What Arcane Tradition would Gennifer Weathermay-Foxgrove be?

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Lord Soth
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What Arcane Tradition would Gennifer Weathermay-Foxgrove be?

Post by Lord Soth »

So now that all Wizards are essentially Specialist Wizards from prior editions, what do you think Gennifer Weathermay-Foxgrove's specialty would be? I ask because I'm writing the sisters up using 5th edition stats for fun, and I'm not sure what to choose for Gennifer. So what do you folks think? Thanks.
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Re: What Arcane Tradition would Gennifer Weathermay-Foxgrove

Post by Lord Soth »

This, by the way, is what I came up with for Laurie.

LAURIE WEATHERMAY-FOXGROVE
Race/Class/Level:
Female Human Fighter (Battle Master) 5
Background: Sage
Alignment: Lawful Good

STR 10 -
DEX 18 +4
CON 10 -
INT 18 +4
WIS 14 +2
CHA 16 +3

Prof. Bonus: +3
Armor Class: 16
Initiative: +4
Speed: 30 ft.
Hit Points: n

Class Abilities: Fighting Style (Dueling), Second Wind, Action Surge, Maneuvers (3), Superiority Dice (Four d8)
Maneuvers: Evasive Footwork, Parry, Riposte

Skill Proficiencies: Acrobatics (+7), Arcana (+7), History (+7), Insight (+5), Investigation (+7), Perception (+5), Persuasion (+6)
Skills: Animal Handling (+2), Athletics (+0), Deception (+3), Intimidation (+3), Medicine (+2), Nature (+4), Performance (+3), Religion (+4), Sleight of Hand (+4), Stealth (+4), Survival (+2)
Feats: Skilled
Languages: Mordentish, Balok, Darkonese, Lamordian
Proficiency: Smith’s Tools, Thieves’ Tools
Background Feature: Researcher
Man lives in the sunlit world
Of what he believes to be reality.
But, there is, unseen by most, an underworld,
A place that is just as real,
But not as brightly lit.....
A DARKSIDE.
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Re: What Arcane Tradition would Gennifer Weathermay-Foxgrove

Post by Dion of the Fraternity »

Gennifer would likely be an Abjurer.

As for Laurie, "Tome of Foes" (or was it "Guide to Everything"?) already has the Monster Slayer subclass -- but it's for the ranger.
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Re: What Arcane Tradition would Gennifer Weathermay-Foxgrove

Post by Ender »

Something to note: in 5E, NPCs aren't statted up using PC classes. You're not constrained by the same limitations a PC has. There's no class levels or anything like that. You could give Gennifer any spells that are thematically-appropriate. Many spellcasting monsters and NPCs do use specific class-based spell lists and DCs, but they don't have to. In the same vein, you don't have to worry about making Laurie a Ranger to give her monster slaying abilities.
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Re: What Arcane Tradition would Gennifer Weathermay-Foxgrove

Post by Hell_Born »

Well, let's look at things logically, shall we?

There isn't a chance in hell that Gennifer would learn Necromancy, so we can scratch that off straight away. Ditto for Enchantment and Conjuration, which are the second evilest schools of magic in the demiplane of dread.

Likewise, her status as the "bookish sister" means she wouldn't have Bladesinger or Warmage training.

Evocation doesn't really feel like Gennifer; it's more reliable than some in the land of mists, but apart from Burning Hands and Magic Missile, Gennifer avoided the use of offensive spells.

Transmutation... no, that doesn't feel quite right; Gennifer wasn't really interested in transmutation's underlying philosophies.

Illusion? No, it's very limited in its use against most creatures of the night, so Gennifer wouldn't feel any particular inclination to specialize there.

Looking at her original writeup from Van Richten's Arsenal, I would argue that Diviner is perhaps the closest fit; most of her spells were Divination spells - Detect Magic, Read Magic, Detect Shapechanger, Detect Undead, Identify, Alarm, Message. This also makes sense as she and her sisters are firm believers in Van Richten's principles of using observation and study before launching the hunt.

As Dion said, Abjurer is another good fit; it meshes well with her focus as a magical protector, and most of her non-Divination spells were Abjuration - Resistance, Mage Armor and Protection from Evil.

So, yeah, Diviner or Abjurer are the most logical choices; it's ultimately up to you.
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