The concept for my new character, Rogahl Illuminus, is the popular shadowcraft mage. So what makes the shadowcraft mage well-loved by the crafters on the WotC boards? After all, shadow-crafted spells must always overcome spell resistance, and always offer a will save, and that is in addition to whatever saves are inherent in the spell being imitated.

Unless you've played a wizard, you can't appreciate just how constraining the Vancian system is, unless of course you've played a cleric. In both cases, you have this vast array of possible spells at your disposal, but you must decide which ones you will take with you, based on whatever information you have on upcoming challenges. That's part of the charm, of course, and can lead to some interesting situations when you have to make do, but it is also the reason that many settle for a sorcerer.

With a shadowcraft mage, you don't have to sacrifice spontaneity for breadth. In fact, you get every conjuration summoning and creation spell, and every single evocation spell there is, at your fingertips, and which can be cast in your specialist slots. Now with Rogahl about to turn tenth level and finally get his signature ability, he will have well over two hundred spells available to him through shadowcrafting. His spell list, even after scribing the dozens of spells from the two books that Nikko was carrying, will more than triple. And he will be able to use any of those spells, assuming he has a proper-level slot with a figment memorized.

So does Roghal feel as powerful as Nikko was at this level? It isn't even close. But next level will tell the tale. I'm excited about finding out.