Afflictions for wizards

[hcobb]

Other than madness (which unlike cancer and the common cold they don't have a cure for), what other ailments afflict wizards in particular?

[stefanj]

Something which would effect their manual dexterity would hamper spell casting even if their minds were intact.


A disease which makes them prone to fatigue, or ability to recover from fatigue, would certainly be a problem.

[hcobb]

Chronic Fatigue Syndrome?

[Shostak]

Hypomanaia caused by parasitization by the Flying Mana Leech.

[DeadParrot]

A bacteriological version of the FML mentioned above. When first infected, the wizard would notice no difference as the number of bacteria is too small. Each time the wizard successfully casts a spell, the bacteria steal enough energy to divide once. At some point, there are enough bacteria that they steal all of the energy the wizard tries to put into a spell.

Up to the GM to determine how many generations of bacteria are needed to dampen spell attempts. Might be days, or even months if the wizard doesn't cast that many spells, before the wizard notices the drain.

Cure might involve rare materials or simply starving the bacteria by the wizard abstaining from magic use for some number of days or months. Maybe putting the wizard in a suit of full iron plate to prevent magic.

For more mundane problems:
Bad vision would prevent precise targeting of spells.
Loss of hearing might interfere with spells that have a spoken component.
Developing an allergy to silver.
What do you do with a drunken Wizard?

[Bill_in_IN]

Originally Posted by DeadParrot

A bacteriological version of the FML mentioned above. When first infected, the wizard would notice no difference as the number of bacteria is too small. Each time the wizard successfully casts a spell, the bacteria steal enough energy to divide once. At some point, there are enough bacteria that they steal all of the energy the wizard tries to put into a spell.

Up to the GM to determine how many generations of bacteria are needed to dampen spell attempts. Might be days, or even months if the wizard doesn't cast that many spells, before the wizard notices the drain.

Cure might involve rare materials or simply starving the bacteria by the wizard abstaining from magic use for some number of days or months. Maybe putting the wizard in a suit of full iron plate to prevent magic.

For more mundane problems:
Bad vision would prevent precise targeting of spells.
Loss of hearing might interfere with spells that have a spoken component.
Developing an allergy to silver.
What do you do with a drunken Wizard?

Oddly enough, in real life, my son has an allergy to Nickel. We had to stop buying him jeans because the buttons were all Nickel plated. If he rubbed the end of a pencil on his cheek while thinking and doing homework, his cheek would break out in red splotches.

[David Bofinger]

Psychological impracticality. Most wizards contract this during their training, and it makes most talents cost twice as much. A wizard with a more severe case might have to pay triple, lose the ability to converse sensibly about non-magical matters, develop a tendency to see mundane things as being magical, forget how doorknobs work, etc. In Stage Five of the disease the victim becomes a prootwaddle.

[Bill_in_IN]

Originally Posted by David Bofinger

Psychological impracticality. Most wizards contract this during their training, and it makes most talents cost twice as much. A wizard with a more severe case might have to pay triple, lose the ability to converse sensibly about non-magical matters, develop a tendency to see mundane things as being magical, forget how doorknobs work, etc. In Stage Five of the disease the victim becomes a prootwaddle.

Wow...You just had to go there, didn't you? Just being around proots are bad enough (or comical enough according to your perspective). But, this is a fate worse worse than death for a wizard.

[hcobb]

Bob, Prootwaddle wizard, age 20
ST 12, DX 12, IQ 7, MA 10
Talents: Brawling, Carousing
Languages: Common, Sorcerers’ Tongue
Weapon: Staff V maul (1d+2, 1d+2 occult, Mana: 20)
Attacks and Damage: Punch (1d-1)

Bob is the apparent victim of a spell malfunction or curse, but can't recall which.

[David Bofinger]

Originally Posted by hcobb

Bob is the apparent victim of a spell malfunction or curse, but can't recall which.

Do Prootwaddles know they are stupid? Or are they convinced they've discovered important magical principles and that the method they are using to hunt sheep droppings will be copied by great woodsmen once the rest of the world catches up? As the great wizard Zarnix, Chief Sorcerer to the Duchess of Kel observed, "Proot! Proo-ooot!"