So far we’ve been exploring the Palladium Fantasy Role-Playing Game, looking at creating a character and how combat works. Today I want to take a look at creating a magical character – specifically, a Wizard.
Enter Kerros…
Why a Wizard?
Given the choice of several magical character types, why choose a Wizard?
In case you haven’t delved into the Palladium Fantasy book for yourself, there are a number of choices of magical character. These include the Warlock, Diabolist, and Summoner alongside the Wizard. Additionally, there are rules for a Witch, aimed primarily at GMs wanting an evil magic-user type (or, of course, those running evil parties).
To be clear, I decided to put aside other types of power-bearing character such as Priests and Psionic characters at this juncture. These also exist in the game, and will likely be subject to future installments in this series. What I wanted to focus on was the weaver of magic in the traditional non-deity and non-psychic sense. In other words, I wanted to make a spell-slinger of some kind.
Enter the Wizard:
“Wizardry is the science of spell magic, invoking magic energy through force of will and the spoken word; incantations… The properly spoken words can summon, direct or unleash great forces in the blink of an eye. No components, no diagrams, no deity and little, if any, preparations are required; merely the spoken word and sufficient magic energy (P.P.E.) will do the job.”
– Palladium Fantasy Role-Playing, Second Edition, page 104
I chose the Wizard for the reason that it’s simple to understand and also the most versatile class (O.C.C.) for adventuring – or, at least, that’s how it appears on first reading.
Oh, and I also wanted to cast spells quickly.
Creating Kerros
Kerros in primal scrawl…
All I knew was that I wanted to make a Wizard. That meant ensuring that IQ was at least 10, and looking for his Physical Endurance (P.E.) to be as high as possible. What happened next was a delight!
Picking up 3d6 (because I’m sticking to Human characters at present), I rolled IQ. Having rolled 16, I grinned.
In Palladium, when making a 3d6 attribute roll, should you roll a 16 or higher, then you get to add the roll of another 1d6 to the total; if you roll a 6 on that extra die, you can roll it a second and final time.
I picked up the bonus d6. A six. I laughed in triumph. I rolled again. Final total IQ was 26.
You know what? It’s not the +12% to all skill rolls that felt good (although I almost forgot about it later)… it’s just really exciting to have a rule like this one. Although I’ve generally been against the “roll up your character” approach for several years now, it felt really good to get lucky. It made me smile and laugh. That’s a good thing, right?
Oh, and Kerros scored another 16 with his Physical Prowess too. That attribute totalled out at 21. Another grin.
30 minutes later I had a Wizard named Kerros. Yes, I’m getting faster at this.
Rich Magical Magic
What’s really great about reading and using Palladium Fantasy is the rich detail of the setting that oozes out of most pages. For me, reading through the Wizard O.C.C., the whole idea of magic started to feel magical again.
What do I mean?
Look, I’ve been gaming for 35 years. Sometime in the distant past, magic became just another tool in the character arsenal. Magic ceased to be magical, becoming instead another type of mechanical power. Yesterday, as I read about the Wizard, it started to flower back into being magic. Special.
Example: The Enchanted Cauldron. If you want, you can have your Wizard seek extra spell knowledge through this ritual. Grab a cauldron, six pints of fresh human (or elven, or dwarven) blood, one dead butterfly, and one owl’s feather. Bring to boil two hours before the moon’s zenith. If you get lucky, you’ll capture a spell spirit who MIGHT share with you some new spells. Or you can go crazy trying it. You are taking a huge risk, but the payoff is potentially 2d6 new spells.
What works for me is that the Wizard’s player has to make choices about how their character will advance their knowledge. This is just one small example. It’s colourful and evocative… and it began to make me feel that magic is magical in the Palladium World.
P.P.E.
“Potential Psychic Energy” (P.P.E.) is expended to fuel spells. Everyone has some. Wizards have lots.
But here’s what’s cool: your Wizard can tap P.P.E. from other people (even without their consent), from animals, and from ley lines. The greatest sources of extra energy are nexus points – where perfectly straight ley lines intersect.
I love this approach to magic.
It’s a spell-point system, which is a winner, but it’s also a system without complication. No memorising spells, and no forgetting spells. In fact, it’s just a “pay the points, get the spell” system… with saving throws for the targets to resist. Simple.
And it’s flavourful. Creative. Fun.
Conclusions…
Having created Kerros, I want to play with him. That’s a good sign.
More than that, though: as a player, I’d have to make some decisions as I play. Do I join a Magic Guild? Would I risk the Enchanted Cauldron spell? How do I balance a Selfish alignment with potentially evil actions in the pursuit of power?
Making a Wizard was simple. Most of the 30 minutes was spent referencing what was just new text for me, and writing up what I chose onto scrap paper. I still need to transcribe Kerros over to a character sheet, but that’s a small task. I think, after just two characters, I’ve learned the basic steps to making heroes.
But there’s more…
Having made Kerros, I realised that I now have two members of an adventuring party. I wanted to add a third, fourth, and fifth: a Priest, maybe a Thief… and maybe some kind of tough fighting type.
I realise now that I am hooked. I want to run a game in the Palladium World.
Game on!
