Party with no Arcane Caster.

[MaxKaladin]

Well, I just found out I'm losing a player. It's not anything I did, just real life intruding.

Problem is, he's the wizard. The party is currently exploring an island once conquered and controlled by a bunch of high level wizards who left all sorts of wierd magic stuff behind. D&D generally seems to assume a arcane magic user is present. The party is left with a ranger, barbarian, thief and a cleric to deal wih this highly magical outside without a wizard or sorcerer. They're about 6th level.

It'll require I find a way to write him out.

It'll require some level of toning down the opposition to compensate for no 'magical artillery'.

Anyone have any thoughts to share on a party without a wizard or sorcerer?

 

[trentonjoe]

We do it all the time. We have played with multiple parties that can't cast ANY SPELLS and even a couple of all fighter type games.

I find it very fun (and quicker during combat). I would make a couple of suggestions though.

1) Figure out a way the party can identify magic items. Gets annoying if you don't.

2) Don't use alot of Mages against them. They become almost mysterious if you go a month or two without fireballs. It is almost like the players forget about them!

3) BE careful of WIll saves. Hold person and similar spells gets to be very dangrous when there is no dispel magic.

4) HOrdes of cannon fodder get in the way mroe wihout the bazooka capabilities of your standard 5th level + mage.


Good luck!

 

[Pyske]

Mysterious magical island? Sounds like just the place to find a couple use-activated items that boost Knowledge (Arcana) and Use Magic Device. Maybe even a wand of identify or analyze dweomer.

Need dispel magic? Call the cleric. Arcane items? Call the Rogue. Need teeming hordes killed? Wade through them, or find a Necklace of Missiles.

Mages. Bah. Who needs em?

. . . . . . . -- Eric

 

[Mustrum_Ridcully]

If you play D&D 3.Edition, remember that it is not thief, but Rogue. And the rogue has: Use Magic Device. This can make some things easier.
It does not help ultimately in identifying magic (but you can activate magic items blindly with UMD, so this might be enough)
Skill Focus UMD seems to be a nice idea now, but a bit to late (next feat at 9th level...)

Then, consider becoming the leaving wizard an NPC for some time, until he dies horrible ( ) or changes sites. ("So much magic, I will use it for conquering the world and becoming a liche." insert evil laugh here Work with me, flee, or die within the next 12 seconds.) (Hehe, alternately, you could exchange him with a doppelganger)

But I wouldn`t worry to much about the damage dealing capacity of the group. It might seem easier throwing a fireball at an enemy group as cleaving, whirlwinding or whatever else you might be able to do, but it is still an option, and if the Cleric buffs the PCs well enough.

Mustrum Ridcully

 

[Falcon]

I have been running a low-magic campaign for nearly a year now, where the most powerful sorcerer the party had was lvl 2. There are no wizards in my campaign, unless they are resurrected through spell-book manipulation and some ancient artifacts, so myu setting is a bit different than yours, but I can at least pass on some of what I have learned and do regarding this. The current party is Hum ftr4/rog3, elf rog6, hum cler6, hum ftr3/rng3/Beserker1.

1) I agree that will save spells can devastate a party unless there is a cleric who has a chance to make the saves. Try to use spells that test the abilities of the players---invisibility, summon monster, darkness, etc. Don't circumvent the players entirely, or else they and their characters may end up feeling helpless and hopeless--not good for heroes.

2) Add unique magical items that enhance some of the areas lacking in the party (swords that are stored with certain abilities available on command, such as being able to Dispel Magic--make up a history with the sword and it becomes part of the lore of the game--amulets that shed light and add magical protection, etc., etc.

3) I adjusted the cleric spell-lists to include some arcane spells that they normally wouldn't have access to. Players who chose clerics were allowed to swap out certain divine spells for arcane spells, so maybe you can whip something up here.

4) Don't forget the cleric's ability to channel their turning energy into other effects. I have allowed my players to get real creative with this and it has been pretty fun for all involved.

5) Potions can really, really help...

5) More specifically, perhaps the wizard dies defending them, and the party finds some nifty things on his person (like real useful potions, rings, etc...)

 

[bwgwl]

if the players begin feeling the void in the party, there's always multi-classing.

one of them may suddenly have a magical epiphany and gain the intuitive spellcasting of the sorcerer class.

 

[Crowe]

I've been GM'ing a Loooong campaign ( about 14 Months now..) and the Party consists of..

A Monk, A Psi-Warrior, A Druid, a Pure Rogue and a Rogue/Assassin.

All the "Spell" Stuff is dealt with by the Druid, with the Psi powers of the Warrior as back up. The two Rogues deal with items..

So far they havent been doing badly at all. Plus, having them pay for Identify spells and such like helps keep the party funds in a nice flow...


So no.. i dont think its a crisis losing an Arcane caster.

 

[drothgery]

At 6th-level, the Cleric should be beginning the transition from the melee-specialist and sometime healer of the typical sub-5th-level cleric to the spellcaster in heavy armor of the typical greater than 10th-level cleric. Especially if the cleric has the Magic domain (or something similar, like Spells in FR), you might end up with a more magic-oriented cleric than normal.

 

[bmcdaniel]

Which spells

Falcon-

Which spells specifically did you transfer from the Sor/Wiz to the Cleric list? I am about to start a campaign with no arcane casters at all. So far, the only really important one I can think of that must be transferred over is Identify.

BM

 

[MaxKaladin]

Wow, thanks for all the advice!

(BTW, you're lucky I remembered Wizard instead of Magic-User )

It seems like I have plenty of options for compensating,which is good. I suspect most of it will fall on the cleric as she is a cleric of magic with the magic domain. I'll have to look into this clerics channeling thing.

And we may not need to compensate at all. One of the older and most experienced players wants me to let him have a 2nd character so he can bring in a new wizard. I'm still thinking about that one.