Time for a wizard!

[Kromm]

So we've had a martial artist, a bard, and a knight. Now how about a classic artillery wizard? Such mages get a bad rap for their lack of utility spells, but this one has a fair few buffs for her friends (Infravision, Resist Cold, Resist Fire, Resist Lightning, and Walk on Air), along with enough energy to cast and maintain many of these at a time.

Tishala Taabu

248-point Human Wizard

Tishala is a born delver. Her mother is a wizard like her; her father, a cleric of a fire god. Though retired now, both were professional adventurers whose exploits were numerous and inevitably involved magic. This may explain why Tishala was born with a surfeit of supernatural energy – her body crackles with it, her eyes shine, and beasts react to her as they would to flame or thunder. She has a personality to match, with little fear of failure, an iron will, and an unhealthy love of fire and explosions.

Tishala's parents trained her in clambering around (without being too noisy), bandaging wounds, making maps, searching for treasure, and even fighting with quarterstaffs. They also taught her to read and write, and then spent a lot of gold to get her into a first-rate Wizards' Guild academy, where her specialty was "thaumaturgical energetics": spells of electricity, fire, light, and magical energy. She studied spirits and elementals as well, after her father mysteriously hinted this would help her understand her ancestry . . .

Nowadays, Tishala is a dungeon-raider like her parents. She aids allies by providing light (or the ability to see without it), protecting them from hostile energy attacks, and sharing her vast reserves of power. She handles mobs of lesser foes with Area spells (Create Fire, Destroy Air, Spark Cloud, Spark Storm, Wall of Lightning, etc.) and snipes major threats with big Missile spells (Explosive Fireball, Fireball, Lightning, or Sunbolt) matched to their weaknesses; she often walks around with Shocking Touch or a Missile spell charged up. She uses her fire opal-studded moabi-wood staff as her power item; it holds 5 FP.

ST 10 [0]; DX 12 [40]; IQ 15 [100]; HT 11 [10].
Damage 1d-2/1d; BL 20 lbs.; HP 10 [0]; Will 15 [0]; Per 12 [-15]; FP 11 [0].
Basic Speed 6.00 [5]; Basic Move 6 [0]; Move 4.
Dodge 8; Parry 12 (Staff), Deflect Energy 16; Block N/A.

Advantages
Energy Reserve 13 (Magical) [39]
Magery 3 [35]

Disadvantages and Quirks
Frightens Animals [-10]
Overconfidence (12) [-5]
Pyromania (12) [-5]
Sense of Duty (Adventuring Companions) [-5]
Stubbornness (12) [-5]
Unnatural Features 5 [-5]

Argues tirelessly to claim treasures tied to magical energy, especially fire. [-1]
Claims to have fire elemental ancestry (has no idea!). [-1]
Detests unsubtle nicknames like "Hot Stuff" and "Red." [-1]
If a plan calls for a distraction, she wants that to be her. [-1]
Takes extra time and energy to use Colors to give Continual Light a fiery hue. [-1]

Skills
Alchemy-15 [8]
Cartography-14 [1]
Climbing-11 [1]
First Aid-15 [1]
Hazardous Materials-14 [1]
Hidden Lore (Elementals)-15 [2]
Hidden Lore (Magic Items)-14 [1]
Hidden Lore (Spirits)-14 [1]
Hiking-10 [1]
Innate Attack (Projectile)-14 [4]
Meditation-14 [2]
Occultism-15 [2]
Physiology (Elementals)-13 [1]
Research-14 [1]
Scrounging-12 [1]
Speed-Reading-14 [1]
Staff-14 [8]
Stealth-11 [1]
Teaching-14 [1]
Thaumatology-15* [1]
Writing-14 [1]

Spells*
Colors-16 [1]
Continual Light-16 [1]
Create Air-16 [1]
Create Fire-16 [1]
Deflect Energy-16 [1]
Destroy Air-16 [1]
Explosive Fireball-16 [1]
Extinguish Fire-16 [1]
Fireball-16 [1]
Fireproof-16 [1]
Glow-16 [1]
Heat-16 [1]
Ignite Fire-16 [1]
Infravision-16 [1]
Lend Energy-16 [1]
Light-16 [1]
Lightning-16 [1]
Purify Air-16 [1]
Recover Energy-16 [1]
Resist Cold-16 [1]
Resist Fire-16 [1]
Resist Lightning-16 [1]
Shape Air-16 [1]
Shape Fire-16 [1]
Share Energy-16 [1]
Shocking Touch-16 [1]
Spark Cloud-16 [1]
Spark Storm-16 [1]
Sunbolt-16 [1]
Sunlight-16 [1]
Walk on Air-16 [1]
Wall of Lightning-16 [1]
Windstorm-16 [1]

* Includes +3 for Magery.

Equipment

$2,000, 36.7 lbs. (Light encumbrance)

Alchemist's Fire. $100, 1 lb.
Alchemist's Matches ×2. $30, 0.5 lb.
Canteen, Full. 1 quart water. $10, 3 lbs.
Clothing. $0, 2 lbs.
Coins. 5 copper. $5, 0.1 lb.
Elven Rations, 6 meals. $30, 1 lb.
First Aid Kit. +1 to First Aid. $50, 2 lbs.
Light Leather Armor, Suit, w. Fortify +1. DR 2. $1,150, 18 lbs.
Mapping Kit. +1 to Cartography $50, 2 lbs.
Paper, 20 sheets. $20, 1 lb.
Paut. $135, 0.5 lb.
Personal Basics. $5, 1 lb.
Pouch. Holds alchemist's fire, coins, matches, paut. $10, 0.2 lb.
Pouch. Holds first aid kit, rations. $10, 0.2 lb.
Pouch. Holds mapping kit, paper. $10, 0.2 lb.
Quarterstaff, Fine, Magic Staff. 1d+2 cr (reach 1, 2) or 1d cr (reach 1, 2). $60 + $325 in fire opals, 4 lbs.

[Stone Dog]

Are missile spells practical after all? The few wizards I've seen have mainly focused on the debuffers rather than direct damage.

Other than that, I love the write up. I usually think of Frightens Animals and Unnatural Features to be more sinister, but this is a fresh look at it.

[Kromm]

Originally Posted by Stone Dog

Are missile spells practical after all?

They can be, for the patient player who prefers to Concentrate, step around the edge of the fight, and then cut loose with a shot from the side or back. Also, when you're facing undead and demons with huge HT, Will, and/or Magic Resistance, you can just about forget about any other magic working – whereas with Missile spells, it all comes down to "Dodge this!" This character is all about just blasting foes with big damage, and she gets to choose between electricity, fire, and light, so she can cherry-pick what hurts most.

There are no guarantees, but when her pals are healing, searching for secret doors, etc., she could look at "any amount up to twice your level of spellcasting talent per second, for three seconds" and say, "That's 18 energy, less one for high skill . . . so 17 energy. Okay, I'll charge it up, take 9 from ER and 8 from FP, and be all rested up in 45 minutes with Recover Energy." And then she'd enter the next fight with an Explosive Fireball that does 9d burn ex. If that goes off in your hex, you're probably taking 31 points of large-area injury, or 15-16 even if you dive out of the hex.

It's also kind of fun when you realize that 3d missiles cost her two energy, so she can alternate summoning them and lobbing them for 12 turns before she even starts to get tired, and can be ready to do it again 30 minutes later. It's true that 3d isn't as impressive as some half-ogre's swing damage, but she gets to hang back and take potshots.

It boils down to player style.

[Stone Dog]

It makes me wonder what sort of accessory it would be for your staff to be able to hold a charged missile spell for you. Just sitting there, floating at the end of it all crackling and menacing.

Extra arm, with a gadget limitation and a very specific use?

[sir_pudding]

Originally Posted by Stone Dog

It makes me wonder what sort of accessory it would be for your staff to be able to hold a charged missile spell for you. Just sitting there, floating at the end of it all crackling and menacing.

Extra arm, with a gadget limitation and a very specific use?

I think staves can just do that. You can fire missile spells from the staff, which means you can hold them with it.

[corwyn]

Originally Posted by sir_pudding

I think staves can just do that. You can fire missile spells from the staff, which means you can hold them with it.

Yeah, but you still can't cast other spells while holding it, which is what I think Stone Dog was getting at.

[Dolarre]

Originally Posted by Stone Dog

It makes me wonder what sort of accessory it would be for your staff to be able to hold a charged missile spell for you. Just sitting there, floating at the end of it all crackling and menacing.

Extra arm, with a gadget limitation and a very specific use?

This is a power-up I allow in my games,

Missile Rack - After generating a missile, a mage can hold it indefinitely, leaving his hands and mind free to cast other spells. He can only hold spells for which he has the Missile Spell Mastery perk, and does not suffer the -3 penalty to additional spell casting described in that perk. The held missile slowly orbits the wizard in his hex but does not interfere with the mage's other activities. At any time, the wizard can fire the missile as if from one of his own hands. A wizard can buy as many levels of this power-up as he has levels of magery.

12 points - Extra Arm (Weapon Mount -80%, Force Extension [from Stretching in powers] +50%, Magical -10%) [6]; Magery 3 (only to mitigate penalties to spell casting for holding a missile spell -80%) [6]

[JMason]

I was thinking about this the other day. If a wizard has a Fireball held at the end of his/her staff, how much light does it give off? An extra light source for the party, without taking up weapon hands (wizard already holding the staff) seems like a nice "extra".

And this allows for a free*, ready to use spell for the first round of combat (or later if aimed). I know a fully powered explosive fireball can pretty much end a fight with fodder before it begins.


*Assuming they casted, powered up, then recovered energy.

[sir_pudding]

I would say probably as a candle.

[Stone Dog]

That is a great power up, Dolarre! I couldn't find force extension, but I knew I remembered something like it. I think I'd call mine Loyal Staff and have it set so a wiard can release a staff and have it float along, a very minor magical telekinetic effect.

I agree with Sir Pudding about the light a fireball would give off, but I think that mitigating darkness penalties equal to fatigue spent in the spell / x might be reasonable. Fatigue divided by two or three though?