Quote:
Originally Posted by JMason
Well, I take that back. They have made some improvements. The wizard doesn't particularly like being a wizard (but keeps making them for some reason...).
Here is his full list. Spells with ** are ones that get a lot of use. * have been used a few times, but I not favorites.
<snip list>
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No wonder your wizard is getting toasted; those are awful spell selections. GURPS wizardry is about buffing, hexing and battlefield control, not artillery.
Daze, Agonise, Blur, Haste, Stun, Create Fire/Shape Fire, Darkness/Darkvision, Illusions, Invisibility, etc. The mage's lousy HP and DR don't matter much when he's levitating and invisible, and the enemy's good HP and DR don't help when they're rolling on the ground screaming for mercy. Magic alters the fabric of reality; use it to make the opponent's reality suck. Getting away from direct damage and using the spell list creatively provides a vast range of ways to avoid fighting fair.
In the list you've got, Create Fire/Shape Fire is a good cost-effective way of shaping the battlefield, providing cover, creating distractions, triggering ambushes, etc. It essentially allows you to create an arbitrarily large intangible and near-unkillable monster that deals a low but steady stream of non-defendable damage.
Destroy Air makes for a decent assassination/subdual spell in certain situations. Seek Earth is the classical treasure-finder ("Seek Gold"). Smoke makes an okay Darkness substitute and gas weapon (combine it with buffs to breathe and see through smoke, then fill every dungeon room with the stuff...). Most of the rest of that list I wouldn't use much apart from the utility spells (Analyze Magic, Continual Light, etc.).