OSR: Free-Form Wizard

This post is a part 2 to my previous post on Free-Form Magic, specifically how to play a Wizard where magic is based on the aforementioned system.

by Olya Didenko (DeviantArt)

How did you unlock your capacity to do magic?

1d8

1- You were tested by a Magus, who told you that you had the potential to become one of them. You believed him and after training for many years, you unlocked your powers.

2- In a moment of stress or trauma, you subconsciously used magic, enforcing your will on the world.

3- You took some extremely powerful (and likely illegal) drugs and it cracked your mind open, unlocking your magical abilities.

4- You nearly died, but survived. When you returned, you found you had magical powers.

5- You were fumbling around when you were young and tried to replicate a feat of magic you didn't understand or fully comprehend and unbelievably, something actually happened.

6- Your abilities naturally developed, first emerging around 1d4 [1= When you were an toddler; 2= When you were about seven; 3= Just after puberty; 4= When you were almost fully grown.]

7- You wanted to be magical more than anything and so you attempted a wildly dangerous experiment in the hopes of unlocking your magical abilities. It worked, even though it either almost killed you, burned down the building you were in, got you branded a ne'er-do-well and trouble-maker or some combination of all four.

8- You made an ill-advised bargain with a powerful being, blacked out and woke up with the ability to make things explode with the right turn of phrase.

Where did you learn magic?

1d6

1- At a Wizard's Monastery. You joined a monastery that trained not religious brothers, but Wizards and imbibed their methods and style of casting. You are a Chartered Wizard, with legal permission to use magic and institutional backing.

2- At a Temple. You joined a Temple to the local God. They trained you to be a priest, but to use your other gifts as well for the glory of the Deity. You are a Chartered Wizard, backed by the ancient pedigree of the priesthood and the reigning Deity.

3- In a foreign land. You are either a foreigner yourself or you went abroad and learned magic in a distant lands. Your theories and method of casting will either be thought of as exotic and intriguing or backwards and ridiculous. You are an Outsider Wizard, inhabiting a legal grey area. In some places you might be a criminal, in others a mere curiosity, in others you might be welcomed.

4- From an old Hedge-Witch. Before the modern methods of Wizard Monasteries and Colleges, before Temples started recruiting and training Wizards, all those with talent learned High Art at the feet of the master, same as any apprentice. You learned from an older, more experienced spellcaster. You are an Outsider Wizard.

5- From a outlaw Mage. You learned from an Outlaw Mage, one who practiced a forbidden type of magic. You must conceal your true heritage or be killed on the spot. You are an Outlaw Wizard.

6- From a Spirit. You were instructed by a Spirit, in exchange for a contract or pact. Depending on the spirit you contracted to help you, you could be either an Outsider or Outlaw.

What debt do you owe?

1d4

1- Service. You owe the organization or master who trained you X years of service (as determined by the Referee). You either have some time before you must return, you are performing this service in installments or you are truant and in breach of your oath.

2- Money. It costs a wagonload of coin to train someone to use magic. You owe someone important a vast sum.

3- Favors. You promised your teacher that should they need your help, you would be there.

4- Loyalty. You owe your teacher nothing, but he saved you. Just as he helped you, you will be there to help him.

by lovetina072

Wizard

Starting HP: 1/3 Con

Fighting Spirit: N/A

Atk Modifier: +1 per Magi level, max +4.

Starting Equipment: Robes or traveling clothes, book of arcane lore, staff or wand, impressive hat, dagger or sling

1: Spellcasting, Spell Damage, Affinity, Mana Dice, Magical Chaos

2: Ritual Casting, Reactive Defense

3: Push Forward, Affinity Increase

4: Soul Drain, Death Curse

5: Astral Warrior, Affinity Increase

6: Learned Resistance, Partial Success

7: Dual Affinity, Affinity Increase

8: Archmagi

9: Master of the Mystic Arts

1:

Spellcasting: You can use magic. As an action, tell the Referee what you wish to do and he will tell you if it is possible. If it is, he will call for a roll. Roll 1d20+COG modifier. If you equal or exceed the DC the Referee has set for the attempt, your spell succeeds. On a failure, your spell fails to accomplish what you wish. Additionally, if you roll a natural "1" on your d20 roll, your spell automatically fails.

Spell Damage: When you make a magical attack with 'Spellcasting', the damage such an attack does equals 1d6 damage, plus an additional 1d6 damage for each MD spent to cast the spell.

Affinity: Select one element of magic or one school of magic. When attempting a spellcasting roll that involves that school or interacts with that element, you may add +1 to your roll. See below for what affinities you may select.

Mana Dice: You have a collection of d6s which are referred to as Mana Dice (MD). You can spend Mana Dice to enhance the power of your spells, rolling as many as you wish and adding them to your spellcasting rolls. You must roll your d20 and Mana Dice at the same time. Mana Dice burn out on a "5" or "6" and return after a long rest.

Magical Chaos: When you roll a Spellcasting check, there is a chance, depending on the number of rolled on the d20 or the total number of d20+Mana Dice, you can trigger Chaos or Corruption. When you trigger Chaos, you cause an additional magical effect, but your spell still works. When you trigger Corruption, your spell fails and triggers an alternative magical effect. The Referee should determine what these effects are, either by distorting the intended effect of the spell or rolling on a random magical effects table. To see if you rolled Chaos or Corruption, consult the table below.

2:

Ritual Casting: If you attempt a spellcasting roll as part of a ritual, you may receive certain bonuses based on the level and skill of your preparations. Common or basic preparations may grant +1 per step taken. More difficult, thorough or extravagant preparations may grant +2-4 per step taken as determined by the Referee.

A common preparation might include writing down a spell on a scroll or book, creating a magical circle to contain or channel energies, or to have multiple casters assist with the casting. An extravagant preparation might include ceremonial washings, meditating for days to clear the mind, extensively warding the area to drain off residual magic or offering expensive or mana-rich sacrifices to fuel the ritual.

Reactive Defense: As a reaction on your turn, you can attempt to protect yourself by making a spellcasting roll.

3:

Push Forward: As long as you have at least 1 MD, you add up to an additional +X MD to add to a spellcasting roll, where X is 1/2 your Wizard Level. You may do this X/Day, where X is your COG modifier (min 1).

Affinity Increase: Increase one of your existing Affinities by +1 or gain a new one. You can only select one of the Elements of Magic.

4:

Soul Drain: You can drain your Fighting Spirit (FS) or Hit Points (HP) and convert them into Mana Dice. 2 points of FS or HP equals 1 Mana Die.

Death Curse: If at 0 or less HP, you can cause yourself to take X damage, where X is how much damage you take, and gain X MD. Even if the resulting damage would instantly kill you, you can still attempt your spell before you die.

5:

Astral Warrior: As long as both spells don't require you to focus on maintaining them, X times per day, where X is your CON modifier, you can cast two spells on your turn.

Affinity Increase: Increase one of your existing Affinities by +1 or gain a new one. You can only select one of the Elements of Magic.

6:

Learned Resistance: When taking defense action against a spell or a magical ability that involves one of your Affinities, you may add your Affinity to any roll made to mitigate the effects or damage of that ability. For example, if you have an Affinity for Fire Magic and a Dragon breathes fire on you, you can add your Affinity to your saving throw to take half damage.

Partial Success: When you fail a spellcasting roll, X times per day, where X is your CHA modifier, you can gain a partial success instead. This causes half of your intended effect to occur or your spell to succeed at half effectiveness. For example, if you wanted to create an ice bridge over a chasm, the bridge only spans half the distance, or is extremely thin and fragile; or if you threw a fireball at a group of enemies, it only hits one, doing full damage, or it hits all of them, but only does half the damage it would ordinarily do.

7:

Dual Affinity: When you are casting a spell that involves multiple of your Affinities, you may add them together when attempting a spellcasting roll.

Affinity Increase: Increase one of your existing Affinities by +1 or gain a new one. You can only select one of the Elements of Magic.

8:

Archmagi: 1/Day, you can add +10 to any spellcasting roll or to a damage roll for a successful spell.

9:

Master of the Mystic Arts: When working Magic or attempting a spellcasting roll involving Magic you have an Affinity in, you cannot trigger Chaos or Corruption.

by SigneJeppeson

Affinities:

At Level 1, you may choose one of the Schools of Magic or one of the Elements of Magic to have an Affinity in.

At level 3, 5 and 7 you may choose an additional Element of Magic or increase an existing Affinity by +1.

Schools of Magic:

- Abjuration: A school specializing in defensive magics. Shields, wards, spells of protection.

- Conjuration: A school specializing in summoning objects, creatures or resources. Also the school most focused on spells used for transportation such as portals or teleportation.

- Divination: A school specializing in gathering information, especially from the future.

- Evocation: A school specializing in combat magics, especially the manipulations of the elements; highly effective magic often derided for it's simplicity and choice of form over function.

- Illusion: A school specializing in manipulation of light and the senses/minds of others.

- Transmutation: A school specializing in transforming one substance into another. Also involves the study of shapeshifting, transformation and life-extension.

Necromancy is not thought of as a true school of magic, but a mongrel school that steals from other schools but has no strict focus. This is an elitist perspective, but it holds merit. Additionally, necromancy is illegal, so it doesn't have a rich academic tradition, for obvious reason.

Elements of Magic:

The Ultimates:

- Select one of the following: Life, Death, Souls, Mind, Force, Words*

The Fundamentals:

- Select one of the following: Time, Space, Magnetism, Gravity, Light

The Elements:

- Select one of the following: Fire, Water, Earth, Air, Wood, Metal, Ice, Lightning, Smoke.

The Ephemerals:

- Select one of the following: Plants, Animals, Words*, Information, Emotions

*Depending on your school of thought or tradition, some consider words merely a tool to express ideas, while others consider them more important than almost anything else.

by chasestone

Other Wizard Skills:

The following are all skills a Wizard can learn. They must be picked up like any other skill and are not learned automatically by leveling up. A Wizard character starting at a higher level than one can start with X of these skills, where X is 1/2 his level (round down). Note that unless the Referee states otherwise, the rules for these abilities only apply to Free-Form Wizards and may change depending on the campaign and magic system.

Unbinding Spells. When an enemy Wizard targets you with a spell, as a reaction, you can attempt to unbind the spell. When you do this, you must roll a number equal or greater than your opponent's spellcasting roll. If you succeed, you unbind the spell, causing it to produce no effect. If you fail, the spell takes effect as normal.

For example, Jasha Glitterflame attempts to turn Markus Sternshield into a toad. Jasha rolls 1d20[3]+(COG Modifier)[1]+(Relevant Affinity)[+3] for a total of 7. Markus rolls to unbind the spell and rolls 1d20[1]+(COG Modifier)[1]+(Relevant Affinity)[+2] for a total of 4. Markus becomes a toad!

Countering Elemental/Physical Spells. A Wizard can counter a damaging spell or a spell that affects them in a physical roll by striking back, as a reaction, with the opposite element or an opposing force to neutralize the effect of the spell cast.

For example, Cinnamon Jane fires a blast of fire at Gloaming Myrtle, who counters with a jet of conjured water. They both roll 1d20+(COG Modifier)+(Relevant Affinity) and if their spellcasting rolls were successful, they compare the damage they would have dealt. If Jane's roll was higher, Myrtle takes the difference in damage. For example, if Jane did 6 damage and Myrtle's water jet only did 4, then Myrtle takes 2 damage. If Myrtle's water jet did 5 damage and Jane's only did 2 however, then Myrtle would take no damage.

Storing Power. Wizards can store power inside of certain materials. Gemstones can naturally hold mana, which makes them glow. A Gemstone can hold power equal to it's value. For example, a flawless 600 silver diamond can store 6 MD, while a cloudy 300 silver sapphire can only store 3 MD. Some crystals, especially white quartz, can also store mana very well. Specially warded glass and jewelry made of carefully constructed gold and silver can also store mana, but these are generally less efficient than gemstones and crystals.

Binding. Wizards rarely use their real names, instead using Aliases instead, which they refer to as "Grey Names". This is because if someone knows a Wizard's true name, they can be bound and forced to obey the one who binds them. Most other magical creatures such as Dragons, Outsiders, Sphinxes and other beings of magic can be bound if someone knows their true name.

However, even if you know such a being's true name, the ritual is not guaranteed to work and should you fail to bind such a creature, that creature will likely exact swift and terrible vengeance upon you.

Binding is ritual magic, so one does not need to be a Wizard to use it, merely possess the right equipment and knowledge. And while most Wizards scoff at the "lower disciplines", binding is simply too potent a tool to neglect, so they still use it, though sparingly. Binding is a powerful ritual, but it is not without it's serious drawbacks.

Summoning. Another common ritual, summoning is the primary means through which powerful Outsiders (Angels, Demons, Spirits, Gods) enter the physical world. While this is also ritual magic, it is extremely useful to certain types of Wizards, so it is considered honorary 'High Art'.

Magic Circles. A Magic Circle is when a group of spell-casters gather together and collectively cast a spell. When they do so, the Referee should determine the DC for the spell the Wizards are attempting to cast. The Wizards should then determine who is the leader of the circle. The leader should make a spellcasting roll, adding any relevant MD and Affinities.

The other casters in the circle should roll and add any relevant MD or Affinities. If the other casters beat the DC, they add +1 to the leader's spellcasting roll. If another caster besides the leader has an Affinity for a type of magic, he can add that roll to the result as well. If the other casters do not meet the DC set by the Referee, they contribute nothing to the ritual.

Alchemy. The lowest of the "lower disciplines", Alchemy is the most common magical art. Almost every village will have a herbalist who can brew up a few potions to cure disease, restore vitality and aid in, or prevent, pregnancy. Most big cities will have alchemy shops where alchemists sell potions that do all sorts of things, some even magical.

The best Alchemists, the "true Alchemists" as they call themselves, are seekers after knowledge, enlightenment and eternal life, but most who learn Alchemy just want to learn to make potions that will prevent baldness or ensure a better yield come harvest time.

Artifice. Another of the "lower disciplines", Artifice is inscribing objects with magical runes to enhance that item or cause it to produce magical effects. This does not require magical talent, so many non-casters practice it. Most Wizards disdain it, but there a few who practice it, as it can produce incredibly useful devices.

Channeling mana from natural sources. Magical talent is the ability to draw mana from the environment around you and utilize it to perform magic. However, this is ambient mana. In sources such as thunderstorms, volcanoes, raging seas and celestial bodies such as the Sun and Moon, there is an abundance of natural mana that could be tapped into to dramatically enhance the power of a spell or ritual.

The reason this is not usually done is because it is absurdly dangerous, especially if not done with proper equipment or preparation. It can be done though- not safely or easily and no matter how many precautions you take, the chance of spontaneous combustion or catastrophic failure is never zero, but think of the power. You'll show those fools who dared to question your genius!

by OakKs