What are, in your opinion, the most iconic and useful bread and

If you're making Vanican magic, your system is already shit

I can't post images now, but if I could, I would post the one from the D&D 5e player's handbook of a wizard shooting what I assume is Color or Prismatic Spray at a bunch of lobster dudes.

Color Spray'll always be a mainstay for me. It was a favorite of my first wizard and it's always made its way to my other wizards since then. There's just something really dumb and great about shooting rainbows at your enemies.

>>48432423
Nerveskitter
Glitterdust
Wish
Clone
Simulacrum
Shapechange
Planar Binding

>>48432423
Fireball
Lightningball
Iceball
Earthball
Airball

>>48432423
Fireballs and lightning blasts come to mind, although they're more useful if they actually have effects related to their elements. Fire makes things catch aflame, lightning conducts, that kind of thing. Some systems retardedly skip out on that, and so the spells just become "straight damage dealer #47".
Which can be useful in its own way, but at that point you might as well just go with generic force blasts of magic and light -- and it'd actually be more unique.

Basic charm magic is really useful, or really any low end mind control that can still be resisted by sufficient will.
Invisibility spells.

Curses. I've had a lot of fun with curses.
Necromancy. Raising skeletons and zombies.

Transformation magics, which can be both used to augment the wizard's killing power, or used as curses against unruly heroes or peasants.
Bonus points if they can still talk in the latter case. Get kind of a fairy tale vibe going on.

Magical contracts, perhaps.

And obviously all manner of potions and alchemy.

File: Ryu_and_ken_hadoken_double_hit.gif (77KB, 400x104px) Image search: [Google]

77KB, 400x104px

How can wizards even compete when shoto's can do fireballs all day, er day?

>>48432423

Hold person and hold monster are solid additions.

Wizards are so varied that you're basically gonna have people who have played them and found uses for every spell.

>>48432423
Fireball, Haste, or Unseen Servant

Minor Image, ultimate utility spell, you can solo any encounter as long as your cd is sufficently high and you have a decent immagination.

>>48432423
Your system would benefit from a nonviolent way to resolve interparty conflict. I like to use custard pie duels for this, since anyone can do it. Since magic users tend to not be as good at hitting as warriors, I created some custard pie throwing spells to make things more interesting.

>>48432423
Mage Hand and Grease.
Everything else is just an expansion on the ground work these two spells provide.

>>48432575
Dragonball?

I played with a guy who only cast sleep.

>>48432423

Going from AD&D 2e (where spells per day were at a premium and wizards were exceptionally fragile--economy is highly valued):

-Color Spray, Grease, Sleep, and Web are by far some of the most useful you'll use. Since you don't get many casts in this old Vancian shit, something to defuse stacked combats and turn the tables is precious.

-Iconic area spells are obviously fireball, and the original lightning bolt. Both are devastating when they are first learned, and are exceptional if used such that you don't accidentally kill yourself. None of that dull straight-line shit here: the old lightning bolt would bounce like crazy, making it an iconic No Sense of Right Or Wrong spell.

-Magic Missile is iconic for its reliability. Never the most useful spell ever, but if you're low on components or the chips are down, you can count on the wizard to make an important shot that simply won't fail.

Silent Image
Ghost Sound

>>48436520
Dungeonball.

>>48440128
Ballball

Teleport, scrying, and invisibility.

File: 1346618354976.jpg (30KB, 348x480px) Image search: [Google]

30KB, 348x480px

Shapeshifting of any kind. Turning someone into a frog is a classic spell.

Mind Control, some also known as Charm spells.

General offensive stuff, your fireballs and so on.

Illusions, too, are classics.

Summoning is one of my favorites, from demons to elementals. You might also summon objects, or have that simply be a Creation spell thing.

Divination, your crystal balls and gazing mirrors.

Necromancy, skeletons and all that.

And that's about all I've got.

>>48432423
indivisibility