A Wizard question

[AlexanderHowl]

Of course, you can play around with the trope. For example, the Old Woman of the Swamps is an ancient and powerful necromancer who appears to be a beautiful sixteen year old girl who drains the youth from hunters before killing them and transforming them into one of her army of bog zombies. She never asks for money from her clients, but she asks for payments of different types from different people. Over the centuries, the rulers of nearby kingdoms have attempted to invade her swamps many times, but their soldiers always ended up adding to her army of bog mummies, so they usually leave her swamp alone because she leaves them alone. She does charge a small toll on anyone who enters the swamp though, collected by her horrific bog mummies, and anyone who refuses to pay disappears.

[Michael Cule]

I think the model for the medieval wizard isn't the drug dealer but the assassin.

Not that they go around killing people (though that's an option especially if you can curse people to death from a distance) but that they don't sell mass produced goods to the populace in general but individual services to very rich people. Preferably those services that can't be obtained from anywhere else.

The Order of Hermes in ARS MAGICA does some business selling life extending magics to the very rich.

If you have magic that can ensure a king can have a son... there's a market for that.

I'm not sure which is more fun of the obvious options:

The source of magic is evil and corrupting.

The source of magic is neither good nor bad.

There is not one source of magic and you have to take your chances because the Church condemns all of them.

I ran a game (which had a premature ending) in which magic is rediscovered in the reign of Charles II and I had magic while not being evil did tend to taint people exposed to it too much. The cause of the Big Wizard War was going to be the birth of an heir to Charles who had been coddled by magic all the way through the pregnancy. Her eyes glowed with an internal light. The Archbishop of Canterbury refused to baptise her. There was a considerable ruckus. Schisms and everything.

[edk926]

If they are practicing in secret, they could be literally anything, including having professions where they don't use magic at all while working.

[Anaraxes]

You could just introduce the One-Handed Bat'leth skill to cover them.

China has produced a great many weapons that are long on cool looks and not particularly practical. I suspect they're much more props for Combat Art than an actual weapon with historical employment. In a game cinematic enough to actually use them seriously, just pick any skill you like for them. The character(s) using them will just drop their point or four into that skill, then get back to looking cool without a second thought.

[DangerousThing]

Originally Posted by Anaraxes

You could just introduce the One-Handed Bat'leth skill to cover them.

China has produced a great many weapons that are long on cool looks and not particularly practical. I suspect they're much more props for Combat Art than an actual weapon with historical employment. In a game cinematic enough to actually use them seriously, just pick any skill you like for them. The character(s) using them will just drop their point or four into that skill, then get back to looking cool without a second thought.

I think you posted this on the wrong thread. Or else I'm responding on the wrong thread.

[The Colonel]

Originally Posted by DangerousThing

I think you posted this on the wrong thread. Or else I'm responding on the wrong thread.

I think that post belongs on the deer antlers thread … although the idea of a wizard disguised as a TV prop weapon is amusing...

[AlexanderHowl]

Another possible model for secret wizards are high class prostitutes. They are ignored by the larger society (and law enforcement) because they are discreet, but anyone with money can hire them for their services. If they perform their services to the satisfaction of their clients, they have a client who will likely call them again when they need their services. Therefore, the wealthy and powerful have the services of wizards while everyone else makes do.

[Black Leviathan]

Generally if a society outlaws something it's not because it's universally unappealing. Before mages were declared taboo there were people who paid the price for a mage to help them. Those people still have the needs magic dealt with. They want spells cast on their beloved, or to have their crops grow well, or to be invisible so they can follow their spouse.
In our current fantasy setting magic is highly regulated by circles of mages, but here are witches who manage to make a living while skirting the enforcement of mages because news travels slowly and it's difficult to prove someone really performed magic if there aren't many witnesses. A secret magic user could work fairly openly provided they were willing to move, and avoided practice around law enforcement.

[AllenOwen]

I can imagine a wizard living in an old tower being approached by local villagers for help; anything from divining the optimal time to sow to slaying a dragon (think the scene in Dragonslayer). I can see the wizard having to practice their art in secret in a city, while maybe being tolerated in rural areas, as long as they don't cause trouble.

I am thinking about making my setting a low mana setting in general, with regions and areas of no mana and normal/high mana. I want to use both Threshold Limited magic, Assisting Spirits magic and Mandatory and Significant Modifiers. I like the idea of magic being difficult, though potent, as well as risky.

Threshold Limited Magic is used by those rare and certain individuals with the in-born ability to cast spells. There is a long and demanding ritual that, if successfully completed, will "awaken" a person's ability to channel mana through them. It is inspired by the Book of Abramelin https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Book_of_Abramelin. Most people can't successfully complete that ritual, so they must turn to..

Assisting Spirits magic. This is how most people practice magic. This is the type that is largely responsible for magic's poor reputation. In general, people don't like having demons summoned forth nearby them. Rural cunning men/women summon spirits all the time, but are tolerated as they often are helpful to the local village(s).

Even though the cunning man is a part of the village community, they live separate from it, as the locals don't want spirits near them. A mage might live in "that ruined tower in the swamp, which is why we don't go near it", they still might be useful for the locals.

ANYONE can learn assisting spirits magic; even nobles and knights (Bluebeard, anyone?)

Special and Mandatory Modifiers apply to all magic. Just makes magic more interesting, in my opinion.

I think of mages a lot like Unknown Armies thinks of mages: Creepy weirdos who can be useful, but you really don't want to be near them too much. That game says that the homeless guy living under the bridge outside town might also be the most powerful mage in the area; his devotion to his magic doesn't allow him a normal life. The medieval fantasy equivalent is: that mage who lives in that ruined old tower in the forest/swamp.

[Fred Brackin]

Originally Posted by AllenOwen

. I want to use both Threshold Limited magic, Assisting Spirits magic and Mandatory and Significant Modifiers. I like the idea of magic being difficult, though potent, as well as risky.

You can desing this for your own amusement but before you go through the required work to set up a campaign here try your concepts out on some potential players. For example, I'd never play a mage in a setting like this. I'd expect that there would be more fun things to spend my cp on.