Do specialist mages receive any sort of bonus when they cast their own school's spells? If so, how does it work. I've never seen a table for this anywhere if it is so.

Nope,

Not as far as I know, They only get +1 spell per level and cannot cast spells of the opposite school. But it's funny you bring that up, cause I always thought it would be fitting to have a bonus, after all, they are the specialist in that type of magic. It's the same as a proffesional cook cooking tastier/faster/etc than the average man

No I'm pretty certain there is no bonus.

<blockquote>quote:</font><hr>Originally posted by Iluvatar Oakenshield:
Nope,

Not as far as I know, They only get +1 spell per level and cannot cast spells of the opposite school. But it's funny you bring that up, cause I always thought it would be fitting to have a bonus, after all, they are the specialist in that type of magic. It's the same as a proffesional cook cooking tastier/faster/etc than the average man<hr></blockquote>

IMO, the specialist system is majorly "broken" in BG1. It's better in BG2, but still not perfect. As for thinking it "would be fitting" ... you're right as it's that way in the AD&D rules. Specialists are supposed to get +1 to spells they cast (saving throws, etc.) and -1 to those spells cast against them. While BG2 does attempt to even out the specialist inequities a bit, I don't believe the spell bonuses are implemented. As implemented in BG1, the only reason to be an Illusionist is if you want the Identify spell, which the Conjurer doesn't get. There really is no other point to being any other than a Conjurer. 'Course, I did complete the game with my Invoker, but that was only because I wanted an Invoker, darnit! and didn't care if other mages would be better in game terms. [img]smile.gif[/img]

JMO

Hmm, I found this on the PBG section on Mages and Specialist Mages:

"...Because of their specialization, these mages receive a +15% chance to learn spells from their school but suffer a -15% penalty when learning spells outside their specialty. When saving against spells within his chosen school, the specialist receives a +1 to saving throws. Similarily, the specialist's enemies suffer a -1 penalty when saving against spells cast by the specialist within his field..."

Guess this is what you were talking about, Hawk. Hope that's true. I wonder if there any way to check this somehow... I don't get detailed enough information on the scroll bar when I select the option to see the dice rolls.