The one talent wizard

[hcobb]

Pick a random talent, add wizard, and you can get endless possibilities.
For example:

Minali , Human wizard, age 20
ST 8, DX 11, IQ 13, MA 10
Talents: Architect/Builder, Literacy
Spells include: Flight, Illusion, Lock/Knock, Pathfinder, Scrying, Staff III, Staff to Snake, Trailtwister
Language: Common
Weapon: Staff III maple maul (1d), untalented silver dagger (1d-1)
Attacks and Damage: Punch (1d-4)
Equipment: townswoman's clothing, belt pouch, pointer necklace, small silver mirror
Special note: Minali's mother was a famous architect whose last commission was designing the treasure vault she was killed to protect the secrets of. Minali specializes in liberating treasure from such places.

Minali's two talents compensate for the three spells they displace in the following ways:

1: Architect/Builder is a social talent that enables Minali to find and talk with a small group of underpaid (see ITL 58) craftsmen. With a small investment in time and drinks she can learn amazing things from a lonely retiree.

2: The Builder part of the talent enables her to tell at a glance the roles of all workers at a building construction site. She can spot the stage of construction, who's out of place, and how to weasel her way on site as "part of the team".

3: Should she acquire the original or working plans for a target building the Architect part will tell her where interesting things ought to be. If later on site she discovers that the building doesn't follow the official plans then she can make educated guesses as to why it differs.

4: Even in an unfamiliar building or mine she has an advantage in finding her way around due to the patterns the designers will have followed. (This is much less useful in an tunnel dug by animals or non-human intelligences, other than mere structural stability requirements.)

5: And she has the noted bonus to find hidden doors and traps because she understands the requirements for their placements.

And finally she has magic so once she knows which drain a snake will fit in she's good to go.

[phiwum]

Originally Posted by hcobb

And finally she has magic so once she knows which drain a snake will fit in she's good to go.

Instead of Architect/Builder, she should have gone with Mundane: Plumber.

[tomc]

Add Priest and Theologian, and you've got Molin Torchholder from the old Thieves World book series.

[Shostak]

The Wizard Tax punishes imaginative builds like these, which is a real shame. Having a wizard centered on a talent like Animal Handler, Scholar, Naturalist, Bard, a Mundane Talent, etc., only makes the game richer. The same can be said about the Hero Tax.

[amenditman]

Originally Posted by tomc

Add Priest and Theologian, and you've got Molin Torchholder from the old Thieves World book series.

Love that series. I recently re-read everything written for it.

[hcobb]

Tempted to write up a story about a group of wizards, each with a different talent, that find themselves "trapped" in the treasure vault. They then Aid-up a Gate spell and leave with all the treasure.

[phiwum]

Originally Posted by hcobb

Tempted to write up a story about a group of wizards, each with a different talent, that find themselves "trapped" in the treasure vault. They then Aid-up a Gate spell and leave with all the treasure.

How can trapped folk use a Gate spell? The spell has to be cast at both ends of the gate.

[Shostak]

A subset of them Long-distance Teleports out to make the other end of the gate?

[hcobb]

Originally Posted by phiwum

How can trapped folk use a Gate spell? The spell has to be cast at both ends of the gate.

The leave one (or more) half-gates at home.

[Axly Suregrip]

Originally Posted by hcobb

The leave one (or more) half-gates at home.

Makes sense for anyone who knows Create Gate spell to leave an incomplete gate at home. Overtime, they may have several completed gates at home.

Can a gate be used to connect to multiple gates and thus have the gate rules determine where you go? If so, then the wizard merely needs to set up one gate at home and connect all gates to it.