So I'm new with a grand total of 3 game sessions in. My wizard is is high level 2 (got lucky killed a room of book worms for 800 unsplit xp)and looking to I guess attend a school? If that's the right terminology, I'm not sure. Anyway I'm looking at either divination or necromancy. Any opinions on either one? Pros/cons?
What's your characters personality and motivations? what does he enjoy and dislike? Are you looking for sheet mechanical power? Are you wanting to be a controller wizard? A blaster? Do you want to have an army of undead minions to do your bidding? Do you want to be able to make others do your bidding?
It’s always great to hear about new players diving in to D&D.
So you’re narrowing in on Divination or Necromancy…
Big thing to remember is: you can pick spells from any school of magic, no matter what subclass you choose…Necromancy Wizards can still use divination spells, or evocation spells…Divination Wizards can use necromancy spells, or enchantment spells…
So a wizard is flexible no matter what.
That said, your subclass essentially gives you little “tricks” that modify certain kinds of spells you specialize in.
The “Necromancy” subclass is all about creating undead minions, which any wizard can do…except YOUR undead minions are stronger, hit harder and more easily, and are more plentiful.
The subclass also gives you very minor healing whenever you kill enemies with powerful spells, and the ability to sometimes mind-control enemy undead…but mostly, the Necromancy subclass is about building a terrifying mob of undead.
Word of warning: especially for new players, you MIGHT get overwhelmed by having to keep track of your minions stats, turns…as well as your own…if you go heavily into the Necromancy subclass features.
The “Divination” subclass, on the other hand, is rather simple, and brilliant:
At the end of a long rest, roll two d20 dice.
Write those numbers down.
Then, whenever you or something is about to roll a d20, you can use those numbers BEFORE they roll.
Low numbers can make enemies fail their rolls; and high numbers can make your rolls…or your friends rolls…succeed.
The Divination subclass also gets to save spell slots when they use divination spells, and very minor super-vision…but being able to replace your d20 dice rolls when you really need to is very, VERY popular with people who play wizards.
He's a high elf wizard chaotic good. Sheet says he tries to be good but so do anything for the search of knowledge. Far as the rest of the questions in not sure. I'm a wizard so I'm a bit....squishy. Tend to hang in back and throw burning hands or ready of frost, sometimes sleep creatures.
Necromancy is the school of or having to do with death. Divination is the school of information. Some time back I thought about which school would be the best school for survival and political intrigue in They. I did not consider Necromancy as the best Red Wizard Specialty Prestige Class for this purpose. Other than controlling undead Necromancy is more for conflict. Divination is a more subtle cautious way to approach Wizardry. Overall Divination should be better.
Then, whenever you or something rolls a d20 in a way you don’t like, see if one of those numbers you wrote down works better…
…and then USE THAT NUMBER.
Err, not quite. You have to decide to use one of your Portent rolls before the actual d20 gets rolled
It's still great, but it's not an "undo a bad thing" kind of ability
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Active characters:
Askatu, hyperfocused vedalken freedom fighter in Wildspace (Zealot barb/Swashbuckler rogue/Battle Master fighter) Green Hill Sunrise, jaded tabaxi mercenary trapped in the Dark Domains (Battle Master fighter) Xhekhetiel, halfling survivor of a Betrayer Gods cult (Runechild sorcerer/fighter)
He's a high elf wizard chaotic good. Sheet says he tries to be good but so do anything for the search of knowledge. Far as the rest of the questions in not sure. I'm a wizard so I'm a bit....squishy. Tend to hang in back and throw burning hands or ready of frost, sometimes sleep creatures.
Divination fits pretty well with a "search for knowledge, consequences be damned" type of character
If you're worried about being too squishy, Abjuration might be worth looking at too, as Arcane Ward can be a literal life-saver at low levels
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Active characters:
Askatu, hyperfocused vedalken freedom fighter in Wildspace (Zealot barb/Swashbuckler rogue/Battle Master fighter) Green Hill Sunrise, jaded tabaxi mercenary trapped in the Dark Domains (Battle Master fighter) Xhekhetiel, halfling survivor of a Betrayer Gods cult (Runechild sorcerer/fighter)
He's a high elf wizard chaotic good. Sheet says he tries to be good but so do anything for the search of knowledge. Far as the rest of the questions in not sure. I'm a wizard so I'm a bit....squishy. Tend to hang in back and throw burning hands or ready of frost, sometimes sleep creatures.
Divination fits pretty well with a "search for knowledge, consequences be damned" type of character
If you're worried about being too squishy, Abjuration might be worth looking at too, as Arcane Ward can be a literal life-saver at low levels
I'm not terribly worried about the squishiness lol. I have a team with a fighter, paladin, ranger and cleric. I was looking at necromancy because i could raise a small (very small) Army and send them ahead of us in caves and the such to speak up traps and any possible damage, but the divination d20 roll perk is great because I could let someone save a range or spell attack and they can hit with a dagger or something with a d20.
He's a high elf wizard chaotic good. Sheet says he tries to be good but so do anything for the search of knowledge. Far as the rest of the questions in not sure. I'm a wizard so I'm a bit....squishy. Tend to hang in back and throw burning hands or ready of frost, sometimes sleep creatures.
Divination fits pretty well with a "search for knowledge, consequences be damned" type of character
If you're worried about being too squishy, Abjuration might be worth looking at too, as Arcane Ward can be a literal life-saver at low levels
I'm not terribly worried about the squishiness lol. I have a team with a fighter, paladin, ranger and cleric. I was looking at necromancy because i could raise a small (very small) Army and send them ahead of us in caves and the such to speak up traps and any possible damage, but the divination d20 roll perk is great because I could let someone save a range or spell attack and they can hit with a dagger or something with a d20.
I'm playing a 6th level div wizard right now, and I generally use Portents for two things:
1) If it's a high roll, I use it to ensure a successful saving throw for myself
2) If it's a low or even a mediocre roll, I use it to ensure failure on a saving throw against one of my AoEs (slow, fireball, that sort of thing)
I've flirted with the idea of using a high roll on an important skill or ability check, but never pulled the trigger
Generally speaking, I don't use something like a 16 on attack rolls for other party members because you're denying them a chance to crit, and I don't even have any attack roll spells on my list right now other than cantrips
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Active characters:
Askatu, hyperfocused vedalken freedom fighter in Wildspace (Zealot barb/Swashbuckler rogue/Battle Master fighter) Green Hill Sunrise, jaded tabaxi mercenary trapped in the Dark Domains (Battle Master fighter) Xhekhetiel, halfling survivor of a Betrayer Gods cult (Runechild sorcerer/fighter)
Necromancy leads the wizz into the evil side of life, while the Diviner stays fair in not being so much time at the bad side of Life.
Necromancy is like a wizz with alter uses of the dead characters and corpses, while the Diviner is good at taking a sip-view about ""what could happen IF...... "" ""what IF......... ""
So from what I'm gathering if I go divination i can still use animate the dead and I'll get the portant ability. The only thing I really miss out on from necromancy is the minor healing from killing creatures with spells
Other posts have explained the pros and cons well enough, so I thought I'd just toss in my 2-cents:
Play a divination wizard, you'll have a ton of fun... And you'll often be able to guarantee that that one cool action you wanted to do, actually happens!
Want to be sure that one action happens, or someone makes their saving throw: give it one of the high rolls
Want to see the enemy fail: give them a low roll
Only have mediocre, middle of the road rolls: use them for your initiative roll ( see: https://www.dndbeyond.com/sources/basic-rules/combat#Initiative which clearly states that initiative is a dexterity check, and not a unique roll that would be excluded from portent)
So I'm new with a grand total of 3 game sessions in. My wizard is is high level 2 (got lucky killed a room of book worms for 800 unsplit xp)and looking to I guess attend a school? If that's the right terminology, I'm not sure. Anyway I'm looking at either divination or necromancy. Any opinions on either one? Pros/cons?
Just to clarify in case you weren't sure, nothing says you have to actually "attend" a school when you pick your subclass, unless that's the direction you want to go with your character. Think of them more as schools of thought than actual schools/academies. Same with bard colleges.
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So I'm new with a grand total of 3 game sessions in. My wizard is is high level 2 (got lucky killed a room of book worms for 800 unsplit xp)and looking to I guess attend a school? If that's the right terminology, I'm not sure. Anyway I'm looking at either divination or necromancy. Any opinions on either one? Pros/cons?
What's your characters personality and motivations? what does he enjoy and dislike? Are you looking for sheet mechanical power? Are you wanting to be a controller wizard? A blaster? Do you want to have an army of undead minions to do your bidding? Do you want to be able to make others do your bidding?
First off: Welcome!
It’s always great to hear about new players diving in to D&D.
So you’re narrowing in on Divination or Necromancy…
Big thing to remember is: you can pick spells from any school of magic, no matter what subclass you choose…Necromancy Wizards can still use divination spells, or evocation spells…Divination Wizards can use necromancy spells, or enchantment spells…
So a wizard is flexible no matter what.
That said, your subclass essentially gives you little “tricks” that modify certain kinds of spells you specialize in.
The “Necromancy” subclass is all about creating undead minions, which any wizard can do…except YOUR undead minions are stronger, hit harder and more easily, and are more plentiful.
The subclass also gives you very minor healing whenever you kill enemies with powerful spells, and the ability to sometimes mind-control enemy undead…but mostly, the Necromancy subclass is about building a terrifying mob of undead.
Word of warning: especially for new players, you MIGHT get overwhelmed by having to keep track of your minions stats, turns…as well as your own…if you go heavily into the Necromancy subclass features.
The “Divination” subclass, on the other hand, is rather simple, and brilliant:
At the end of a long rest, roll two d20 dice.
Write those numbers down.
Then, whenever you or something is about to roll a d20, you can use those numbers BEFORE they roll.
Low numbers can make enemies fail their rolls; and high numbers can make your rolls…or your friends rolls…succeed.
The Divination subclass also gets to save spell slots when they use divination spells, and very minor super-vision…but being able to replace your d20 dice rolls when you really need to is very, VERY popular with people who play wizards.
You’ll probably like it, too.
He's a high elf wizard chaotic good. Sheet says he tries to be good but so do anything for the search of knowledge. Far as the rest of the questions in not sure. I'm a wizard so I'm a bit....squishy. Tend to hang in back and throw burning hands or ready of frost, sometimes sleep creatures.
Necromancy is the school of or having to do with death. Divination is the school of information. Some time back I thought about which school would be the best school for survival and political intrigue in They. I did not consider Necromancy as the best Red Wizard Specialty Prestige Class for this purpose. Other than controlling undead Necromancy is more for conflict. Divination is a more subtle cautious way to approach Wizardry. Overall Divination should be better.
Err, not quite. You have to decide to use one of your Portent rolls before the actual d20 gets rolled
It's still great, but it's not an "undo a bad thing" kind of ability
Active characters:
Askatu, hyperfocused vedalken freedom fighter in Wildspace (Zealot barb/Swashbuckler rogue/Battle Master fighter)
Green Hill Sunrise, jaded tabaxi mercenary trapped in the Dark Domains (Battle Master fighter)
Xhekhetiel, halfling survivor of a Betrayer Gods cult (Runechild sorcerer/fighter)
Divination fits pretty well with a "search for knowledge, consequences be damned" type of character
If you're worried about being too squishy, Abjuration might be worth looking at too, as Arcane Ward can be a literal life-saver at low levels
Active characters:
Askatu, hyperfocused vedalken freedom fighter in Wildspace (Zealot barb/Swashbuckler rogue/Battle Master fighter)
Green Hill Sunrise, jaded tabaxi mercenary trapped in the Dark Domains (Battle Master fighter)
Xhekhetiel, halfling survivor of a Betrayer Gods cult (Runechild sorcerer/fighter)
I'm not terribly worried about the squishiness lol. I have a team with a fighter, paladin, ranger and cleric. I was looking at necromancy because i could raise a small (very small) Army and send them ahead of us in caves and the such to speak up traps and any possible damage, but the divination d20 roll perk is great because I could let someone save a range or spell attack and they can hit with a dagger or something with a d20.
I'm playing a 6th level div wizard right now, and I generally use Portents for two things:
1) If it's a high roll, I use it to ensure a successful saving throw for myself
2) If it's a low or even a mediocre roll, I use it to ensure failure on a saving throw against one of my AoEs (slow, fireball, that sort of thing)
I've flirted with the idea of using a high roll on an important skill or ability check, but never pulled the trigger
Generally speaking, I don't use something like a 16 on attack rolls for other party members because you're denying them a chance to crit, and I don't even have any attack roll spells on my list right now other than cantrips
Active characters:
Askatu, hyperfocused vedalken freedom fighter in Wildspace (Zealot barb/Swashbuckler rogue/Battle Master fighter)
Green Hill Sunrise, jaded tabaxi mercenary trapped in the Dark Domains (Battle Master fighter)
Xhekhetiel, halfling survivor of a Betrayer Gods cult (Runechild sorcerer/fighter)
Necromancy leads the wizz into the evil side of life, while the Diviner stays fair in not being so much time at the bad side of Life.
Necromancy is like a wizz with alter uses of the dead characters and corpses, while the Diviner is good at taking a sip-view about ""what could happen IF...... "" ""what IF......... ""
My Ready-to-rock&roll chars:
Dertinus Tristany // Amilcar Barca // Vicenç Sacrarius // Oriol Deulofeu // Grovtuk
So from what I'm gathering if I go divination i can still use animate the dead and I'll get the portant ability. The only thing I really miss out on from necromancy is the minor healing from killing creatures with spells
Other posts have explained the pros and cons well enough, so I thought I'd just toss in my 2-cents:
Play a divination wizard, you'll have a ton of fun... And you'll often be able to guarantee that that one cool action you wanted to do, actually happens!
Want to be sure that one action happens, or someone makes their saving throw: give it one of the high rolls
Want to see the enemy fail: give them a low roll
Only have mediocre, middle of the road rolls: use them for your initiative roll ( see: https://www.dndbeyond.com/sources/basic-rules/combat#Initiative which clearly states that initiative is a dexterity check, and not a unique roll that would be excluded from portent)
Just to clarify in case you weren't sure, nothing says you have to actually "attend" a school when you pick your subclass, unless that's the direction you want to go with your character. Think of them more as schools of thought than actual schools/academies. Same with bard colleges.