AD&D 2nd Edition

The wizard group encompasses all spellcasters working in the various fields of magic – both those who specialize in specific schools of magic and those who study a broad range of magical theories. Spending their lives in pursuit of arcane wisdom, wizards have little time for physical endeavors. They tend to be poor fighters with little knowledge of weaponry. However, they command powerful and dangerous energies with a few simple gestures, rare components, and mystical words.

Spells are the tools, weapons, and armor of the wizard. He is weak in a toe-to-toe fight, but when prepared he can strike down his foes at a distance, vanish in an instant, become a wholly different creature, or even invade the mind of an enemy and take control of his thoughts and actions. No secrets are safe from a wizard and no fortress is secure. His quest for knowledge and power often leads him into realms where mortals were never meant to go.

Wizards cannot wear any armor, for several reasons. Firstly, most spells require complicated gestures and odd posturings by the caster and armor restricts the wearer’s ability to do these properly. Secondly, the wizard spent his youth (and will spend most of his life) learning arcane languages, poring through old books, and practicing his spells. This leaves no time for learning other things (like how to wear armor properly and use it effectively). If the wizard had spent his time learning about armor, he would not have even the meager skills and powers he begins with. There are even unfounded theories that claim the materials in most armors disrupt the delicate fabric of a spell as it gathers energy; the two cannot exist side by side in harmony. While this idea is popular with the common people, true wizards know this is simply not true. If it were, how would they ever be able to cast spells requiring iron braziers or metal bowls?

For similar reasons, wizards are severely restricted in the weapons they can use. They are limited to those that are easy to learn or are sometimes useful in their own research. Hence, a wizard can use a dagger or a staff, items that are traditionally useful in magical studies. Other weapons allowed are darts, knives, and slings (weapons that require little skill, little strength, or both).

Wizards can use more magical items than any other characters. These include potions, rings, wands, rods, scrolls, and most miscellaneous magical items. A wizard can use a magical version of any weapon allowed to his class but cannot use magical armor, because no armor is allowed. Between their spells and magical items, however, wizards wield great power.

Finally, all wizards (whether mages or specialists) can create new magical items, ranging from simple scrolls and potions to powerful staves and magic swords. Once he reaches 9th level a wizard can pen magical scrolls and brew potions. He can construct more powerful magical items only after he has learned the appropriate spells (or works with someone who knows them). Your DM should consult the Spell Research and Magical Items sections of the DMG for more information.

No matter what school of magic the wizard is involved in, Intelligence is his prime requisite (or one of several prime requi­sites). Characters must have an Intelligence score of at least 9 to qualify to be a wizard.

All wizards use Table 20 to determine their advancement in level as they earn experience points. They also use Table 21 to determine the levels and numbers of spells they can cast at each experience level.

All wizards gain one four-sided Hit Die (1d4) per level from 1st through 10th levels. After 10th level, wizards earn 1 hit point per level and they no longer gain additional hit point bonuses for high Constitution scores.

Learning and casting spells require long study, patience, and research. Once his adventuring life begins, a wizard is largely responsible for his own education; he no longer has a teacher looking over his shoulder and telling him which spell to learn next. This freedom is not without its price, however. It means that the wizard must find his own source for magical knowledge: libraries, guilds, or captured books and scrolls.

Whenever a wizard discovers instructions for a spell he doesn’t know, he can try to read and understand the instructions. The player must roll percentile dice. If the result is equal to or less than the percentage chance to learn a new spell (listed on Table 4, page 16), the character understands the spell and how to cast it. he can enter the spell in his spell book (unless he has already learned the maximum number of spells allowed for that level). If this die roll is higher than the character’s chance to learn the spell, he doesn’t understand the spell. Once a spell is learned, it cannot be unlearned. It remains part of that character’s repertoire forever. Thus a character cannot choose to “forget” a spell so as to replace it with another.

A wizard’s spell book can be a single book, a set of books, a bundle of scrolls, or anything else your DM allows. The spell book is the wizard’s diary, laboratory journal, and encyclopedia, containing a record of everything he knows. Naturally, it is his most treasures possession; without is he is almost helpless.

A spell book contains the complicated instruction for casting the spell – the spell’s recipe, so to speak. Merely reading these instruction aloud or trying to mimic the instructions does not enable one to cast the spell. Spells gather and shape mystical energies; the procedures involved are very demanding, bizarre and intricate. Before a wizard can actually cast a spell, he must memorize its arcane formula. This locks an energy pattern for that particular spell into his mind. Once he has the spell memorized, it remains in his memory until he uses the exact combination of gestures, words, and materials that triggers the release of this energy pattern. Upon casting, the energy of the spell is spent, wiped clean from the wizard’s mind. The wizard cannot cast that spell again until he returns to his spell book and memorizes it again.

Initially the wizard is able to retain only a few of these magical energies in his mind at one time. Furthermore, some spells are more demanding and complex than others; these are impossible for the inexperienced wizard to memorize. With experience, the wizard’s talent expands. He can memorize more spells and more complex spells. Still, he never escapes his need to study; the wizard must always return to his spell books to refresh his powers.

Another important power of the wizard is his ability to research new spells and construct magical items. Both endeavors are difficult, time-consuming, costly, occasionally even perilous. Through research, a wizard can create an entirely new spell, subject to the DM’s approval. Likewise, by consulting with your DM, your character can build magical items, either similar to those already given in the rules or of your own design. Your DM has information concerning spell research and magical item creation.

Unlike many other characters, wizards gain no special benefits from building a fortress or stronghold. They can own property and receive the normal benefits, such as monthly income and mercenaries for protection. However, the reputations of wizards tend to dis­courage people from flocking to their doors. At best, a wizard may acquire a few henchmen and apprentices to help in his work.

Mage

Mages are the most versatile types of wizards, those who choose not to specialize in any single school of magic. This is both an advantage and a disadvantage. On the positive side, the mage’s selection of spells enables him to deal with many different situations. (Wizards who study within a single school of magic learn highly specialized spells, but at the expense of spells from other areas.) The other side of the coin is that the mage’s ability to learn specialized spells is limited compared to the specialist’s.

A mage who has an Intelligence score of 16 or higher gains a 10 percent bonus to the experience points he earns.

The Schools of Magic

Spells are divided into nine different categories, or schools, according to the types of magical energy they utilize. Each school has its own special methods and practices.

Although they are called schools, schools of magic are not organized places where a person goes to study. The word “school” identifies a magical discipline. A school is an approach to magic and spellcasting that emphasizes a particular sort of spell. Practitioners of a school of magic may set up a magical university to teach their methods to beginners, but this is not necessary. Many powerful wizards learned their craft studying under reclusive masters in distant lands.

The nine schools of magic are Abjuration, Alteration, Conjuration/Summoning, Enchantment/Charm, Greater Divination, Illusion, Invocation/Evocation, Necromancy, and Lesser Divination.

This diagram illustrates the schools that oppose each other. See Table 22 and its entry descriptions for more information.

Of these schools, eight are greater schools while the ninth, lesser divination, is a minor school. The minor school of lesser divination includes all divination spells of the 4th spell level or less (available to all wizards). Greater divinations are those divination spells of the 5th spell level or higher.

Specialist Wizards

A wizard who concentrates his effort in a single school of magic is called a specialist. There are specialists in each type of magic, although some are extremely rare. Not all specialists are well-suited to adventuring –
the diviner’s spells are limited and not generally useful in dangerous situations. On the other hand, player characters might want to consult an NPC diviner before starting an adventure.

Specialist wizards have advantages and disadvantages when compared to mages. Their chance to know spells of their school of magic is greatly increased, but the intensive study results in a smaller chance to know spells outside their school. The number of spells they can cast increases, but they lose the ability to cast spells of the school in opposition to their specialty (opposite it in the diagram). Their ability to research and create new spells within their specialty is increased, but the initial selection of spells in their school may be quite limited. All in all, players must consider the advantages and disadvantages carefully.

Not all wizards can become specialists. The player character must meet certain requirements to become a specialist. Most specialist wizards must be single-classed; multi-classed characters cannot become specialists, except for gnomes, who seem to have more of a natural bent for the school of illusion than characters of any other race. Dual-classed humans can choose to become specialists. The dedication to the particular school of magic requires all the attention and concentration of the character. He does not have time for other class-related pursuits.

In addition, each school has different restrictions on race, ability scores, and schools of magic allowed. These restrictions are given on Table 22. Note that lesser divination is not available as a specialty. The spells of this group, vital to the functioning of a wizard, are available to all wizards.

Race lists those races that, either through a natural tendency or a quirk of fate, are allowed to specialize in that art. Note that the gnome, though unable to be a regular mage, can specialize in illusions.

Minimum Ability score lists the ability minimums needed to study intensively in that school. All schools require at least the minimum Intelligence demanded of a mage and an additional prime requisite, as listed.

Opposition School(s) always includes the school directly opposite the character’s school of study in the diagram on page 31. In addition, the schools to either side of this one may also be disallowed due to the nature of the character’s school. For example, an invoker/evoker cannot learn enchantment/charm or conjuration/summoning spells and cannot use magical items that duplicate spells from these schools.

Being a specialist does have significant advantages to balance the trade-offs the character must make. These are listed here:

* A specialist gains one additional spell per spell level, provided the additional spell is taken in the specialist’s school. Thus a 1st-level illusionist could have two spells – one being any spell he knows and the other limited to spells of the illusion school.

* Because specialists have an enhanced understanding of spells within their school, they receive a +1 bonus when making saving throws against those spells when cast by other wizards. Likewise, other characters suffer a -1 penalty when making saving throws against a specialist casting spells within his school. Both of these modifiers can be in effect at the same time e.g., when an enchanter casts an enchantment spell at another enchanter, the modifiers cancel each other out.

* Specialists receive a bonus of +15 percent when learning spells from their school and a penalty of -15 percent when learning spells from other schools. The bonus or penalty is applied to the percentile dice roll the player must make when the character tries to learn a new spell (see Table 4).

* Whenever a specialist reaches a new spell level, he automatically gains one spell of his school to add to his spell books. This spell can be selected by the DM or he can allow the player to pick. No roll for learning the spell need be made. It is assumed that the character has discovered this new spell during the course of his research and study.

* When a specialist wizard attempts to create a new spell (using the rules given in the DMG), the DM should count the new spell as one level less (for determining the difficulty) if the spell falls within the school of the specialist. An enchanter attempting to create a new enchantment spell would have an easier time of it than an illusionist attempting to do the same.

Illusionist

The illusionist is an example of a specialist. The description of the illusionist given here can be used as a guide for creating wizards specializing in other magical schools.

First, the school of illusion is a very demanding field of study. To specialize as an illusionist, a wizard needs a Dexterity score of at least 16.

An illusionist who has an Intelligence of 16 or more gains a 10 percent bonus to the experience points he earns.

Because the illusionist knows far more about illusions than the standard wizard, he is allowed a +1 bonus when rolling saving throws against illusions; other characters suffer a -1 penalty when rolling saving throws against his illusions. (These modifiers apply only if the spell allows a saving throw.)

Through the course of his studies, the illusionist has become adept at memorizing illusion spells (though it is still an arduous process). He can memorize an extra illusion spell at each spell level. Thus as a 1st-level caster he can memorize two spells, although at least one of these must be an illusion spell.

Later, when he begins to research new spells for his collection, he finds it easier to devise new illusion spells to fill specialized needs. Research in other schools is harder and more time consuming for him.

Finally, the intense study of illusion magic prevents the character from mastering the other classes of spells that are totally alien to the illusion school (those diametrically opposite illusion on the diagram). Thus, the illusionist cannot learn spells from the schools of necromancy, invocation/evocation, or abjuration.

As an example, consider Joinville the illusionist. He has an Intelligence score of 15. In the course of his travels he captures an enemy wizard’s spell book that contains an Improved Invisibility spell, a Continual Light spell, and a Fireball spell, none of which are in Joinville’s spell book. He has an 80 percent chance to learn the Improved Invisibility spell. Continual Light is an alteration spell, however, so his chance to learn it is only 50 percent (consult Table 4 to see where these figures come from). He cannot learn the Fireball spell, or even transcribe it into his spell book, because it is an evocation spell.