Classes > Mages

Wizard - Witch - Sorcerer - Necromancer

Mages or Magicians are academic scholars trained in harnessing the metaphysical secrets of the hidden weave of energy that overlaps time and space. They are usually studious, highly literate and renowned knowledge-seekers who are most comfortable in the libraries of their towers or out hunting for rare magical artifacts and new spellbooks to study.

Mages are motivated by power, or sometimes by sheer curiosity, into all sorts of outlandish adventures in hostile lands and catacombs and other planes. Being a Magician requires good literacy, as well as the ability to feel and manipulate the mana that permeates their surroundings the way one would manipulate their own limbs. Due to the arduous nature of this profession, all mages, regardless of motivation, origin, affiliation or intent, are defined by their recognition of a specific intra-planar system of spell slots and spell ranks put together eons ago.

They get to choose 1 new talent at levels 4, 8, 12, 16, 19, but may not exceed 20 in any stat this way until after level 20.

Characters with less than 13 INT can't be Mages. Armor disables their ability to cast magic, and they all suffer from a stacking -4 accuracy skill penalty when attacking physically. +4 Knowledge (Magic) +4 Use Magic Device

Level 1: Wizards and Necromancers start with a Spellbook in which two level one spells of their choice are inscribed. The art of using a spellbook, whether simply reading the secret runes that make it up, casting from it or copying to and from it, is a closely guarded secret which separates them from other classes, and so only they can perform said actions. Inscribing a spell from a scroll is a very delicate process that involves retracing the exact calligraphic movements of the runes and tediously redrawing the complex diagrams and figures that accompany them- it generally takes only one hour and 50 gp worth of specialized spellbook ink for every spell scribed into the book, as the scroll is accompanied by translation and margin notes intended to help the layman. Copying a spell from a spellbook takes longer (two hours per spell level) as the Mage has to make sense of what's written on the page without aid.

Level 5: Mages gain the ability to control magic, consciously choosing creatures and objects to spare from area of effect attacks. When casting an area or beam spell, they may declare which discrete living targets to immunize from the effect. Mages also gain the ability to counterspell, interrupting a target's spellcasting by quickly casting the same spell, which nullifies the effect of both spells. They can also burn any spell slot one level higher than the spell they intend to counter if a mirror spell is not available.

Level 10: Mages begin to reflexively reabsorb magical energy. If a spell the mage casts is resisted by its target, they may roll a 1d6 dice for a chance to restore the spell's slot. This effect is further upgraded to a 2d6 chance at 15 (roll 1-2), and a 3d6 at 20 (roll 1-2-3).

Level 15: Mages achieve casting mastery, allowing them to cast a spell at one slot level higher than its desired effect to not have to perform gestures or utter any words. This allows them to bypass the effects of silence spells, as well as use magic with bound limbs or when otherwise incapacitated or submerged. The only requirement is being conscious, and able to imagine the words or gestures with their mind's eye.