to be in line with other ritual casters (so it must be prepared to be cast as a ritual). I imagine the first three levels would change to the following:
And one final change I would make to this, is to give some sort of bonus/advantage on the Arcana check if the spell matched the Arcane Tradition school, which would massively improve the flavor of the original nine wizard sub-classes.
So in summary, the ability to transcribe a spell scroll of a known spell (with some limitations) would replace arcane recovery, wizard's ritual casting would move back in line with other ritual casters (needing to have spell prepared), and some wizard sub-classes would have more flavorful mechanisms around their specific spell school. Obviously, this is a work in progress, and some further balancing might be needed on Transcribe Spell Scroll... But as someone who both loves wizards, but hates that their abilities partially negate some other class' features (looking at Warlock spell slots & Sorcerer Font of Magic spell slot creation mechanics), I really like the answer I arrived at.
The wizard ritual casting is one of the strengths of the wizard class. All the ritual spells are utility and don't really have much of any combat effect with a couple of exception.
What is your scale? Is 1 very much disagree or very much agree?
I'm going with 5 being like a 5 star rating, which is what I assumed from how the data shows up.
I understand that it's one of their strengths, and that's why I still think they're still a ritual caster even if they are brought back in line for simplicity. Under my idea they also can transcribe a spell with the ritual tag into a spell scroll on a short rest, which I think still puts them over the top of other ritual casters, but in a more wizard way.
I was trying to replace Arcane Recovery with a different short rest ability, and it was an angle that also streamlined the ritual casting tag/ability, while still giving them a short rest (& a stronger long rest version) in it's place... I really feel that Arcane Recovery just steps on the toes of the other Arcane casters upsides, and isn't used by a decent chunk of players anyways.
The use of arcane recovery varies by table. I can say in organized play it always comes up and is mostly used.
I personally like the current flavor of ritual casting.
As for the scrolls, wizards can already make scrolls but they cost GP and time. If you allow a free scroll per short rest then players will stockpile them, ritual tag or not. Imagine the middle of a combat where the wiz pulls out a scroll of tiny hut and casts it.
Do you allow it to happen as an action?