GM discussion topic!
The bard has multiclassed into wizard spell casting at level 2, enabling her to become a semi-decent spell caster with lots of spells. Now she is at level 10, and she wants to change class to the wizard.
How do you handle all the spells? Do you let her keep them? Do you wipe the slate clean and have her start over? Maybe somewhere in the middle?
That is a good question.
I guess it depends on if the spells are an essential part of the character. I honestly don’t know.
Wipe her slate clean? You mean like Amnesia?
Cool!
Isn’t that a basic move in the Daytime TV Drama-World game?
They would keep everything that is an essential part of their character. So maybe loose some spells they never use. Otherwise it is still weird. Do they cast as a 9th level wizard or level 1?
You could let them combine so keep counting old and new levels together for the purpose of preparing… She could just change into another class to keep the confusion away. It really is not the best choice in a way.
Or keep her just as a level 9 wizard for casting spells. She could still learn new moves and stuff but the spell casting doesn’t advance until level 10. That might be the best option.
Freeze her spell casting. She will still cast heck a powerful spells…
Ugh this is one more reason I don’t like the wizard/cleric classes. Multi classing into either is a pain in the butt. If you have access to them (or want to buy them from drivethrurpg) suggest that the player pick up the Mage class. Way more versatile and from what my players tell me, way more fun. No spell lists. In the case of your player then, if he went to Mage next he would probably keep a few Bard things and lose the Wizard spells.
Otherwise if your player is really set on becoming a Wizard then I’d endorse Tim Franzke’s idea.
Thanks Tim Franzke ! I had thought about this and figured it was a great source of discussion.
My own two cents is that they keep the spells, but start learning new ones like they did before, giving her wizard access to a more diverse set of spells.
Since multiclassing in wizard early basically makes you a wizard in all the important ways I would not simply make her a straight up lvl 1 wizard with some bard moves
Options
Change the move to be “a number of spells equal to your level +1 ” note that the original reads “whose total levels don’t exceed your own level+1.”
make her a lvl 1 mage instead because Delos Adamski echos my feelings
let her choose 5(ish) spells of any level. These are prepared everyday but she cannot prepare others. add a new one every(other?) level
leave her “Wizard lvl” set to 9 but she can only cast spells that match a chosen specialty (fire wizard/psychic/spirit-talker etc) write new spells to accommodate this
Wait. Ow. You don’t get the uber powerful Wizard moves when Multiclassing into cell casting. Spell casting is for beginners…
I say she gets all the level 1 wizard moves. Her effective wizard level is 9. She keeps all the bard moves that feel to be really her (so about half of them, probably the more active ones)
Tim Franzke when you say uber powerful wizard moves do you mean ritual?
Indeed
and Greater Empowered Magic. It’s stronger than you would think!
My (literally) 2 cents:
1) choose their core spells, the ones that define them as a wizard. Those are cantrips for them.
2) in any case, let the player decide how does it work from now on.
Or if you kill them off then it’s not a problem anymore 😛
Is there a fictional reason behind the change of class, or is it the player looking for more variety?
It is more of a Level 10 thing i think.
It’s just a discussion, so tell us how you would play it
I’d play it depending on what their character was doing!
If they’re just resetting due to the level 10 mechanics, I’d try and find a cool reason for this in the fiction, and follow it from there. Are they:
* developing into a new kind of mage due to their mastery of magic? Grab the Mage class, maybe custom moves, drop spells
* retiring into a grand old wizard? Keep the spells, but gain ailments due to age, or shove out spells for moves involving teaching others/ being a wise-ass elder dude who don’t take no shit
* gaining in power due to dark secrets? Maybe they’ve struck a pact with a demon, or eat goblin hearts? Compendium Class time! Reset spells and make them do quests to get powerful but dark magics.
All depends on the character 🙂
but that was not the question Ian.
Ah, I misunderstood. Thanks Tim! They’re simply changing class rather than doing the level 10 mechanics of “change into another class” thing? Why not just keep the spells then?
I’m MUCH more interested in all the shenaningans adventured through to get to Lvl 10 in the first place. There is surely much more to this character than the cumulative Bard advanced moves and Wizard spells.
Are there any other player WIzards? How have their experiences in-play shaped the setting canon?
I want to know HOW the character is tied into the setting, what fronts have transpired and what bonds have been created. What is in store for this character now at the high-end of their adventuring career?
Then I could start making decisions about how to best accomodate the player’s desire to change classes to the wizard.
I think maintaining continuity is critical. I can’t see any reason to do this except to gain the wizard moves, and because she’s level 10 and it’s decision time. Therefore if keep all the existing wizard stuff as is (spells known, spell level, effective Wizard level) and drop all but the essential bard stuff. It seems clear she having more fun being a wizard right now, and this keeps character continuity.