For my fantasy medieval-esque GLOG hack I don't want to overwhelm players with too many class choices. I'm designing my hack with my friends in mind, because I'll be the one running it, and they'll be the ones playing. And I know that if there are too many choices they'll focus on those choices too much, or not read them at all. So for wizards, I wanted to distill it down into two schools, both of which are appealing for different reasons.
Instead of an Orthodox wizard and then other themed schools, I decided to go with the Town Wizard and the Country Wizard. This feels to me like a good social division in a medieval-esque fantasy world. The Town Wizard has some more social spells and classic D&D wizard spells, whereas the Country Wizard has some more nature-based spells, including some of the custom ones I designed for my one-stat GLOG hack Sword Ferns & Salmon Flesh. Some of the material is taken from Skerple's Garden Wizard, which was a big inspiration for the Country Wizard.
*only spells with asterisks are new and listed with full descriptions. Anything else can be whatever GLOG version of it that you prefer. I've definitely seen at least three different versions of Light floating around.
School: Town Magic
Set up shop in a clapboard storefront, charge a pretty penny for charms and potions, and you've got yourself a career that mommy and daddy will most certainly not be proud of. You love walking through market stalls, seeing the whispers and pointed fingers, as you flick your long robes here and there. You love the city and the city loves you back.
Granny by Nathan Park |
Starting Equipment
- Spellbook
- Quill & Ink
- Dagger (d6 damage)
- Blank scroll
- Red robes
Perks
Restrictions
Spell List
- Lock
- Knock
- Feather
- Floating Disk
- Grease
- Gutter Snipe*
- Light
- Sleep
- Illusion
- Levitate
- Charm Person
- Wall of Fire
Spell Descriptions
6. Gutter Snipe
R: 200’ | T: creature | D: instant
A pile of alleyway garbage conjures in the air and flings itself into the target creature, dealing [sum] + [dice] damage. (this is basically Magic Missile)
Mishaps
- Your Magic [dice] only return to your pool on a result of 1-2 for 24h.
- Cough up soot. Take d6 damage
- Random mutation for 1d6 rounds. Save CHA or permanent.
- Brain lobe smoothens. Lose 1 Magic die for 24h.
- Lungs convulse from soot. Agony for 1d6 rounds.
- Cannot cast spells for 1d6 hrs.
Dooms
- Your face is marked with a painful brand. Take d6 damage. Members of civilized organizations (e.g. trade guild, city guards, wizard college) shun and mistrust you.
- Cannot cast spells for 1 day. Speaking to civilized folk is straining. Your brand grows and you lose 2 CHA.
- Flames erupt and burn all your hair away. Your scalp and hands are marked with painful brands. Take 2d6 damage. You are wanted. Members of all civilized organizations, openly and secretly pursue you for debts, arrest warrants, and vigilante justice. There is no escape.
School: Country Magic
Relax in your rural cottage; the customers respect you and your craft. Plenty of time for knitting and drinking tea when only bumpkins bother you for crop advice and sheep sorcery. Stroll through bucolic landscapes along dirt roads, and breathe pure forest air near riverbanks and lakes.
Crone by Lane Brown. Her hut looks like Shrek's swamp house. |
Starting Equipment
- Spellbook
- Quill & Ink
- Staff (d6 damage)
- Waterproof boots
- Green robes
Perks
Restrictions
Spell List
- Fog*
- Weave*
- Tree Talk*
- Locate Animal
- Woodbend
- Black Beak*
- Light
- Smoke Step*
- Battering Beam*
- Levitate
- Wall of Stone
- Uproot
Spell Descriptions
1. Fog
R: 30’ | T: self | D: [dice] hours
You breath out a bunch of fog. Everything up to 30’ away from you is obscured. Sunlight, wind, or heat dissipates the fog in 10 minutes. If you cast this spell with 3 or more [dice], other casters cannot cast spells within the fog.
2. Weave
R: 50’ | T: plants or rope | D: [dice]x 10 minutes
You weave plants into a rope [dice]x 30’ long. The rope animates and you can move it [sum]x 10’ in any direction, including levitating in the air. It will tie itself into knots, pull itself taut, etc. You can target existing rope, provided they’re made of natural materials.
3. Tree Talk
as Dendrigraphy from Skerple's Garden Wizard
6. Black Beak
R: 200’ | T: creature | D: instant
A sharp black beak conjures in the air and flies into the target, dealing [sum] + [dice] damage. (this is basically Magic Missile)
8. Smoke Step
R: 100’ | T: self | D: instant
You teleport to some place that you can see, leaving behind a puff of wood smoke. For each [dice] above 1, you can take someone with you.
9. Battering Beam
R: 30’ | T: object, creature | D: instant
A beam of light pushes target [dice] x 10’ straight away from the caster.
Mishaps
- Grow fish eyes (blurry vision) for 1d6 rounds.
- Salmon roe hatch in your belly. Take d6 damage.
- Grow fins for 1d6 rounds. Save CHA or permanent.
- Weak fish flesh. Lose 2 STR for 24h.
- Gills. Agony for 1d6 mins as you cannot breathe.
- Gain a fish mouth for 1d6 hours. You cannot speak properly or cast spells.
Dooms
- Cannot cast spells for 1 day. Permanent scales.
- Cannot cast spells for 1 day. Permanent fins and weak fish flesh (lose 2 STR).
- Permanent gills, eyes, and fish mouth. You are a salmon.
I really like the dichotomy you've chosen. You've flavored the two wizards well. The country wizard even feels more like a druid than a wizard, which I find incredibly appealing.
ReplyDeleteYeah, I'm down for this a whole lot.
ReplyDelete