Steve Jackson Games Forums - View Single Post

Bill_in_IN · 10-20-2022, 05:45 AM

Interesting.

I recently generated a Goblin Wizard with ST 6 DX 8 IQ 18 as an experiment. So, if he can survive, he has access to learning most spells in ITL. Henry would be proud of this build.

I gave him Staff 5, Wizard's Wrath, and Missile Weapons 3 which took 12 of his IQ points but he had DX of 11 for staff zaps (1d+2) and Wizard's Wrath. I gave him some other spells which are inconsequential at this tome due to his low DX. They would have to wait until his DX increases. Needless to say, Spellsniffer was on the short list for his remaining 6 IQ points and almost made the final cut. If this discussion had occurred prior to generating the wizard, it probably would have.

As for survivability of the wizard, it is up to the dice. I ran him through three quick arena battles. An adventure situation would be different. All three played out the same because he is a two trick pony until his DX increases.

The first was a standard Melee Giant with a big club. He hit him with a 3d6 Wizard's Wrath (3d+3), knocked him down taking about half of the Giant's ST. Even at lower DX for ST at three or below, his two staff zaps hit at 1d+2 which killed the Giant. He was alive with ST 1.

The second was a 35 point human tank. The same general scenario occurred.

The third was a ST 30 Giant with Leather Armor. It played out the same as before except the giant still had a couple of ST left when the wizard got down to 1 ST. They slugged it out Club vs. Staff/club awaiting automatic hits until the wizard rolled a 4 which allowed his 1d-1 staff to kill the giant.

I was amazed at the ability of this goblin wizard to survive. It was actually down to one or two different die rolls that could change everything but, then again, TFT is like that.

So, back to Spell Sniffer spell. If one is skeptical of Henry's assertion about an IQ 17 wizard with this spell, I started one from scratch with some powerful damage in spite of his low ST and it worked in the arena. Again, adventuring is different but I suspect that such a physically weak wizard wouldn't be in the front of the party either. Giving such a wizard Spellsniffer would make him very useful to any party beyond his 1d+2 staff zaps and 3d+3 Wizard's Wrath. However, the wizard would definitely need to put his first 200 XP on 2 DX points for his other abilities to become more viable.

10-20-2022, 05:45 AM	#4
Bill_in_IN Join Date: Dec 2021 Location: Indiana	Re: Talent/Spell of the Week: Spellsniffer Interesting. I recently generated a Goblin Wizard with ST 6 DX 8 IQ 18 as an experiment. So, if he can survive, he has access to learning most spells in ITL. Henry would be proud of this build. I gave him Staff 5, Wizard's Wrath, and Missile Weapons 3 which took 12 of his IQ points but he had DX of 11 for staff zaps (1d+2) and Wizard's Wrath. I gave him some other spells which are inconsequential at this tome due to his low DX. They would have to wait until his DX increases. Needless to say, Spellsniffer was on the short list for his remaining 6 IQ points and almost made the final cut. If this discussion had occurred prior to generating the wizard, it probably would have. As for survivability of the wizard, it is up to the dice. I ran him through three quick arena battles. An adventure situation would be different. All three played out the same because he is a two trick pony until his DX increases. The first was a standard Melee Giant with a big club. He hit him with a 3d6 Wizard's Wrath (3d+3), knocked him down taking about half of the Giant's ST. Even at lower DX for ST at three or below, his two staff zaps hit at 1d+2 which killed the Giant. He was alive with ST 1. The second was a 35 point human tank. The same general scenario occurred. The third was a ST 30 Giant with Leather Armor. It played out the same as before except the giant still had a couple of ST left when the wizard got down to 1 ST. They slugged it out Club vs. Staff/club awaiting automatic hits until the wizard rolled a 4 which allowed his 1d-1 staff to kill the giant. I was amazed at the ability of this goblin wizard to survive. It was actually down to one or two different die rolls that could change everything but, then again, TFT is like that. So, back to Spell Sniffer spell. If one is skeptical of Henry's assertion about an IQ 17 wizard with this spell, I started one from scratch with some powerful damage in spite of his low ST and it worked in the arena. Again, adventuring is different but I suspect that such a physically weak wizard wouldn't be in the front of the party either. Giving such a wizard Spellsniffer would make him very useful to any party beyond his 1d+2 staff zaps and 3d+3 Wizard's Wrath. However, the wizard would definitely need to put his first 200 XP on 2 DX points for his other abilities to become more viable.