Wild Mages
With the discovery of wild magic has come the appearance of wizards devoted to
its study. Like their traditional specialist brethren, wild mages have thrown
themselves into the intense study of a single aspect of magic. This has given
them unique benefits and restrictions on their powers. Wild magic is so
different from traditional magic that only those devoted to its study may cast wild
magic; no wizard other than a wild mage may attempt to use the spells of wild
magic.
Wild mages are by no means specialist wizards--at least not in the traditional
sense. Wild mages do not study within the confines of schools. Instead, their
research into new theories of wild magic carries them into all different
fields. Wild magic has strengths in some areas (particularly divination and
evocation), but it is not confined to any single school of magic. The proponents of wild
magic proudly trumpet their art's broad base and flexibility as its great
advantages.
Of course, these same advocates are quick to downplay wild magic's drawbacks.
First and foremost, it is wild magic. On rare occasions, any spell can have dangerously unpredictable
results, including backfiring or creating an entirely different effect from what was
desired. More commonly, the magnitude of a spell--range, duration, area of
effect, or even damage--may fluctuate from casting to casting. Spells cast by wild
mages are inherently unpredictable.
Only characters with Intelligence of 16 or greater are qualified to become
wild mages. The theories of wild magic are breaking new ground, and only
characters of high intelligence are able to decipher the arcane convolutions of its
meta-mathematical theory. Although wild magic is chaotic on the surface, study in
this field requires diligence and discipline.
There are no restrictions to the alignment of a wild mage. The race of a wild
mage is limited to those races with competency at magic; thus, only humans,
elves, and half-elves can be wild mages. Gnomes have some magical talent, but lack
the broad base of skills and knowledge necessary to master this new field.
Wild mages must abide by the normal restrictions for all wizards concerning
weapons and armor. They use the same THAC0 and saving throw values of traditional
wizards. They progress in level according to the Wizard Experience Levels and
Wizard Spell Progression tables (Tables 20 and 21 in the Player's Handbook ).
Wild mages have several abilities and restrictions. Like specialists, wild
mages are able to memorize one extra spell per spell level. This spell must be a
wild magic spell, although it can be from any school; wild mages have no
opposition schools as do specialists.
Wild mages receive a bonus of +10% when learning new wild magic spells and a
-5% penalty when learning other spells. Because wild magic is somewhat "fast and
loose," wild mages can research new spells as if they were one level less
difficult, decreasing the amount of time and money needed to create new spells.
Certain magical items behave differently in the hands of a wild mage. This is
due to his understanding of the random processes that power them. Most notable
of these is the wand of wonder. The wild mage has a 50% chance of controlling the wand, allowing him to use
charges from the wand to cast any spell he already knows (but does not need to
have memorized). The number of charges used by the wand is equal to the number
of levels of the spell desired. If the attempt fails, only one charge is used
and a random effect is generated.
The wild mage can control the following items 50% of the time, thereby
allowing him to select the result or item instead of relying on chance: amulet of the planes, bag of beans, bag of tricks, deck of illusions, deck of
many things, and the well of many worlds.
(See also Mage, Player’s Handbook)
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