Roger of Roles, Rules and Rolls asked what the magic-user spell list should include if limited to six first level spells and three spells of higher levels. I made my picks, and I think you could have an interesting game within these constraints.
1st Level: 1. Charm Person 2. Detect Magic 3. Hold Portal 4. Light 5. Shield 6. Sleep 2nd Level: 1. ESP 2. Invisibility 3. Knock 3rd Level: 1. Dispel Magic 2. Fireball 3. Fly 4th Level: 1. Charm Monster 2. Polymorph Other 3. Remove Curse 5th Level: 1. Animate Dead 2. Contact Other Plane 3. Teleport 6th Level: 1. Geas 2. Enchant Item 2. Reincarnation or Stone to Flesh 7th Level 1. Cacodemon 2. Limited Wish 3. Simulacrum 8th Level 1. Mass Charm 2. Permanency 3. Symbol 9th Level 1. Prismatic Sphere 2. Shape Change 3. Time Stop
My instincts for 6th level is to drop Reincarnation and keep Stone to Flesh. Magic users can afford to leave variants of Raise Dead to clerics but in a world where medusae, basilisks and cockatrices wander about, any one of them could petrify entire villages or regiments. Stone to Flesh is necessary to counteract such monsters. Just my opinion.
ReplyDeleteI agree Stone to Flesh is mechanically necessary.
ReplyDeleteReincarnations is fun though—particularly if you use a list more eccentric than the standard one. I don't know if I'd want to play in a world where there wasn't some chance of being reincarnated as a gorilla.