Just before Christmas, while commenting on my Brass Dragonman post, Zorro Kal asked:
“By the way, if by any chance you’re planning to post another solo game or something like that, could you make one involving a magic user character? It’d be nice to see an example of the magic system in play.”
This comment got my mind whizzing and today I sat down to do something about it: I created “Flamepaw”, a Rank 1 Evoker (Magic User specialist).
Flamepaw
I’m not going to go into the same level of detail as I did with my initial Classic Fantasy character creation posts, but I am going to draw your attention to some of the things that make playing a Magic User interesting.
Flamepaw is a Bruxx (rat-man) and I used the rules I cooked up for that species in my setting of Mystamyr. Using the points build option from Classic Fantasy, I boosted his Dexterity and Intelligence dramatically. While lowering his Charisma and Strength was designed to give me the points I needed to also boost his Power, overall he turned out okay:
From here, I allocated his Racial bonuses and skill points to give him the Healing, Lore (History), and Survival professional skills. His Class skill points added the Arcane Casting, Arcane Knowledge, and Lore (Alchemy) skills. I also gave him Streetwise as a hobby.
You can view the final character sheet here: Flamepaw the Evoker
Arcane Magic
Magic Users start play with a number of Cantrips (Rank 0 minor spells) equal to 20% of their Arcane Casting skill. For Flamepaw, that meant thirteen cantrips: Appraise; Calculate; Cleanse; Deflect; Dry; Extinguish; Ignite; Magic Tricks; Magnify; Preserve; Repair; Tidy; and Warmth. You don’t need to memorize Cantrips, so those are handy minor spells for adding colour to situations… and they cost one Magic Point to cast, being 1 grade of difficulty easier to cast than regular Rank 1 spells.
Additionally, as a Rank 1 Magic User, Flamepaw begins with Rank 1 spells equal to 10% of his Arcane Knowledge skill, giving him seven such spells: Change Appearance; Colour Cascade; Detect Magic; Flaming Hands; Identify; Magic Missile; and Shield. The last two are Evocation spells… which is important when you make your character a specialist Evoker.
Flamepaw is just such a specialist. This gives him some important advantages:
- He can memorize one extra spell at his current Rank, which lifts the 6 spells he’s allowed to 7 spells.
- He MUST, however, memorize two spells at each Rank from his specialism, Evocation.
- Evocation spells are one grade easier to cast and also easier to resist.
- It’s easier to learn, scribe, and identify spells from his specialism.
- Oh, and Evocation spells he casts are automatically one level of Intensity and Magnitude higher for no extra Magic Point cost.
The trade-off is simple:
- He can NEVER know spells from the opposing schools of magic, which for him are Enchantment (Charm) and Conjuration.
Kitted and Fitted
I’ve kitted Flamepaw out with a staff and dagger, plus some basic equipment. As for cash, he’s potless… but that’s what adventures are for, right?
Next stop… well, he’s from Dragon’s Port on the western coast of Mystamyr and there’s a dungeon that he’s been tasked with breaking into.
Game on!
