evokersapprentice

[evokersapprentice]

I’m watching a (3hr) discussion on megadungeons as a concept for modern d20 games on a youtube channel called Knights of Last Call, and I’m enjoying it a lot, because it does explore a couple of points that I’ve been very much looking for. Namely, the idea that megadungeons should be there to enable and reward exploration. Which means, among other things, there can’t be a time-pressure meta plot (you have to get to the bottom of the dungeon to stop the lich before he destroys the world), and that the game/DM needs to explicitly reward (with xp, magic items, etc) the act of exploration, not the act of killing things while exploring.

Because the thing I always found enchanting about the idea of massive dungeons and complexes was the idea of going in to see what’s down there. Not being forced in for a plot, but just … because I’m curious, and I want to see what’s there. And he discusses how modern d20 games like Pathfinder and 5e can actually be better for that than OSR-type games because characters are more powerful and sturdy and can survive doing that. You can explore, and (most likely) have a decent shot of surviving said exploration. You can take risks because you’ll survive a broader range of risks.

The thing with a megadungeon is that it’s there to be explored, and so to encourage, enable and reward exploration for people who want to play that kind of game in the first place, you have to a) not penalise taking risks and going exploring by making it instantly lethal to try and go anywhere, and b) actively reward going exploring by making it the main way your character gets more cool things, such as magic items and/or new abilities from levelling up.

(And, he’s less explicit about this, but also making the rewards self-contained to the dungeon, things you find and gain in the dungeon, and not things you’d have to bring outside the dungeon to benefit from. So cool items you can keep and use, experience to level up, knowledge that would allow you to access new areas, etc, not things like gold where you’d have to go back outside to spend it, or quests that you have to go to external parties to be rewarded for).

The discussion goes into some detail about potential ways to do this, and potential problems with various methods, but overall I just really like the tone of the discussion. Because that very much is a thing I’ve been looking for for a long, long time. A game that rewards the simple desire to go somewhere and see what’s there. I don’t want to explore a massive underground complex because there’s a bad guy down there and I need to stop him, I want to explore it because there’s rumours that there’s a vast underground sea down there where creatures that haven’t been seen in aeons are rumoured to still live (blame reading Journey to the Centre of the Earth as a kid), or to discover why there’s a massive dungeon down there and learn who built it, or just because it’s a big strange space and I just want to see what it looks like.

He does talk about how you make dungeons interesting enough to justify that, things like thematically-distinct areas (like the underground lake, or the weird sunless forest, or the ghoul town, etc) so that it’s not one endless slog of ‘10ft wide corridors and stone rooms’, and to make it interconnected so that the players have full choice of where they go and what risks they want to take (enabling them to skip ahead difficulty levels, or retreat if need be, or escape areas that they’re not enjoying). And to possibly put in some distinct … not end goals, but capstone events, like a boss monster very deep down, that might feel like an ‘ending’ if the party wants to ‘finish’ the dungeon. Not something that will ‘burst out and destroy the world’, but something contained to the dungeon that a party could triumph over if they want a ‘final challenge’ sort of feeling. But one that’s optional, a challenge they can take up if they want to, not a prerequisite for getting out of the dungeon or completing a large goal, but just a challenge that exists if they want to take it on.

Because, and I do agree, a lot of the problem with exploring in D&D is not necessarily that there’s no mechanical support for it, in terms of things like skills, etc, but because there’s no reward for it, and in terms of structured adventures, there’s often either narrative or mechanical punishment for it (running out of time on the baddie, or running into something too lethal for your party to handle with no option to nope out). A megadungeon as a concept is a cool environment where exploration is the whole point, and the only point, and if you take care not to put an external pressure on it (‘kill the lich or else’), then then party has time to poke around and decide what they want to see and what risks they want to take (or nope out of). Especially in something so big that there’s no real chance of finishing it, so there’s no ‘100% completion’ pressure, just a big buffet of options for people to pick and choose from.  

(There are so many things in 5e that would be excellent for an exploration game, especially in terms of spells and magic items, but because combat is so much the driving force of the standard mode of play, people are reluctant to ‘waste’ spells known/prepared and/or items attuned on things like Alarm or Water Walk or Purify Food & Drink or non-combat items like Candles of the Deep or Foldable Boats or Slippers of Spider Climbing when those slots could be used for combat spells/items instead. But if exploration gets you XP, and if you can nope out of combat as required because there’s no massive stakes/story riding on it, then you’ve got more room for these things).

There’s also an in-depth discussion on ‘game balance’ and CR, and why megadungeons might not necessarily require them, for the simple fact that everything in the dungeon is optional and not required to forward the story/plot, so you can try challenges way above your level if you’re feeling frisky that day, and just nope out and go a different way if it starts really not working for you. Which I feel is a fun point.

There is a point that this is a specific mode of play and not meant to be the point of the game in general. It’s specifically for people (like me) who want exploration as its own point and reward, without needing a quest or storyline attached, and for whom combat is an element/hazard/complication but not the point. But. If you are specifically doing a MEGADUNGEON, it’s an interesting look at things to consider and what people might want out of a massive self-contained dungeon that’s going to be the whole point of the campaign in and of itself.  

Where he loses me is when the discussion moves to how to prevent the '15 Minute Adventuring Day', where people go in, do a room or two, and then go back out to rest and heal and resupply, instead of staying in the dungeon to keep exploring. And for some reason allowing healing is bad for this? If you want them to stay in the dungeon, how is it bad to let them heal in the dungeon? Set up factions to trade with and potential base camp locations in the dungeon to let them heal and resupply and set up safe areas so that they can stay in there potentially infinitely? Though it’s possible that I missed something about his point there.

But yeah. I love the idea of megadungeons, vast areas to explore just because they’re there, and I love the idea of game modes with all the cool abilities and spells and powers of D&D BUT where the thing that’s rewarded is exploration and interacting with the environment rather than combat.

(There’s also … I think this also reminds me of the story arc vs episodic discussion regarding TV, where I genuinely like episodic series equally to story-line driven ones, and I think that in games it also works, where there’s a BIG SETTING and the point is to go out and have episodic adventures in it. A loose sandbox like a megadungeon where there’s no plot, you’re just exploring and seeing what you encounter day to day (and possibly developing plots as you interact with individual areas/factions and then connect them to other ones) is also an excellent way to play a game).

Anyway. Forgive the sidebar ramble.

[evokersapprentice]

Unasked for opinion on D&D (5e) Schools of Magic:

So I’ve been reading a bit about how necromancy is the ‘obviously evil’ school of magic. And, to be fair, traditionally it is, and it does have more than its fair share of nasty spells. It is distinctly unnatural, several deities explicitly have it on their shit lists, most stereotypical ‘evil wizards’ at least dabble in it. That said. It’s also a staple of most clerics, and there are even a couple of self-sacrificial spells in there, even if they still have that unnatural twist.

Reading through spell lists, the school that strikes me as the most baseline immoral, if not outright evil, is actually enchantment. It’s basically ‘Mindfuckery: The School’. There’s a couple of buffs in there, sure, things like Bless or Heroism, but for 95% of the school’s output, you’re looking at morally dubious at best. Enchantment is a lovely word, makes you think of wonders, but basically you’re casting various flavours of mindfuckery at people. Specific flavours range from ‘glued to the shiny thing’, to ‘lightly roofied’, to ‘bound for a year’, to ‘enthralled slave’, to ‘lobotomised idiot’. There’s also ‘fairytale dancing curse’, ‘laughing yourself into paralysis’, and ‘MiB flashy thinged’. It’s just … It’s the school for fucking with people’s heads, from lightly distracting them all the way up into completely stripping them of free will and/or just straight up lobotomising them. Wow.

Spell for spell, I’m pretty sure enchantment has necromancy soundly beat in the morally dubious-to-indefensible stakes. About the only thing necromancy has over it is that it gives your tormentor options even after you die, so it’s harder to escape. Necromancy is the most unnatural school of magic. I really don’t think it quite takes the prize as the most evil.

Like, all the schools have their ridiculously nasty spells. All of them have their creatively horrifying uses of mundane spells too. But enchantment is the one school that seems to just … have a couple of token buffs, and the rest is just straight fucking with people all the way.

(I will grant that illusion is also not too far behind it in there, mind you)

If you want a really nasty villain, enchantment, with maybe a few illusion, divination, and one or two necromancy spells, really looks like the way to go. That’s all I’m saying.

[evokersapprentice]

D&D 5e Odd Spell School Classifications

Browsing spells in 5e, and there are some very odd justifications for some spells being the school they are, you know?

Easy example: Speak with Animals is divination, Speak with Dead is necromancy, and Speak with Plants is transmutation. Surely all of those are knowledge-seeking spells, and should be classed under divination? If divination spells can talk with gods, they’re fine to talk with spirits, there was no need to bring necromancy into this. And the justification for Speak with Plants is that you have to transform the plant into something sentient enough to communicate with, but in that case … how was it sentient enough to have useful information before you did that?

Similarly, every other Summon spell is conjuration. Except Summon Undead, which is necromancy.

Like, there’s a thing here where some schools are defined by how they do things (transportation magic is conjuration magic), while other schools are defined by what they do (literally anything to do with death comes under necromancy, no matter what the methods involved). Necromancy is so bad for this. Why is Spare the Dying necromancy instead of abjuration? It’s on a living person. It’s to ward off death! Surely that’s abjuration?

Transmutation is also an odd duck. The line between evocation and transmutation seems to be that if you’re creating an element from thin air, that’s evocation, while if you’re controlled pre-existing material, that’s transmutation. But transmutation also covers more esoteric things, like gravity, or just physics? I’m thinking Catapult, here, and Reverse Gravity. It also has some odd border cases with conjuration, too. Blink, for example, really feels like it should be conjuration, and Etherealness, because in both cases you’re hopping into the ethereal plane, and transportation magic is supposed to be conjuration. And why is Thorn Whip transmutation when literally every other ‘summon plant’ spell (Entangle, Wall of Thorns) is conjuration? Is it just because the Thorn Whip moves?

Then we have both Pass Without Trace (abjuration) and Shadow of Moil (necromancy), both of which summon shadows to protect the caster, which is odd because using shadowstuff is usually the domain of illusion. Pass Without Trace fully should be an illusion spell. And if we’re justifying it that it’s used to protect, why is Shadow of Moil, which does the same thing in basically a more concentrated fashion, suddenly necromancy?

It definitely does feel like they were trying to pad certain schools out (necromancy), but there’s just a lot of general confusion over why certain spells should go certain places.

In some ways this is cool, and I can see gleeful in-universe wizards having arguments over what should go where. But I would also like to fully dissect all the schools and stake out their rules, you know?

[evokersapprentice]

Nerfed Objects

After so much discussion over which spells in 5e are the strongest and best to have, it struck me that the closest thing we have to an objective answer has arrived in the form of the updated PHB for 2024.

Changes have been made to many spells as part of the release of the revised addition, and as part of this some of the most 'overpowered' spells from 5e have been nerfed to bring them back in line with their level. For those still playing 5e, this confirms that these spells are exceptionally good - better that WotC intended them to be, to the extent that they've had to make them worse to better balance out the game.

One of the biggest victims is one of my favourite spells, Animate Objects, which I've often felt is underrated in the unofficial guides out there: RPGBot ranks this in the second tier of spells, for example. But it seems that WotC thinks it's more special than that, because in the update it's been rendered worse in almost every conceivable way.

For comparison:

In 5e, Animate Objects lets you bring ten tiny objects, such as daggers, to life. If they don't have legs, they get a fly speed of 30ft. They have 20 HP and 18 AC. They do 1d4+4 damage.

In the new PHB, you can animate a number of objects up to your spellcasting ability modifier (i.e. 4 or 5). They grow legs and get a walking speed of 30ft. Tiny objects have 10 HP and 15 AC. They do 1d4+3 damage.

That's right: half as many of them, half the HP each, no flight, a significantly worse AC and worse damage. You trade a potential pool of 200 HP for 50 HP, even before factoring in the AC. You trade potential damage of up to 65 per round for up to 27.5 per round, with less chance that at least some of them will hit, and with less chance of surviving to repeat that damage in future round.

Look at something like a Frost Giant. Challenge Rating 8, 138 HP, 15 AC, two attacks with +9 to hit and 25.5 damage. Under the old rules, your ten animate daggers could keep the giant occupied and potentially defeat him on their own. With a 70% hit rate, even if the giant destroys two daggers per round, they're going to deliver an average of 136 damage over five rounds: 45.5 at first, then 36.4, 27.3, 18.2, 9.1, and gone.

That's the worst case scenario, assuming that the giant hits every time, but in reality he's also only going to hit 60% of the attacks he makes, destroying 1.2 daggers per turn (and that's also assuming he doesn't have any particularly bad attack rolls, when surely at least one will fall under 20).

So in an average fight, he's gone far sooner. Subtracting the damage for 1.2 daggers per round gives a KO in four rounds: 10 daggers hitting 7 times doing 45.5 damage, 8.8 daggers hitting 6.16 times and doing 40.04 damage, and so on, with 6.4 daggers left to face the next opponent.

All of this is on top of preventing the Frost Giant from directing those six attacks (and an average of 91.8 damage against 18 AC) against your friends. The daggers soak up a lot of damage, and having lots of them rather than a shared pool is really efficient for wasting excess damage dealt by single-target foes.

Under the new, weakened rules, your five daggers will hit 3.5 times and do 19.25 damage. The Frost Giant is now destroying 1.5 daggers per turn with their reduced AC, and is virtually guaranteed to destroy them even on a poor damage roll with their halved HP. They'll be gone after four rounds, having only done 42.35 damage and leaving the giant with 94 HP left in the tank to focus his attacks on you.

It's still a helpful spell in distracting him for that long and doing a decent dose of damage, but it's a pale imitation of the 5e rules which effectively created a CR8 or above creature to win a combat for you where the conditions were right (e.g. against something with AOE damage the daggers would have been much less resilient). It's the difference between comfortably winning and comfortably losing.

[evokersapprentice]

One of my favourite recurring bits of terminology confusion is folks who've never played Dungeons & Dragons hearing that it has a class called a "monk", and, being aware that D&D's milieu is generically medieval, assuming they must be based on Catholic monks – particularly when you start explaining what the class actually does.

[evokersapprentice]

Common as muck

One of the few Artificer infusions available to mere two-level multiclassers is the ability to replicate any common magical item.

If I do join the Artificer 2/Wizard X ranks, I'll be in the market for an infusion. The Mind Sharpener is the obvious first choice, but I get a second, and there isn't another obvious candidate. A suitable magical item might well be the best.

The standard suggestion here is a Spellwrought Tattoo. These are effectively spell scrolls, but seemingly anybody can use them. This would mean that you can turn one of your martial friends into a half-caster for a time, which isn't to be sniffed at. Alternatively, this doesn't seem to be any restriction on spell list, so this would allow me as a Wizard to gain access to those elusive Cleric spells.

To be 'Common' the spell can only be up to first level, so they're not going to have access to anything particularly powerful, but having somebody else who can Concentrate could come in handy for a Bless or likewise. But all of this is subject to DM discretion. If he argues that I can only make a tattoo of one of my own spells, a Silvery Barbs or something may have to do... or he might argue that any tattoos are not in the spirit of the rules, which do specifically exclude spell scrolls as Common items for these purposes.

In that case, there are alternative objects to replicate.

Lantern of Tracking

There have been dungeons where it would have been very helpful to know that a dragon was within 300 feet. The creature type isn't mine to choose, but the good thing about the Infusion is that I can keep destroying and creating new lanterns (one per day) until I roll it right.

Hat of Vermin

Summoning three bats a day could be a handy distraction, or at least a bit of theatrical flavour.

Feather Token

Not having to prepare Feather Fall is helpful in making room for another spell.

Clockwork Amulet

A guaranteed 10 on an attack roll once a day has some practical benefit. With +8 to hit, you can potentially guarantee a hit when you need it most. But I don't really roll for attacks.

Masque Charm

Disguise Self once per day, but it can last for six hours. Potentially a saved spell to prepare and use, but not sure I find that much use for it as it is. But then I can't really lie - whereas this gives the option of passing the charm to the Rogue, who is sufficiently charming, and sending him in to impersonate an evil NPC. A potential long con here.

Masquerade Tattoo

Just a worse version of the above. Requires attunement, and you only get the normal form of the spell.

Mind Crystal

Gives me the tiniest slither of sorcery in allowing a single Subtle spell per day. Maybe there will be a situation when I need that.

Mystery Key

I had one of these before, and eventually managed to use it, but it's a low chance when there are usually better ways of opening locked doors. Unless we do find a door that the DM doesn't want to give us another way to open.

Wand Sheath

Covered separately. If I want a wand and a shield, this is necessary. But I can easily just do without the wand.

[evokersapprentice]

On the other hand

As a novice player still finding my feet, one of the things I've lately discovered is... where my hands are.

I only have two of them. Some races may have more. But I've never actually stopped to count them before. As a spellcaster, they've usually been fairly free: there's been no need to juggle weapons and shields. At one point I picked up a Wand of the War Mage, but that's been all.

It's only with the plan to take a dip into Artificer, and take the shield that comes with it, that I've realised that it needs to go somewhere. All of a sudden, I have my hands full. Almost every spell in my book has a 'somatic' component, which I'm told means I need to keep one free.

This is something I didn't focus enough on in Spellcasting 101: the function of a spellcasting focus. I assumed that the wand was the focus for the somatic elements of a spell, which could then be satisfied with a wand in hand - that it was the focus of my gesticulation as a Wizard - but apparently there will be no foolish wand waving in this Class.

The spellcasting focus is something else entirely. Somewhat counter-intuitively, it concerns the 'material' component of a spell, meaning I don't need shavings of cinnamon of whatever to hand. I don't know what the in-universe explanation is for why a wand replaces eye of toad rather than serving as an alternative to hand gestures, but apparently that's the rule.

This means that, even when I cast spells with my wand, I need to keep my other hand free to meet the somatic requirements. Spells become a two-handed weapon. This feels unnecessarily burdensome, but I do now see the purpose of some common magic items, like the Wand Sheath or Hat of Wizardry, which allow you a magical focus whilst leaving your hand free to cast the spells.

The War Caster feat, which I had previously ignored as tailored to melee mages (and a worse version of Resilient, where concentration was my priority), now has a lot of appeal. The opportunity attack and proficiency bonus had previously caught my eye, but only now I notice the ability to cast with your hands full. But a choice of feat is a long way from me now.

Suddenly, I think again at taking another level in Artificer, to duplicate a sheath for my Wand of the War Mage and keep its bonus. I don't want to give up my shield, because the +2 AC is a large part of the appeal of multi-classing in the first place. But then I don't want to be chasing this sunk cost forever. That bonus is worth a one level dip, but not a second on its own.

Unfortunately, I think I'm going to have to drop my wand instead. Swapping it for a shield still leaves one hand free, and I can satisfy material components from a well-stocked component pouch. I'll lose the bonus to attack rolls, but I only really use those for cantrips anyway. The wand was just a fun toy to have, but in terms of functionality I'd much prefer something that stops me getting hit.

[evokersapprentice]

Arts and spellcrafts

As I seem to be committed to taking an Artificer dip next level up, it's time to start thinking about which spells I'm going to use. It's not a fixed decision point, because I can switch them up at every long rest, but it's good to know what my go-to options will be.

First off, the cantrips. Guidance seems the obvious choice. An added 2.5 to every ability check is ridiculously powerful. I can suddenly sneak and deceive and do all of the things that I wasn't particularly good at before. It takes concentration, but these checks will take place out of combat, when I wouldn't be using it for anything else. There's no reason not to use this before every move, and become competent in everything - and I can use it on my party too.

Resistance is its slightly weaker counterpart for saving throws. The wording is the same, but the context is different: you're less likely to know a saving throw is coming, in order to have this up in advance, and it's more likely to happen in combat when I have better uses for my concentration. I'll definitely take the former, but I'm less sold on the latter.

There aren't many alternatives that I don't already have as a Wizard, and many of those left are based on a melee fighting style. Magic Stone is the option which interests me the most: I have recently started experimenting with Animate Dead, and three skeletons would be much more effective with my +4 INT to their attack and damage rolls.

In terms of levelled spells, I already have Absorb Elements and Feather Fall in my Wizard spell book, but preparing them as an Artificer would free me up to prepare a couple more Wizard spells. Both are probably worth keeping, although perhaps not every day. That's a default tactic to consider - but there are also some new options available, and some of those are tempting too.

Cure Wounds is the first to catch my eye. Until now, healing has been the domain of the party Druid, and this tempts me as an iconic power I've always been denied. The healing actually isn't bad (8.5 HP at first level, better than a standard potion of healing), although the range is limited for somebody who likes to fight from afar. This would effectively let me heal myself, as the equivalent of having a large bag of potions to take one action at a time, in more of a between-combats sort of context.

Alarm, Grease, and Snare all interest me for the same sort of reason. I skipped over them on the Wizard list, with so many options available, but here they stand out in a smaller selection. Grease is probably the worst of the bunch: the one minute duration makes it ineffective as a trap, 10ft of difficult terrain means little, and it only knocks enemies prone on a DEX save. Snare is almost a direct improvement: similar area and impact, but it also restrains the target and can last until triggered. You can set this as a trap and move on.

Alarm would be my favourite. It saves the party from having to take watches at night, although nowadays I am trying to use my skeletons for this purpose. But you can also use it during the day: there have been many times when we've been sneaking about or exploring a dungeon when somebody has caught us from behind, and this would save having to constantly look over our shoulders. It's a ritual, too, which means it's basically free. I feel like it also makes Snare more interesting if you combine the two.

Sanctuary really appeals to me as a scaredy-cat, but it's probably not very practical: the bonus action casting time, and having to be recast if I do anything of use, mean that I limit myself too much as someone who wants to cast other levelled spells each turn. I can see why this would be great as a half-caster, or a Warlock using cantrips, but I have too many other options I want to use.

False life and Longstrider are interesting. I am a big fan of non-concentration buffs, but these two aren't particularly powerful. I'm desperate for more health, but 6.5 temporary HP will be gone in a second at this stage, and upcasting becomes expensive. It's possibly worth doing in anticipation of a big battle, so that I don't die at the first breath attack, as a sort of pre-emptive Cure Wounds, but with less flexibility to know how much is required.

Oddly, 10ft extra speed might be more useful. In our last big combat I was able to save a life but getting to somebody in time, and this might save me a Misty Step so that I could use Thunder Step to get them out of trouble. There have also been times when we couldn't quite get where we needed to be. Casting this on myself, or the Druid as healer, or the Rogue who can dash, could pay off more often that one might think.

[evokersapprentice]

TPK

After the previous posts about the mismatch between higher level Wizards and their martial colleagues, I wonder just how great the disparity is. How many Fighters would it take? Is there any number who could take down a Level 20 Wiz, or are we just omnipotent at that stage?

So here's a thought experiment. I'm a Level 9 Wizard. My party is made up of a Fighter, Rogue and Druid at the same level. But are we at the same level? If it came to it, could I fend them off? Have we reached the tipping point where Wizards take over, or am I still coming into my true power?

Set up

I do think that the Wizard still has the higher ceiling, even now. If I have time to prepare, the fight's all mine. If we can start from range, it's probably mine. If I can choose an interesting arena, it could be mine.

The only scenario where I'm seriously worried is if we start in melee range, in a sudden surprise combat, in an empty room. That gives me nothing to work with, beyond what I bring to the table myself, and means I'm within slashing distance.

Survive

The first round is make-or-break. I only have 54 HP, and three assailants could kill me before I have the chance to move. I have to survive to get to my first turn, and there's no guarantee that the initiative roll will land kindly.

I'll give myself Mage Armour as a given, because I always cast it in the morning when I wake up, so there's no special preparation required. That means I have, with Shield, an in practice AC of 20.

The Fighter attacks twice, and each swing has +9 to hit. That means he'll hit me about once per turn on average (45% chance of hitting each time). Each hit does 1d8+5, so an average of 9.5 per hit, and by extension per turn. If both attacks hit (about a 20% chance), he'll do an average of 19 HP damage, and a maximum of 26.

My Rogue also attacks twice (Bracer of Flying Daggers), but for less damage: 1d4+5 per hit, so an average of 7.5 damage per turn with the same modifiers. If he hits on either (likely to be the case), he gets to add 17.5 sneak attack damage if the Fighter is also standing next to me.

That means I'm taking an average of 34.5 damage from these martial characters. I should have a decent chance of surviving them, unless I'm especially unlucky: even if they both roll initiative ahead of me, and even if all four of their attacks hit, I would only be taking an average of 51.5 damage unless they also beat the odds on the attack roll.

The Druid is the mystery factor. If she decides to use her usual first-round tactic of casting an area control spell, that's probably fine by me. Summoning beasts could be a problem, if they're the wrong sort. Wolves, for example, would bite through my AC with their pack tactics. Advantage means a 44% change of hitting, so an average of 3 damage per round - multiply that by eight (or even sixteen) wolves, and I'm gone.

But this is conditional on her rolling initiative ahead of me and the wolves then rolling an initiative between the two of us, which is more maths than I care to do but significantly lowers the probability. If I roll an average 10, she both needs to beat me (50% chance) and then have them fall between the two of us (i.e. a total 12.5% chance if she rolls an average 15). That means the actual expected damage from sixteen wolves, adjusted for probability, is... 6 HP.

If we apply a similar Initiative modifier to the Fighter and Rogue (they have slightly better DEX than me, so the modifier is a more generous 70%), their likely damage also drops to 24.15 HP combined. This isn't including crit damage for maths reasons, but that would only move the needle by one or two HP.

If my numbers are right, that means it's more likely than not that I survive. Not if they all beat me to the draw (unless they struggle with the following rolls), but that's by no means a foregone conclusion. I'm playing with fire, but the odds are actually in my favour.

Escape

Once it's my turn, I'm away - literally. The priority has to be getting out of melee range.

There are a few ways to do that. I always have Thunder Step prepared, which would give 120ft of movement per turn with my walking speed. Even the Rogue, dashing twice and with the Mobile feat, can only do 105ft per turn (35ft thrice). The Fighter is easily left behind. I can only do it seven times, but that's plenty to get far away from my martial friends.

I'm not too worried about parting shots. The Rogue's daggers are less accurate over 30ft away (if he decides to attack rather than dashing), so with disadvantage he's only hitting 25% of the time, for xHP damage of 3.75, with no sneak attack, and I'd then be gone the next time.

Unfortunately, the Druid has ways to keep up. Wildshaping into a Giant Eagle would allow a 60ft flying speed (something Freedom of the Winds would also grant), matching my 120ft with a dash and without relying on finite spell slots. I can also get there via Polymorph (once out of opportunity attack range), but then we're just flying away together.

Dimension Door would be a cleaner solution: 500ft in any direction, not caught by opportunity attacks or any entangling the Druid may have decided to try. Here the Druid has the option of Tree Stride for the same distance, but I'm okay as long as she doesn't know where I'm headed (or I jump away from any trees!).

Hide and seek

With a Druid in the party, I can run, but it's harder to hide.

Getting away from the Rogue and Fighter would be easy, but a Druid makes this more of a challenge. Locate Creature will allow them to Tree Stride close to me, until I can cross a large river or change shape. Even then, spells like Scrying and Divination can help to track me down.

They can also get to me. Whilst I can escape the other two by flying or crossing a large body of water or walking through cave walls, the Druid can pretty much always follow. She also has Dispel Magic, which makes magical protection like Tiny Hut fairly worthless.

But she can't take the others with her, and I would back myself to hit harder in a one-on-one. Following me alone would be risky. If I'm on my last vapours of health, fine, try to keep me on the run. But otherwise, she may not want to isolate herself.

If I'm in a decent shape, I only need to break initiative (or buy a few turns of preparation) to be ready to fight. This is the 'start from range' scenario. I can get Blink, Mirror Image, and a concentration spell like Animate Objects running. This means that I'm suddenly extremely hard to hit (a 50% chance goes to something like 6%, 8.75%, and 12.5% on the first three hits), and ready to do significant damage of my own.

We can return to our pack of sixteen wolves as an example (although fifth level slots are gone if she did use this earlier, or needed Tree Stride to catch me). There's no initiative get-out in a straight slugging match where everyone will get a chance to have their turn, and she could have conjured them in advance. But the expected damage of 49 HP (sixteen wolves at 3.05 each, effectively seven of them hitting) decreases to about 14 HP (there's a 50% chance I'm not even there, and even if I am then three of the seven will hit my duplicates).

In response, my own pack of ten Animated Objects can attack with +8 to hit. That means about seven get past the Druid's 15 AC, dealing an average of 45.5 HP damage. Even Barkskin only gets her to 16 AC (42.25 HP). Stoneskin would help, but we could both play at that game, at the cost of our own concentration attack - and if we're just doing magical damage, I can Fireball harder than she can.

If I'm not in decent shape, I keep running until I am. Get a healing potion. Take a short rest here and there whilst she searches for me. She needs to sleep for eight hours a night - I, an elf, only need to meditate for four. If it's a waiting game, I can run for longer than she can.

Regroup

In this case, once I've made my escape - this may be immediate, if the Druid doesn't come after me alone, or loses track of me and can't find me again, or if she does and I deal with her separately - I have the chance to ready myself for the real fight.

This is the 'time to prepare' scenario.

The above medley of Blink, Mirror Image and Animate Objects takes three turns to set up, and then I'd back myself to beat the Rogue and Fighter both. I can hit them both with with a Fireball (xHP of 21.7 for the Fighter and 19.6 for the Rogue) and the objects can do 35.75 damage against 18 AC to finish the Rogue off, then concentrate fire on the Fighter. All from 150ft away - so I could finish them before they get in sword range.

If it's all three of them at once, I probably need more firepower. Luckily, that's something that wizardry can provide. With enough time to set up, Animate Dead can be abused to create an army of skeletons. It would only take 22 of them to kill the Druid with shortbows from 80ft away. I can turn up with forty-odd to be safe.

But the best thing about this plan is that, if the tide of battle doesn't turn my way, I can just repeat step two and regroup for another go. I get as many do-overs as I want until the average dice rolls start to behave - but I only need them to go my way once.

[evokersapprentice]

Spelling test

Spell selection is one of the most difficult and important decisions wizards face. There are various guides out there to rank the spells available, but they often disagree, and - as with everything - the actual usefulness can vary depending on your build, your party, your campaign, and the other choices that you've made.

As such, I thought I'd share my own subjective experience as a fledgling wizard feeling my way and making a few mistakes in the process.

Fly

This could be a really effective way to keep yourself safe. Forget Mage Armour, Shield, Mirror Image, all of that. If you're facing melee enemies, just shoot up into the sky and rain spells down upon them with impunity.

Unfortunately, it takes your concentration, and that's a real downside. Concentration spells are how wizards have most of their impact. In fact, the need to keep concentration is the main reason to keep yourself out of harm's way. Using it just to shield your hit points feels like selfish play, at the cost of actually helping the team.

It also holds your reaction, unless you're feeling supremely confident that none of your enemies have flight or a ranged attack up their sleeve. You're putting yourself in a precarious position if you take any damage at all, so you'll need to learn and prepare Feather Fall if you weren't already, and not use your reaction on Silvery Barbs or other things that could help the rest of the party. Otherwise this will often put you in a more vulnerable position, which is the opposite to what you're using it for.

Unless you're regularly having to fight a pack of wolves alone, you're usually better off setting a good concentration spell (to tie up your enemies or deliver regular damage each turn) and keeping yourself safe enough by stepping behind your martial teammates and relying on your other defensive spells. If you ever have a desperate need for flight outside of combat, Polymorph is just one spell level higher.

Blur

As above, this is a use of concentration to protect yourself, which is counterproductive. You usually need to protect yourself to preserve concentration. If you really need more protection than range and 20 AC can provide, there are other spells which don't need your undivided attention: Mirror Image at the same level, Blink at one level more, or both if you're feeling particularly frightened.

Haste

I used this a little bit early on, and my friendly fighter enjoys it, but the returns just aren't worth it at higher levels. One extra weapon attack is a marginal gain for my martial colleagues, as both fighters and rogues don't hit particularly hard per weapon attack at higher levels: rather than their attack damage scaling, they just get more attacks or higher once-per-turn damage.

Then there's the hangover. Once you cast Haste, you can't drop it (by choice or by being hit) without your martial friend missing a turn to repent at their leisure. That's a punishment that could be equal to or greater than its initial rewards.

If you really need a buff, Polymorph is usually stronger when you get access to it, or you can summon a whole other ally instead.

Animate dead

This sounded amazing in theory. No concentration. A full 24 hours. Early on, it might even be useful to have a skeleton around, as a slightly more resilient familiar to scout ahead or stand guard or play a small role in combat. But I've barely used this spell beyond a few early tries, because skeletons are just not very good. Against any foe worth its salt, a skeleton is going to struggle to hit (a measly +4) or avoid being hit and killed (AC and HP both 13).

The spell scales with number of summons, quantity over quality, which doesn't resolve this fundamental issue. You could summon a dozen skeletons against a dragon and they could all die without making any impact at all. There are ways to use this spell, but they require a lot of planning to equip your skeletons (with DM agreement) and make them a bit more competent. It's nice that you can burn a spell slot before you go to sleep and have a free squad of guards for the night and the next day, but they don't age well going into the depths of a campaign.

For comparison, the Druid has Conjure Animals at the same spell level. This takes concentration, and only lasts an hour, but allows eight creatures with the same challenge rating as a skeleton (1/4). Upcasting to fifth level brings forth sixteen beasts compared to five skeletons. If you're doing it for one combat (and despite the 24 hours maximum, five skeletons aren't likely to last much longer), it doesn't measure up very well.

At one point I'd love to try abusing this a little more. If I save my fourth and fifth level slots to the end of a day, I could raise 14 skeletons to stand guard as we sleep whilst the other guys are putting on their pyjamas. I only need four hours, whereas the party need eight, so I could raise another 20 and recover my slots with four short rests.

Having an army for the next sixteen hours would be funny, although I don't think my DM would thank me, and they still wouldn't really make a scratch on a dragon (80% miss, 5 damage each, all dead on the first breath attack). But I think that's probably the only way this spell is actually worth it. In normal use (bringing one or three skeletons to immediately die) it's not brilliant.

Flaming sphere

This is a spell which doesn't get a lot of love, but I found I ended up using it a lot as a versatile entry-level version of some of the other types of spells.

This is the sort of thing that concentration spells are for. They're a great way to beat action economy, which is one of the biggest restrictions you face in the game. It can be a battlefield effect that hinders or damages opponents each turn (e.g. Entangle), an option to use your bonus action to do damage (e.g. Call Lightning), or adding a new ally which can take its own turn (e.g. Conjure Animals). You get to have more impact each round on top of your action on future turns.

Web is the golden child of second level concentration spells, but in my case I had a friendly Druid casting Entangle instead (a better, cheaper version), and it would have felt like too much overlap. Flaming Sphere came in as a more useful combination: plant it in the middle of the entangled area and anyone restrained is taking damage every turn.

Concentration is good for a few different types of spells. One is creating static areas of restraint or consistent damage, which this can do: I've even used it to block doorways or narrow tunnels. Another is summoning spells which add another body to the fray and let you use your bonus action to get an extra attack. This can also be a weak version of that: an invulnerable ally who can ram and damage any enemy you like on your turn, and potentially do more on their turn too.

It doesn't scale well and I ended up dropping it once I got the bigger guns, but in the early game I kept coming across occasions when this made sense as my first move.

Bigby's Hand

This is sort of the grown-up version. A fantastically versatile tool to play the part of various different types of spell. Want to summon an ally? The hand rivals fifth-level alternatives like Summon Draconic Spirit, and might not even be too far behind some of your party: AC 20, your HP, 60ft speed, your attack bonus, 18 average damage.

Want a save-or-suck? The hand is excellent at grappling. Unless your target has 26 STR or DEX, odds are that it'll win the toss, and it also gets advantage on anyone Medium or smaller. Some targets are going to get grappled and stay grappled. It's not as good as some conditions, only stopping them from moving, but it's more likely to stick than checks against your DC, and crucially isn't a saving throw for the purposes of various items and features which buff them, including Legendary Resistance.

Whilst an enemy is grappled, you have the option of pulling them around or doing 11-12 damage per turn as a bonus action. You can drop a flying foe from the skies and let your martial friends have at it. You can drag a melee opponent back into a Wall of Fire, or stop them from leaving it, whilst adding even more damage yourself every turn. Then when they die, you can do the same thing to their friend.

Want battlefield control? Telekinesis is also a fifth-level spell, and Bigby's Hand can basically mimic it in combat with a higher DC and advantage on Medium and smaller enemies. You can push anyone who fails the arm-wrestle up to 25-30 ft, which is usually enough to cancel any movement towards you or dump them into any battlefield hazard: push them off a precipice, into the radius of somebody else's horrible concentration spell, or back into the reach of your martial colleagues.

Want a defensive buff? The hand will take a bullet for you. Anybody with less than 26 strength can't get past it, without even the option of a dice roll, and with that AC and HP it could take a while for them to kill. You also get half-cover. As above, I don't think it's a good idea to concentrate on keeping yourself safe, but this can be one-turn thing as you concentrate on the potential of your other options.

That's the beauty of it: you don't have to choose one or the other. You can have your hand hovering in the middle, ready to do whatever you need it to as the battle develops. With one spell slot, you can use this as whichever sort of concentration spell you need, choosing again in each turn as it comes.

Polymorph is another wonderfully versatile spell.

You don't need Fly or Water Walk at third level for the odd situation where you need it, because you can just change into a suitable form. You can sneak or fly or climb or swim or burrow or see in the dark or whatever you need to do - if it exists in nature, you can do it.

You don't really need Haste, because transforming your friend into a Giant Ape or Tyrannosaurus is at least as good a buff (increased speed, massive boost to HP, still decent damage at this level). The HP alone, stacking on top of your actual health, makes this a pretty good option when somebody needs healing. Slap them in an Ape suit and they're got 157 HP and can keep swinging. Ditto for a squishy caster when they run out of spell slots.

It's even functional as a save-or-suck if you need it. A single chance for a Wisdom saving throw, and you can park one enemy as a rat whilst you deal with their friends. Hypnotic Pattern at third level is similar, one Wisdom save, allowing you to hit them once and break the spell. Banishment at fourth level basically does the same thing with a Charisma save, and you can't even get that hit in.

Polymorph is all of those types of concentration spell in one.

Invisibility is one of my great disappointments.

As with some of the spells above, this sounded cool on the surface (I mean, it's invisibility) but I've barely had reason to use it. Being hidden is nice, but it's incredibly expensive: a second level spell slot, use of your concentration, and being barred from attacking or casting any other spells. You become invisible, but impotent.

This is a no-go for combat. Even if you can cast it in advance, you become useless to your party who will need your other spells and concentration effect. I have a general rule against selfish self-buffs, and this one inhibits as much as it helps.

It's more useful for sneaking around, but even there I've seen cases where combat appears unexpectedly and I (or a friend) am then gripped by the sunk cost fallacy: using spells feels twice as expensive, wasting my invisibility, and there's an awful temptation to do nothing and hope the others handle it without you. Bad!

You're also rarely sneaking solo. If a scout is required, others will be better suited (in my case, a Rogue with ridiculous stealth and a wildshaping Druid, or even a familiar) to do so with less cost, and making them invisible would be overkill. If the party need to sneak together, it's even more expensive to extend - a fifth level spell slot for just four of you, and all rendered impotent - where there are usually better options.

As with Web versus Entangle, there are some things which Druids simply do better. Pass Without Trace can cover as many allies as you want, for a second level slot, and in practice allows us to sneak just as well. Don't send a Wizard to do a Druid's job. You have plenty of things that you're best at to focus on.

Greater invisibility allows you to fight at the same time, which would seem to be a powerful defensive buff, although attacking tends to give away your position. But it's like Flight and the others above in that sense: you don't want to be buffing yourself using your concentration, and you don't want to be buffing your martial friends in this way.

Making them harder to hit? Absolutely. But this stops them getting targeted by attacks at all, which is the opposite of what you need. You want them to be drawing enemy fire, because otherwise it's coming to you. You're squishier than them, and you're the one who's concentrating on this, so if you get hit it's all for nothing. There's no point in buffing your tank in a way that makes you (and the existence of the buff itself) more vulnerable.

Misty Step is fantastic. First of all, teleportation is a wonderful skill to have in your repertoire, and 30ft is enough to do most of what you'll need it for. I've used this spell to slip into strongholds through the keyhole, as well as to flee to cover from a dragon's clutches.

It's such a bargain as well. Only a second level spell, and only a bonus action. That means you still get your whole turn: no second levelled spell, sure, but a cantrip and your full range of movement. It's like having a Rogue's bonus action dash, except better, because teleportation doesn't provoke opportunity attacks. It's your get out of trouble free card.

If you're under attack from a scary ogre, you can get 60ft away and still send a Firebolt over your shoulder. I've fled certain death and necked a healing potion once I'm clear. I've jumped through a closed window and still been ready to fight. Wonderful stuff.

Thunder Step seems to overlap with Misty Step, but honestly I'm a fan of having both of them prepared, especially when serious peril is on the cards. I've only used it a few times, but all of them were crucial in saving my life or that of a colleague.

The 90ft range is great to have as an emergency escape (clear of most threats, especially as you still have your movement), but being able to take a plus one gives it another whole dimension. I've walked into trouble, grabbed a dying colleague, and taken us both to safety with no opportunity attack - whilst still dealing a decent amount of damage to their attacker. As that's about what a cantrip would do, I see that as a fair trade for this being an action rather than the bonus action above.

[evokersapprentice]

The Squishy Caster

Continuing on the theme of my previous musing, I am sold on the idea that a well-built wizard can be as resilient as any martial character.

AC vs DEX

They don't start with armour proficiencies, but AC is easy to sort. Even without multiclassing or bladesong, every wizard has access to a Mage Armour + Shield combo which puts them at 18 + DEX for AC. This is better than even the best medium armour with a shield (17 + up to 2 DEX), and rivals the best heavy armour (20 flat) assuming at least 14 DEX, which I have.

Heavy armour in general seems thoroughly underwhelming. If a character has 14 DEX, only full plate actually rivals medium armour, and only by +1, and at the cost of stealth and a 15 strength requirement. It's presented as an upgrade, but it's effectively a concession for those classes who can't afford the DEX. If you have the DEX, you just don't need it.

I'm speaking as a character born with it, but the DEX investment seems worth it anyway. One of my recurring 'unpopular opinions' about gameplay as a wizard is that AC is massively overrated. It's only really relevant when you're being attacked at close-quarters, and you can usually avoid that or quickly escape to distance. One of the underrated strengths of wizards is that most of our attacks can operate at range, and we have the abilities to get to that range - flight, flying mounts, and teleportation without opportunity attacks.

Equally important to AC, but seemingly more often overlooked, are DEX saves, which come up a lot for me in terms of AOE damage (CON and WIS are also important, but I don't encounter those quite as often at this stage). So investing in DEX from the start, as a way to protect against two birds with one stone (+2 to both DEX and AC), seems like a no-brainer. You're then better off than someone who just got heavy armour and STR.

Balancing equipment

This is of course subject to magically enhanced alternatives. As I mentioned in a previous post, martial characters have the option to upgrade with +1 shields or armour or both, and over a lucrative campaign they could end up with +2 or +3 to their AC by the middle levels. More, if they can bag a Ring or Cloak of Protection, which they will probably claim from the party loot on the basis they get hit the most and are taking the bullets for everybody else.

I may be biased (I definitely am), but I think that the Wizard is the most important member of the party not to be hit. This is in part due to their supposed squishiness, but mostly because of the value of their concentration. If I can summon a creature or effect which is basically as impactful as one of the other members of the party, but would lose it instantly on taking a blow, it's worth keeping both of us safe. I'm fighting for two.

However, I can see the argument that a tank basically helps to keep us safe more than enhancing our own defences, because they're taking on the role of our bodyguard. No shield is better than having your Fighter stand in front of you and opportunity attack anybody who tries to get past. I'm happy for them to be buffed, knowing that I'll get a lot of that benefit. Every attack that they absorb is one that could have been aimed at me.

Magic invulnerability

But then there are other spells. Not just Shield, which with medium armour (thank you, Artificer dip) can get me to a ridiculous tank-level 24 AC, for a first level spell slot I only need to use as rarely as it is required.

I'm talking about Mirror Image. A second level slot, but no concentration, and it will last for the average combat if you can get it up beforehand. That buys you a 75% chance that the first attack that targets you will miss, a 65% for the second, and a 50% on the third (assuming 12+ attack rolls each time, and even better if not).

That's before counting your own AC or so on. For illustration, a melee attacker with an impressive +8 modifier has to roll a 16 or higher to hit you. That's already just a 25% of success. With Mirror Image, they only have a 6% chance of hitting you, a 63% of hitting one of your duplicates (increasing the next chance of hitting you to 8%!), and a 30% chance of doing nothing at all. That's one hell of a buff. You're almost comfortable in melee at this point.

Optionally, there's Sanctuary (thanks again, Artificer). A first level slot, and probably only until your next turn, but you can temporarily further shield yourself if you end up stuck in melee and need another turn to get out (or fear opportunity attacks), or come up against an annoying ranged opponent. Anyone who targets you has to make a WIS saving throw, or redirect to someone else. Melee attacks may have no other option.

You can also keep this running if you don't need to attack or cast a spell which impacts an enemy creature - for example, if you're running a support role, or if you've already got an ongoing spell up and running and just need to protect your concentration whilst it works. I read this as being able to have an Animate Objects or Bigby's Hand doing the damage whilst I heal my friends using my action, as an apology for redirecting any attacks to them. If you're trapped in a kill-box with melee opponents, this could be a great option to have.

Blink fascinates me. A third level slot, fine, but it gets you a 50% chance of vanishing at the end of each of your turns, still being able to see what goes on in your absence, and with an optional 10ft teleport each time. Again, it runs for the length of an average combat, and renders you effectively invulnerable half of the time. None concentration. Get this running at the same time as Mirror Image, and the average hit rate goes down to 3%.

Even if an enemy is locked on and desperate to hurt you, they probably won't get to do it before they die. Even if they get three attacks per turn, they'll have the chance once in eleven turns. Add Sanctuary, and even particularly wise enemies (+5 WIS) will halve their chances to target you again. You're not quite invulnerable, and AOE attacks will still hurt, but you can probably walk up to most monsters and boop them on the nose.

If you're really afraid, and up against something like a breath attack, you can then top all of that up with something like a Polymorph to soak up the first 60 damage for your team. The above spells don't need concentration, so they can apply their buffs to a Giant Ape. Leave off Sanctuary and you can be melee brawling for a while, and even if you do get hit you'll return as a wizard with full HP and saved spell slots.

Then of course you have Silvery Barbs for any attack roll that does make it through the net. Was it a 6% chance of hitting you? With the option to make them roll again, it's now a 0.03% chance. The only danger is big AOE attacks (on the half of turns when Blink doesn't work), and then you have decent DEX (as above) and Absorb Elements to soak up half of it. That's more than any of the martial guys have.

Mitigation and optimisation

At one point I read an article that tried to dispel the 'myth' of the squishy spellcaster, which oddly didn't go into most of the spells above, but tried to argue that thanks to Shield plus armour giving a 24 AC the Wizard is a better tank than the Fighter is. Flipping that stereotype, it even argued that the Fighter is fairly squishy and would be better off shooting crossbows from range.

Despite my bias, I don't think that's entirely fair. For one, the Wizard's resilience relies on multiclassing, but the Fighter in this model isn't given the same opportunity to pick up Shield, Absorb Elements etc. from a multiclass of their own. It's really an argument that a composite armour + caster is best, combining the best of both worlds, which is a fair case from either direction, rather than holding one over the other.

In terms of optimising those character roles, with a tanky Wizard and a crossbow expert Fighter, I think that entirely depends on the rest of your party. This is a team game, and optimisation doesn't happen in a vacuum. I've found various synergies with my friendly Fighter, who enjoys playing a tank: I don't need to use my spells or concentration on defence or battlefield control, because he holds the line for free. He draws melee attackers to him as the closest target, soaks them up, and keeps them in place with Sentinel and opportunity attacks.

Many guides will say that the Wizard is supposed to do that job, but I can't help that most of my battlefields are already under control. My Fighter is difficult terrain in human form. He's a one-man Wall spell, doing damage each turn to anybody stuck in his range, and with a high save to get out of it. Rather than trap them twice, I'm better off dumping damage on them whilst they're stuck.

Optimised wizard-players talk about casting spells like Web, but I've never really had a use for it. Where another level of control is required, my friendly Druid likes Entangle, which is functionally the same and cheaper. The Fighter can do most of it for free, whilst still being in the best possible position to attack (and with an opportunity attack each turn, which would be lost if he sat at range).

The role the party needs the most, and which other people can't provide for a lower cost, is that of blaster. There's another great overlap there as an Evocation Wizard, because the Fighter's habit of keeping a group of melee foes clustered around him is ideal for a Fireball. He sets them up for me to knock down, whilst still knocking them down himself. His presence alone on the front line is as powerful as any of my concentration spells, and frees me up to use a different one.

The article I read decided that tanks weren't worthwhile, and that an optimised party would all be at range, but that isn't my experience at all. If we were all at range, the enemies might decide to target me - either with a ranged attack of their own (and I'm sure a DM would quickly match the crossbows if we went down that route), or by running at the most squishy-looking target. Having a front line and a back keeps the fighting all concentrated far away.

Maybe the Crossbow Expert Fighter can maximise his damage, although I don't know if that factors in the lost opportunity attack for the Sentinel (swapping feat for feat). But even if he does, it comes at the cost of me being at risk, and having to worry about my concentration, and I don't think that's great for our damage output as a team. It also means the enemies won't bunch up, which is a shame.

Weirdly, I think that claim goes both too far and not far enough. It's needlessly insulting to the Fighter, who does do a really good and valuable job up front, but it doesn't push the Wizard supremacy to its limits. Yes, we're not necessary as squishy as people think. But I wouldn't want to advertise that too much, or to let it change our behaviour, because I still believe we're the party member you least want getting hit.

Even if we can match the Fighter for AC, the Wizard should be behind them in the firing line. Not necessarily because we're more vulnerable to attack, but because our safety is more important. The HP factor is still huge. If the Fighter has almost twice my health, he can take one or two hits that I can't. Even speaking objectively, it's best to keep the whole party upright for as long as possible (maximum action economy etc.), so it makes sense to direct attacks to those with the HP to spare.

That's without getting into value judgements about who has the ability to most impact a conflict, which you could argue either way. But it's another objective fact that a Wizard's impact is directly tied, via concentration, to remaining unhurt - in a way that a Fighter's isn't at all. A big hit to a Fighter gets them feeling a bit nervous. A big hit to a Wizard may knock them down in one, and almost definitely costs them their big, powerful concentration spell. Either way, it's a massive reduction to the attacking potential for the team.

That means that the dynamic should remain, squishiness aside. Even if the Wizard is more shielded than the Fighter, it can make sense for the Fighter to play the tank, given that they're hardly vulnerable themselves. If the Wizard (24 AC) has a 25% chance of being hit compared to the Fighter's (22 AC) 30%, it still makes sense for the Fighter to be the one who runs that risk. Over the course of a combat, the team will be better off. The Fighter also has the option of emergency self-healing, and the Wizard is better placed to heal the Fighter if required.

As a final note on the DM crossbow point, I think that this applies to a lot of optimisation. The game is not static, and can't really be broken, because the DM can always up the difficulty level and throw your own tricks back at you. This is why I don't have time for Peace Clerics. On paper, adding a d4 to everything everyone does sounds great, but it's easy enough for the DM to recognise the shift in levels and just make everything a d4 harder.

It's far better to have imbalanced skillsets within your team, so that you each have an advantage in certain situations, because a good DM can't leave anyone behind. A mixture of melee and ranged attackers leaves you ready for any situation, but means you still have to adapt and think about your tactics each time, with plenty of space for you and the DM to work with. If you build your team 100% ranged, the DM is forced to do the same, and then you cancel out your whole advantage.

[evokersapprentice]

The Art of concentration

In a recent post I daydreamed about the advantages of an Artificer/Wizard build, as a pure-bred wizard who spends every combat sweating anxiously about my concentration.

At this stage in the game, having just gained access to fifth level spells, all of my most expensive and impactful moves are reliant on me keeping focus. Whether you choose Animate Objects or Bigby's Hand or Hold Monster or Wall of Force, you can't afford to get distracted from it. The cost is too great - having only one slot a day - and the benefit too pivotal to lose.

People who start off with a level of Artificer are instantly more comfortable. I'd have a +6 to CON saves, which would see me saving concentration on a 32 damage hit on average. I'd effectively have the same buff as a Bladesinger, via INT rather than proficiency, but alas, I was born a simple Evoker, and have +2 CON alone to fall back on.

Dipping my toes

I still think that dipping a level of Artificer now makes a lot of sense. It's not as optimal as starting there, but there are other benefits other than the CON proficiency. Medium armour and shields take my resting AC to 19 from 13 (or 15 with a spell slot). With Shield, I'm suddenly as secure as our tank - and from watching him work, that seems to mean effective immunity from enemy minions, their tiny attack bonuses bouncing off your armour.

I'll also gain two cantrips from a different list, plus Magical Tinkering, and four additional spells prepared, also from of a new list which I can peruse and choose from every day. They're limited to first level, but even just re-taking Absorb Elements and Feather Fall frees a couple of spots to prepare higher level wizard spells, and the new ones are just a bonus. I would actually 'learn' a dozen new spells this way. With no loss of higher level spell slots, delaying learning a couple of wizard spells feels like a very reasonable price.

Double jeopardy

But after that... I'm left with a terrible temptation.

I'm still vulnerable to attack. A hearty AC doesn't help much with that, given that I'll be hanging out of melee and slinging spells from range anyway. It'll be the magical-style attacks with DEX and CON saves that get me. Against a high level foe like a dragon, beholder or enemy mage, when I need my big concentration spells the most, I'll lose them if I'm hit. That's a leak I need to patch.

The standard solution to this weakness, looking to make the best out of a non-optimal hand, would seemingly be to take the Resilient feat at level 13 (Wizard 12), giving me proficiency on all CON saves as well as +1 to my ability score. That would leave me with an odd CON score, but I could eventually round it out at level 17 (Wizard 16) for a boost to HP and another +1 to CON saves. Of course, there's no guarantee the campaign will last that long, and at those levels Wizards don't need to worry so much about being fragile.

Some prefer War Caster, but that gives advantage only on concentration saves and without any ability score increase. I suppose you could double up on the feats - wizards having limited decent options compared to martial characters - but that ship has probably sailed for me, having reached level 9 without either of them.

One alternative, as someone already planning to take one level in Artificer, would be to take a second. This is the temptation, but it's by no means an easy decision. I'm convinced by the one-level dip for all of the reasons above, but doubling down comes with more than double the cost: not only a second level delay in learning higher level spells, but no spell slot progression either. Permanent damage to your wizarding ability.

What you get for that is a mixed bag. The first level traded two wizard spells known for a whole list of artificer spells known, plus four spells and two cantrips prepared, plus AC, and Magical Tinkering. The second level trades two wizard spells known and one or two high level spell slots for... two infused items per day. As a conversion, each of those items has to be worth your marginal spell slot and spell. In effect, they need to offer the benefit of a fifth level spell that you would want to use every day.

I think that one of them meets that high bar. Mind Sharpener sounds incredible: turning a concentration fail to a save four times a day. No reliance on the luck of the dice, like a sort of spellcasting Legendary Resistance. You're not going to fail four concentration checks a day, or at least you'll die first, so you just don't need to worry about it. Concentration stops being a factor. The effects of your higher level spells are here to stay.

If I had this as a spell (i.e. 24 hours, no concentration), I can definitely see myself using my marginal spell slot on it. If a) all of my highest level spell slots are going to be used on concentration spells anyway, b) they're only going to be needed in one big encounter per day, and c) I can only use one of them at any one time, I can get by with one fifth level slot as well as I would with two. The only reason I need the second is to hold in reserve, in case the first attempt doesn't stick, but I now guarantee that it will. I'm guarding the first slot from being wasted. That seems like a fair trade.

Perhaps I'm overly anxious about losing my concentration, but for me the peace of mind would be worth it alone. It's stronger than getting both of the feats above. If you already had one or both of them, or start with Artificer, this might feel like overkill, because you'll have a good chance to pass the save anyway. But I have nothing but my +2 CON, and I'm vulnerable. This is the soonest that I can protect myself, and the best protection I can possibly get.

Or maybe it's not about me. Another wonderful benefit is that the Mind Sharpening object is transferable: this is something the Artificer's infusions have over most self-focused class features. Usually this would make no sense, but in my case I have a Ring of Spell Storing which I'm trying to keep charged for my martial colleagues to use. Ideally, because they don't otherwise use their concentration, this is a way to beat the action economy and have two big concentration spells going at the same time.

The current biggest problem with this plan, using the Ring, is that they often get hit, and so that concentration won't last for very long. A Mind Sharpening helmet will sort that out. Suddenly we can have two of my big spells in operation at once, and I can be Bigby's Hand pushing enemy into a Wall of Fire and cackling. Rather than framing this as losing one of my high level slots, it could be more like I've shared them out, so that two can be used at the same time. Or, if I want to spare my own slots, I can be polymorphed into a Giant Ape and join them in melee.

I will be weaker without a sixth level slot, yes. But question is whether the party benefits more from having (in effect) two fifth level spells in action, rather than access to one sixth, and I just think that it might.

It's only sad that the same infusion can't be used twice at once, so I can't keep the concentration protection for myself too. I have to pick something else for my second infusion, and unfortunately the other options aren't quite at the same level. Most involve creating a +1 wand or weapon or shield, which in our case (thank you DM!) we are able to access fairly regularly. My martial colleagues already have magical items. There will probably be somebody who can still benefit from a +1 somewhere, but I'm not sure that it's worth the cost.

The Homunculus Servant (13 AC, 7 HP) isn't really strong enough at this stage. Wizards have access to various summoning spells, including Find Familiar at first level (11 AC, 1 HP), Tiny Servant at third level (15 AC, 10 HP), right up to Draconic Spirit and others at fifth level (19 AC, 50 HP). It can't communicate with you telepathically, and won't attack without using your bonus action each turn, which stops you using an Animate Objects or Bigby's Hand.

This is a problem with multiclassing: these features might be good for a level 2 Artificer, but they're not up to the standards of a level 11 Wizard. Other than Mind Sharpener, I'm probably not going to be able to infuse a magical item that raises my ceiling. But the good thing about the Artificer infusions is that you can give them to other people. For me, low level magical abilities are useless. But to my martial friends, they count for so much more.

As a spellcasting supremacist, I'm of the view that adding more casters to the party is always good. My friendly Fighter and Rogue are not using their concentration. They may not even be using their bonus actions! Giving them even a first level concentration spell raises their ceiling in a way, and gives us another dimension as a party. Letting the fighter cast Bless and gain +2.5 to each of his three weapon attack rolls, for example, would be pretty worthwhile.

Replicate Magic Items seems to allow this. It may not be in the spirit of the rules-as-written, but one of the common magic items that can be created is a 'spellwrought tattoo' needle, which allows anyone in the party one use of any first level spell or cantrip. It's a weaker version of the Ring of Spell Storing above, but allows access to spells that even I don't know, of which Bless would be a good example.

That versatility is pretty handy: effectively granting me access to all first level spell lists, like one of the Magic Adept feats. The actual spell might not be worth sacrificing my marginal spell slot, as above, although it would certainly take one of the lower ones. But the real benefit is that this can be transferred. It's like the whole party gets a Magic Adept feat to share. I can give any first level spell and a spell slot to anybody. At the very least, the Rogue can abuse Silvery Barbs with me. Together with the Ring, we can all be doing it.

Triple threat

If I do find those infusions tempting - and they are - the danger would then be of staying to level three, which is when Artificers actually get their snazzy subclass features. At first glance, this was the level where things get exciting. A free companion, most notably: from the outside, one of the most attractive features of the class is the advantage of getting a summoned ally (Steel Defender for the Battlesmith and the Eldritch Cannon for the Artillerist) without having to concentrate or use up a spell slot.

I love my remote control toys as a player, so that feature was very attractive to me. Unfortunately, I think that these pets have the same downsides as the Homunculus Servant above - I'm sure they're great for pure Artificers (and scale to Artificer level), but they're too weak to join me at this stage in the game (the Defender only has 15 AC and 21 HP, the Cannon 18 AC and 15 AC), and eat a bonus action which I might want to use for more powerful summons.

On the other side of the common consensus, the option of Alchemist feels unfairly maligned. It may be something of the opposite of the other subclasses: weak for pure Artificers, because it doesn't upscale with Artificer level, but decent for curious Wizards, because it doesn't rely on Artificer level at all. People don't seem to have any time for it at all, but I think it may genuinely be my best option if I did decide to go to Artificer 3.

Healing Word is a decent spell to pick up (without taking up a prepared spell), but for Alchemists it's all about the Experimental Elixirs: the ability to brew one free random potion a day, and then use spell slots to choose to make others, some of which are actually excellent. For a first level slot, I can produce an Elixir of Flight (concentration-free flight for 10 minutes!) or an Elixir of Boldness (effectively a single-target concentration-free Bless!), either one of which would be a really great buff for a teammate - and I get a chance each day of getting one of them for free!

The criticism seems mainly to be that the Alchemists don't get a pet, and therefore lose use of their bonus action, but that isn't a concern at all for me. I can find my own pets - what I can't do is generate healing potions for fun, which this would allow. Interestingly the potions last until my next long rest, meaning that by having a short rest soon after I wake up (as an elf, I don't need to sleep as much as others anyway) Arcane Recovery would allow me to produce four each day and then regenerate the spell slots. So it's basically a free buff for everyone.

As above, this would make me weaker, but it's about the party as a whole. I'm not sure the +2.5 buff for the Fighter is worth it, especially if I can give him a Bless tattoo already until he loses concentration, but giving everybody flight would certainly be fun. It taking an action to drink means it's limited to situation where you can see combat coming, but those situations do exist, and in a melee only combat you could possible afford to waste a turn flying to safety... and ensuring your opponents waste their turns as well.

I'm not convinced. The cost is too great. But... I do see the appeal.

[evokersapprentice]

Pros and CON

As a relatively new player who is just about figuring out how the game works, I was wondering if I had any tips for my past self, any wisdom to offer for those just starting out. Funnily enough, my insight may be mostly to do with my lack of Wisdom, given that it just stopped me from multiclassing as a cleric.

It's not necessarily a lack of knowledge. I recently did a deep dive into some of the detail of the game, and I would heartily recommend that, but I wouldn't say it's required. A great thing about D&D is that it can be as complex or as simple as you want it to be. You get out what you put in, but you can still have a lot of fun as a complete novice.

Some of the older heads you hear from get snobbish about people who don't want to do the reading, or are only interested in certain areas of the game, but I'm not keen on all that gatekeeping. Even within my party there are various levels of enthusiasm for various things, and we just complement each other. If they don't care about optimisation and just want to play dress up, that works fine for me.

I got through a good few levels without knowing what a rogue was (although spelling it seems to put me in the top few percentiles of forum users) and it hasn't hurt me at all. The one thing I would say with hindsight, as a wizard, is to think early on about your build if you think there's any chance you'll want to later. You have limited decision points, and they lock you in forever, so when you later know what you're doing you might regret it. Your future self could be grateful for a little forward planning now.

It starts at day one, with your character sheet ability scores. Mine was pre-made, and I've worn those limits ever since. For example, others in the party are now looking to multiclass, and I can't take a level in cleric (or druid, or bard or sorcerer), because I don't have the Wisdom (or Charisma) you need. You may want to think about that.

You then have precious few chances to build on that starting point. At levels four, eight, twelve, sixteen and nineteen, you can either add two points to these scores or take a feat (if you're playing that way). I made my choices at level four without thinking about my overall plan, and that's limited my options now as well. I'm not saying that you need to optimise your character, but there are ways to make them better at whatever you want them to do.

Some of these points are conditional on how long you expect your campaign to last, given that some builds work better in the short term, medium term, long term, or you may just want to get the things you need now rather than planning for the future.

As wizards, I think we're both better and worse off than other classes. We have more decision points, as we get to choose new spells at every level, and unlike most casters we're limited to those spells and can't choose from the whole list each day. Those decisions are locked in, so the random spells you picked early on are two better spells that you now don't know.

But compared to martial characters, our ability scores and even feats don't feel as crucial. Magic can cover over most of our deficiencies, whereas they need to hone themselves into a specialised fighting machine to keep up. If you're a wizard going all the way to the endgame, you probably don't need to worry about power, because you're destined for omnipotence at level 17. You just probably don't want to delay that much with multiclassing.

In my campaign so far, I've been more concerned about the other side. Young wizards are extremely fragile, and with no worries about doing damage I've been mostly looking for ways to wrap my character in cotton wool. You may want to plan around that as well. Investment in AC, HP, saving throws, that kind of thing. Not feeling afraid every time a bad guy looks your way, pleading for the tank to save you. You don't need to be a tank yourself, but you need a little bit of weight so you're not knocked down by a breeze.

For all of their strengths, wizards also contend with a lot of different limiting factors. They can only learn those two spells per level, whereas others get access to a full list, and have to make sure they choose the right ones at the time and for the future. They can also only prepare a certain number of spells per day: at the moment that's 13 for me, which feels like a lot, but there are easily over 13 spells I'd like access to in case they came up, and that list is only going to grow as I keep learning stronger spells at high levels.

Wizards can do so many different things, but you're restricted and made to choose which of them you want to do with your build, and then again on any given day. Then you only have a handful of spell slots, and even fewer at each level. Then there's action economy: everybody is limited to one action per turn, except that some of the other classes get multiple attacks or bonus actions, and wizards are further limited by only being able to cast one levelled spell per turn.

Finally, we have to think about concentration, which seriously limits the number of our more powerful spells we can use to one per combat. Everything has a massive opportunity cost. If I use a fifth level concentration spell, that means a) I use up my action for that turn, b) I can't use a spell as a bonus action, c) I lose a fifth level spell slot, which seriously dents my capabilities for the rest of the day, d) I can't cast any of my other concentration spells whilst it lasts. Any wizard-building may want to look at loosening those restrictions as much as possible.

I would say take all other guidance with a pinch of salt. There's an awful lot of unqualified and unhelpful guidance out there, probably including a lot of what I've had to say. A lot of it's down to subjective opinion: so much depends on your DM, your party, your role, and what you actually enjoy. You'll see discussions of a spell where they haven't actually read the T&Cs properly, or without mentioning that their campaign plays a certain house rule that makes it work.

Even two of the more comprehensive guides to wizardry, from Treatmonk (spells here) and RPGBOT (spells here), can offer massively different conclusions. The former ranks Hold Monster as a mid-tier spell, the latter holds it up as one of the best. I find such guides to be useful as a reference, but I often come away with a difference in opinion. Every game is unique and you can find a niche for whatever build you like. It's just about making sure your choices complement each other, and ideally the rest of your party.

As a personal example, both of those guides are fairly in agreement that the purpose of a wizard is battlefield control, to cast save-or-suck spells to debuff the bad guys and leave them vulnerable for your teammates to finish off. I don't really do that, for three reasons. One, my druid really enjoys that role, and I find myself best deployed doing something else. Second, I was set up as an evocation blaster, and feel that there's an incentive to lean into that. Third, I don't really want to.

In my adventures thus far, I've found that our enemies are either weak enough for us to deal with the old fashioned way (hit them with a load of damage as quickly as possible), in which case save-or-suck is an unnecessary delay compared to blasting, or so strong that they can probably resist me (for example, some monsters have +6 to saving throws against my 16 DC), in which case they're of limited use, especially if they also hog my concentration.

There's a half chance that I'll get them to stick for one round, but then there's another saving throw, and an equal chance that I've achieved nothing at all. I've seen suggestions that aggressive use of Silvery Barbs can make those spells more of a certainty, but a) I'm the only one in my party who knows it, so it's only one re-roll per round b) I'm not made of spell-slots, and c) I don't want to push it and annoy my DM too much.

Then there's dragons to consider. We're in a fairly dragon-heavy campaign, where the big foes who can't be simply blasted aside are often draconic in flavour. All of the adults have Legendary Resistance, allowing them the ability to turn a failed saving throw into a success, three times a day. If they're succeeding at least half of the time anyway, you've got to waste an average of seven or eight save-or-suck spells before one actually hits. At that stage, the fight is over and you could have done 200+ damage instead.

My biggest frustration in combat is wasting a turn, and wasting a spell slot, given all of the limitations above. Wizards don't have enough of these things to throw away, and I want to make them count: perhaps via other forms of battlefield control, perhaps by buffing my friends, perhaps just by dealing damage, but all things which are guaranteed to have some sort of impact.

Given all of the above, my priorities to cover over wizard limitations are as follows:

Gain more spell slots, if possible, or find a way to reduce avoidable spell usage (e.g. Mage Armour each morning).

Raise the cap on the number of different spells I can prepare.

Protect myself from damage. As well as my health, my concentration spells are expensive, and I don't want to lose it.

I sometimes wish I was a Bladesinger (with flowers in my hair), but discovered that subclass long after I'd been assigned Evocation as a novice who didn't know what it meant. I live Evocation, but sometimes I do think longingly about what a cool ability Bladesong is. Adding your INT modifier to both AC and concentration saving throws is tasty, especially as you were going to maximise it anyway (so it's between +3 and +5).

I think you can rebuild it in the aggregate, maybe even better, but at the cost of some of your upgrades. A dip into Artificer would seem to be the ideal alternative. If you start there, you get both proficiency in medium armour and shields and in CON saving throws. It costs you a level's delay in terms of learning spells, but you get to the same place in the end.

The Bladesinger can only wear light armour, so their best bet is probably Mage Armour for a 13 + DEX + INT total. For me that would be an AC of 19 at the moment. The ArtWiz would get the same total with medium armour, a shield, and the same +2 to DEX. They would then save a first level spell slot per day, which as another use of Silvery Barbs (or any better alternative in the moment) is not to be sneezed at.

The Bladesinger has a higher ceiling (they can add another +1 to INT, and keep increasing their DEX if they like), but I think at that stage you're already maxing out AC's usefulness. With the Shield spell up your sleeve, very few attacks are going to be hitting on a 24, and of those there are very few which would then miss on a 25, 26, 27. The marginal benefit decreases the higher that you go.

In addition, as a general point, I think it's worth noting that AC is not as important for wizards as it may seem at first, when you get your character sheet with that big number in the middle. Unless you come across a lot of archers, it's mainly for character who are going to be in melee range, in which case the more obvious solution is just to get out of there.

Wizards will usually lurk at the back of the party, and most of the ranged attacks they face will be of the saving throw variety, like a dragon's breath, which makes AC useless. It's worth having at a decent level for those odd moments, including surprise attacks (like when I got myself surrounded by kobolds and had to self-immolate with a fireball on myself), but pushing it higher and higher will never make you invulnerable.

Whilst we're talking about the Bladesinger's cons, it's important to note that they don't have a bonus to CON saving throws in general, only concentration ones. That's nice, but concentration is sort of a second-order defence: if you're making a concentration save, you've already been hit, so you have other problems. It would be better to stop the damage in the first place. For many ranged attacks, CON or DEX function like AC, so it's worth pumping one or both up in their own right. It might even save your life.

For illustration, a white dragon's breath attack needs a CON saving throw against a 19 DC, or face an average of 54 damage. If it hits, you've got to run a concentration save to beat 27, which is impossible even with a +5 INT modifier. Given a wizard's low HP, you may also be dead. It would be much better to have a +4 to CON in the first place, potentially saving you from full damage in the initial check, and then still get that +4 to concentration if it did come down to that.

I've come across CON saving throws out of combat too, and it would be annoying to lose concentration on my fifth-level summon because the fighter trod on a poisonous mushroom, or have all your preparation taken out by the same dragon's lair effects before they even turn to attack you. Being able to add your proficiency bonus, which scales at least as quickly as your INT modifier will, could be every bit as handy as the AC boost.

You could grab Bladesinger as well as your first level in Artificer, to really supercharge your concentration, but then it would prevent you from enjoying your newfound armour proficiency. Many multiclass builds like to match subclasses which have 'synergy', but there's often a lot of wastage in the overlap because that subclass is supposed to compensate for NOT being a fighter or whatever. You may get just as much by letting Artificer solve these particular problems and going with a different school for another flavour of benefit.

Annoyingly, I can't do either of the options above, and have to settle with third choice: starting at Wizard and dipping into Artificer at a later stage. This still gives me the benefit of armour, but I don't get any sort of CON protection. My only route to that is picking up a feat later on, which I may well end up doing (Resilient and investing in CON anyway for HP and saving throws), but that's still a big opportunity cost.

But ideal timing or not, I still think a one level dip into Artificer is worthwhile. You don't miss out on spell slots at all, you're still INT based, and you get the chance to pick up a decent number of Artificer spells (two cantrips and five first level spells for me). They're all at low levels, so it's sort of a choice between seven weak spells or two strong ones. That already feels like a fair trade-off if you're looking for more flexibility, but there are also three benefits to choosing the seven.

First, it's flexibility on top of flexibility. Artificers don't learn spells like wizards do; they prepare them each day from a much wider list. This means that you aren't actually limited to seven spells, just seven spells on any given day. You can see what you use or not and switch it up. Second, it's much more choice on each of those days. Because you can prepare these spells as an Artificer, they don't count against your ~13 prepared spells as a wizard. You can even re-take wizarding favourites, like Feather Fall or Absorb Elements, to free up space for a higher level wizard spell. This massively loosens one of your main restrictions to future growth.

Finally, the Artificer has access to spells you would otherwise never have access to, such as Guidance, Sanctuary or Cure Wounds from the Cleric playbook. You can always find a way to learn more wizard spells, if you find a library or wizard to teach you, but other class's abilities are usually off-limits. These options let you be a lot more versatile, and allow you to find a use for lower level slots which might have otherwise been wasted.

In summary, armour serves to both protect you from damage (saving both HP and concentration) and spare you your Mage Armour both as a daily spell slot and as a prepared spell. The starting CON proficiency, if you can get it, likewise helps protect you from damage (saving HP once and concentration twice). Artificer spellcasting massively increases your number of prepared spells and widens your options in every way. It's not a bad haul.

Another detail of my planned build is that I took Fae Transportation as a feat. It's only a 'half feat', allowing me to increase my INT by one, which already lessens the cost, and I think that overall it's been worth sacrificing another INT increase. Not only because I got to learn two useful spells which I didn't previously know (Misty Step and Silvery Barbs), but because I effectively gained two spell slots (at first and second level) and two prepared spells (as they don't count against my thirteen). As those limitations start to bite, I feel like that sort of benefit is overlooked.

But concentration is still the thing that holds my attention. I don't want to waste my spells: most people recommend maximising your save DC for that reason, but I want to max my CON too. If I was building a new character, I might start with Artificer, then go Bladesinger, then take War Caster instead of Resilient (due to already having proficiency).

Investing a little more in CON over some of my wasted stats could then give a +11 (+3 CON +4 INT + proficiency) bonus on CON saving throws at this stage, which is enough to guarantee 24 damage doesn't shake your concentration, plus advantage on those rolls to make you pretty safe beyond that. It's just the breath attacks you need to dodge, and there are other ways around those. Blink, Sanctuary, Mirror Image are all non-concentration spells you can cast before a big combat. A Draconic Spirit can lend you a resistance of your choice. A wizard can actually be pretty hard to hurt, which is just the way I want them.

[evokersapprentice]

Wizard vs. Fighter

Following on from the last post where I admired the strengths of my martial colleagues, I do think that the wizard is a much more powerful class overall. Now that I'm exploring what different classes can do, I wanted to dwell on that comparison a little more: not just to soothe my wizarding ego, but because I find the difference in ceiling at higher levels to be ridiculous.

I'm going to use fighters as an example, not because I have anything against them, but because they're the shining role-model of what a martial class stands for. When it comes to melee performance, you think fighter. Similarly, 'wizard' may be substituted for 'sorcerer' at some points, and they may even be surpassed in some areas. This is more of a martial vs. spellcaster comparison.

To start off, we can look at your average fighter. A purpose-built tank, which is something I am shamefully only just really learning, also lacking any experience of video games with similar roles. He has heavy armour and a shield, which give him 20 AC off the bat, and in our case he somehow takes it to an eye-watering 24 via his fighting style and magic items. The majority of attacks slide right off him.

On the other end, he has +8 to hit and two attacks per round, with the potential for another attack of opportunity. This isn't quite as strong as his defensive capabilities, which are already at the top of the game's spectrum, but he'll get more as he matures, with four attacks per turn being the highlight. Even with a mundane 1d8 sword, he'll have +11 to hit and 38 damage (9.5 x 4) per turn. His melee stats will be in line with some dragons.

The great thing about the fighter is that a lot of this was front-loaded. As long as the party earns enough money, he can go out and get top level armour from the start of the campaign, and it will take a while for enemies to catch up. But by the same token it also doesn't progress as much. A 1d8 sword continues to be a 1d8 sword, and adding +5 rather than +3 as an ability score modifier doesn't make that much difference, even when you're doing it four times.

The wizard's progression feels far more linear. We already start at a similar level to the melee guys, using cantrips as our martial weapons. Fire bolt does 1d10 damage, which is up there with the strongest melee weapon types, plus the bonus that it's a ranged attack and only needs one hand. We can't help the party by tanking, but in terms of damage we're only slightly behind: the same modifier to hit (proficiency bonus plus relevant ability score) and just not able to add that +3 ability score to damage.

Cantrips scale similarly to multiple weapon attacks for a fighter: two attacks at Level 5, three at Level 11, and four earlier at Level 17 rather than 20. But without that attack modifier, they just fall further away. The difference between a Fire Bolt and a basic sword goes from 5.5 vs 7.5 at the start of the game to 22 vs. 38 at the end. Wizards start off with more flexibility in terms of range, damage type, and other impacts of their cantrip attacks, but the damage doesn't keep the pace.

Fortunately, the levelled spells ramp up considerably. Even Magic Missile, a first level spell, would do 38.5 damage if cast using a ninth level slot. A first level wizard who didn't bother to learn any other spells when levelling up would still scale to being able to do the sort of damage a fighter can, except from 120ft away and disregarding all of the fighter's precious AC, whereas the fighter would still need to roll to hit four times.

They can only do that one, and the damage reduces when working down the exhausted spell slots, but it's still possible that a Level 20 wizard could beat a Level 20 fighter in a one-off duel using first level spells alone. Something like Expeditious Retreat to get away, Mage Armour and Shield to still have a 50% change of dodging attacks, and then Magic Missile at descending levels as you continue to bonus action Dash into the distance. If you don't start next to each other, or have time to prepare, even better.

That discrepancy only gets worse with each rung of higher level spells unlocked. At Level 5, the wizard has Fly or Gaseous Form or Thunder Step to get away, and once scaled up they can then do 49 damage from 120 ft away with a Fireball. Again, the fighter's carefully assembled Armour Class counts for nothing, and Silvery Barbs is on hand if they make the DEX saving throw against a high DC of 19.

It carries on like that. At the end of the game, a fully matured wizard can win the one-off fight in any way they like. Wish can probably just stop the fighter outright, whilst True Polymorph offers various tantalising options within one spell. It's tempting to permanently turn the fighter into a toad at the risk of a WIS saving throw, but the other alternatives offer a much more certain victory.

As one example, the wizard can turn themselves into an Ancient Brass Dragon, which could simply beat the fighter in a melee slugging match (20 AC and 297 HP, four attacks per round with +14 to hit and 49 average damage on its turn plus another 17 as a reaction). Not that they need to, with breath attacks and the ability to fly allowing them to deal 56 damage from 90ft above.

Or the dragon can themselves shapeshift into a Level 20 fighter, who will by definition win any match-up due to reverting to their 'true' form on death, whereas the actual fighter will just die. I'm not even sure the fighter can beat a younger dragon on their own. The wizard could use one of the spell's other options to turn a building into a Young Silver Dragon loyal to them, and then take a rest and finish off the fighter if they survive that first encounter.

There are various other summoning or conjuring spells which can keep the fighter more than occupied whilst the wizard takes a nap, but perhaps the most broken would be Simulacrum, which would allow the wizard to make a duplicate of themselves whilst enjoying that well deserved rest. Presumably the duplicate can then do the same thing, creating an army who can deal with the fighter without the original wizard needing to be on the continent. It's expensive, but any of them can use Wish to keep the enterprise funded.

The most fun would be in copying the fighter themselves, but unfortunately that requires 12 hours of touch, something perhaps only achievable by sneaking a spider familiar into their armour. But a second wizard would be plenty, given that one is already more powerful using their normal attacks. Anything more is just overkill.

I think that the fighter's only chance is if they get to strike first, close up; for example if they take the wizard by surprise. With action surge, they could be doing a massive 76 damage in one turn on average, subject to hitting eight times in a row (which they might be able to do, although any purebred wizard should be wearing Mage Armour and have Shield ready to react, without Mirror Image or anything stronger). That could kill the wizard outright. But if they do take a shot at the queen, they'd better make it count.

Otherwise, there's just no chance of keeping up. A wizard is simply more powerful than any martial class, and even some half-casters/multiclass builds, in any conceivable way. Wizards are more mobile, so you can't catch them, and you can't run away. You can't hide, thanks to their divination abilities, but you can't find them if they don't want you to. They can hit harder and shield themselves more definitively, and that's before getting into all of the weird stuff.

If you let them get away, which they can do easily with a teleport (and no opportunity attack for you), they can buy themselves enough time to build an impregnable fortress and set you all sorts of traps. A wizard with time to prepare can also make themselves largely immortal, with the options of Contingency or Clone, another way of making duplicates. The fighter could try to destroy the back-up first, but good luck finding it against a class who can teleport, breathe underwater, walk through walls, reshape stone and everything else.

I haven't even mentioned the simple option in Meteor Swarm, which does 140 damage to a massive area from a mile away, easily eliminating a hundred fighters at once. No abilities gained by the fighter even pretend to keep up with the new spells becoming available. The best ability they have is multiple attacks, which is closest to a wizard's cantrips. It's a ludicrous match-up, come the end. But not all campaigns make it that far, and fortunately the fighter's front-loading means they can actually start the game in a stronger position, and stay competitive for most of it.

There are a couple of big levellers which I think help with that. One is the wizard's limited spell slots. In the mid-game, when they don't have the god-like ability to spirit themselves away and prepare or recover, they can only manage a few decent hits before they exhaust themselves. They might still win a one-off fight, but over a long adventuring day the fighter can emerge as the more reliable hitter in the team. Every spell has a steep opportunity cost. A wizard can be better at anything, but it's hard to be better at everything at once.

That's the distinction between theory and practice. DnD is not a one-on-one duel in a vacuum. It's a party game (in the sense of a team, not like musical chairs), and an ongoing one. Wizards are mostly going to be cautious to use their spells, like a bee with its sting, worrying how many more encounters they'll face before bedtime. Fighters have one or two daily tricks, but mostly their damage and AC stays constant and they don't have to worry about holding anything in reserve. They might do more damage over the day, as well as doing a better job of protecting the team.

On that note, wizards in a team are a domesticated breed, unable to simply start dropping AOE attacks (unless they have evocation privilege, as mine does) or abandon the party to lick their wounds in a cave somewhere. Most of those one-on-one scenarios involved the wizard finding time and distance from the immediate danger. A selfish wizard may be almost impossible to kill, but when I'm in a tough conflict I don't run away and do all of that, because I can't abandon my more magically-challenged friends.

A fighter is therefore superior in terms of both stamina and readiness in practice. A surprise attack doesn't bother them. They wake up fully ready for battle, and rarely have any need for a time-out to prepare or recover. Their only limit is HP, which doesn't decrease too often for ours, and when it does he can either heal himself, chug a potion, or ask the druid for a favour. She can't restore my wizard's spell slots, and they drain away at a much faster rate. I burn out quickly, and then need to sleep whilst the others can keep going at full strength.

The other great leveller is magic items. Funnily enough, they seem to favour the non-magic users in the party. The classic example would be a +1/+2 weapon, which comes in the form of both a +1/+2 sword for the martial types and a +1/+2 Wand of the War Mage for the likes of me. That all seems fair, until you look at how that works in practice. I can add +1 to my spell attack rolls, which I rarely use at this stage, with no impact on damage. They can add it to both attack and damage rolls, which is all the more significant when they have three damage rolls a round.

Even +6 damage a round doesn't sound like much, but the gulf grows once the party gains access to rarer items. Our fighter has one sword which lets him do an extra 2d6 damage per hit in certain circumstances, and another which allows 3d6 in another set of circumstances. All of a sudden he's doing 20 damage a hit, and gets two attacks, and an opportunity attack. With action surge and a bit of luck, he's doing 100 damage in his first turn and 60 after that.

The scaling can escalate those sort of advantages until he's suddenly doing the most damage in the team. In times like that, it may be that the fighter becomes the striker needing the rest of us to tank for him and give him advantage, as he has so often done for us. I'm wondering if there are more items out there which will help him to compete for longer: not in a duel with the endgame wizard, as even doing 100 damage per turn won't save him there, but in remaining an equally useful member of the team over a longer period.

I haven't yet found the equivalent for a spellcaster. This may be by our DM's choice, or the luck of the random item tables, but most other wands and staffs just contain charges with various spells, which is helpful in terms of preserving spell slots, but doesn't massively raise my ceiling in the same way: no extra 10.5 damage per cantrip dice, which would be the equivalent. Worse, many of them are just as useful to the martial characters, whereas I'd be much less use with a magic sword (one attack for less damage which may not even hit).

It may be that this is the way the game balances things out later in the game, giving powerful magic items which make mid-game spells redundant in the way that spells made early-game abilities redundant. Fighters get better weapons to match wizards getting higher spell slots, and there aren't equivalent items to boost spell damage in the same way. That would seem fair, although it's nice to get fun loot. I guess I'll have to content myself with my eventual ascension to omnipotence.

[evokersapprentice]

A wizard's initial studies of the martial classes

First off, a disclaimer. I am a relative novice to DnD, and part of a table of relative novices. Our DM is a little more seasoned (paprika, mostly), but I know he goes easy on us in some areas, given our inexperience. None of our builds are particularly optimised, and I'm fairly sure they started out as off-the-rack starter character sheets. I speak from a place of profound ignorance, and my future options are limited by my ignorance so far.

But I'm just about starting to learn. It's been too long, far too long, feeling our way without actually knowing what we're doing. We went from just trying it out and not being sure we would like it, to not knowing how long it would continue for, and now we're hooked but well behind on our reading. There's a lot of information for a newcomer at a table of newcomers, and I'm finally trying to swot up on the details beyond the immediate 'what do I do now' in each situation.

A lot of that has been learning about other classes. I feel like for half of our campaign I've barely remembered the extent of my own capabilities, let alone the rest of the party. They just have their turn and move in mysterious ways. Dice are rolled on the other side of the table, numbers are called out, and hit points move around whilst I'm trying to think about my next move. I play a wizard, and the others tend to grumble if we're still shuffling through our spells by our turn. It seems a lot easier when you only have a sword and one thing to do with it.

That's the sort of dismissive attitude that it's easy for a wizard to have. It's in character, too. When you're a genius who can reshape reality with the sheer power of your intellect, a big guy with a blade seems a little primitive. At relatively low levels, I gain the ability to fly, or turn invisible, or reanimate the dead, or whatever. You get to hit the goblin with your sword a second time per turn? Good for you.

But as I said, I'm learning. We've had a bit of time between sessions, and I've had the chance to read up on some guidance on other classes. It's useful for considering multiclassing, but mostly it's given me a real appreciation for the work the others do. There's obviously a practical relevance in being able to strategise around them, and it's appalling that none of us have really taken the time to ask what the others do so far, but it also makes me admire them.

We have a fairly standard party. Human fighter, halfling rogue, gnome druid (replacing our original cleric), high elf wizard. The druid I still need to work on. As a spellcaster she should be the easiest to understand, but then her strategy is probably the most complicated. She's a pacifist who focuses on healing, battlefield control and summoning, which for me is great because it frees me up for setting people on fire (my subclass is also evocation, which fits that nicely). But I don't really know her choices for that big concentration spell, and certainly don't know what her options are for each turn afterwards.

It's the martial characters I've been reading up about. First, the fighter. He just runs up to the bad guy and starts hitting them. I didn't even know how melee damage worked, but it doesn't seem like much. He's wielding one-handed with a shield ('sword and board', I'm learning), so a normal rapier does 1d8 + DEX or STR modifier. As the party tank he's had to spread across DEX, CON and STR ('MAD' as I think they say) but manages a +4 to DEX.

At Level 9, he's therefore doing 8.5 (4.5 + 4) damage per attack. He has the extra attack ability, which takes him up to 17 per turn on two hits. He can double it again once per rest, which is fun, but otherwise that seems... fine. When I got fireball at Level 5 I could do 28 damage to a whole pack of enemies from 150 ft away. At Level 9 I can summon a swarm of flying daggers which can do 65 damage per turn (again assuming hits) plus my action. I can do a whole host of things.

There seem to be a lot of snobbish wizards out there. I see them on the forums. One of the more commonly referenced resources is a guide by a guy called treatmonk which purposely plays up to this, with wizards as gods, the tank as a 'Big Stupid Fighter' putting himself in harm's way, the rogue as the 'Corpse' who stupidly has to scout ahead and put himself in danger. I suppose I previously just found them a bit basic.

Since I gained access to fourth level spells (i.e. Polymorph), I've had a simple test for the strength of my martial colleagues. As I can turn any of them into a Giant Ape to do their melee attacks (two attacks of 22 damage each for 44 per turn on two hits, with far more HP to absorb hits), they effectively need to justify why they are a better tank or damage dealer than a big gorilla, which feels a bit condescending, but there you are.

Even more damningly, it's usually felt like an obvious choice. The longsword doesn't do 22 damage per hit. The Giant Ape has more power and more health. So for the first few combats, I've been benching one of my party and replacing them with an animal. It's only now that I've looked into what else they can actually do, and learning more has made me appreciate all the wonderful things about their builds.

So, the fighter. Ours has focused on maximising his AC, which has been simple but effective. Whilst I try my hardest to avoid being targeted, thanks to the combination of low AC, low HP, and the need to maintain concentration, he actively courts the danger. Whether one big bad or a whole group of minions, he does his best to draw all the fire to him, because he can take it: attacks very rarely hit him, and when they do he can usually suck it up (or even heal himself, in case of emergency). He's our human shield.

That alone is incredibly effective, and probably more so than any buff or healing spell we mages could provide. He'll save me and the rest of the party dozens of HP per encounter, and sometimes per round. Just as importantly, he preserves concentration on my spell and whatever the druid is doing for another round. The 17 damage he does is just a bonus.

Except it also isn't just 17, because if any of the enemies do decide to run for a softer target he gets another 'opportunity attack' as a reaction. On top of that, our fighter has taken the Sentinel feat, which may not be necessarily the best thing in terms of optimising his output, but makes him even better in this role. Even slippery enemies who disengage can be stabbed in the back. Those who try to run lose their movement speed and are left in range for another attack next turn. If they don't run and just happen to reach one of us in range, they also get stuck. He's fairly consistently able to do another 8.5 damage per round and keep the rest of us safe from the minion wanting to break the front line.

Oh, and in flanking the target he gives anyone else advantage if we want it (more relevant when we have smaller summons/allies), and certainly lets the rogue sneak attack on every turn. Just as a bonus. Finally, all of this is just factoring in a bog-standard lump of metal. He actually has a couple of magical swords which let him do far more damage (per attack, i.e. three times a round), whereas the items I've found as a wizard don't really let me augment my spells to the same degree.

The rogue has been a similar revelation. He was previously my main target to be polymorphed, purely because he's so unassuming: this is just the little halfling we send to scout ahead of us, I always thought. A non-combat lock-picker and skill merchant. He's not meant for the heat of battle. Let's put him somewhere safe, like inside a massive gorilla suit. I didn't ever realise that he can hit as hard as any of us, and is one of the hardest to hit.

I don't think I'm actually alone in this one. When I look at rankings of the best or most powerful classes, rogues (or 'rouge', as it is spelt with alarming frequency) are consistently towards the bottom. It may be that they just don't scale too well to other levels, but my experience is that he's been plenty helpful thus far. A lot of early adventures need somebody who can sneak or get us through locked doors, and he can do that, whilst having the charisma and dexterity skills to get out of various other sticky situations. I suppose that spells make a lot of that redundant, but they're a precious resource in a combat heavy day. Out of combat, he's probably been the most competent amongst us.

I never really noticed him in combat. He just seems to dash around, occasionally stabbing someone, and I assumed he'd be doing far less damage than our main fighter. This was when I though the fighter's purpose was to be a sword, rather than a shield. The rogue is the sword. With a rapier, he can do the same damage as the fighter per attack, or better: 1d8 + 5, as he could afford to focus on DEX. That's 9.5 per attack, which was just about in line with my expectations.

But then he gets to sneak attack. Rather than attacking twice, he can do a bonus 5d6 damage on a hit where he has advantage or an ally in play, which is virtually always the case with our tank up front. That transforms a hit to 27 damage, each and every turn. More than the fighter's two attacks. As much as my third level fireball, per target, and that's something I can only do a few times per short rest. He can do this all day. This is just with a normal sword, of course. In reality, he has magic weapons that let him do even more.

On the other side of things, he's incredibly slippery. As a rogue, he can dash, disengage or hide as a bonus action. In the early game, he would therefore duck in and out of melee each turn. He then took the Mobile feat, which means he doesn't provoke opportunity attacks anyway. I first thought this was a wasteful choice, a bit of duplication with a slight bonus to speed, but he's now free to run much further in and out (dashing with double that bonus) or hide after attacking (and as a halfling, he can hide behind the fighter). He's a melee attacker who almost never gets hit.

I'm assuming that the sneak attack scaling doesn't keep up with the extra attacks, which is why the rogue isn't generally rated highly overall. But in this stage of the game, he seems to have it made for someone who just wants to stab people: do lots of damage, dodge the response, repeat. I'm now wondering if I can get him a ring of spell storing to cast a concentration spell for me, because he might be less likely than me to get hit.

In fact, I've even caught myself wondering if he's better off turning me into a giant ape for the start of a fight, so I can conserve my spell slots and help the party better with a bit of tanking: doing more damage and shielding them better than I'd do with most of my actual spells. With the druid having left me as the designated blaster, I'm honestly not always sure I'm any better than a gorilla under my own test. The tables have well and truly turned.

This is how far the mighty have fallen. Ape punching does seem to be better than fireball, unless there's a nice group of targets lined up. I could give the fighter advantage by flanking, give him constant opportunity attacks by making me the target for attacks, and soak up 157 HP of damage from a big bad (protecting him, the rogue and the druid whilst she pins them in place with concentration) before reverting and doing something wizardy to finish them off. It's a scary thought, and I try not to dwell on it too much. I have my own concentration spells, I say to myself. Shiny new fifth level ones. They'll keep me relevant.

Don't get me wrong: I'm still a wizard supremacist. When I see takes that go the other way, pushing martial classes as stronger overall, it makes me laugh. From the little I've read about higher levels, a wizard definitely has the ceiling to enter god-like territory. A fighter gets four attacks per turn and the wizard gets Wish and True Polymorph and Simulacrum and almost limitless power. There are any number of avenues to complete domination of that match-up. But here and now, with a monster up ahead? I'm grateful to have such powerful friends here by my side.