Personality Traits of the Spell Schools (Resource)

Complete Arcane wrote:Abjurers
"Although it's hardly a simple matter to wield the magic that will produce a blast of fire or slay a giant with a word, the highest form of the mage's art lies at the place where magic interacts with magic. To study the school of abjuration is to wield spells that manipulate the fabric of arcane power itself."

Abjurers are deliberate, prudent, and thoughtful, possessing an unequaled determination and resolve that allows them to carefully consider all aspects of a problem before devising an efficient and effective response. They generally regard adherents of other schools of magic as reckless and wasteful, and they continuously evolve strategies for defeating other wizards in magic duels (whether such confrontations ever become necessary or not). Whether their lives are given over to adventuring or experimentation, abjurers are always well-prepared.

The study of abjuration requires a meticulous and deliberate personality that generally favors a lawful alignment. Since abjuration often focuses on limiting the ability of others to do harm, many abjurers are inclined to walk the path of morality on the side of good. At the same time, the ruthless efficiency of abjuration used as a weapon against other spellcasters means that many wizards are drawn to the school by dreams of personal power that quickly override the orderly and benevolent philosophies of their fellows.

Though abjurers are often reluctant adventurers, good abjurers sometimes take up the life to undo the evil that magic too often spawns. Good and neutral abjurers tend to position themselves where they can prevent others from victimizing folk who lack the ability to defend themselves. Evil abjurers are often found as lieutenants or elite advisors to sinister overlords, selling their valuable skills to the highest bidder.

Abjurers make their homes anywhere, but most prefer smaller towns to large cities. They generally enjoy the trust and good regard of their neighbors, and are sometimes willing to use their power on behalf of others with little thought of compensation or reward.

Conjurers
"The Material Plane is nothing but a small and unimportant crossroads in the cosmos. All that exists in this physical world is a mere reflection of the iconic truths embodied in the unseen worlds that border it."

Confident, headstrong, and opinionated, conjurers can often seem indolent and unconcerned with the difficulties of others, rarely inclined to think their way around any obstacle or foe that can be more simply hammered down with the right application of summoned power. Because of the great control they wield over many dreadful extraplanar creatures, most conjurers view the other schools of magic with disdain--illusion and divination are trivial, transmutation and evocation are inconsequential, abjuration and enchantment are too weak, and necromancy is repulsive (possibly because, of all the schools, it alone can challenge the conjurer's sense of her own power).

Conjurers must be strong-willed, decisive, and just a little bit reckless to excel in their chosen field, favoring chaotic alignments and preferring quick and decisive solutions over slower and more deliberate methods of problem-solving. Like necromancers, conjurers stare unflinching into the face of dark and powerful forces, and most rarely feel that they can afford the luxury of high (in other words, good) moral standards. As such, conjurers often favor evil and neutral alignments.

Conjurers undergo adventures when the prospect of finding easy power and wealth seems to outweigh the risks and effort involved. They can be difficult companions, speaking their minds freely and having little patience for the opinions of those they consider inferior. It takes a leader of proven worth and unyielding strength to earn a conjurer's respect. In an adventuring group, conjurers prefer action to discussion, and tend to view overwhelming and immediate attack as the first step in any successful encounter.

Most conjurers prefer to live in isolated frontier or wilderness areas, both because of their lack of interest in associating with those they deem beneath them (which is to say, most people) and as a means to practice the most dangerous aspects of their craft without worrying about the neighbors complaining (or being eaten). Aside from magical research, conjurers shun all activities that would normally constitute a career or an occupation, and when funds are low, they often simply summon creatures to fetch treasure for them.

Diviners
"History is full of missed opportunities, personal tragedies, and kingdom-shattering defeats that might easily have been averted but for a single piece of information that could have changed the course of lives and worlds. Knowledge is power, and those who know all hold ultimate power in their hands."

Diviners are perhaps the wisest of all wizards. Like abjurers, they are often cautious and deliberate spellcasters, happy to avail themselves of every possible preparation and precaution before embarking on a hazardous course. For the diviner, though, the best of all possible preparations is to choose the course of action that will avoid conflict and peril altogether. While diviners aren't cowards (at least not all of them), few are likely to rush headlong into a fight before every other option has been exhausted. Diviners are students not only of the arcane workings of spells and magical lore but also of the mechanisms of nature, the arts and sciences, and even human behavior. Few are better judges of character than diviners.

In addition to being thoughtful and orderly in their affairs, diviners prize the quality of objectivity. A mind closed to any possibility (however remote or distasteful one may be) is a mind that might be closed to the truth, for the truth is not always simple or pleasant. Diviners are therefore strongly inclined toward neutral alignments, and usually favor law over chaos. Good diviners use their powers to anticipate and prevent harm to others; evil diviners use the knowledge they accumulate for their own gain.

Diviners are not predisposed to the adventuring life, and many accept such a career only reluctantly. Still, with her judgment, cunning, and common sense, a diviner makes a valuable addition to most adventuring parties. In combat, though, diviners sometimes hesitate, overly conscious of the consequences of making the wrong choice when life and death are on the line.

Diviners are loners at heart and do not make close friends easily. Even thoose who live in great cities tend to remain aloof and apart from their neighbors, avoiding interactions in the present to better study the past and future. Although they show little interest in material possessions, diviners often cover their research and living expenses by charging for their services as seers, fortunetellers, and finders of lost objects and people.

Enchanters
"The mind is the ultimate power. Any fool can oppose an enemy by physical means, but to halt a foe through the sheer force of one's will--ot to turn a most hateful enemy into a loyal ally--is the purest and most subtly effective manifestation of arcane might."

Charismatic, sensitive, and passionate, enchanters tend to be personable and attractive, enjoying fine arts and good conversation. Even the most blackhearted enchanter can be a mesmerizing individual--confident, self-assured, and holding others in thrall with manner and word even before the first syllables of his charm spell are uttered. Other enchanters are distant and clinical, viewing themselves as coldly rational students of the only subject worth studying--the mind.

Enchanters have few predilections in alignment, though their belief that individual will is the strongest force in the multiverse slants them slightly toward chaos over law. Evil enchanters believe that those who lack the ability to overcome or resist the power of the mind deserve to be servants to that power, existing only to be commanded by those with the ability to do so. Good enchanters adopt the viewpoint that bending another being to one's will is rarely right, but is preferable by far to killing. A good enchanter deprives an enemy of his volition only as long as he needs to, and, when such is warranted, often takes pains to return the subject to his normal state in such a way as to avoid a traitor's punishment at the hands of his comrades or people.

Enchanters are commonly the voice of reason in an adventuring party; they view physical combat as a last resort and work hard to devise options and solutions to problems that might otherwise elude their companions. Excellent team players, shrewd negotiators, and superb bargainers, enchanters favor frequenting, or living in, large towns and cities where they easily find many minds that they can study (or manipulate) with impunity.

Evokers
"The universe is the interplay of impersonal forces--some spiritual, some political, some moral, some elemental, and some who natures have yet to be revealed. Beneath the surface of the merely physical, fundamental energies form the true nature of all things."

The school of evocation attracts the most serious-minded, intense, and determined wizards, devoted to the mastery of their craft to the exlusion of almost all else. Notable ascetics in their personal habits, evokers favor spartan surroundings, simple garb, and plain fare, eschewing clutter and luxury as distractions that deaden one's perceptions of the real world. In personality, evokers are decisive, forthright, and often stubborn. Good evokers perceive evil as an unbalancing force that must be opposed, while neutral or evil evokers tend to be heartless, seeing the trials and ordeals of mortals as the superficial results of a larger unseen world at work.

Good evokers undertake adventures in response to the currents and forces they perceive in the world, striving to respond when and where evil stirs. Evil evokers, not content to settle for reaction to the universal forces around them, seek to manipulate those forces, altering their ebb and flow through their own actions. Regardless of alignment, evokers are natural leaders--fearless, inspiring, and authoritative. Among wizards, their courage on the battlefield has no equal.

Evokers prefer quiet and plain homes, seldom dwelling among large numbers of people. More than a few are hermits, choosing to live in the most rugged and forbidding natural sites. Common people leave evokers alone, fearing their power and the danger their reputation suggests--a reputation that many evokers do little to discourage.

Illusionists
"The universe is all in the mind that perceives it, and sensation is the first and only reality. If a tree falls in the forest with no creature to hear it, then there is no tree."

Illusionists tend to be flamboyant, outgoing, and self-assured, many exhibiting a hedonistic streak that can lead to dark and cruel practices in the pursuit of rare and unusual perceptions. Remarkably creative, illusionists enjoy art, literature, poetry, and music, and many are accomplished artists in their own right. Although their aptitude for scholarly pursuits is as great as that of any other specialists, illusionists spend less time in research than most, forgoing the isolation of the laboratory for the company of people and the constant thrill of manipulating the powers of sensation.

Illusionists have sharp minds but are not particularly deep thinkers. Pragmatic by nature, they accept the impermanence of all things, and see only futility in the acts of those who dedicate their lives to the development of all-encompassing philosophies of existence and meaning. Ilusionists have no strong alignment tendencies. While good illusionists share their creative impulses for the benefit of others, evil illusionists take their worldview to dark extremes--the beings around seem as less-than-real toys and tools to be manipulated or destroyed like any other figment or shadow.

An illusionist's forceful personality and sharp mind make her an equally good choice for leader or right-hand strategist of an adventuring group. Like enchanters, illusionsts know that their arts require an audience, and they enjoy the hustle and bustle of urban life, usually maintaining well-funished homes in large and sophisticated cities.

Necromancers
"Life and death are one, for all living things die in time. Death is not an ending, but a beginning. Since one's living days are but a fraction of the eternal existence of death, life is but a useless distraction to the study and understanding of the long darkness to come."

Brooding, humorless, and withdrawn, necromancers exhibit a fascination with life and death that borders on the obsessive. Though casual acquaintances will often view them as cold and hostile, those who befriend necromancers might come to know them as thoughtful, stoic, and loyal comrades. Most necromancers prefer solitude to companionship, though, and even the most trustworthy and valued among them can be prone to black spells of despondency during which they question the value of life and all things living.

Continual exposure to the forces of death and undeath can have a corrupting effect on wizards who have even the slightest inclination toward evil. Consequently, evil necromancers far outnumber good-aligned ones. Neutral necromancers are rare, since most necromancers either have a will strong enough to resist the lure of darkness, or they submit eventually to its corruption. Necromancers have little tendency toward either chaos or law; although a sense of order appeals to their clinical and meticulous nature, most necromancers are all too willing to turn their backs on the accepted norms of society in the pursuit of knowledge and power.

Though necromancers are generally ill suited for leadership, such an arcanist can make a valuable addition to an adventuring group, both for the formiddable power he wields and a familiarity with the dark forces of the world that makes him virtually fearless. On the other hand, a necromancer is slow to follow orders simply for their own sake, and one who disagrees with his comrades' strategy might strike out on his own at any time.

Necromancers who are not adventurers spend most of their time engaged in arcane research and writing, and since they have little need for the company of the living, they usually reside far from civilized regions, establishing homes in ancient castles, deep caverns, or even abandoned crypts.

Transmuters
"Like a reflection of the larger process by which worlds are built and torn down once more, all life is change. Anything that has ceased to change, to grow, to evolve from what it was ceases to be a part of the world, and the ultimate power is that which manipulates these forces of transmutation."

Wizards drawn to the specialty of transmutation are typically curious, sharpminded, and deeply analytical. Fascinated by the exercise of putting things together and taking them apart again, transmuters are natural tinkerers, often more interested in objects than the creatures who create and wield them. With minds attuned more to finding out how things work than to reasoning out why things are as they are, transmuters can be obsessive collectors, excellent scholars, and clear thinkers, but they aren't especially prone to profound philosophical insights.

As a result of their focus on change and the forces that drive it, transmuters tend to see moral matters in terms of that change. Neutral and evil transmuters believe that good and evil are relative concepts, dependent on existing conditions and seldom permanent, and so they make little distinction between them. Good transmuters look past the universal constant of change to its effects on life, aspiring to ensure that change happens for the better. Regardless of their moral standing, transmuters favor chaotic alignments, for chaos is the essence of change.

Eager to explore the world around them, transmuters are often eager members of adventuring groups, but in the role of loyal follower rather than reluctant leader, since they lack determination and rarely see the value in sticking to an inflexible purpose.

Transmuters are most comfortable in large cities, where they have access to the supplies, consultants, and other resources that their studies demand. In general, common folk are less distrustful of transmuters than they are of most other wizards; the lack of high-levle destructive or controlling capability in the magic of transmuters (notwithstanding the occasional baleful polymorph) leads most commoners to consider them inspired but harmless eccentrics.