3 Character Types: Fighter, Wizard, Mixed (Bard, Cleric, Monk)

[Steve Plambeck]

Originally Posted by Shostak

A Wizarding talent does not, by itself, contradict the desire to have wizards “born, not made.” while one could say that it is a talent like any other, and one could easily declare that it represents learning allowed by some kind of genetic disposition. Furthermore, it is up to the GM as to whether or not to allow anyone to take this talent after character generation.

The point of the talent is not to create baked-in assumptions about the difference between wizards and mundanes, but to add a bit of balance to create better (or at least desired by some people) balance for those with the ability to cast spells.

Thank you Shostak, I was just about to say most of that.

I see this is a very old thread I never saw, slightly predating my joining the forum. What's so ironic is the very first thread I ever started was on this very subject, and I ended up defending the concept of a Wizardry talent in several places soon after against all the same assumptions popping up in this rekindled debate. Guess I'd better get back to work :)

TippetsTX brought up one of the points I've rebutted in the past, about his desire to keep wizards something that are "born and not made". I prefer to keep it that way too, but there's no reason a Wizardry talent has to contradict that.

In my rules I simply have an age prerequisite. Training in my Wizardry talent has to begin before puberty (before 12) and last continuously for several years, because children born with the psychic ability to focus and use Mana lose that ability if training hasn't started before all those hormones kick in.

What that translates to is that any adult PC, at character creation, has finished learning Wizardry or not, and if they haven't then they can't start learning it now or add it later, period. Problem solved.