The Neophyte

Character Description: The Neophyte is a young, low-level wizard: an inexperienced novice anxious to begin his life as an adventurer and excited about the prospects ahead.

However, the Neophyte's eagerness is more than matched by his naivete. He has seen little of the world outside of his homeland; when encountering new cultures or experiencing new situations, he may be confused and intimidated or curious and impulsive. Since he tends to overestimate his abilities and underestimate dangers, he constantly gets himself into trouble. Still, his cheerful outlook and youthful enthusiasm endear the Neophyte to his companions, and he is a welcome member of any party, even if his friends usually have their hands full looking after him.

Hopefully, the Neophyte will not be naive forever. With experience comes wisdom, and with wisdom comes sophistication. As a campaign progresses, the Neophyte should temper his impulsiveness with caution and his brashness with maturity. Therefore, this personality type is only a temporary one-- at some point, the character will abandon the role of the Neophyte and grow into a different personality. The road from innocence to maturity is a fascinating one, making the Neophyte an excellent choice for novice wizards and beginning role-players.

Best Suited For: The entire range of neutral and good alignments are open to the Neophyte. Characters with evil alignments should be avoided-- they aren't trusting or naive enough to make enjoyable Neophyte characters.

Since all wizards begin their careers as novices, any kit suits the Neophyte, although the serious-minded Wu Jen and Academician are less likely to exhibit the Neophyte's enthusiasm and impulsiveness.

In Combat Situations: The Neophyte has probably experienced little combat in his life, especially the life-threatening variety. Although understandably nervous, he is also determined to do his best and prove to his comrades that he is not just a child who needs to be protected. Unfortunately, this attitude often results in inappropriate and ineffective tactics; the Neophyte is likely to charge his opponents head-on, regardless of their size or strength, or fire missile weapons at anything that moves. He might seem to cast spells at random, sometimes squandering his most powerful magic on relatively defenseless foes. As an inexperienced spell caster, he is not familiar with sophisticated casting techniques; for instance, when faced with a charging wolf pack, he's more likely to use magic missile on a single wolf instead of casting it on a nearby cliff-face to cause an avalanche, thus destroying the entire pack.

Assuming his companions can keep him from accidentally killing himself, the Neophyte gradually learns from experience, becoming a more skillful combatant as he matures. Eager to learn, a Neophyte will make a good student to a more experienced comrade. An older and wiser PC wizard might wish to take a Neophyte under his wing to show him the ways of the world.

In Role-Playing Situations: Generally, the Neophyte does not know how to act around NPCs, particularly those older than him. He might be shy and say nothing, or he might blurt out something inappropriate. Figures of authority intimidate him, smooth-talkers take advantage of him, and attractive members of the opposite sex reduce him to a blathering, stammering idiot.

The Neophyte tends to accept people on face value; he never guesses that a friendly stranger might be picking his pocket. Friendly, personable NPCs will find the Neophyte charming and amusing; impatient, businesslike NPCs will find him exasperating and annoying

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