Becoming a wizard mid-adventure

[DemonKing]

We are currently running through the FR adventure the Twilight Tomb and some of the players have just gone from level 3 to 4. My brother is playing an Elvish Thief and now wants to take a wizard level.

I told him that he will have to either find some scrolls or spellbooks before he can cast spells but he's whining and saying that maybe I should just let him use "a spellbook that was an heirloom and he's been carrying it around in the bottom of his pack all along" (his words).

Now I can buy a guy having some strange dreams and waking up to find his latent sorcerous powers have emerged, but this is taking it a bit far...I run a fairly low-magic non-Monty Haul game and I prefer my solution, even if it will temporarily disadvantage the player...I can't envisage the problem taking more than a session to resolve itself given that the adventure is almost finished.

Has anyone else encountered this problem and come across a novel way to get around it?

 

[Nightfall]

Demon,

Just let him find a spellbook somewhere in a town.

 

[Nifft]

Multiclassing is an integral part of 3rd edition. There's nothing mechanically stronger about Wizard (compared to a Rogue / Barbarian or a Rogue / Ranger or what have you), and Wizard is his race's favored class, so it's quite plausible any way you look at it.

Why not let him have a spellbook that's always been in his backpack the whole time? It's hardly powergaming.

Cheers, -- N

 

[Nightfall]

Nifft,

Yeah I mean this isn't like he's trying to be a better wizard. Multi-classing actually is WORSE for a wizard (unless he's going for a Pr-class, then it's just decent to good.) The lower caster levels hurt more than they help at times.

 

[TheAuldGrump]

Hmmm, I will admit that Sorcerer would be easier to justify, but... you do not need to just have him wake up knowing how to cast these spells. Let him find a 1st level spellbook in the pack of a dead 1st level wizard, then waive the roll to learn the spells. This also allows you to tailor his starting spells, give him spells that are useful to the adventure they are in. Heck, have the wizard's corpse also carry clues to nudge the adventure in the direction you want it to go. Maps, diaries, a letter from the dead wizard's teacher, etc..

The Auld Grump

 

[GreatLemur]

I told him that he will have to either find some scrolls or spellbooks before he can cast spells but he's whining and saying that maybe I should just let him use "a spellbook that was an heirloom and he's been carrying it around in the bottom of his pack all along" (his words).

Honestly, that sounds pretty reasonable, to me. He's been trying to learn magic for years, and one day he just gets it. I don't think a character has to go through the 36 chambers to take a level in a new class, you know?

 

[Nightfall]

Lemur,

Not less you like torturing a PC.


Grump,

Agreed that sorcerer comes easier but being a wizard shouldn't be hard either. At least not if he's been exposed to a lot a magic. (Many rogues are, after all.)

 

[TheAuldGrump]

Lemur,

Not less you like torturing a PC.


Grump,

Agreed that sorcerer comes easier but being a wizard shouldn't be hard either. At least not if he's been exposed to a lot a magic. (Many rogues are, after all.)

I am not saying 'make it hard' I am saying 'treat this as an opportunity to give the PCs something that will help the adventure along in the direction you want them to go'. Let the party find Mr. Dead Wizard Jr. - find out what spells the new PC wizard wants and let him find those too if you want, heck, let the wizard's diary give directions as to where he made his camp, so the PC can steal, err, recover those spells as part of a mini adventure. (Just don't count them as 'treasure' since they are something the PC would have been getting anyway, going by the RAW.)

You are simply reversing the normal flow - letting him find the spells you want in the adventure first. If you will, the first spells he finds are the treasure, while the later ones are those he would be getting anyway. Not a long wait to get the spells he wants, just a nudge. (Maybe a single day, or at least one encounter.)

I generally use scrolls, spellbooks, etc. to help direct the game, while I do not railroad I am a manipulative bastiche.

The Auld Grump

 

[Nightfall]

Grump,

Didn't say you were. I was just commenting (in general) that multiclassing shouldn't be hard unless you feel it's unreasonable. Like say a Blackguard becoming a paladin...That to me seems to stretch the imagination unless there's a lot of RP involved.

 

[The Human Target]

It is a bit of a stretch for a PC to just up and become a wizard out of nowhere.

But, considering he is an elf, its a lot more feasible that in the past he had a smattering of arcane schooling.

But unless he stated during the game, before his interest in wizard, that he had a spellbook in his gear its not unreasonable to disallow it.

Just let him find a book at some point during this next adventure, or ask him to wait until the break between this adventure and the next (assuming there is one) to either take his wizard lvl or to level up at all.

Just my thoughts.