Here’s another attempt at compiling a Wizard without a spell list. Please tell me what you think of it so far.

Here’s another attempt at compiling a Wizard without a spell list. Please tell me what you think of it so far.

Here’s another attempt at compiling a Wizard without a spell list. Please tell me what you think of it so far.

(‘compiling’ rather than writing, as obviously most of the moves are taken from other sources: Dungeon World, the Mage class, the BC Magus class, and Monster of the Week. This is for my own use.)

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B3eN9t7beS_zbnVVeUVGcFc4cjA/view?usp=sharing

28 thoughts on “Here’s another attempt at compiling a Wizard without a spell list. Please tell me what you think of it so far.”

  3. the prestidigitation move doesn’t look much like an “official” move in shape and wording, but overall I like it. If I played a mage I would choose your version for sure.

  5. Its interesting but i am not sure if this version isnt to strong from the start, because he has a lot of things his magic can do from the start.

    Also the Wording is a bit weird with the effects. Some Questins:

    1. is “Kill yourself” a valid command? If yes this option would be in pretty much every Situation superior to the early deal damage.

    2. Can you counter every spell no matter who casts it? (Spells from Gods or “bosses” too?)

    3. What exactly do you mean with “Bar a place or portal…”? It may be a language Problem (I am no native speaker) but this seems very very vague.

    4. Can you speak with Stones or Trees from the Start?

    5. Why cant you do other Stuff with the Demon? (no Moves for that?)

    6. Why did you choose the “Take 1d4 Damage”-Option? Its relatively easy to heal damage in most cases so this sounds like a strictly better option in most circumstances than unforseen Side effects for example.

  12. ramonthe3rd

    Thanks. Prestidigitation is really a slight reworking of a D&D cantrip. I’ll think about rewording it better (at heart it’s just the idea that the wizard can do little bits of minor magic stuff without having to roll for it)

  13. I feel like this class is limited compared to the various Theme Mages Gnome7 came up with. Your moves are ONLY magic, as opposed to magic and other stuff (like the Immolator). With the listed effects being so concrete, magic becomes a swiss army knife. And if magic isn’t available, counterspell the magic block.

  15. Vincent Shine

    Thanks this is the kind of feedback I need. Part of the problem is just trying squeeze it all into a few words, but you’re probably right about some overpoweredness.

    1. The spell that inspired this does specify a command that isn’t “directly harmful” to the target

    2. I’ll have to think about this, though it feels like one of the things with Powered by the Apocalypse rules is that the dice kind of tell you how powerful something is, so if you roll a 12, well, I guess it wasn’t that powerful a god afterall. Still, this move might need some limits.

    3. Bar just means ‘stop from entering’, I took the wording from Monster of the Week.

    4. Maybe. Something the people at the table would decide, I think.

    5. I figure summon monster could include a demon, or for a more serious summoning, a ritual…for this spell the daemon is more for colour and role-playing opportunity than anything else.

    6. You think it’s not enough? How about 1d6? I’m guessing a mage would have, what…18HP at the most, probably.

    The Monster of the Week rules that I partially took this idea from do have more limits than are here…I’ll have to think about these a bit. Thanks again.

  16. Marshall Brengle

    I just copied the text of the summon monster spell on the Wizard’s spell list, but now that you mention it the hireling rules are kind of fun…maybe with a more ‘monster-ish’ list of costs.

  17. Nicolas Bohnenberger

    Thanks. I really like the the Monster of the Week playbooks…one of these days I might work up the enthusiasm to reskin them to something more medieval fantasy (but don’t hold your breath)

  19. Adam Goldberg

    Yeah, this is an attempt at a ‘generic’ wizard which isn’t as open-ended as Jacob Randolph’s mage, but is more general and ‘D&D’ ish than his more focused mages. It’s definitely less interesting because of it being a compromise that way. I also should say that I’m a lover of the ritual move, so this magus is very flexible (with ritual) but has a limited rotes that can be used more easily in battle.

  20. What about this?

    When you focus on the fabric of magic, no words or gestures needed, choose an effect:

    – You move a small object you can see

    – You communicate your thoughts to a creature you can touch

    – You change how a single sense perceives a small object

    – You create small harmless illusions

    – You conjure a floating sphere of light, as strong as a torch, that follows you and produces no heat or noise

  24. As others have said, the summon demon option is a bit too specific. What about “A spirit whose truename you know”. This could let you summon elementals, spirits of the dead, etc… the GM can always ask you how you learned the truename of that spirit.

  27. Pretty good. Here’s what I used as abilities for sorcerers in my homebrew:

    Animate (roll +INT to animate only one elemental or undead of your level -1 that follows your orders), Arcane Shield (you get INT Armor [not +INT] as long as you are conscious), Blast (roll +INT to attack a single target (1d6 damage) or all in a 5m radius area (1 damage) with elemental or necrotic forces), Conjure (roll +INT to gather and shape an element from your surroundings), Dispel (roll +INT to remove or counter a temporary magical effect or suppress a permanent one), Illusion (roll +INT to manipulate light and sound within a 5m radius area), Weakness (roll +INT to decrease target’s STR or Damage by 1).

  28. We’ve used the Magus for one session now, and I LOVE the way that the player has tried to creatively use the “Cast a Spell” move to solve problems. This is way better than a spell list for me, thank you!

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