Insanity (UA) for wizards

[Argus Decimus Mokira]

Hey all,

So I've always liked the idea of Quiet from Mage: The Ascension. That is to say, mages who push the limits of reality start to have that reality break down for them. It's an idea I'd like to adapt for my campaign.

The basic idea is that, at 13th level (no particular reason, just unlukcy 13), a wizard gains a permanent disorder (per UA/CoC D20). Needless to say, this is a rather large negative. The question becomes, what would be a good mechanical benefit to "balance" this?

I was thinking that perhaps the spontaneous use of metamagic feats would add a "master of barely controlled forces" aspect to the class, perhaps limited to a set number of uses per day ... I'd take a look at anything though, and I'd certainly like to hear people's thoughts on the matter.

Now, to answer some preliminaries, my PCs are cool with the idea of slightly off-kilter to deranged upper level wizards - we played lots of Mage, and really like the idea. It's a lowish-magic setting; basically just reducing the frequency of spellcasters and magic items. The only other arcane casters are bards and some adepts, though a divine casting class has some of the "big boom" fire evocations available.

Thanks for thoughts and comments
-Matt

 

[Lord Morte]

The basic idea is that, at 13th level (no particular reason, just unlukcy 13), a wizard gains a permanent disorder (per UA/CoC D20). Needless to say, this is a rather large negative. The question becomes, what would be a good mechanical benefit to "balance" this?

First, the phrase 'master of barely controlled forces' strikes me as more sorcerer than wizard, but that has nothing to do with anything.

How about spontaneously casting. The wizard selects a number of known spells, equal to the wizard's Int bonus, and can swap out memorized spells to cast them. Specialists must select spells belonging to their schools. Allows the wizard to memorize a greater variety of spells each day while retaining certain core spells.

Can't recall the UA insanity rules, but I believe CoC includes a Sanity point system. Have you considered using that, so each spell slowly nibbles away the wizard's mind? More bookwork but it seems better than "*wham* at this level you go crazy", more gradual and realistic.

 

[Argus Decimus Mokira]

Spontaneously casting is indeed a pretty good idea. There are no sorcerers, thus the mechanic certainly wouldn't be overused. I do believe that is what I will go with to start - thanks for the heads up!

And I think there's something to be said for the "bam - you're nuts" approach. I plan on having it be a trial that each wizard must undergo to attain 7th level and greater ("true") spells, which ultimately drives them insane. I also cringe at the idea of having to track another stat

Thanks for the reply
-Matt