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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Tarek" data-source="post: 347115" data-attributes="member: 6661">Why wizards are rareAnother thing that's fairly clear from reading the books is that, in general, wizards just don't get along too well. The ability to cast spells and use magic seems to be linked to willpower as well as intelligence, which means that most wizards, once they move beyond their apprenticeships, are:a> obstinateb> sure of their own correctness.which leads to c> arrogance.Look at Goblin and One-Eye. Even at the low level where they operate, even though they're fast friends, still they snipe at each other and play little games of one-upsmanship. Silent doesn't get involved because he's, well, Silent. It's hard to act arrogantly when you don't speak at all.The Taken also have rivalries, on a grand and lethal scale. The only thing keeping them in check is a power greater than theirs, the Lady.It's not correct to say that people are actively "gunning for wizards" in the Black Company world. Most people will leave wizards strictly alone. Period. The Taken might indeed search for and recruit wizards in an attempt to stretch their power, but they're not going to bother every apprentice, hermit, and hedge-witch; they're going to look for those with just enough power to be useful but not enough power to be a challenger.Remember, the situation in the Black Company books is that One-Eye, Goblin, and Silent are fighting in a counter-insurgency campaign. Most of the time, when they reveal their talents, they're already engaged in combat with people who are desperate and dangerous. When they went to Roses after Raker, however, they walked around town selling magical amulets, and nothing happened to them.The other thing is that most wizards just don't have what it takes to get past fourth or fifth level (in D&D terms). Keep a close track of the spells that Goblin and One-Eye cast in the Books of the South. Both wizards stick primarily to illusions because they're the most effective and versatile spells at their level. In fact, there's a good case to be made that most wizards are specialists in illusion or divination magics.This limit will have to be put into the rules somewhere; I'd suggest enforcing a cap on maximum starting intelligence, using the standard "point-buy" system for attributes, making sure that wizards have positive modifiers in charisma and wisdom and have only one stat between 8 and 10.Using the average of intelligence, charisma, and wisdom to determine the maximum spell level that a wizard can learn would not be a bad idea: a wizard with 16 int, 13 wis and 14 cha would be able to learn spells up to 4th level (16+13+14=14.3=14=4th), would use wisdom for bonus spells, Int for his spellcraft rolls and charisma for the save DC.Tarek Okail</blockquote>

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