Weapons for Wimpy Wizards

[hcobb]

Legacy TFT suggests that XP be awarded at a flat rate of around 60 XPs per session while attributes at the higher end double in cost per attribute point for each point added to any attribute (ITL 45). Unlike in Classic a character can add any number of "memory points" for spells or talents for only 500 XPs each (5 to 20 play sessions to get the XPs for each memory point), while adding the 40th attribute point costs 4000 XP all by itself (after 2000 XP for the 39th, 1000 XP for the 38th, and so on), which is 8 times as much as a "memory point", with the 41st attribute doubling that.


Hence a character who kept all three attributes about equal would stall out at around a level of 13 in each of the three attributes. This isn't a major hassle for heroes who can wield the vast majority of weapons at ST 13, have their most complex talent only needing IQ 14, and The DX impairment of armor can only be countered by magic only up to adjDX 14 (ITL 161).


For wizards future advancement is not so kind with the most complex spells requiring IQ 20 to learn and IQ 24 to research (ITL 144). Therefore wizards with ambitions to operate at the highest levels must voluntarily cap the total of their DX and ST to 20 points or less and even worse magical DX boosts won't help with enchantment rolls (ITL 150). So the math suggests that the 40 total attributes "Ultimate Wizard!" has ST 6, DX 14, IQ 20 and is a Halfling, Goblin, or Elf. At least they're able to add several times their ST in staff mana (over time) to reduce the demands on that tiny ST.


If you accept that the ambitious wizard will start with very low ST and stay there, what sort of weapons should they start with, and what should they aspire to wielding?
Given that carrying iron items of any sort (ITL 140) or wielding anything but the wizard's own staff (ITL 142) will impede spellcasting, most wizards should look to be wielding only that one staff item and perhaps a bag or torch (which can be safely dropped at the start of combat). Halfling wizards with their racial Thrown Weapons talent being a partial exception as they can toss five steel daggers directly from their belts at the start of combat and then wield their silver dagger "staves" for spell casting or further combat.


The classic wand with the staff spell on it does no damage for physical attacks (ITL 148) and may or may not be able to take a Defend action (depends on what the meaning of the world "staff" is at ITL 117). Not that wizards ought to be up front and Defending.


At ST 6 (or less!) the only remaining staffable weapons are silver dagger (1d-1), one handed club (1d-1) and two handed wizard's staff (1d). Fine or very fine silver daggers are out of reach for the suggested starting character budget (ITL 123), but a fine steel dagger can be wielded in the off hand under the basic Knife talent (ITL 111?) and then thrown to free up spellcasting.


The advantages of the silver dagger staff are that it saves almost 3 or 5 pounds of encumbrance off the big wooden sticks, can be poisoned (befriend a naturalist and see ITL 125), and is a silver weapon that can be used in HTH. The disadvantages are that it costs $100 and requires two memory points for the Knife talent. (Starting with DX 12+, IQ 11+ and Dagger Expertise isn't recommended as that's 8 memory points just for the fancy weapon talent, leaving the wizard with few other talents or spells.)
There aren't a lot of other attractive weapon options at ST 6 and it's best to have disposable heroes roll the 17 and 18s for molotail tosses. (The wizard will be standing back at a safe distance and might cast Magic Rainstorm if she has the ST for it.)


A ST 8 human wizard might consider a whip or lasso, but these aren't staffable and hence would be combined with club or dagger staff.


The Bow talent costs a wizard four memory points and doesn't offer many advantages at combat ranges over the humble dagger (Where's the rules for the sling staff?). Silver arrows only cost $10 each, but don't do much damage below the ST 11 longbow. An apprentice with say ST 12, DX 11, and IQ 9 who drops their steel crossbow (while keeping the silver quarrels at their belt) to cast Aid is a nice hireling if you can find them.