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Sample Wizard:
Yortheon Malafrid
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A staple of many Fantasy settings, Wizards (WHIZ-ardz) are powerful complements
to any adventuring group. One of the most flexible of Professions, no two Wizards
need be the same. Each Wizard's personal ability set is a story just waiting to
be told; the best Wizard characters have abilities backed up by a detailed background
establishing why a particular Wizard is more of an expert at subtle Enchantments
than at bold Conjurations, or has much more experience with pyrotechnic displays
of force than with form manipulation Magic and so forth.
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Focus
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Compared to other Professions Wizards emphasize factual knowledge and the application
of power; they are the embodiment of the Knowledge = Power concept in fact. Wizards
often rely on Magical devices such as Wands, Scrolls, and Staffs but always have
their Spell repertoire to fall back on in a pinch.
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Though initially frail and generally ineffective compared to most other Professions
due to the steep point costs of their Magic abilities, a Wizard is like a fine wine
improving with age. While other characters peak and eventually plummet into old
age a Wizard picks up steam until the end of their days. An old Wizard is a thing
to fear, whereas an old Warrior is a thing to pity.
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A player can expect their Wizard to have a difficult time of it initially, and to
be challenged by the steep price of escalating their Magical capability, but can
rest assured that the payoff will be worth the struggle.
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Means to Power
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Wizardry uses the Prepared Casting model
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Wizards learn to cast Spells, often making use of props such as incantations, gestures,
material components, etc. to assist them in the casting of their Magic. Wizards
go through various levels of understanding and capability as they advance. As they
gain experience, their ability to manipulate the metaphysical Laws of Magic increases,
as does the mental endurance required to focus their will. Essentially, as they
progress their ability to cast larger and more powerful Spells increases.
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VARIABLE POWER POOL
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Wizards use the "Prepared Casting" Model, which is VPP Based. The size
of a Wizards VPP Pool determines both how many Spells they can cast in a given day,
and how powerful those Spells can be. Thus it is imperative for a serious Wizard
to invest as many points as possible into increasing the size of their VPP. As a
rule of thumb about 60% of a Wizards Experience should be dedicated to increasing
their VPP.
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KNOWN SPELLS LIST
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Each Wizard has a list of Known Spells which are learned via the use of topical
Magic School Skills as described below. It is in a Wizard's best interests to know
as many Spells as possible, for even though they must prepare their Spells in advance
and thus can't necessarily use every Spell they know in a given day, having a large
repertoire to choose from makes a Wizard flexible and adaptable.
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SPELL SCHOOL SKILLS
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Wizards have developed a structured approach to Magic based around the Theory of
Effects, categorizing the study of Magic into "Schools" organized according
to the end effects of a Spell. In other words, Wizards very practically organize
their Spells by classifying what they actually do, regardless of the "how".
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The following table summarizes the general focus of each Spell School. These Spell
Schools are used to learn new Spells to a Wizard's Known Spell List and to create
new Spells, but never to cast a Spell. Learning and Creating Spells is covered in
detail later.
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Also included in the table are Item Creation Skills that Wizards can use to create
Magic Items, which is discussed in more detail later.
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Abjuration
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KS: Abjuration
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Spells which ward, protect, dispel, or cast out.
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A straightforward, practical, and very focused School. Augmentative (by granting
protection from harm), this School is also the most direct way to counter the abilities
of opponents.
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Signature Spells: Alarm, Banishment, Dispel Magic, Guards & Wards, Protection
from Spells
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Conjuration
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KS: Conjuration
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Spells which Summon an entity from the caster's Plane, Call an other-worldly entity
to the caster's Plane, Create new temporary objects or substances from thin air,
or create passageways thru the higher dimensions.
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A complex and diverse School, with a lot of offensive capability but also some utility
Spells.
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Signature Spells: Acid Arrow, Cloudkill, Conjured Blade, Phasedoor, Planar Binding,
Summon Monster (I-IX)
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Divination
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KS: Divination
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Spells that provide information, knowledge, or awareness.
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Perhaps the most focused of the Schools, and the most overlooked. Providing no offense
or defense, and in fact having no measurable effect other than in the mind of the
caster or those included by the Spell, Divinatory Magic can nontheless be incredibly
enabling.
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Signature Spells: Analyze Foe, Clairvoyance, Comprehend Languages, Detect Secret
Doors, Foresight, Legend Lore, Scrying, True Seeing, True Strike
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Enchantment
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KS: Enchantment
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Spells that affect the minds or behavior of others, either via subtle (Charm) or
overt (Compulsion) means.
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A much misunderstood school, many people confuse the term "Enchant" with
the idea of "Enchanting" Magic Items. Enchantment is a passive-aggressive
School, with Spells that usurp will and control from sentient targets through often
subtle means.
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Signature Spells: Charm Person, Domination, Feeblemind, Hold Person, Suggestion
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Evocation
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KS: Evocation
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Spells that manipulate energy, including pure Magical Force.
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The flashiest and most offensive of schools, Evocation is direct and very powerful,
but not very subtle or flexible. Excelling at destruction and inflicting damage,
Evocation also has some defensive capability and some utility spells via its ability
to create Force structures.
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Signature Spells: Chain Lightining, Fireball, Fire Shield, Force Sculpture, Force
Wall, Magic Missile, Meteor Swarm, Wall of Fire
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Illusion
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KS: Illusion
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Spells that affect the senses of others, either via altering the sensory characterisitics
of an existing thing (Glamer), creating false sensory input either visibly (Figment,
Pattern) or directly in the minds of others (Phantasm), or semi-real constructs
that can have a measurable physical effect structured from material from the Transitive
Plane of Shadow (Shadow). Illusion also has some spells that manipulate or interact
with the Transitive Plane of Shadow directly.
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The sister School to Enchantment, Illusion is one of the more complex and difficult
to understand Schools of Magic. Lacking the direct physical effects of the less
conceptual Schools, Illusion can nonetheless be used offensively, defensively, and
augmentively.
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Signature Spells: Blur, Color Spray, Hallucinatory Terrain, Images, Invisibility,
Mirror Images, Shadow Evocation
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Necromancy
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KS: Necromancy
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Spells that manipulate life force, the flesh of organic beings, energies from the
Plane of Negative Energy, and all things to do with the Undead.
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In many ways Necromancy is a meta-School, combining elements of all the other Schools
applied to a particular pursuit. It has some Spells that fit the definition of Abjuration,
Conjuration, Divination, Enchantment, Evocation, Illusion, or Transmutation, but
which are classified as Necromancy due to the fact that they pertain to the Undead
or Negative Energy. Subsequently, Necromancy is a very self-sufficient School with
many "toolbox" style Spells that have a very specific and narrow use.
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Signature Spells: Call Vampire, Cause Fear, Chill Touch, Control Undead, Create
Flesh Golem, Disrupt Undead, Enervation, Halt Undead, Raise Zombie Horde, Ray of
Enfeeblement, Wail of the Banshee
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Transmutation
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KS: Transmutation
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Spells that alter or enhance the properties of objects, creatures, or physical laws
of reality.
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The most practical and utility-oriented School, Transmutation Spells come in endless
variations. Perhaps the most diverse of Schools, it's also one of the easier to
understand; its purpose is to reorder the world to suit the Caster's current wishes.
It is the ultimate augmentative School, and can indirectly provide offensive and
defensive effects as well.
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Signature Spells: Bull's Strength, Change Self, Craft Iron Golem, Disintegrate,
Fabricate, Fly, Make Catman, Polymorph, Stone Skin, Water Breathing
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Univeral
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Casters Best
School Skill
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Spells that combine elements of several Schools, affect Magic directly, or involve
concepts so basic that Magic Use would not be possible without them.
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The Universal group contains Spells that belong to no one School and encompasses
both the most powerful and the most unassuming of Spells. All Spells dealing with
the manipulation of Luck or Time, direct crossing of Dimensional boundaries, or
the powerful reality warping Wish Magics fall into Universal, alongside the most
rudimentary building blocks of Wizardry.
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Signature Spells: Arcane Mark, Astral Projection, Clone, Detect Magic, Ethrealness,
Lucubration, Plane Shift, Read Magic, Symbol, Teleportation, Time Stop, Wish
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Item Creation Skills
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Artificing
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KS: Artificing
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Used to create Magic Rings, Staves, Miscellaneous Magic Items, Weapons, Armor, and
other Permanent Magic items.
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Scroll Scribing
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KS: Scroll Scribing
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Used to create Magic Scrolls holding a readied Spell needing only a few words or
a gesture (or the equivalent) to complete. Can also be used to transfer Spells from
one caster to another. (Ephemeral Magic items)
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Wandcrafting
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KS: Wandcraft
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Used to create Ephemeral Magic Wands that have a typically store a single Spell
effect and have a finite amount of Magical energy stored in them allowing them to
use 1 specific Spell a certain number of times. (Ephemeral Magic items)
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Alchemy
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KS: Alchemy
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Used to create potions, powders, special inks, and the like Alchemical Items are
always Ephemeral.
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OPTION: SKILL BASED CANTRIPS
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A GM might allow the option for Wizards to use 0 Level Cantrips without having to
allocate any points from their VPP to them via the use of their Spell School Skills.
If the GM allows this, a Wizard can cast any Cantrip on their Known Spells List
at will (subject to any initialization Limitations such as Incantations and Gestures)
by making a Skill Roll with the appropriate Spell School Skill; such Skill Rolls
suffer a flat -2 circumstance penalty.
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SPELLCRAFT
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In a campaign where the GM allows
Spellcraft, Wizards may opt to use it instead of or in addition to Spell
School Skills.
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If Spellcraft is allowed in the campaign, then Wizards that have the actual Spell
School Skills gain a +2 bonus to any Magic Skill Roll when using the appropriate
Skill for the Magic Effect in question; thus a Wizard with KS: Illusions would gain
a +2 bonus to recognize, learn, or create an Illusion Spell. This caveat helps to
keep School Skills balanced with Spellcraft.
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SPECIALIST WIZARDS
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Some Wizards opt to learn only some of the Schools of Magic, concentrating their
studies on one or more other Schools. Such a Wizard simply would not buy the School
Skills for the School that they don't wish to know how to use.
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Optionally a Character could take a Physical Limitation during character creation
indicating that they cannot learn a particular School of Magic even
if they later decide they want to, but this should only be allowed if it is in some
way actually Disadvantageous to a Character and GM's are encouraged to allow this
in moderation, perhaps one or two Ineptitudes per Wizard at the most.
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School Ineptitude: Phys Lim: Cannot Learn KS: {Magic Skill} or use Spellcraft
to Circumvent (Infrequently, Limiting)
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Disadvantage Total: - 5 Points
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METAMAGIC
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Wizards can take one or more of the Metamagic abilities described in the Vancian Magic System.
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MAGESIGHT
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Wizards can take the Mage Sight Talent as described in Fantasy HERO for 5th Edition,
but most do not bother as they can generally cast a Detect Magic or equivalent effect
from their VPP if needed.
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LONGEVITY
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Wizards may take Life Support (Longevity) at the ~200 year level or perhaps higher
if the GM allows. However, this is not appropriate to all settings.
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DISTINCTIVE FEATURE
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Working with Magic marks Wizards in subtle ways, and they might have a recognizable
aura that is detectable by those with appropriate senses. Wizards can take the following
Disadvantage if the GM allows as a personal Disadvantage.
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DF: Wizard (Not Concealable; Always Noticed
and Causes Major Reaction; Detectable Only By Unusual Senses; Not Distinctive In
Some Cultures)
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Disadvantage Value: -5 points
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Learning New Spells
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Wizardry Sample Spells may be found
here.
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One of the great strengths of Wizards is the ease with which they are able to learn
new Spells to their Known Spells List up to their maximum limit of
Spells Known per Spell Level (if any).
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A Wizard may attempt to learn any Power Construct based Spell that meets the required
restrictions defined for Wizard Spells
in the Wizardry System document, can be fit into the Spell School concept, and has
Active Points less than or equal to their VPP Pool size.
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To actually learn such a Spell takes one hour of study per Spell Level of the Spell,
and at the end of this period of time the Wizard must make a Magic Skill Roll with
the Magic School Skill appropriate to the Spell with a penalty of -1 per Spell Level.
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The Wizard may opt to study the Spell twice as long as necessary for a +1 to the
roll, with each doubling of time granting a cumulative +1; thus if the Wizard studies
a Spell for four hours per Spell Level they gain a +2 to their eventual Skill Roll
as a bonus for two doublings of time spent studying.
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If the Skill Roll is successful the Wizard adds the Spell to their Known Spell List.
If the Skill Roll is failed the Spell defies comprehension. The Wizard does not
add the Spell to their Known Spell List and may not try to learn the Spell again
until they have raised the applicable Magic Skill Roll by +1 Skill Level.
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NOTE: Level 0 Spells, also called Cantrips, count as a 0 for the purposes
of determining penalties and as a +1 for purposes of determining times and bonuses
for learning Spells.
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EXAMPLE: Jasper Maskelyne the Transmuter has discovered a scroll bearing
Eravor's Eerie Evisceration, a 5th Level Evocation Spell. Jasper studies the Spell
for 5 total hours and then makes an Evocation Skill Roll with a -5 penalty (for
being a 5th Level Spell). He succeeds (barely) and adds the Spell to his Known Spell
List. Jasper could have spent 10 Hours studying for a +1 to the Evocation Roll,
or 20 Hours for a +2 and so on.
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SIMILARITY BONUS
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If a Wizard is learning a more or less powerful version or a close variant of a
Spell they already have on their Known Spell List, then they should benefit from
a significant bonus to their Magic Skill Roll to learn that Spell. This bonus can
be anything from a +1 up to a bonus equal to the Spell Level of the similar Spell
that they already know. The closer the relationship between the two Spells, the
larger the bonus should be.
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When determining the degree of similarity, compare common specific SFX and intent,
if the two Spells share the same base Power (Energy Blast, RKA, etc), and whether
they have the same Power Modifiers as the principal considerations.
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As a general rule of thumb, if all three categories are aligned then grant 100%
of the bonus; for each category that differs deduct 33% of the bonus. Thus if two
Spells shared a common SFX and intent, such as two Lightning based Spells that were
intended to do direct damage, but built on different base Powers (such as EB, RKA,
HKA, or HA), and differed in the Power Modifiers, then no more than 33% of the possible
similarity bonus should be awarded.
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If a Wizard is learning a Spell that is identical in every particular to a Spell
they already know, differing only in dice or effect level, or with an additional
adder then the similarity bonus should be equal to the Spell Level of the version
that they already know.
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EXAMPLE: Jasper Maskelyne the Transmuter does some research into Eravar and
turns up a copy of his 300 year old Spellbook. Paying a pretty penny for the Grimoire,
Jasper snuggles down with it and finds among other things a more powerful version
of the Eerie Evisceration; Eravar's Efficacious Evisceration, which is an 8th level
Area of Effect version.
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Jasper becomes determined to learn it. Because Jasper already knows a lesser 5th
Level version of the Spell the GM grants a +5 bonus to learn the new Spell. Eight
hours of study later Jasper makes an Evocation Skill Roll at a net -3 penalty (-8
for the new Spell's Level, +5 Similarity Bonus from the old Spell's Level).
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NON-WIZARDRY SPELLS
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Wizardry is very adaptive; thus a Wizard can also try to learn any non-Wizardry
Spell based on a Power Construct that is written down in some form if it fits into
their VPP Model and can be covered by one of the Wizardry Spell Schools without
the Power Construct being altered.
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This takes twice as long as learning a Wizardry Spell and imposes an additional
-2 penalty on the resulting Magic Skill Roll.
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In the case of a non-Wizardry Spell that is Charge based but is from a system that
allows more than one Charge, reducing the Charges Limitation to 1 Charge does not
disqualify the Spell from being learned via this method as long as the Spell is
otherwise unaltered and meets all the restrictions of Wizardry.
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Of course, a Wizard can also always just create a new Spell as detailed below, mimicking
the Spells of other Magic Systems.
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EXAMPLE: Jasper Maskelyne the Transmuter meets an Elementalist Aeromancer
and is intrigued to learn one of the Aeromancers wind-based Flight Spells. The wind
effect could fit under Transmutation in the Wizardly paradigm, and Jasper has that
School Skill, so the GM allows it.
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The new Spell, unchanged other than bumping the Charges down to one, is defined
as:
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Windriding: Flight 13", x8 Noncombat, Rapid Noncombat Movement (+1/4)
(45 Active Points); Not Usable In Enclosed Spaces (-1), Extra Time (Full Phase,
Only to Activate Constant or Persistent Power, Delayed Phase, Character May Take
No Other Actions, -1/2), 1 Continuing Charge lasting 1 Hour (-1/4), Concentration
(1/2 DCV; -1/4), Gestures (-1/4), Incantations (-1/4)
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Real Cost: [13 points]
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Jasper studies for four hours and then makes a Transmutation Skill Roll with a net
-4 penalty (-2 for a 2nd Level Spell, -2 Non-Wizardry Spells penalty). If Jasper's
Transmutation Skill Roll succeeds then Jasper has successfully converted the Aeromancy
Spell into terms a Transmuter can understand and the new Spell is added to his Known
Spell List as a Transmutation Spell.
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Creating New Spells
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Wizardry Sample Spells may be found
here.
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One of the most gratifying tasks a Wizard might accomplish is the creation of a
new Spell unique to themselves. Whether it's to round out their Grimoire with that
perfect niche-filler, for the accolade and respect of other Wizards, or the immortalizing
aspect of attaching their name to something that might be in use for centuries to
come, Wizards never lack for reasons to make new Spells. A particularly good Spell
can even make a Wizard of an enterprising bent rich if they can entice others into
paying to learn it.
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However, the task of creating a new Spell is a challenging and time consuming one.
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INABILITY TO CREATE NEW SPELLS
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This option is in effect in my campaigns
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By default, any Wizard with the appropriate Magic School Skills can create their
own Spells. If for some reason a particular type of Wizard cannot create new Spells,
they may take a Physical Limitation Disadvantage indicating this.
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Arcane Spell Sterility: Phys Lim: Cannot create new Spells (Infrequently,
Greatly Limiting)
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Disadvantage Value: -10 points
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NOTE: Level 0 Spells, also called Cantrips, count as a 0 for the purposes
of determining penalties and as a +1 for purposes of determining bonuses for creating
Spells.
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SPELL DEFINITION
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Designing new Spells is relatively easy. There are four steps for a player or GM
to follow when defining a new Wizardry Spell:
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- Determine Effect of Spell
- Determine School of Spell
- Determine Power Construct of Spell
- Determine Level of Spell
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1) DETERMINE EFFECT OF SPELL
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Decide what the new Spell is supposed to do in general terms. Focus on the "What".
Is the Spell supposed to burn an opponent to death, allow people to fly around,
summon forth a demon, and so on. Pay attention to the flavor at this stage and keep
game mechanics out of it. Also, try to imagine what the Spell detects like; and
what kind of Special Effect it has.
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2) DETERMINE SCHOOL OF SPELL
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Wizardry is an Effects based Magic System; thus the effect of your new Spell should
clearly indicate what School the new Spell should go in. If it doesn't seem to fit
into any of them (or several of them), you may need to refine the concept a bit.
Alternately, your new Spell might be a candidate for the Universal group of Spells,
which defy classification into a single School.
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3) DETERMINE POWER CONSTRUCT OF SPELL
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Next design the Spell using the Power creation rules in the HERO System 5th Edition
Rulebook. Make sure to apply all of the mandatory Limitations demanded by the Wizardry System.
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4) DETERMINE LEVEL OF SPELL
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The final step is simple; as noted in the
Wizardry System document, Spell Levels are determined by increments of 15
Active Points, starting at level 0. Thus, just divide the Active Cost of the Power
Construct produced in Step 3 by 15 and add +1 to determine the "Spell
Level" of the new Spell.
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Make sure to make a note of the Spell Level; it will determine the penalty involved
in the Skill Roll needed to create the Spell later.
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RESEARCH & EXPERIMENTATION
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Once the new Spell has been defined and agreed upon with the GM, in-game the Wizard
must conduct Research & Experimentation (R&E) equal to one Hour/Total Active
Points in the Spell.
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Wizards can opt to take less time than this, but for every halving of time spent
on R&E the Wizard suffers an additional -1 penalty on all Magic Skill Rolls
necessary to create the new Spell.
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The Wizard must have appropriate materials for R&E, and some of these necessary
materials may be quite expensive and/or difficult to acquire, at the GM's discretion.
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During this time the Wizard must make a School Skill check after each full Day of
R&E with a -1 penalty per Spell Level of the new Spell. A full day of R&E
means at least six hours uninterrupted.
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The Wizard can opt to take extra time to make success more likely; if they take
twice as long between checks they get a +1 bonus to their Magic Skill Roll
per doubling of time; thus two Days per Skill test grants a +1, four Days grants
a +2, eight Days grants a +3 and so on.
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If any of these incremental R&E checks are failed the Wizard has botched the
job somehow and cannot create the Spell. The Wizard may not try to create that Spell
again until their appropriate Magic Skill Roll has been raised a level, starting
over again at the beginning of the Research & Experimentation cycle.
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Example: Jasper Maskelyne creates a new Transmutation Spell:
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Maskelyne's Marvelous Magnifyer: +10 versus Range Modifier for Sight Group
(15 Active Points); Concentration (0 DCV; -1/2), Gestures (-1/4), Incantations (-1/4),
Extra Time (Delayed Phase, -1/4), 1 Continuing Charge lasting 1 Hour (-1/4)
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Real Cost: [6 points]
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Because the new Spell has 15 Active Points Jasper must spend 15 hours of in-game
time conducting Research and Experimentation for this new Spell. At the end of each
Day that he works on the Spell Jasper must make a Transmutation Skill Roll at -1
(for 15 Active Points).
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Spending two Days before making a roll would grant a +1 Bonus, and if Jasper took
32 Days to work on the Spell (five doublings) before making a roll he would receive
a +5 Bonus on his Transmutation Skill Roll for that time bracket.
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If Jaspers Magic School Skill roll is successful then Jasper has managed to create
the Spell; he adds it to his Known Spell List .
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SIMILARITY BONUS
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If a Wizard is creating a more or less powerful version or a close variant of a
Spell they already have on their Known Spell List, then they should benefit from
a significant bonus to their Magic Skill Rolls to create the Spell. This bonus can
be anything from +1 up to the Spell Level of the similar Spell that they already
know. The closer the relationship between the two Spells, the larger the bonus should
be.
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EXAMPLE 1: Jasper Maskelyne the Transmuter later wishes to improve his Marvelous
Magnifyer Spell and Researches The GM determines that this Spell is practically
the same as the original, but because the original Spell is a Level 0 Spell he only
grants a +1 Similarity Bonus.
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Maskelyne's Marvelous Moochable Magnifyer: +10 versus Range Modifier for
Sight Group, UBO (+1/4), Limited Range (4" + 1" per 15 Pool in VPP; +1/4),
LOS Not Required To Maintain (+1/2) (30 Active Points); Concentration (0 DCV; -1/2),
Gestures (-1/4), Incantations (-1/4), Extra Time (Delayed Phase, -1/4), 1 Continuing
Charge lasting 1 Hour (-1/4)
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Real Cost: [12 points]
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EXAMPLE 2: Jasper Maskelyne the Transmuter previously learned Eravor's Eerie
Evisceration, a 5th Level Evocation Spell. While the Evisceration is a fearsome
Spell, Jasper wants to be able to cast a weaker version more often. Jasper designs
the new Spell, Maskelyne's Lesser Evisceration, as a 60 Active Point Power, which
is Spell Level 3, merely reducing the dice of effect of the original Spell.
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Because the new Spell is essentially identical to the more powerful Spell that Jasper
already knows, the GM grants a bonus equal to the Spell Level of the original Spell
for a +5 Similarity bonus to Jasper's Magic Skill Roll to create the Spell.
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LEARNING A NEWLY CREATED SPELL
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A Wizard automatically knows any Spell they have successfully created. They must
have room on their Known Spell Lists to create a Spell of that Spell Level.
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Creating New Magic Items
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Wizards have a healthy tradition of making Magic Items. Wizards can create new Magic
Items using the Item Creation Skills indicated on the Skills chart above, and as
described in more detail in the Creating
Magic Items page..
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Wizards can only use Wandcrafting, Scroll Scribing, and Alchemy to create Ephemeral
Items from Spells on their Known Spells List. Wizards can use Artificing to create
Permanent Magic Items, but the Active Points of the individual abilities in the
Item cannot exceed the size of the Wizard's VPP Pool.
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As noted in the Magic Item creation guidelines, in addition to the Item Creation
Skill, a Wizard must also have the appropriate Magic School Skills for the effects
they are trying to place into Magic Items; Spellcraft cannot be used for this purpose.
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STARTING WIZARD KNOWN SPELLS LIST
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Wizardry Sample Spells may be found
here.
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If your character is a Wizard, you will need to know how many Spells your character
has access to when play starts. Your Character may start off with a number of Spell
Levels equal to half their starting VPP Pool (ie the Pool total divided by 2); Level
0 Spells count as half a Spell Level for this purpose.
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Selection
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The player may choose any Spell provided they have the appropriate Spell School
Skill and subject to GM veto.
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Learning Spells
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For each Spell chosen that has low enough Active Points to fit into the character's
currently VPP Pool the Wizard must make a Magic Skill Roll with a penalty equal
to -1 per 15 Active Points to see if the Wizard starts play knowing that
Spell (as opposed to having it in their Spell Books).
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Any Spells too large to fit into the Wizard's Magic VPP and any Spell for which
the initial Magic Skill Roll was failed are still in the Wizard's Spellbook and
may be learned in the future following the guidelines for Learning New Spells, but
the Wizard does not yet know those Spells and may not prepare them to their Magic
VPP until such a time as they a) can fit the Spell's Active Points into their Magic
VPP, and b) can pass a Magic Skill Roll at -1/15 Active Points in the Spell after
an appropriate time of study.
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EXAMPLE: Kerrigan the Wizard starts the game with 45 Pool in his VPP; thus
he can start off with up to 22.5 Spell Level's worth of Spells in his Spellbook.
He could take 5 x Level 0 Spells (5*.5=2.5), 10 x 1st Level Spells(10*1=10),
and 5 x 2nd Level Spells (5*2=10) or some other combination adding up to a total
of 22.5 Spell Levels.
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NOTE: All Spells chosen by a player are subject to a GM veto. Inappropriate
Spells can cause a GM an inordinate amount of difficulties depending on what kind
of game they want to run, and the GM is within their rights to excise any such Spell
as they wish.
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For example, if the GM wishes to start the campaign off with a who-done-it style
mystery, a starting Wizard with Detect Thoughts could ruin the entire opening adventure
with a few seconds of mumbling.
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Bonus Known Spells
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Under some circumstances a Wizard might start play with more Spells on their Known
Spell List.
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School Skills
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If Spellcraft is in use and a character opts to take School Skills instead, the
character automatically knows (no Skill Roll necessary) a cantrip from each of the
Schools they have a School Skill for, in addition to the standard allocation described
above. Thus if a Wizard takes KS: Necromancy, they have learned a Necromancy cantrip
in the process of acquiring the skill.
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Additionally, if a Wizard has School Skills and has purchased Skill Levels with
one or more of them, that Wizard knows (no Skill Roll necessary) two (2) additional Spell Levels per +1 level
with which to select Spells belonging to that School. Thus if a starting Wizard
has taken KS: Transmutation +2, that Wizard knows four (4) additional Spell Levels
worth of Spells from the Transmutation School; this could be one 4th Level Spell,
four 1st Level Spells, or any combination thereof adding up to four (4) Spell Levels.
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