Close-quarters spell Daily
Quick action to cast
Effect: Roll your relationship dice with the Archmage; if you have none, avoid this spell.
For each 6 you roll, you gain one 7th level or lower spell from any spellcasting class that you can cast this battle. For each 5 you roll, you gain one 5th level or lower spell from any spellcasting class that you can cast this battle.
If the escalation die is 5+, you can swap the escalation die for one or your rolls. If you get no successes, you regain the spell after this battle.
You can acquire one of the new spells the same round you cast this spell. Then select and acquire any other gained spells at the start of your next turn, so if you haven’t already figured out what you will take, get to work. If you haven’t figured it out by your next turn, the GM should move play on without your decision and consider letting you trickle in the spells as you figure it out.
You can use your Charisma as the ability score that provides the acquired spells’ attack bonuses and damage bonuses (if any). Other ability score references remain unchanged.
As you might expect, each 5 you roll also invokes an Archmage-related complication or obligation in the tradition of rolling 5s on relationship checks. The GM should have as much fun with you as possible.
Wizards are the masters of arcane energy. They use geometry, symbology, occult numerology, and a complex grammatical system to describe magic and thereby control it. They fill their heavy, locked spellbooks with crabbed writing, secret codes, and convoluted designs.
Each wizard belongs to a school or at least a lineage, traced back from student to master. Today, many wizard schools are aligned directly with the Archmage, but most are independent.
Thanks to interlocking treaties among schools, most wizards from rival schools are sworn to respect each other. This restriction, however, seems to stoke competition rather than quell it.
Many “book-wizards” are more-or-less cowards who would rather study reality than experience it. The wizards that go adventuring are the rare sort who respond to mortal danger with greater focus rather than panic.
Overview
Play style: Our wizard is designed for experienced players who like a bit of improvisation. Most of the wizard’s spells can only be used once per day, so timing matters. If you want to play the simplest possible wizard, choose the Abjuration, Evocation, and Familiar talents. To play as the flexible spellcaster who finds unique and amusing answers to problems, choose Cantrip Mastery, High Arcana, and Vance’s Polysyllabic Verbalizations.
Ability scores: You don’t get to master dangerous book-learning with your good looks. And you wouldn’t be risking this dangerous book-learning if being a wizard required actual Wisdom. It’s all about Intelligence.
Wizards gain a +2 class bonus to Intelligence or Wisdom, as long as it isn’t the same ability you increase with your +2 racial bonus.
Races: High elves know that they are the finest wizards in the world. So they’re a bit piqued that the Archmage is almost always a human—and that the last non-human Archmage was a gnome.
Backgrounds: Magical prodigy, spell thief, hedge wizard, chronomancer’s apprentice, Horizon City Guard (magic cop!), transformed familiar, Koru behemoth cleaner, ship’s wizard, Sea Wall veteran, royal poisoner.
Icons: The Archmage is the archetype.
After the Archmage? Probably the Lich King (positive, conflicted, or negative), the Emperor (usually positive or conflicted), and the Elf Queen. Personally she may favor sorcery, but she welcomes wizards in her service, particularly high
elf wizards.
WIZARD
Spells
Wizards usually learn arcane spells from books but this isn’t the type of game that wants to go into the details of getting ahold of spellbooks. Feel free to enhance the flavor of your game by building plots around the acquisition of spells and spellbooks.
No matter how you want your wizard to learn spells, you can handle a certain number of spells each day. They don’t have to be the same spells each day. Every time you take a full heal-up, you can swap around your spells. Go ahead and assume that all the wizard
spells are part of the basic spellbook package, and swap them in and out
as you will. But when there are other spells you want to learn, the GM can figure out what adventures are
required to track down those new spells.
No ability damage: Unlike nearly all other characters’
attacks, wizards’ attack spells do not add an ability score modifier to damage. Wizards’ spells power themselves. You still use your Intelligence as the ability score that determines whether you hit (unless you’re casting an auto-hit spell like magic missile), but the damage comes entirely from the spell.
Spell Progression
As with other spellcasters, your new spells at higher levels can be upgraded versions of spells you learned at lower levels. Quite often they’ll need to be since we aren’t making you choose all-new spells as you rise in level.
Gear
At 1st level, wizards usually have a dagger sharp enough for butter or brawling, a robe or two, a well-balanced wand, ritual components in pouches or being carried by extremely minor servitors who hide in the wizard’s pockets, and other minor accouterments suggested by their backgrounds.
Wizards who have kept their spell components up to date start with 25 gp. Wizards who don’t budget as seriously start with 1d6 x 10 gp.
Wizard Armor and AC
Wizard Melee Weapons
Type Base AC Attack Penalty
None 10 —
Light 10 —
Heavy 11 –2
Shield +1 –2
Weapons
Wizards might prefer you to think that they never use weapons, but sometimes they’re cornered and forced into it. In these tough situations, they resort to daggers, batons, staffs, and other relatively minor weapons. Often these weapons serve double duty as magical tools or ritual implements, and such double-use helps wizards maintain their reputation as too good for physical combat.
One-Handed Two-Handed
Small
1d4 dagger 1d6 staff
Light or Simple
1d6 (–2 atk) shortsword 1d8 (–2 atk) spear*
Heavy or Martial
1d8 (–5 atk) longsword 1d10 (–5 atk) greatsword*
Wizard Ranged Weapons
* A wizard needs at least one free hand, or at least one hand on a spellcasting implement like a wand or staff, to cast spells. It’s easy to get a hand free from a weapon you’re good with like a staff for the time it takes to cast a spell, but if you take a penalty for using a two-handed weapon, the penalty applies to your spells also.
Thrown Crossbow Bow
Small
1d4 dagger 1d4 hand crossbow — Light or Simple
1d6 (–2) javelin 1d6 (–1 atk) light
crossbow* 1d6 (–2 atk) shortbow*
Heavy or Martial
— 1d8 (–4 atk) heavy
crossbow* 1d8 (–5 atk) longbow*
Basic Attacks
Melee attack
At-Will
Target: One enemy
Attack: Strength + Level vs. AC Hit: WEAPON + Strength damage Miss: —
Ranged attack
At-Will
Target: One enemy
Attack: Dexterity + Level vs. AC Hit: WEAPON + Dexterity damage Miss: —