Ultra-high IQ Starting Wizards and Mortality

[Shostak]

So, after once again seeing a post extolling the virtues of maximizing IQ in starting wizards, I decided to run such a figure against the sort of figure I've usually seen people choosing. Here are the adversaries:

Smartypants
ST 6
DX 9
IQ 17
MA10
Spells & Talents: Literacy, Staff V, Confusion, Clumsiness, Blur, Reveal Magic, Turn Missiles, Staff to Snake, Control Animal, Destroy Creation, 3-hex Fire, Sleep, Illusion
(Because Smartypants has such low ST, spells chosen due to their low casting cost while still giving options for both offense and defense.)

Ms. Wallflower
ST 11
DX 12
IQ 9
Spells & Talents: Literacy, Staff, Clumsiness, Fire, Summon Wolf, Turn Missiles, Reveal Magic, Blur, Image

I've run ten duels between these figures in a standard Wizard arena. Ms. Wallflower's tactic is to step forward summon a wolf or illusion of a wolf (1-3 & 4-6 on 1d6, respectively) into as distant a hex as possible at her earliest opportunity. Smartypants's tactic is to cast Staff to Snake as quickly as possible and to attempt disbelieve any creation on a roll of 4+ on a d6. In every singe duel, Wallflower has triumphed. This usually happened by then end of round 4. The only times it even came close to a victory for Smartypants was when Wallflower cast an illusion instead of a summoned wolf and then had it disbelieved. The next closest chance for a Smartypants victory was when the snake-staff took out a wolf and Wallflower was weak from two spell failures, but a second wolf dispatched the feeble Smartypants in HTH. There were some duels in which a silver dagger "staff" would have probably turned the tide in HTH with the wolf, but I did not allow any such bling as it would be unlikely to be available to most starting figures.

The limited data from these admittedly somewhat scripted duels suggests that any utility of a figure like Smartypants is limited to non-hazardous duty situations. I might try running some combats with more figures on each side, to see if the Smartypants type gives any long-lasting benefit to their side. But I doubt they will.

If you run any duels using a Smartypants type (feel free to choose whatever spells you want) please share your experience in a reply.

[ParadoxGames]

I quickly realized that 32-pt wizards with exceedingly high IQs are impractical.
The elegance of TFT's Wizards module lies in the balance in the relationship among the wizard's three stats. The IQ stat enables the wizard to cast powerful spells when it's high, but with a low DX, the wizard can't cast spells effectively. With a low ST, the wizard can't cast spells for long without going into a weakened state. My first wizards had high IQs and low other stats. It didn't take long before I realized that a good wizards balances all three stats.

[hcobb]

The answer to not being able to cast spells in combat is to not cast spells in combat. Molly has 7-hex Fire and a patron that gave her weeks to prepare so her crossbow armed allies fire branded bolts. She also knows spells like Spellsniffer that are based on IQ rolls. In combat she uses the occult zaps combined with defend options.

[Shostak]

Originally Posted by hcobb

The answer to not being able to cast spells in combat is to not cast spells in combat. Molly has 7-hex Fire and a patron that gave her weeks to prepare so her crossbow armed allies fire branded bolts. She also knows spells like Spellsniffer that are based on IQ rolls. In combat she uses the occult zaps combined with defend options.

This is about starting figures built with 32 points and no particular advantages like the patron or the crossbow bolts. Please don't just provide Molly's strategy; I'm looking for experience with Smartypants-types actually surviving their first combat. In my experience, the dreaded magical Staff of Mastery is dropped in HTH and thus totally useless against a rather nasty wolf.

[hcobb]

Originally Posted by Shostak

In my experience, the dreaded magical Staff of Mastery is dropped in HTH and thus totally useless against a rather nasty wolf.

Then spend two of 17 memory points on Knife. And carry a brand in the other hand.

[larsdangly]

I think it is obvious to anyone who knows the rules and has played Melee or Wizard that these sorts of characters are at great, perhaps insurmountable disadvantage in simple arena-style combat. None of the white-room arguments I've seen present plausible exceptions to this generalization.

But, I strongly advocate people play all sorts of non-optimized characters like this in your roleplaying campaigns. It is much more fun when there is a range of interesting characters with different motives, interests, backgrounds and abilities. And characters that seem weak in the arena can do amazing things outside of it. Jeff Bezos didn't become the richest short, bald guy in the world by mastering the art of murdering people in a small room (at least, I don't think that is how he got his billions...).

[Skarg]

Originally Posted by hcobb

The answer to not being able to cast spells in combat is to not cast spells in combat.

Either that, or to have friends who screen you from attack and assistants who cast Aid on you to give you the ST and DX you don't have yourself.

Originally Posted by hcobb

Molly has 7-hex Fire and a patron that gave her weeks to prepare so her crossbow armed allies fire branded bolts.

I feel like I ought to point out whenever you mention this that fire-branded crossbow bolts seem to me both not allowed (bolts are smaller than arrows) and that even if they were allowed, I don't think they're intended to do any bonus damage on a hit the way the vastly more expensive enchanted Flaming Arrows do. They'd just help you set fire to things, but would not do +1 damage and would go out when smothered in flesh.

Originally Posted by hcobb

She also knows spells like Spellsniffer that are based on IQ rolls. In combat she uses the occult zaps combined with defend options.

This makes more sense to me, though I wouldn't give nearly as much XP to adventurers who mainly avoid combat, and I'd tend to expect a ST 6 occult zap wizard to attract lethal attention.

[hcobb]

I offer "Curse of the Necropus" as an exercise in team optimization.

Molly and Sir Irving aren't front line combatants nor are they great leaders in combat. What they do is setup the environment so that the warriors are able to put hits on targets.

When I get around to finishing part two I don't think anyone will begrudge the presence of a hyper intelligent naturalist who has no combat talents in an underground expedition. The pythoness will also be welcome.

[larsdangly]

I find it hard to decide about the suggested 'Brand' strategy, but my instinct is to see it as a form of munchkinism that is not in keeping with the intent of the relevant rules, read in their entirety and in context of related rules. It is referred to as a way to make a 'reliable flaming arrow', which makes it sound like it makes something equivalent to a flaming weapon. On the other hand, it is ludicrously cheap as compared with the price of any other form of flaming weapon. The bulk of the text describing Brands makes it clear that they are viewed as magical means of creating light and an open flame (perhaps for starting fires), not as a weapon with the effectiveness of other flaming weapons. I think it would be fair to let it do damage as a torch if you are struck with it, and if delivered as a flaming arrow then perhaps have it do the arrow damage plus the damage for being hit by a mundane torch (?).

[Skarg]

The Flaming Weapon enchantment is entirely reliable, and the missile weapon version of it has a base cost of $20,000, so I don't think this is intended to let 3-Hex Fire make it nearly obsolete.

So what do you think the unreliable flaming arrow it mentions would be? I think it means compared to mundane flaming arrows, i.e. when you put something flammable on an arrow, which makes it not fly so well, and not tend to set fire to things so well because it tends to fall apart on impact or the flaming thing goes out or fails to apply enough heat to set anything else on fire. Those sorts of arrows are designed to set things like wooden fortresses on fire, not as a way to munchkin up your damage in combat.

And again, it also says a Brand goes out when immersed, and being in a wet (due to flesh and blood) body would, it seems to me, immerse it.