The Restricted School Campaign

In this type of campaign, certain schools of magic do not exist. For instance, in a world where the school of illusion does not exist, wizards do not have access to phantasmal force, minor creation, or any other illusion spells, nor are they allowed to specialize as illusionists. Researching these types of spells is also forbidden. If a spell belongs to two schools, then the spell is still available if it belongs to a school that still exists. For instance, in a world where the school of illusion does not exist, rainbow pattern is available since it also belongs to the school of alteration.

Whether magical items that duplicate the effects of non-existent schools are available is the DM's decision, but for consistency, it makes sense to forbid them. Another good idea is to give wizards access to the spells from the school of lesser divination-- it is very difficult to function as a wizard without them.

As another variation, the DM might consider having more than one non-existent school in his campaign world. (Schools in direct opposition to one another, as shown in Figure 1 in Chapter 2, are good choices to eliminate. For instance, if the school of illusion is nonexistent, then the school of necromancy might not exist either). In an especially restrictive world, perhaps only one school of magic exists; if only the school of illusion exists in the DM's world, then all wizards must be illusionists and have access only to illusion spells-- spells from any other school do not exist.

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