Of the four class groups - a concept introduced in the "Expert Classes" Unearthed Arcana playtest document for One D&D (Expert being the group that includes Rogues, Bards, Rangers, and while not included in a revised form, Artificers) - Mage is the one that I think is the least controversial.
Before I got into D&D, I'd never even thought to draw a distinction between a Wizard and a Sorcerer. Fantasy fiction throws these terms around with zero consistency. In Marvel Comics and the MCU, the "Sorcerer Supreme" is someone who has used their great intellect to study and master the use of magic - which is precisely what defines a wizard in D&D. Wizards in Lord of the Rings aren't even mundane people - they're basically a special kind of angel that is sent to the mortal world in the form of an old man. Warlock often comes with a more sinister connotation, but, for example, Mages and Warlocks in World of Warcraft (Mages being basically the Wizard equivalent) are both scholars of magic - it's just that Warlocks use scary Fel magic (the magic of demons) while Mages use Arcane magic (associated more with the gods-as-engineers, the Titans).
But these three classes all fit together quite nicely as the ones that can perform "classical magic." All three use Arcane magic, which is now a defined and rule-based category. The Bard also uses this type of magic, but they cast spells with musical instruments, while all three of the Mages typically use staffs, wands, or grand gesticulation while shouting words of power like "abracadabra" or "alakazam."
In game terms, one thing that Arcane magic never seems capable of is healing - the exception being necromancy spells like Life Transference or Vampiric Touch, where you can only heal by drawing the life force from something else. You don't pick these classes to be a healer (except maybe a Divine Soul sorcerer). These are the classes that either pump out magical damage, or provide numerous useful utilities. In Final Fantasy terms, they're "black mages" as contrasted with "white mages" who are more like your Clerics.
We've seen with the Expert classes that the new approach to a class' access to spells involves using the Arcane, Divine, or Primal spell lists, and then possibly limiting a class to certain schools of those lists to make their "class list." Additionally, the Bard and Ranger were changed to let them swap out spells every long rest - preparing them in a manner similar to a Cleric, Druid, or Paladin.
It remains to be seen if this approach is a universal one, but I wonder how it would be implemented in the case of the Mages.
The Divine and Primal spell lists have a single half caster and a single full caster each. As such, I have to imagine that the full casters - the Cleric and Druid - will have unfettered access to their whole list.
With Arcane casters, though, all three Mages and the Bard are full casters (Warlocks are weird casters, but they do get up to 9th level spells). Thus, like the Bard, I could imagine that the restriction on spell schools could be used to distinguish their access to spells.
That said, I also think that there's likely to be less of a restriction to those spells for any one of the three. Bards are designed not to really be spellcasting damage dealers (outside of options like Magical Secrets) and are instead focused around enhancing allies and sometimes using weapons. But all three Mages can can be built to deal a great deal of magical damage.
The Sorcerer has always had a very similar spell list to the Wizard, but tends to have fewer options. In the current version, Sorcerers only learn a handful of spells, and are pushed to lean more into a combat-heavy role where they shoot off fireballs and such. One thing they lack that Wizards have in abundance are summoning spells - they got none of the "Summon X" from Tasha's, though they did get Summon Draconic Spirit in Fizban's, likely because Draconic Bloodline is one of the PHB subclasses. Still, they tend not to get summoning spells. Does that then mean that they might have Conjuration as their restricted spell school (if not more than one?) The problem here would be that this would also deny them various mobility spells like Misty Step.
By contrast, Warlocks get tons of summoning spells - nearly all of the ones that Wizards got in Tasha's, for example. This makes sense, given the way that Warlock gameplay really encourages high-value concentration spells that will last a while so that you can spend most turns just hitting things with eldritch blast. Speaking of which: Eldritch Blast is nowhere to be seen on the Arcane spell list. Given how central it is to how Warlocks work (and have since 3rd edition) I think that the spell is going to be made a class feature. But that also creates an interesting possibility: Warlocks, outside of certain subclasses, don't get big explodey evocation spells like Fireball or Lightning Bolt. Normally, they'd have to keep evocation as a school because that's what Eldritch Blast is. But if Eldritch Blast is not even a spell anymore, then you don't need to worry about it, and I think that Warlocks might not get Evocation spells.
Finally, Wizards. Wizards will, like I speculate that Clerics and Druids will with their respective spell lists, get the entire Arcane spell list. Not only are there subclasses for each school of magic, but Wizards have always had the most extensive spell list and are all about collecting and learning as much as they can.
The question I then have is: what of spellbooks?
In current 5E D&D, Artificers, Clerics, Druids, and Paladins can prepare any spell on their class list after a long rest. Bards, Rangers, Sorcerers, and Warlocks just learn spells when they level up and are stuck with them. Wizards, though, are similar to both. You don't have every Wizard spell, but you do get to prepare them each day, "learning" more spells than you can prepare but storing them in your spellbook - creating a mini game (and goldsink) for wizard players as they dream of having universal access to their list.
But if Sorcerers and Warlocks go the way of Bards and Rangers, what does that mean for Wizards' spellbooks? Kept as is, it would arguably be more of a penalty than a benefit. But if Wizards also got to prepare any Arcane spell they could cast each day, does that mean the spellbook as a thing goes away?
One thing that I think is very controversial (frankly, I think it's unpopular and unlikely to stay) is the idea that classes can prepare not just a number of spells equal to their spell slots, but that they must prepare spells of each level equal to the spell slots of those levels that they have: for example, your level 3 Bard, who has four 1st level spell slots and two 2nd level spell slots, must prepare four 1st level and two 2nd level spells. This is true of the Ranger as well (though of course at a slower rate as a half-caster) but this is quite different than the current system, where prepared-spell casters tend to get to prepare any spells they can cast of any level they can cast, and the number of spells they can prepare is equal to their spellcasting ability modifier and their class level (or half their class level rounded down for Artificers and Paladins). Thus, if your level 3 Wizard right now has a +3 to Intelligence, you can prepare six spells, but any of them can be 1st or 2nd level (I once again reiterate that I really wish they'd call them "spell ranks" to lessen the confusion of what we mean by "level.")
Broadly speaking, the reason I think this isn't such a good idea is that higher-level players might only use their 1st level spell slots for a handful of spells. I'd never recommend not preparing any 1st level spells (except maybe on a Paladin) but holding onto just something like Shield or Absorb Elements is not a crazy way to play, freeing up more options at the higher spell levels.
Now, for a Wizard, part of their appeal is having a ton of options for spells, and are sort of the ultimate utility spellcaster (on top of having the cool damage spells as well). I could, thus, imagine that a Wizard's spellbook might act instead as a sort of collectable "always prepared" repository. For collecting these spells, you get to basically have more spells prepared than other classes. Thus, like seemingly all other classes, you're getting full access to your spell list, but you still have that leg up over other Arcane casters (and actually all other spellcasters).
I don't love this solution, but it's what I could think of.
I somehow doubt that we're going to have all three of these classes get a shared named mechanic like Expertise, Fighting Style (something that has been signaled for Warriors - despite only one of those classes having them in 2014) and my theory of making "wild shape charges" into "Channel Nature," as the Druid form of Channel Divinity. These three classes feel sufficiently tied together already thematically that I think we won't need much to reinforce that.
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