THE “GOD” WIZARD: AN INTRODUCTION
I’ve told this story before, but here it is again. A player in a D&D group I belonged to invited me to join another
group he ran with another group of friends. The group was playing a “killer” campaign and the party had been
TPK’d and character individual deaths were rampant and he figured they could use another player. He told me to build
an optimized character.
What he neglected to mention was that this group did not optimize their characters, so when I arrived with my Goliath
charge-build, I overshadowed the rest of the fighter-types in the group entirely. Nevertheless, the party sorcerer died
in one of the fights. I felt really bad and retired the character at the end of the session and promised to build
something less dominating.
I had an idea how I could help the group without dominating the action, and I came back with a Wizard character. In the
first combat, I was encouraged to use my fireball, and the group was quite confused when I told them that I didn’t
have Fireball, lightning bolt or even magic missile. I still remember the DM asking me, “So what DO you do
then?” When I explained I would be putting up walls, fogs, buffing, debuffing, etc. My character was declared
“useless”
A couple months of playing and my character did not directly cause a single HP of damage to an enemy, nor did he use a
single “save or die”. The campaign completed, and since my wizard was introduced, not a single character had died.
What I found really surprising is that everyone in the group still considered my character “useless”. Not a single
player seemed to notice that my character had been introduced at the same time that the party death-toll had
stopped. They had thought the campaign had become “easier” during the second half.
This was something I found absolutely terrific and I was inspired to write my first Wizard guide: Treantmonk’s
Guide to Wizards, being a god (3.5)
[https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.google.com/url?q%3Dhttp://www.enworld.org/forum/showthread.php?471542-Treantmonk-s-Guide-to-Wizards-Being-a-God-in-D-amp-D-3-5-%252528Treantmonklvl20-CantripN-Tsuyoshi%252529%26amp;sa%3DD%26amp;source%3Deditors%26amp;ust%3D1621245729571000%26amp;usg%3DAOvVaw2AHK52ceygqud4d9likD6m&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1621245729729000&usg=AOvVaw0sO652NXxDKpOcKRx8PyC_].
What I find myself constantly explaining is that “being a god” doesn’t m...
TREANTMONK’S GUIDE TO WIZARDS, BEING A GOD (5TH EDITION)
UPDATE: 2020: GUIDE UPDATED BY TOMFINN TO MATCH VIDEOS TREANTMONK ON YOUTUBE [https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.google.com/url?q%3Dhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v%253DTsIOt4bLtDw%26amp;sa%3DD%26amp;source%3Deditors%26amp;ust%3D1621245729565000%26amp;usg%3DAOvVaw0VFIWp5WcjvncLtEuUfFm_&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1621245729727000&usg=AOvVaw1P52W-Qo1UoFYjyGktCKB4] A NOTE ABOUT STYLE: First off should be my note about style, hopefully before all the players of other classes out there get all upset. Throughout this guide my tongue is planted squarely in my cheek, and yes, I can be a cheeky monkey. Also, this is by and large an opinion paper, so I will be expressing opinion regularly. I will be expressing it strongly, but yes, you are entitled to disagree. If you do, by all means let me know in the comments and we can have a discussion if you desire. In the comments section you will find me far less opinionated than you find the style of this guide. This guide is written from the point of view of a wizard, but not just any wizard, a snobbish bookworm, "I am the greatest" wizard. Treantmonk himself plays other classes too. Wizard is my favorite, but I really do...honest. FIND ALL MY CONTENT IN ONE PLACE: TREANTMONK’S TEMPLE [https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.google.com/url?q%3Dhttps://treantmonk.wordpress.com/%26amp;sa%3DD%26amp;source%3Deditors%26amp;ust%3D1621245729567000%26amp;usg%3DAOvVaw1O9-Wyv9lBECsVZI0HEaHj&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1621245729728000&usg=AOvVaw3XfVj-nP_FOsBl085k6jrN]
THE “GOD” WIZARD: AN INTRODUCTION I’ve told this story before, but here it is again. A player in a D&D group I belonged to invited me to join another group he ran with another group of friends. The group was playing a “killer” campaign and the party had been TPK’d and character individual deaths were rampant and he figured they could use another player. He told me to build an optimized character. What he neglected to mention was that this group did not optimize their characters, so when I arrived with my Goliath charge-build, I overshadowed the rest of the fighter-types in the group entirely. Nevertheless, the party sorcerer died in one of the fights. I felt really bad and retired the character at the end of the session and promised to build something less dominating. I had an idea how I could help the group without dominating the action, and I came back with a Wizard character. In the first combat, I was encouraged to use my fireball, and the group was quite confused when I told them that I didn’t have Fireball, lightning bolt or even magic missile. I still remember the DM asking me, “So what DO you do then?” When I explained I would be putting up walls, fogs, buffing, debuffing, etc. My character was declared “useless” A couple months of playing and my character did not directly cause a single HP of damage to an enemy, nor did he use a single “save or die”. The campaign completed, and since my wizard was introduced, not a single character had died. What I found really surprising is that everyone in the group still considered my character “useless”. Not a single player seemed to notice that my character had been introduced at the same time that the party death-toll had stopped. They had thought the campaign had become “easier” during the second half. This was something I found absolutely terrific and I was inspired to write my first Wizard guide: Treantmonk’s Guide to Wizards, being a god (3.5) [https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.google.com/url?q%3Dhttp://www.enworld.org/forum/showthread.php?471542-Treantmonk-s-Guide-to-Wizards-Being-a-God-in-D-amp-D-3-5-%252528Treantmonklvl20-CantripN-Tsuyoshi%252529%26amp;sa%3DD%26amp;source%3Deditors%26amp;ust%3D1621245729571000%26amp;usg%3DAOvVaw2AHK52ceygqud4d9likD6m&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1621245729729000&usg=AOvVaw0sO652NXxDKpOcKRx8PyC_]. What I find myself constantly explaining is that “being a god” doesn’t m...