I prefer wizard-types to be a single class, but I don't mind specialties to differentiate them, especially if setting-reinforced. D&D5e's Wizard is fine for my tastes, but 3.5e went too far with the distinct Warmage, Beguiler, Dread Necromancer, etc.

OTOH, I dislike the way D&D5e does clerics as mostly the same with only a domain to differentiate them. I would have much preferred something more like the Specialty Priests of 2e where the choice of deity seemed to matter far more, even in terms of the base spells.

For me, wizards are about learning, and "arcane science" so all should share some basics, while clerics should each be radically different based upon the needs and whims of forces beyond mortal control.

In the new ACKS Heroic Fantasy Handbook I introduced a lot of ways to differentiate wizards.

Magic is now coded white, grey, and black, with corruption ensuring for some grey and all black spellcasting.

Magic can now be cast using spellsinging, spellcasting, or ceremonial magic.

Spellsinging uses spell points against a fixed pool, and offers the ability to extemporaneously cast spells that aren't in your repertoire (like Spontaneous Casting in Ars Magica). It simulates any sort of fluid magic, like faerie enchantments, or Earthsea wizardry.

Spellcasting allows you to use spell slots to cast spells from your repertoire (the standard ACKS system). However, the new spellcasting classes are each differentiated by a "path" or "college", so you have "wizards of lore" and "wizards of nature" and "sorcerers of domination" and "sorcerers of necromancy". (White/black caster types)

Ceremonial magic allows you to perform ceremonies with different chances of failure based on pace (1 round, 1 turn, 1 work-day). Each failure to perform a ceremony accumulates stigma, until you have so much you cannot do further magic and have to purify yourself. Ceremonial magic is divided into traditions, and each tradition has different implements for its use, and different types of mishaps for botched ceremonies. This is the closest to "real magick" as well as the sort of swords & sorcery rituals you see in pulp.

This is probably the one area where the 2E Player's Option Spells & Magic can be very rewarding. I like having spellcasters of all kinds with non-standard spell lists, restrictions and abilities. With PDFs, cut-and-paste and a decent printer it's fairly quick and easy to create your own oddball mage, cleric, druid or whatever in a way that both the player and DM have the same data.

Quote from: RPGPundit;1016525I tend to prefer having just one class, and then having different magic-using organizations or schools or sects or what-have-you in the actual setting, that may modify how the class works.

Take this with a grain of salt as I haven't played a D&D branded game in at least 13 years...


I would prefer this idea across the board. Get back to a handful of core classes, fighter, cleric, wizard, thief and then allow some mix and match options for each to give different flavors.

What difference is there really between a fighter, ranger, paladin and barbarian but a few unique abilities and color text, same goes for a thief and assassin. Perhaps allow a wildcard class to cover the odd  ones like the Bard who are basically just a special a multiclass (this could also multiclass instead of having the awkward two or more classes to track). Dual class works for a character that changes career paths so that could probably remain.


When I do consider playing D&D it is the older less complicated versions that let me roll some dice and get to playing, not spend an hour flipping through the books deciding what niche class gives me what I want. When I consider playing D&D, that is what I want, not d20 GURPS which is what 3.0 and Pathfinder felt like to me. I'll play GURPS or HERO for that experience.



I am not against schools of magic / divine powers but that can easily can be handled unrelated to class restrictions, simply a spell list available to member of the organization. Any general mage who joins a school would be eligible to learn those spells. Individual organizations may require non-school magic not be practiced or allow it. A mage might leave the school and be fine, or receive a price on his head. Maybe other schools try and recruit members to gain access to those spells like a fantasy version of industrial espionage.

Divine powers of course may be subject to an on / off switch depending on how attached to a specific deity the powers are. Is it really just a spell or is it literally a deity (or powerful underling) going, "oh, you want that guy to feel better, ok, have some healing ", "you want that guy dead, here have a bolt of lighting".

Quote from: amacris;1017946In the new ACKS Heroic Fantasy Handbook I introduced a lot of ways to differentiate wizards.

Magic is now coded white, grey, and black, with corruption ensuring for some grey and all black spellcasting.

If done right that can be interesting. I liked the way wizards were handled in the D&D Lankhmar setting, for example.