With lots of options offering lots of flavor, Wizards and Sorcerers have an interesting array of choices to make when creating their character. How do these choices match up, though?
Wizard
Genralist
Force Blast: 1d10+1/2 wizard level damage as a ranged touch attack, 3 minute cooldown. At level 10, this'll be doing an average of 10.5 damage; at level 18, 14.5. The touch attack adds some risk but touch AC is usually not terribly high. As a baseline for comparison it's in a good spot. With cantrips doing on average 3.5 damage, it can be worth up to 4 of them in one go, not a bad fill to throw out every now and then.
Journeyman's Recall: The next spell up to third level is restored after casting, useable 1/day. Effectively adds a third level spell slot, not bad.
Master's Recall: Same as Journeyman's recall but for 4, 5, and 6. An extra 6th level spell slot is pretty good.
All in all, it reduced the number of spell slots lost from not specializing from 9 to 7, but adds a little choice in what spell you'd like to cast extra of, which can make interesting decisions based on what happens. Very arcane, very based.
Abjuration
+1 Spell slot per level, loses Conjuration.
Abjurer's Aegis: Adds 1-5 Deflection AC depending on level for 1 round + int modifier. Objectively worse than the Shield spell which adds +4 Deflection AC for turns/level (unless it has unlisted changes) until Level 16, at which point you can get up to 7 rounds of 1 more AC if you started with 18 int. If it was Dodge AC I would find it more palatable.
Allay: Instant cast Dispel Magic once per day, up to twice per day and Greater Dispel + Dismissal at level 12. Very strong, very cool, very Abjuration.
Energy Absorption: Energy Buffer with 233% the absorption limit. This is effectively a 9th level spell, probably one of the strongest abilities here. Lack of offensive capability means it won't win fights but it will help survive them, especially against other casters and dragons and the like.
Overall, this is probably one of the strongest specializations, even knowing it loses access to most summons. Its level 1 ability being invalidated by a level 1 spell is rather disappointing, though.
Conjuration
+1 Spell slot per level, loses Transmutation.
Summoner's Command: Grant +1 creature level to the next summon, once every 30 minutes. This'll usually be about 10 HP and 0-1 AB. With creature levels being hard to really suss out, I don't like the feel on this. I'd prefer a much more direct "Next summon gains 10 max HP and +1 AB and Saves" because depending on the leveling curve for summons, unless they're all set up to benefit from this which is a pain to balance, this could really do very very little for a 30 minute cooldown ability.
Greater Convocation: Next summon gains +2 Con, +1 Regen, +1 AC, and +1 Saves. 1/hour. This does the things I said I wished Summoner's Command does, tells me exactly what to expect and has guaranteed throughput. Offers a lot of improvements to the survivability of that summon so it can keep giving value. I like it.
Summoner's Will: Summon two copies of the next summon for 15-18 rounds, can affect with Greater Convocation (but not Summoner's Command). 1/day. Can offer a lot of power for a brief period of time with high-level summons, but it requires not actually having those summons out doing throughput to take advantage of, and it prevents a long-term version from being summoned. I'm not sure the value of having one level 7 summon for an entire dungeon is less than the value of having two for a single fight, but when used it will certainly bring a lot of power and be a high-point. I'll call it even and say it's pretty balanced and pretty cool.
The first level ability's actual utility is dubious and requires actually comparing stats to see what changes to know if it's even worth using for a circle. I'd want something a bit more clear, such as giving a summon +1 AB for 1 round per 2 wizard levels, to make this ability not be a worse version of Greater Convocation and have readable advantages. It's also ironic that the school that creates long-term helpers loses access to many spells that would buff them, but the abilities definitely make up for it to a degree.
Divination
+1 spell slot per level, loses Illusion.
Diviner's Fortune: +1 to +3 to AB and Saves for 4-7 rounds, useable every 5 minutes. Good in a pinch against encounters with lots of spells flying. Also adds +1 to +4 to Sense Motive in order to catch disguise artists, screw those guys!
Scry Soul: Succeed on a Concentration roll of 14+player's level to learn their true identity. 1/day. Has a whole casting animation so it's not subtle. Even more powerful anti-disguise, though I have a feeling this is going to be the cause of a lot of metagaming, being an active choice that needs narrative justification but also a hammer looking for nails. I liked the "Find the area someone is in" version a little better. To make it less abuseable, add a rule to it saying you or someone you know MUST have succeeded on identifying a person is disguised in order to use it. Not a mechanical restriction because screw coding that, but put it in the ability's description so everyone knows it's fair game (and if it isn't used fairly, the person getting punished was well warned.)
Secret Eye and Pierce the Veil: Ask your friend to install a GPS tracker. This is really cool, I just wish you could do more than one. I also think that it would be nice if the fact that the item was enchanted was hidden unless someone succeeded on a spellcraft check when identifying it, so it can be used sneakily with 'gifts' for greater subterfuge potential.
Fun role-playing potential, some good defense for sticky situations. Just make sure Scry Soul isn't abused, because that's going to be the source of a lot of reports.
Enchantment:
+1 spell slot per level, loses Illusion.
Daze Bolt: Will save (unspecified DC but assume it's 10 + 1/2 wizard level + int) or be dazed for 4-7 rounds (depending on int modifier). 3 minute cooldown. This is pretty good at shutting down a lot of things and definitely can provide a lot more value in terms of enemies not making attacks than some of the damage abilities. Probably one of the strongest 1st level abilities.
Alluring Enchantments: 10% chance for Charm to splash. Possible but unlikely to make a group of enemies non-hostile, but the chance I feel is a little too low. Charm is generally not the spell being thrown out by Enchanters and making it has a minisicule chance to become Mass doesn't really incentivize using it very well. If the chance was more like 30% I'd consider it pretty useful, but this is going to see almost no use as-is.
Dominating Charm: Charm spells are now dominate spells. This is interesting and allows for domination on more slots, and instantly upgrades Mass Charm to Mass Dominate, though I'm not sure if you can dominate more than one creature at a time. Pretty strong.
Daze Bolt is pretty strong as a 3 minute cooldown, and Mass Charm becoming Mass Dominate is crazy fun, but the other ability doesn't really jive well with the spell list and how it works. Holds and Confuses are going to be used a lot more than single-target Charms, and by the time you get to level 15, 4th level spells aren't really giving the same amount of throughput. With end-game balanced around level 11, it might be somewhat useful, but a 10% chance to splash a non-hostiling spell that still requires will saves (when you will eventually get an 8th level Mass Charm) needs to be made a little better. A 10% chance to splash Hold Person at even a one round duration would be way more appealing and would encourage it to be used.
Evocation
+1 spell slot per level, loses Conjuration
Prismatic Barrage: An auto-hitting 5d2 attack with a 25% chance to be useable again. Average throughput on this is 7.5 damage, which is a little more than 2 cantrips; with the refresh chance it can be bumped up to an expected average damage of around 9.25. It loses a bit of damage compared to Generalist for reliability, but it's still not a very exciting button to push. Strangely enough it's the weakest of the damage abilities.
Evoker's Fury: 10% chance for spells to crit dealing 20% extra damage. This adds a total of about 2% to the expected damage output of an evoker because math is easy. While it allows some RNG big numbers every now and then (around level 10 you're likely to have at least 10 spells to throw around in dungeons meaning one of them will probably crit), it doesn't really add much damage despite looking and sounding cool. I think if it also added a 30% crit chance to Prismatic Barrage for +1 damage of each type it would be balanced out at being a fun addition. Right now, it's really a very very minor boon.
Trance of Destruction: Evocation spells and damage cantrips have a 3% chance of making your next level 2-6 evocation spell refresh. This is balanced around occurring about once every 3 minutes of combat with constant cantrip use, and that's pretty good if cantrips can become auto-cast. I'd like to see Prismatic Barrage included, maybe with a 5% chance so that it becomes a high-octane moment where you're really hoping it refreshes so you can get a 10% (or 6.25% of the time, 15%) chance of making your next chain lightning or cone of cold refresh.
Illusion
+1 Spell slot per level, loses Enchantment.
Illusory Image: Create an illusory clone that draws threat and looks like it's casting spells for 1-5 rounds. Useable once per hour, has 100% concealment. I think with enemy AI being kind of wonky, it should probably have a 3 round + 1/4 wizard level duration to make sure it has time to generate enough threat to get their attention and get value; at a 1 round duration it'll kind of poof before the enemies even reach it, offering very little value. Very cool, though.
Simulacrum: Pretend to be an NPC for 30 minutes once per hour. Big roleplaying potential to eavesdrop and bamboozle. I love it.
Vision of Awe: A Confusion spell with higher DC but only 3 round duration. It only gets a higher DC than a normal Confusion spell with greater spell focus at level 16, one level after you get it, which is kind of weird. However, with Illusionists losing access to Enchantment (and able to turn invisible and run away after causing chaos), I think this is a neat addition that rounds out their befuddling kit.
Necromancy
+1 Spell slot per level, loses Divination.
Fetid Ray: 1d6 non-scaling negative energy damage (average 3.5) as a ranged touch attack, and a 10+1/2 wizard+int DC save vs Zombie Creep (1d4 Dex and Con). This can do a whole lot of damage on a five minute cooldown and definitely is a fun button to hit against vulnerable targets to debilitate a lot of their defenses (AC, potentially AB, two saves, and 1-3 HP per level). Very good.
Acolyte Necromancer: Next undead summon gets +2 Strength and Con and +2 Constitution, along with 2 Regen. 1/hour use. Very similar to Greater Convocation in terms of making your summon a little more survivable and a little more aggressive. Very good.
Deathly Embrace: Undead summons spawn with Death Armor for 4-5 rounds. Considering part of being a necromancer is buffing your summons with zoo spells and stone bones, I don't think this one is going to get much use because the best time to summon undead is well before you need them. If it also applied Stone Bones at your current caster level, maybe.
Transmutation
+1 Spell slot per level, loses Conjuration.
Abnormal Growth: Will save (10+1/2wiz+int) or suffer -1 to -3 AB and 10% to 30% spell failure. No duration listed. 3 minute cooldown. In terms of debilitating enemies, unless they have Mind Blank or Clarity already active, Daze Bolt is way better at the same DC. 0 attacks and 0 spells is better than -3 to attacks. Theoretically not affected by mind immunity, however. I'm surprised it's a Will save instead of a Fortitude save, which is what body-transforming magic like Polymorph usually is. If it also applied say a 10% slow for its duration for some space-grabbing, I'd say it'd be right where it needs to be.
Enhance Attributes: Give yourself or someone else +2 attributes for 3-5 rounds. 20 minute cooldown. I think +1 attack and +1 AC and +1 spell DC and +1 saves is kind of neat. The intention seems to be that you Maximize buff all a person's relevant stats to +6, then cast haste, then use this to max them out for a brief window of power. That's up to 16 extra damage on a Martial (assuming all 4 attacks per round hit), at a slightly higher hit chance, but I think the real way this is going to be used is on yourself or another caster that's going to try to throw out 6-10 hasted spells with +1 DC within the timeframe, which is a neat window of power. It doesn't look like much but considering what else you can add, it's a little cherry on top. I think a little extra duration so it can have more through-put on a martial or making it also include Haste for the brief duration would make it a little more useable for anyone except a caster trying to throw out lots of magic.
Body of Stone: Turn into a really tough rock for 3 rounds and then turn back. Once per day, instant action. Useful as a counter if someone starts throwing spells at you, and useful in PVE to let the tank take threat from you, and thematic as heck. As a bonus, make it also grant Spell Immunity (Flesh to Stone) while active. You're already stone. How can you be more stone?
Final Thoughts/TL;DR:
Most schools have something that could use another look to bring into parity or bring more cohesiveness. All of the abilities are very flavorful to the school and sell the fantasy of being a specialist in it. Some very minor tweaks to things like duration and % chance are mostly what's needed, save for a few that could use readability improvements or a little more power to justify using an action on them. I think this is very close to good and balanced across all the schools.
Wizard
Genralist
Force Blast: 1d10+1/2 wizard level damage as a ranged touch attack, 3 minute cooldown. At level 10, this'll be doing an average of 10.5 damage; at level 18, 14.5. The touch attack adds some risk but touch AC is usually not terribly high. As a baseline for comparison it's in a good spot. With cantrips doing on average 3.5 damage, it can be worth up to 4 of them in one go, not a bad fill to throw out every now and then.
Journeyman's Recall: The next spell up to third level is restored after casting, useable 1/day. Effectively adds a third level spell slot, not bad.
Master's Recall: Same as Journeyman's recall but for 4, 5, and 6. An extra 6th level spell slot is pretty good.
All in all, it reduced the number of spell slots lost from not specializing from 9 to 7, but adds a little choice in what spell you'd like to cast extra of, which can make interesting decisions based on what happens. Very arcane, very based.
Abjuration
+1 Spell slot per level, loses Conjuration.
Abjurer's Aegis: Adds 1-5 Deflection AC depending on level for 1 round + int modifier. Objectively worse than the Shield spell which adds +4 Deflection AC for turns/level (unless it has unlisted changes) until Level 16, at which point you can get up to 7 rounds of 1 more AC if you started with 18 int. If it was Dodge AC I would find it more palatable.
Allay: Instant cast Dispel Magic once per day, up to twice per day and Greater Dispel + Dismissal at level 12. Very strong, very cool, very Abjuration.
Energy Absorption: Energy Buffer with 233% the absorption limit. This is effectively a 9th level spell, probably one of the strongest abilities here. Lack of offensive capability means it won't win fights but it will help survive them, especially against other casters and dragons and the like.
Overall, this is probably one of the strongest specializations, even knowing it loses access to most summons. Its level 1 ability being invalidated by a level 1 spell is rather disappointing, though.
Conjuration
+1 Spell slot per level, loses Transmutation.
Summoner's Command: Grant +1 creature level to the next summon, once every 30 minutes. This'll usually be about 10 HP and 0-1 AB. With creature levels being hard to really suss out, I don't like the feel on this. I'd prefer a much more direct "Next summon gains 10 max HP and +1 AB and Saves" because depending on the leveling curve for summons, unless they're all set up to benefit from this which is a pain to balance, this could really do very very little for a 30 minute cooldown ability.
Greater Convocation: Next summon gains +2 Con, +1 Regen, +1 AC, and +1 Saves. 1/hour. This does the things I said I wished Summoner's Command does, tells me exactly what to expect and has guaranteed throughput. Offers a lot of improvements to the survivability of that summon so it can keep giving value. I like it.
Summoner's Will: Summon two copies of the next summon for 15-18 rounds, can affect with Greater Convocation (but not Summoner's Command). 1/day. Can offer a lot of power for a brief period of time with high-level summons, but it requires not actually having those summons out doing throughput to take advantage of, and it prevents a long-term version from being summoned. I'm not sure the value of having one level 7 summon for an entire dungeon is less than the value of having two for a single fight, but when used it will certainly bring a lot of power and be a high-point. I'll call it even and say it's pretty balanced and pretty cool.
The first level ability's actual utility is dubious and requires actually comparing stats to see what changes to know if it's even worth using for a circle. I'd want something a bit more clear, such as giving a summon +1 AB for 1 round per 2 wizard levels, to make this ability not be a worse version of Greater Convocation and have readable advantages. It's also ironic that the school that creates long-term helpers loses access to many spells that would buff them, but the abilities definitely make up for it to a degree.
Divination
+1 spell slot per level, loses Illusion.
Diviner's Fortune: +1 to +3 to AB and Saves for 4-7 rounds, useable every 5 minutes. Good in a pinch against encounters with lots of spells flying. Also adds +1 to +4 to Sense Motive in order to catch disguise artists, screw those guys!
Scry Soul: Succeed on a Concentration roll of 14+player's level to learn their true identity. 1/day. Has a whole casting animation so it's not subtle. Even more powerful anti-disguise, though I have a feeling this is going to be the cause of a lot of metagaming, being an active choice that needs narrative justification but also a hammer looking for nails. I liked the "Find the area someone is in" version a little better. To make it less abuseable, add a rule to it saying you or someone you know MUST have succeeded on identifying a person is disguised in order to use it. Not a mechanical restriction because screw coding that, but put it in the ability's description so everyone knows it's fair game (and if it isn't used fairly, the person getting punished was well warned.)
Secret Eye and Pierce the Veil: Ask your friend to install a GPS tracker. This is really cool, I just wish you could do more than one. I also think that it would be nice if the fact that the item was enchanted was hidden unless someone succeeded on a spellcraft check when identifying it, so it can be used sneakily with 'gifts' for greater subterfuge potential.
Fun role-playing potential, some good defense for sticky situations. Just make sure Scry Soul isn't abused, because that's going to be the source of a lot of reports.
Enchantment:
+1 spell slot per level, loses Illusion.
Daze Bolt: Will save (unspecified DC but assume it's 10 + 1/2 wizard level + int) or be dazed for 4-7 rounds (depending on int modifier). 3 minute cooldown. This is pretty good at shutting down a lot of things and definitely can provide a lot more value in terms of enemies not making attacks than some of the damage abilities. Probably one of the strongest 1st level abilities.
Alluring Enchantments: 10% chance for Charm to splash. Possible but unlikely to make a group of enemies non-hostile, but the chance I feel is a little too low. Charm is generally not the spell being thrown out by Enchanters and making it has a minisicule chance to become Mass doesn't really incentivize using it very well. If the chance was more like 30% I'd consider it pretty useful, but this is going to see almost no use as-is.
Dominating Charm: Charm spells are now dominate spells. This is interesting and allows for domination on more slots, and instantly upgrades Mass Charm to Mass Dominate, though I'm not sure if you can dominate more than one creature at a time. Pretty strong.
Daze Bolt is pretty strong as a 3 minute cooldown, and Mass Charm becoming Mass Dominate is crazy fun, but the other ability doesn't really jive well with the spell list and how it works. Holds and Confuses are going to be used a lot more than single-target Charms, and by the time you get to level 15, 4th level spells aren't really giving the same amount of throughput. With end-game balanced around level 11, it might be somewhat useful, but a 10% chance to splash a non-hostiling spell that still requires will saves (when you will eventually get an 8th level Mass Charm) needs to be made a little better. A 10% chance to splash Hold Person at even a one round duration would be way more appealing and would encourage it to be used.
Evocation
+1 spell slot per level, loses Conjuration
Prismatic Barrage: An auto-hitting 5d2 attack with a 25% chance to be useable again. Average throughput on this is 7.5 damage, which is a little more than 2 cantrips; with the refresh chance it can be bumped up to an expected average damage of around 9.25. It loses a bit of damage compared to Generalist for reliability, but it's still not a very exciting button to push. Strangely enough it's the weakest of the damage abilities.
Evoker's Fury: 10% chance for spells to crit dealing 20% extra damage. This adds a total of about 2% to the expected damage output of an evoker because math is easy. While it allows some RNG big numbers every now and then (around level 10 you're likely to have at least 10 spells to throw around in dungeons meaning one of them will probably crit), it doesn't really add much damage despite looking and sounding cool. I think if it also added a 30% crit chance to Prismatic Barrage for +1 damage of each type it would be balanced out at being a fun addition. Right now, it's really a very very minor boon.
Trance of Destruction: Evocation spells and damage cantrips have a 3% chance of making your next level 2-6 evocation spell refresh. This is balanced around occurring about once every 3 minutes of combat with constant cantrip use, and that's pretty good if cantrips can become auto-cast. I'd like to see Prismatic Barrage included, maybe with a 5% chance so that it becomes a high-octane moment where you're really hoping it refreshes so you can get a 10% (or 6.25% of the time, 15%) chance of making your next chain lightning or cone of cold refresh.
Illusion
+1 Spell slot per level, loses Enchantment.
Illusory Image: Create an illusory clone that draws threat and looks like it's casting spells for 1-5 rounds. Useable once per hour, has 100% concealment. I think with enemy AI being kind of wonky, it should probably have a 3 round + 1/4 wizard level duration to make sure it has time to generate enough threat to get their attention and get value; at a 1 round duration it'll kind of poof before the enemies even reach it, offering very little value. Very cool, though.
Simulacrum: Pretend to be an NPC for 30 minutes once per hour. Big roleplaying potential to eavesdrop and bamboozle. I love it.
Vision of Awe: A Confusion spell with higher DC but only 3 round duration. It only gets a higher DC than a normal Confusion spell with greater spell focus at level 16, one level after you get it, which is kind of weird. However, with Illusionists losing access to Enchantment (and able to turn invisible and run away after causing chaos), I think this is a neat addition that rounds out their befuddling kit.
Necromancy
+1 Spell slot per level, loses Divination.
Fetid Ray: 1d6 non-scaling negative energy damage (average 3.5) as a ranged touch attack, and a 10+1/2 wizard+int DC save vs Zombie Creep (1d4 Dex and Con). This can do a whole lot of damage on a five minute cooldown and definitely is a fun button to hit against vulnerable targets to debilitate a lot of their defenses (AC, potentially AB, two saves, and 1-3 HP per level). Very good.
Acolyte Necromancer: Next undead summon gets +2 Strength and Con and +2 Constitution, along with 2 Regen. 1/hour use. Very similar to Greater Convocation in terms of making your summon a little more survivable and a little more aggressive. Very good.
Deathly Embrace: Undead summons spawn with Death Armor for 4-5 rounds. Considering part of being a necromancer is buffing your summons with zoo spells and stone bones, I don't think this one is going to get much use because the best time to summon undead is well before you need them. If it also applied Stone Bones at your current caster level, maybe.
Transmutation
+1 Spell slot per level, loses Conjuration.
Abnormal Growth: Will save (10+1/2wiz+int) or suffer -1 to -3 AB and 10% to 30% spell failure. No duration listed. 3 minute cooldown. In terms of debilitating enemies, unless they have Mind Blank or Clarity already active, Daze Bolt is way better at the same DC. 0 attacks and 0 spells is better than -3 to attacks. Theoretically not affected by mind immunity, however. I'm surprised it's a Will save instead of a Fortitude save, which is what body-transforming magic like Polymorph usually is. If it also applied say a 10% slow for its duration for some space-grabbing, I'd say it'd be right where it needs to be.
Enhance Attributes: Give yourself or someone else +2 attributes for 3-5 rounds. 20 minute cooldown. I think +1 attack and +1 AC and +1 spell DC and +1 saves is kind of neat. The intention seems to be that you Maximize buff all a person's relevant stats to +6, then cast haste, then use this to max them out for a brief window of power. That's up to 16 extra damage on a Martial (assuming all 4 attacks per round hit), at a slightly higher hit chance, but I think the real way this is going to be used is on yourself or another caster that's going to try to throw out 6-10 hasted spells with +1 DC within the timeframe, which is a neat window of power. It doesn't look like much but considering what else you can add, it's a little cherry on top. I think a little extra duration so it can have more through-put on a martial or making it also include Haste for the brief duration would make it a little more useable for anyone except a caster trying to throw out lots of magic.
Body of Stone: Turn into a really tough rock for 3 rounds and then turn back. Once per day, instant action. Useful as a counter if someone starts throwing spells at you, and useful in PVE to let the tank take threat from you, and thematic as heck. As a bonus, make it also grant Spell Immunity (Flesh to Stone) while active. You're already stone. How can you be more stone?
Final Thoughts/TL;DR:
Most schools have something that could use another look to bring into parity or bring more cohesiveness. All of the abilities are very flavorful to the school and sell the fantasy of being a specialist in it. Some very minor tweaks to things like duration and % chance are mostly what's needed, save for a few that could use readability improvements or a little more power to justify using an action on them. I think this is very close to good and balanced across all the schools.
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