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Wizard

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Wizards are arcane spellcasters who depend on intensive study to create their magic. To wizards, magic is not a talent but a difficult, rewarding art. When they are prepared for battle, wizards can use their spells to devastating effect. When caught by surprise, they are vulnerable. The wizard's strength is her spells; everything else is secondary. She learns new spells as she experiments and grows in experience, and she can also learn them from other wizards. In addition, over time a wizard learns to manipulate her spells so they go farther, work better, or are improved in some other way. A wizard can call a familiar: a small, magical, animal companion that serves her. With a high Intelligence, wizards are capable of casting very high levels of spells.

Epic fantasy stories are never complete without the elderly spell caster who delves deep into forgotten tombs and welds spells of awesome power and might. These are the Wizards within the D&D world, subject to long hours of study but reaping untold benefits of power and knowledge through hard work. It requires patience and diligence to be a successful Wizard and it is not an easy road.

Since this form of magic use is based on careful study, that factor must be considered when creating a personality for your Wizard. Is he or she diligent, blasé or frustrated by the constant study and memorization? Why would someone put themselves through all the long hours of study?

Alignment is not a consideration so a character can range from a pathological self-absorption to a Paladin-like commitment to all things good. All the player needs to consider is how the Wizard's power will be used.

Making the Best Wizard

Wizards can focus quite easily on what is important to make them the very best Wizards through one ability: Int. That must be considered first and foremost. Int decides what level of spells can be understood and cast and also how many spells can be studied for use. Raise your Int to as high as you can allow within the idea of your character when creating your Wizard- that is where your power lies.

Wizards have little combat ability to fight and should not be trying to dodge swords and parry attacks along the front line. They can, however, destroy entire armies from a distance and so are to be feared on the battlefield. While a Fighter can kill but one opponent at a time, the Wizard can slay many- at a price. That price is the vulnerability to being wounded and killed if attacked directly.

Like the Sorcerer, your Wizard need not conform to the robed stereotype, however one should concentrate on what you does best. Focus on feats and skills that help your spell casting and leave direct combat to others. You are a person of high intelligence and so will have a larger pool of skills like the Rogue- choose them wisely as well with regards to what sort of Wizard you want to make.

The Wizard has the ability to pick and choose what spells her or she will learn and memorize them - that is there strength. While the Sorcerer may have more time to wile away in a Tavern while you study your spells, you have your pick of a huge number of spells.

• Hit Die: d4
• Proficiencies: Proficient with wizard weapons. No armor or shields
• Skill Points (x4 at 1st level): 2 + Int Modifier
• Spellcasting: Arcane (Intelligence based, requires memorization, armor-related chance of spell failure is a factor); Wizards begin the game knowing all cantrips and four 1st level spells.

Skills

Similar to the Sorcerer in that skills are not where the power if the class lies, they have nonetheless learned their magics through the careful study of ancient texts, and thus have accumulated a vast store of knowledge. The Lore skill becomes important if the Wizard is considered the scholar in a group and is relied upon to give advice on mysterious items found while adventuring

Since the bulk of their time spent hitting the books is spent in learning about the casting of spells, they have little time left for any skills not essential to that end.

Class Skills (skill descriptions):

• Concentration
• Heal
• Lore*
• Spell Craft

*Notes:

Lore can be considered a subset of the Dungeons & Dragons® Knowledge skill.

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