D&D General Wizards are not rational/scientists

[Mind of tempest]

a wizard is involved, are you sure you can use such logic?

The dude is not wearing the skull as a hat so I doubt he is a necromancer, now the real question I why I know so much about spider bodies.

 

[Ancalagon]

The dude is not wearing the skull as a hat so I doubt he is a necromancer,

Why would a wizard wear their potion mug as a hat? You sound like warlock material to me.

 

[Mind of tempest]

Why would a wizard wear their potion mug as a hat? You sound like warlock material to me.

it is a dead demi-lich why would you make a mug out of it instead of a hat?

 

[MarkB]

See, based on the title, I thought this was gonna go in a very different direction. That is...my big problem with Wizards is that none of their mechanics actually mesh with their theme.

Sorcerers clearly have a physical tie to their magic. That's why they can literally grow wings (for Dragon sorcerers) or other fun things. Warlocks? Between the Pact/Patron divide, Invocations, and their unique approach to magic, they feel different, though I would of course like some even stronger flavor elements if possible. Bards are the ultimate versatility class, capable of being second-best at nearly anything, and pretty decent at most things. And they actually Inspire people, and actually soothe them with song or story (Song of Rest).

But Wizards? Wizards don't actually do research, it's all just handwaved. Wizards don't actually study much of anything, it's all implied and insinuated. "Oh, the new spells you got are ones you were researching," some say, but that justification applies to any class that gets spells. By those lights, a Bard is superior at research, since they can acquire spells Wizards never could.

It has always bothered me greatly that this is the case, that the Wizard's identity has been effectively offloaded entirely to its spell list and the fact that it can learn spells from scrolls. I truly, deeply wish they'd given Wizards more research-, study-, and academia-related benefits. As it stands, they're very nearly devoid of the one explicit flavor component the class is supposed to have. It would be like having Fighters that mostly don't make attack rolls due to all their abilities inducing saving throws. Or Clerics that never actually do anything religious, other than calling their spells "prayers."

Great scientists stand on the shoulders of giants. Great wizards stand on the shoulders of the less-great/lucky wizards whose spellbooks they've looted.

 

[Voadam]

I mean just look at this guy. Look carefully.

View attachment 146427
(source: We are NOT taking the wizard. )

So next time you play a wizard, consider the strong possibility that by the standards of mere mortal, your PC may be utterly bonkers.

Look closer - there is a LOT going on there.

Penguin boots.

Holstered octopus.

Spider Throne. (<Cough> Vecna </Cough>)

Belt pouch full of spiders.

Casual vomiting rave liquid into his overflowing bearded corpse head mug.

Reverse mullet with greasy scraggly thin long hair on top, shaved sides.

No eyebrows.

Black fingernail.

Not clear whether he has anything on beneath the belt pouches.

Beer gut is quite distended.

 

[HammerMan]

I have my own idea of how magic works... I make each class (in my mind if nowhere else) make different styles and feels.

MY wizards are smart and trained, but trained by rote (a call back to memorization of the past editions perhaps). So a wizard MIGHT understand the entire magic system the how of the cosmos... but they just as likely understand only the basics, but they also know the 'cheat codes'.

I think of it like this, I can be smart and rip apart the code of Super Mario Bros and make my own game with it with weird rules... but I also can download a pre made program that lets anybody with some time and patients make a new 'hack'. Both are wizard types...

Sorcerers CAN be smart too, they MIGHT understand the basics of the cosmos, but all of them even the brightest and most learned are in cheat code/pre made program mode.

 

[Ancalagon]

it is a dead demi-lich why would you make a mug out of it instead of a hat?

because if you vomit a portion inside the hollow skull of a demi-lich it gains potency, duh!

 

[Jefe Bergenstein]

That's only true for some fiction, not the majority. If you want to run a caster like that run a wild mage.

Wild mage is just corny and "lolrandom", not dark and dangerous. The problem is the worldbuilding. if magic is safe, predictable, and easy to learn (as demonstrated by the rules), why isn't EVERYONE a caster? Muh v-tude can't take it.

 

[Jefe Bergenstein]

I am not sure it's even that common, let enough "often" bite you in the ass. Isn't that a trope that appeared with the idea that a god granting miracles is Team Good and therefore anything else (witches?) must be evil? Circe or Medea seemed to be quite assured their magic would work...

Hey, if you want to take a whole day to cast a spell to make it safe, I'll accept that. D&D magic emulates D&D magic, and more or less nothing else.

 

[Voranzovin]

I've always liked the idea that wizards are perfectly sane and rational (or at least, no more or less likely to be sane then anyone else) but seem completely bonkers to the outside world, particularly when describing anything magical. A modern, educated person with a decent knowledge of physics would still find the discussions between theoretical physicists completely impenetrable--now imagine you've never even heard of Newton's three laws, and you're listening to someone describe quantum mechanics. It sounds, literally, insane.

I've always conceived of your average wizard as being tremendously arrogant as a result--after all, they understand how reality actually works, and you don't. Oh, you get magic powers from a god? That's nice. I actually understand how your god is channeling power to you--and I can stop it from happening if I want to. It fits in neatly with all the classic wizard tropes. Gandalf, after all, never bothers to explain himself to anyone who isn't also one of the Wise.