In 2e, White Robes had Illusion and Necromancy as banned schools. Red Robes had Greater Divination Necromancy as banned schools. And Black Robes had Illusion as their banned school. But the cool thing was they could use spells of up to 3rd level in their banned school(s). And they could only have half their spells that were memorized be from their banned school(s).
This wouldnt be too bad when you think about it. You wouldnt have to totally go without a whole school, but be prevented from the high level spells in the banned school(s).
I almost think this looks more attractive than at least losing two whole schools you can never use any spells from. And if you want, losing three all together. Yes, with a lot of books, the loss of 3 schools can still be dealt with and still have a well rounded character. But it still kind of sucks if you like one spell in the school or something like that.
I realize you dont ever get the extra spell each level. So I can see how some people would much prefer the other way. But still, instead of playing just a generalist, you could play something like this and not lose a lot, while still maintaining the flavour of certain robes having a tendency to certain schools.
Just wonderin about comments and if anyone really thought this way had merit.
This wouldnt be too bad when you think about it. You wouldnt have to totally go without a whole school, but be prevented from the high level spells in the banned school(s).
You realize this is more or less how it works currently with the revised wizard of High Sorcery, don't you? Wizards who are not already specialists can take Arcane Focus and act from that point on as if they are specialists, yet they can still use all of the spells from any prohibited schools that they already learned. Granted, this would only be spells of 0 through 2nd level (as you'd typically not have access to 3rd level spells when you pick up the PrC) but if you'd researched and acquired as many of them as you could before taking the Test, you would have the use of them later.
Cheers,
Cam
Now I do realize that my points above could be applied exactly the same to the 2E way of doing the WoHS. I guess I just like wording it a little different. I think in the Tales of the Lance book they word it somewhat like: "A Robe can never learn the greater Art of schools that are banned, while still being able to grasp the lower level stuff".. or something like that. Not much of a quote heh, but you get the point.
I guess my only problem with the current way is like what I explained above... it just seems to me to be a way to "get around" something. I'd rather it be open to anyone.. not just the "smart" person who hurries and gets as many spells down as possible. Seems kind of underhanded heh.
Maybe I'll even change it and let people use 1st-3rd level spells.. who knows.
Now I do realize that my points above could be applied exactly the same to the 2E way of doing the WoHS.
Yes, they could.
I guess I just like wording it a little different. I think in the Tales of the Lance book they word it somewhat like: "A Robe can never learn the greater Art of schools that are banned, while still being able to grasp the lower level stuff".. or something like that. Not much of a quote heh, but you get the point.
I do get your point, but I should also note that the 2e way of doing it is in fact what inspired us to do it the way we did in TOHS. And yes, it is a way of getting around something.
Cheers,
Cam
As I said I was browsing through the book trying to find the reference to the Conclave members being 18th level and just happened to read over the stuff a little. I had forgotten how they did it.
I guess in the end a few spells really isnt a huge deal. The WoHS PrC as it stands is pretty close to the 2e way, so its all good. I just happened to be wonderin if anyone else liked the idea of wizards being able to use low level spells of their banned schools, without restriction and the "march to get as many spells, as soon as possible" approach =)
It's not unlike course requirements for graduate school, really. When I was in grad school for engineering, they demanded I concentrate on engineering courses. It was very nice that I took some humanities and history and literature courses as an undergrad, and if I wanted to of course I could still read that stuff on my own time, but when it came to actual coursework I was restricted to engineering courses.
Lucky you. My course requirements for my Broadcasting & Film degree had some odd restrictions, which is sort of like specializing.
I had to take 35 hours or so in Broadcasting and Film. I had to spend 90 hours outside of that, 65 of which had to be liberal arts and sciences. The idea was that they wanted broadcasters to be fairly well-rounded people.
Granted, I learned more at the TV station at college I worked for than in classes, but hey. ;)
So, in terms of the WoHS (to keep this on topic), my degree requirements set my banned schools as coursework beyond liberal arts and sciences. And the TV station serves as a prestige class above and beyond that. Either that, or taking arcane focus and starting as a specialist.
Okay, so maybe I was just complaining that I couldn't focus my college career on broadcasting. ;)
Move along...
I kind of like how the magic system was done in 1st edition when the Orders had access to different schools and also the color of the robes deterined the # of spells the mage could cast per day and when they received them.
Sounds interesting, could you elaborate a bit more?
Sounds interesting, could you elaborate a bit more?
Each of the three orders had different spellcasting progressions back in 1e. The idea was that Black Robes, hungry for power, would advance faster. The White Robes would advance slower, but would be more powerful in the end. The Red Robes were in-between.
Each of the three orders had different spellcasting progressions back in 1e. The idea was that Black Robes, hungry for power, would advance faster. The White Robes would advance slower, but would be more powerful in the end. The Red Robes were in-between.
ah yes, when a black robe could get 9th lvl spells at lvl 13
The nexus has updated spell progressions for the different orders. One thing I dont like about it is that it goes from 1-20th level of progression forgetting that not until the Test is taken should the Wizard get access to the benefits of the class.
The variant (not updated) spell progression charts are designed for players who know which of the robes they are taking. This doesn't affect any of the WoHS prestige class features at all. For that matter, the spell progression is the same at lower levels, so there's no difference at those levels for any of the orders.
If anyone is interested, check this link: Variant Wizard Spellcasting Charts.