Wizard or Sorcerer Spells as an Extension of Personality

[El Mahdi]

I like the idea of a theme also. I always enjoyed the spell books in Dragon Magazine (especially by Ed Greenwood but also others) that had a theme to them. If its okay for NPCs, why not PCs!?

I will allow a player in my games to change any factor of a spell as long as it doesn't change it's impact on gameplay. When a player really gets in to personalizing a character this way, everyone wins.

 

[Alaxk Knight of Galt]

Things we lost in the 3.X Fire

So sadly, this is one of the biggest things lost from 3.5 to 4th. I remember playing a short lived sorcerer who specialized had a blade them to all of this spells. It was very fun hunting through countless books hunting down wacky spells to make blades dance around the battlefield.

With the power system, sub-par but interesting spell choices are effectively gone. Sure, you can have a fire theme for you Wizard, but you are severally limited in the number of fire spells you have at your disposal. My blade-mage would be impossible to reproduce.

Another mage idea of old that is gone is the Infomage concept. A character who overcomes foes with superior knowledge, spells that gather information, and planning.

Even with my love of 4th edition, I do miss the radical and inventive ways to use odd spell choices to build upon a character's theme.

 

[VanRichten]

The best wizard I ever had the opportunity to play was named Xavier. He was a scholar from the school headed by the Simbul in Aglarond. An orphan by birth (not knowing he was the child of The Simbul) he broke out in the world in search of knowledge.

He was big on the knowledges of Arcana, The Planes, and the History of the Realms. However he was more than just a scholar, he was also a crafter by trade mostly dealing with items of magic but also of alchemical objects. In his view magic existed not only to peform great feats of combat and other such things. But to also make life around you much more comfortable.

I had this character carry bath salts, scented soap, a loofa sponge, chocolate covered strawberries, and other sorts of things that made life easier that he had come across or created. Alchemy is such a wonderful thing. One case in part of his career the party decided they were aching and needed a bath. With none in sight he and the Priest of Gond devised an idea. They cast several Walls of Stone to form what looked like a stone like bath, very large I might add. Create Water was used to fill the now created bath, and then Xavier struck it with a couple of Fireballs. Wahlaa! A hot tub. Talk about a great time.

I played this character fairly metrosexual and mind you I had a lot of fun doing it. Even more interesting was how the character evolved. Being a crafter he was always one to look at things and take them to a point of flair no others had thought. In part of his career he had decided to create a pair of Bracers of Armor but rather than making them look as a normal old set he crafted them to look like a pair of small dragons that were wrapped around his forearms. Each one also had its mouth open and could hold a wand, leaving his hands free. A special enchantment was placed allowing him to use the wands as if they were in his hands, a minor effect of course but great for flair. In part of an adventure the party he was with defeated a green dragon who had stolen two silver dragon eggs, and the green destroyed them. Well not too long after this the mother appeared. In her great pain and anguish she looked upon this party and noticed that Xavier had these bracers that looks like dragons. She then made an offer he could not refuse, and the spirits of her young enterred his bracers. This did two things: 1. Xavier was now Lawful Good by alignment due to the influence of the dragons upon him, and 2. He could animate them as a form of construct familiar, their breath weapon being what the wand was in their mounths, and of course using the charges in it. This was constructed using a Spark Guardian from the Complete Warrior.

In the latter parts of playing this character after becoming an Archmage he began to research becoming a Spellsword, but before doing this started following the path of a Paladin of Mystra. The idea was upon becoming a Spellsword he would erect an order of knights known as the Paramanders, Knights of the Silver Flame (I adapted this from another D&D world). A group of Wizard/Paladins of Mystra sworn to protect her ideals, and support the church. A little creativity was put into changing the Paladin to fit this concept (Remove Disease became Break Enchantment, a few other ideas). Imagine if you will a Wizard/Paladin who wore mithril full plate, with no penalty to casting! Quite exilerating.

All in all this character's personality shaped every bit of how he looked at magic. Though he was a generalist wizard, it was what he used it for. It wasn't all about combat, it was about making life better for him and his companions. And in the end it was about protecting his companions and standing for what he believed in. It made him a scholar, a leader, and brought him to the love of his life, Kira.

One of the best characters I had the pleasure of playing, and the joy of creating.

 

[Noumenon]

A special enchantment was placed allowing him to use the wands as if they were in his hands, a minor effect of course but great for flair.

I think that really adds to a themed character. Not just imagining "ooh my guy looks cool," having a mechanical effect makes it "real." Even if it's minor.

 

[Oni]

I very much like the idea of thematic spellcasters, maybe a little more narrow in focus but with a more personalized take on magic. Unfortnately dnd isn't great for this, as narrowing focus penalizes with out benefit and it can be difficult to make changes to spells without affecting balance. For instance changing a fireball to acid or necrotic damage is a fair difference. I wish there was more in the rules regarding customizing powers, for instance ways to swap energy type on powers without hurting game balance, perhaps with alternate die sizes based on type or something.

 

[The Green Adam]

I've been doing this sort of thing for a good 25+ years now.

A long time ago, in a campaign far, far away , there weren't hundreds of books full of spells and magic items. My players and I developed the concept that new spells and magic items were hard to come by but customizing tried and true ones was somewhat easier. Therefore, for example, the variant of Fireball learned by most Human wizards is the one listed in the rulebooks. The Elven Fireball shoots further, is more accurate, has a smaller blast radius and does slightly less damage. There are a number of Flame Tongue Swords but the one enchanted by the Dwarven Smith of the Burning Hill can release a jet of flame one a day.

In the future of that same campaign world (in a campaign I ran about 10 years ago), for an apprentice Magic User to graduate to full Wizard status they had to create their own variant of a spell. This meant that at First Level every mage has 1 'unique' First Level spell. As the character grows in levels, the spell grows with them, often becoming something of a signature move.

As time went on, many Mages went on to building a theme around their signature spell and received a bonus to casting spells of the nature. More diversified casters were more flexible but often less potent.

AD

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

-duplicate post-

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

I've always had some kind of theme to my spellcasters, though it may not be as obvious as a Fire mage...

Sometimes, like my spellcaster Ray Orbusson (specializing in rays & orbs...including the Reach Spell feat), its horribly, horribly obvious. (Yes, he does have ranks in Perform: Sing, Perform: Lute, and wears glasses made with dark, optical grade blue sapphire...)

Some simply have a signature spell- a concept strengthened by PrCls like Force Missile Adept.

With some others I've considered going as far as getting an Innate spell...but no 3.X PC caster I've had has ever progressed that far.

As for Spell Thematics- I also don't think it warrants a feat. I've been considering making it into something that is purely Spellcraft driven.

 

[Mathew_Freeman]

I've tried to do this a couple of times, but I've always ended up letting myself down with not really following it through.

I'll certainly be encouraging my players to give me some more verbal description rather than just trotting out the names of spells - I'd like my games to have a bit more wonder to them.

 

[icarusfallz]

I love themed characters, not just magic users, thus I created this prestige class:

Prestige Class:
Pastrymancer
Sometimes a pie is just a pie. Other times it is something special. There are many bakers in the world, and then there are the Pastrymancers. They put that extra something in their food that makes it really special. This movement is made up by a few choice souls that give new meaning to the term “comfort food,” and it is spearheaded by a dwarven chef named Evrill Doughbeard. Doughbeard’s recipes seem almost magical, and it is even rumored that some of them are given to him by a shady, otherworldly being. Pastrymancer is also somewhat of a misnomer, as a character with levels in this class are overall wizards with ALL sorts of food.
Requirements:
To qualify to become a Pastrymancer, a character must fulfill all of the following criteria.
Skills: Craft (alchemy) 5 ranks, Craft (Cooking or Baking) 5 ranks, Spellcraft 5 ranks.
Feats: any Item Creation Feat
Special: Must have a copy of Doughbeard’s Cookbook, and have studied it for at least one week.

Class Skills:
The Pastrymancers class skills (and the key ability for each skill) are Concentration (Con), Craft (Int), Heal (Int), Knowledge (History, Int), Knowledge (The Planes, Int), Sense Motive (Int), Spellcraft (int), and Spot (wis).
Skillpoints at each level: 3+Intelligence Modifier

Class Features:
All of the following are class features of the Pastrymancer Prestige Class.
Weapon and Armor Proficiency: Pastrymancers gain no proficiency with any weapon or armor.
Spells Per Day/Spells Known: At each level, a Pastrymancer gains new Spells per day (and spells known, if applicable) as if she had also gained a level in a spellcasting class to which she already belonged. She does not, however, gain any other benefit a character of that class would have gained.
Comfort Food: The Pastrymancer may choose ONE of the following abilities per level. They can be performed a number of times per day equal to the Pastrymancer’s Int bonus, but only one may effect a given character per day. Comfort Foods are as follows (and duplicate the abilities of the following spells):
Goodberry Tarts (Goodberry, Drd 1st)
LemonAid Bars (Aid, Cleric 2nd)
Venomless Snake cookies (Neutralize Poison, Cleric 4th)
Bedtime Snack Cakes (Healthful Rest, Cleric 1st)
Cowpies (Bull’s Strength, Wiz 2nd)
Guardian Cupcakes (Resist Energy Wiz 2nd)
Light and Flaky Bread (Levitate, Wiz 2nd)
Not Chocolate Scones (Disguise Self, Wiz 1st)
Kitchen Defense: While a Pastrymancer gains no proficiency with weapons, she does gain the ability to use makeshift weapons in a kitchen environment. Pans and such are considered clubs, knives are daggers, etc. Also, while in a kitchen environment, a Pastrymancer is considered to have a +3 dodge bonus to her AC (from knowing how to duck behind cutting boards and such).
Bonus Feat: Brew Potion
Fire Resistance: Due to the intense heat associated with baking, a Pastrymancer gains Fire Resistance 5 at 2nd level, and Fire Resistance 10 at 4th level.
Heroes’ Feast: Once per week a Pastrymancer may prepare a Heroes’ Feast. This takes three hours and 500gp worth of ingredients.



Table 1-1 The Pastrymancer

level​

BaB​

Fort Save​

Ref Save​

Will Save​

Special​

Spells Per Day​

1st​

+0​

+2​

+0​

+2​

Comfort Food, Kitchen Defense, Brew Potion​

+1 Level of existing spellcasting class​

2nd​

+1​

+3​

+0​

+3​

Comfort Food, Fire Resistance 5​

+1 Level of existing spellcasting class​

3rd​

+1​

+3​

+1​

+3​

Comfort Food, Daily Bread​

+1 Level of existing spellcasting class​

4th​

+2​

+4​

+1​

+4​

Comfort Food, Fire Resistance 10​

+1 Level of existing spellcasting class​

5th​

+2​

+4​

+1​

+4​

Comfort Food, Heroes’ Feast,​

+1 Level of existing spellcasting class​