Menu
News
All News
Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
Pathfinder
Starfinder
Warhammer
2d20 System
Year Zero Engine
Industry News
Reviews
Dragon Reflections
Columns
Weekly Digests
Weekly News Digest
Freebies, Sales & Bundles
RPG Print News
RPG Crowdfunding News
Game Content
ENterplanetary DimENsions
Mythological Figures
Opinion
Worlds of Design
Peregrine's Next
RPG Evolution
Other Columns
From the Freelancing Frontline
Monster ENcyclopedia
WotC/TSR Alumni Look Back
4 Hours w/RSD (Ryan Dancey)
The Road to 3E (Jonathan Tweet)
Greenwood's Realms (Ed Greenwood)
Drawmij's TSR (Jim Ward)
Community
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Resources
Wiki
Pages
Latest activity
Media
New media
New comments
Search media
Downloads
Latest reviews
Search resources
EN Publishing
Store
EN5ider
Adventures in ZEITGEIST
Awfully Cheerful Engine
What's OLD is NEW
Judge Dredd & The Worlds Of 2000AD
War of the Burning Sky
Level Up: Advanced 5E
Events & Releases
Upcoming Events
Private Events
Featured Events
Socials!
Twitch
YouTube
Facebook (EN Publishing)
Facebook (EN World)
Twitter
Instagram
TikTok
Podcast
Features
Top 5 RPGs Compiled Charts 2004-Present
Adventure Game Industry Market Research Summary (RPGs) V1.0
Ryan Dancey: Acquiring TSR
Q&A With Gary Gygax
D&D Rules FAQs
TSR, WotC, & Paizo: A Comparative History
D&D Pronunciation Guide
Million Dollar TTRPG Kickstarters
Tabletop RPG Podcast Hall of Fame
Eric Noah's Unofficial D&D 3rd Edition News
D&D in the Mainstream
D&D & RPG History
About Morrus
Log in
Register
What's new
Search
Search
Search titles only
By:
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Menu
Log in
Register
Install the app
Install
The
VOIDRUNNER'S CODEX
is coming! Explore new worlds, fight oppressive empires, fend off fearsome aliens, and wield deadly psionics with this comprehensive boxed set expansion for 5E and A5E!
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
Gamers Seeking Gamers
Toms River, NJ - A Simple Venture (D&D 5e)
JavaScript is disabled. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding.
You are using an out of date browser. It may not display this or other websites correctly.
You should upgrade or use an
alternative browser
.
Reply to thread
Message
<blockquote data-quote="Stormhound" data-source="post: 6387533" data-attributes="member: 22628"><p>For anyone reading this and sitting on the fence, wondering just what kind of GM I might make, I offer you the following excerpt from the character creation notes on Wizards:</p><p></p><p>The touchword for Harnic wizards is <em>restraint</em>. The concept is pounded into an apprentice’s head from the beginning, and even moreso once he reaches the rank of journeyman (which is what all Wizard PCs would be considered at start). This emphasis exists for two major reasons:</p><p></p><ol> <li data-xf-list-type="ol">Mystery: Part of the respect that wizards are given in Harn is that they tend to act subtly, using their most flashy and obvious powers as a last resort. If nobody knows exactly what you’re capable of, but that it might well be something devastating, they’re going to be a lot more careful when it comes to messing with you.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol">Safety: The other part of the respect, to borrow a phrase, is that mages try not to go scaring the normals. This is in large part because there are a hell of a lot more of them than there are of you, and panicked mobs tend to react unpredictably and destructively. Think pitchforks and torches, if it helps. The common folk certainly will.</li> </ol><p>Now, wizards want to sound wise (same root word, after all), and they will throw around all sorts of gobbledygook about “preserving the magical balance” and “not overtaxing local mana sources” and whatever other nonsense they can con you into believing, but at root their motives are simple: they want to learn all they can, and it’s really hard to study when people are trying to hang your ass from the nearest tree. Thus, restraint. If their fear of angering you exceeds their fear of having you around, they will leave you the hell alone to study.</p><p></p><p>And, for students who really manage to prove that they just don’t <em>get</em> that idea, there is always the prospect of being declared renegade and hunted down by any other mage who has the spare time. Since doing this tends to take them away from their studies, and this tends to annoy the hell out of a mage, said hunters tend to be quick and merciless about it.</p><p></p><p>Such trivialities aside, a wizard will have a home chantry (the place where they were taught their art) which is devoted to the same school of magic as the PC. As a means of showing gratitude to the people who spared their time to teach you (or sucking up to them in hopes of earning favor), alumni will be expected to make occasional donations…a nice magic item, perhaps some new spell you’ve thought of, a little time spent doing minor tasks, that sort of thing. Students without the wisdom to understand the importance of keeping the school’s masters happy probably didn’t make the cut for training in the first place.</p><p></p><p>Finally, while there is a professional conviviality among the schools…we’re all mages, after all…there is also a certain degree of guarding of secrets. If you’re part of the School of Enchantment, it’s unlikely that an Abjurer will just happily teach you his nifty little spell just because you asked politely. A little palm-greasing goes a long way.</p><p></p><p>After all, being a wizard may be about Fantastical Magical Forces that Mere Mortals Cannot Comprehend, but that’s no reason not to be <em>practical</em> about it. A mage has to eat, you know, and all that experimental apparatus is bloody expensive.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Stormhound, post: 6387533, member: 22628"] For anyone reading this and sitting on the fence, wondering just what kind of GM I might make, I offer you the following excerpt from the character creation notes on Wizards: The touchword for Harnic wizards is [I]restraint[/I]. The concept is pounded into an apprentice’s head from the beginning, and even moreso once he reaches the rank of journeyman (which is what all Wizard PCs would be considered at start). This emphasis exists for two major reasons: [LIST=1] [*]Mystery: Part of the respect that wizards are given in Harn is that they tend to act subtly, using their most flashy and obvious powers as a last resort. If nobody knows exactly what you’re capable of, but that it might well be something devastating, they’re going to be a lot more careful when it comes to messing with you. [*]Safety: The other part of the respect, to borrow a phrase, is that mages try not to go scaring the normals. This is in large part because there are a hell of a lot more of them than there are of you, and panicked mobs tend to react unpredictably and destructively. Think pitchforks and torches, if it helps. The common folk certainly will. [/LIST] Now, wizards want to sound wise (same root word, after all), and they will throw around all sorts of gobbledygook about “preserving the magical balance” and “not overtaxing local mana sources” and whatever other nonsense they can con you into believing, but at root their motives are simple: they want to learn all they can, and it’s really hard to study when people are trying to hang your ass from the nearest tree. Thus, restraint. If their fear of angering you exceeds their fear of having you around, they will leave you the hell alone to study. And, for students who really manage to prove that they just don’t [I]get[/I] that idea, there is always the prospect of being declared renegade and hunted down by any other mage who has the spare time. Since doing this tends to take them away from their studies, and this tends to annoy the hell out of a mage, said hunters tend to be quick and merciless about it. Such trivialities aside, a wizard will have a home chantry (the place where they were taught their art) which is devoted to the same school of magic as the PC. As a means of showing gratitude to the people who spared their time to teach you (or sucking up to them in hopes of earning favor), alumni will be expected to make occasional donations…a nice magic item, perhaps some new spell you’ve thought of, a little time spent doing minor tasks, that sort of thing. Students without the wisdom to understand the importance of keeping the school’s masters happy probably didn’t make the cut for training in the first place. Finally, while there is a professional conviviality among the schools…we’re all mages, after all…there is also a certain degree of guarding of secrets. If you’re part of the School of Enchantment, it’s unlikely that an Abjurer will just happily teach you his nifty little spell just because you asked politely. A little palm-greasing goes a long way. After all, being a wizard may be about Fantastical Magical Forces that Mere Mortals Cannot Comprehend, but that’s no reason not to be [I]practical[/I] about it. A mage has to eat, you know, and all that experimental apparatus is bloody expensive. [/QUOTE]
Insert quotes…
Verification
Post reply
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
Gamers Seeking Gamers
Toms River, NJ - A Simple Venture (D&D 5e)
Top