The Magic in Wizards (or, how to make arcane spellcasters more "alien")

[Psionicist]

Player: I think I want my new character to be a wizard.
*silence*
DM: Are you sure?

I few days ago I read parts of the Book of Exalted Deeds. I noticed the Vow of Poverty feat and read the description. If you don't have the Book of Exalted Deeds, in short Vow of Poverty grants you a whole lot of power if you never, ever use material possessions again, including magical items. In fact, the only thing you can use is cheaper clothes. Because of obvious reasons, the Vow of Poverty is not for everyone. Sure, it's technically cool. But on the other hand, most players want their weapons and magical items, so very few actually take the vow of poverty.

What if Wizards or Sorcerers were like this? To cast the spells, you must sacrifice something so only very, very few actually want something to do with the arcane. But those who does, man they will be powerful (or a better word is "special"). Arcane magic exists, it's fantasy, but I don't think it should be for everyone. Wizards should be rare because most people (and players) don't think it's worth the high cost. Yet, wizards should be as fascinating as they have ever been... The real world equivalence is probably astronauts. Absolutely not for everyone, but interesting nonetheless.

Any ideas how to accomplish this?

 

[Anabstercorian]

Any ideas how to accomplish this?

http://www.pvponline.com/archive.php3?archive=20030322

 

[Psionicist]

http://www.pvponline.com/archive.php3?archive=20030322

Oh my.

 

[Dirigible]

There's a book called Tigana where they had to cut off their ring and middle fingers to work magic.

One of my settings, arcane magic had to be drawn directly from Beholders' wizards had little floating baby beholder familiars, and they grew more and more mutated the more they cast; eventually these grotesqeu nodules appeared on their heads and opened into eyes, their heads sweled in size, their mouths widened, and finally their bodies withered away and fell off like stalks.

Or you could got he Wheel of Time/Cthulhu route, and have it drive them gradually insane.

Or, as in PbP, the wielding of magic could render them lustless, asexual creatures. Oo, or even better, gradually mutate them into androgynes.

 

[Dragonblade]

I read a fantasy novel once where the power you had as a mage was related to how much you were willing to sacrifice of something you loved dearly. And you really had to love it too. The more you loved it and the more it cost you to sacrifice it, the more powerful you were.

I think it was "Black Sun Rising". One of the most powerful and immortal sorcerers in the world gained his power by ritually sacrificing his beloved wife and children. And he was one of the "good" guys! Although definitely more of a dark anti-hero. Very dark.

It would be hard to implement in an RPG, but made for a fascinating character in the novel.

 

[Dirigible]

It would be hard to implement in an RPG, but made for a fascinating character in the novel.

Mmmm, make the PCs squirm.

It might work in Riddle of Steel, where you have stats that represent what is important to the character; that could give you a yardstick for how much wizardness they got form what they sacrificed.

 

[Gez]

About pVp, it's not that a joke.

It's a bit (heh) the idea behind the Eunuch Warlock in OA. (Except the class is badly underpowered.)

You had that also in Ars Magica, the longevity potion that magus create for themselves strike them definitively barren.

The idea that, to practice magic, people have to forsake sexuality is an old, and common one. For some, it's a way to channel energy from a natural magic (seduction, charnel pleasure, and creation of new life, aren't all these things magical?) toward an unnatural one (farseeing, divining, exorcisiong, healing, hexing, or, in D&D, fireballing).

 

[Snoweel]

Yep.

Say that the practice of magic withers the gonads in both men and women. Boom. Power at a price.

The idea that, to practice magic, people have to forsake sexuality is an old, and common one.

Herein lies one D&D's greatest ironies.

 

[Psionicist]

An idea is that you have to sacrifice a limb or parts of your body to gain access to magic.

Say, if you are crippled you can cast abjuration spells, so you can protect yourself.

If you have no tounge and cannot talk, enchantment and telepathic spells for communcation.

No arms and therefore no sword? Why, evocation or conjuration.

Hmm. Comments?

 

[Breakstone]

I always liked the idea of magic temporarily or permanently aging you.

I was pondering implementing something like this in a campaign:

Wizards can combine spells (so that they cast multiple spells at once), but for each stacked spell they suffer a -1 to strength, dexterity, and constitution for 1 day/highest spell level. This penalty to stats represents sudden aging, and can be accompanied by gray hairs, wrinkles, and a tendency to tell long, rambling stories.