Ability Scores
Wizards gain a +2 class bonus to Intelligence or Wisdom, as long as it isn’t the same ability you increase with your +2 racial bonus.
Backgrounds
Possible backgrounds include: magical prodigy, spell thief, hedge wizard, transformed familiar, ship’s wizard, royal poisoner.
Gear
At 1st level, a wizard usually has a dagger, a robe or two, a wand, ritual components in pouches, and other minor accouterments suggested by their backgrounds.
Gold Pieces
Wizards may start with either 25 gp or 1d6 x 10 gp.
Armor
|
Armor Type |
Base AC |
Atk Penalty |
|
None |
10 |
— |
|
Light |
10 |
— |
|
Heavy |
11 |
–2 |
|
Shield |
+1 |
-2 |
Melee Weapons
|
|
One-Handed |
Two-Handed |
|
Small |
1d4 dagger |
1d6 staff |
|
Light or Simple |
1d6 (-2 atk) shortsword |
1d8 (-2 atk) spear* |
|
Heavy or Martial |
1d8 (-5 atk) longsword |
1d10 (-5 atk) greatsword* |
Ranged Weapons
|
|
Thrown |
Crossbow |
Bow |
|
Small |
1d4 dagger |
1d4 hand crossbow |
— |
|
Light or Simple |
1d6 (-2) javelin |
1d6 (–1 atk) light crossbow* |
1d6 (-2 atk) shortbow* |
|
Heavy or Martial |
— |
1d8 (–4 atk) heavy crossbow* |
1d8 (-5 atk) longbow* |
* A wizard needs one free hand on a spellcasting implement to cast spells. As such, they suffer a penalty for using a two-handed weapon. (The penalty applies to spells also.)
Level Progression
|
Wizard Level |
Total Hit Points |
Total Feats |
1st level spell |
3rd level spell |
5th level spell |
7th level spell |
9th level spell |
Level-up Ability Bonuses |
|
Level 1 |
(6 + CON mod) x 3 |
1 adventurer |
5 |
— |
— |
— |
— |
|
|
Level 2 |
(6 + CON mod) x 4 |
2 adventurer |
6 |
— |
— |
— |
— |
|
|
Level 3 |
(6 + CON mod) x 5 |
3 adventurer |
3 |
4 |
— |
— |
— |
|
|
Level 4 |
(6 + CON mod) x 6 |
4 adventurer |
2 |
6 |
— |
— |
— |
+1 to 3 abilities |
|
Level 5 |
(6 + CON mod) x 8 |
4 adventurer 1 champion |
1 |
4 |
4 |
— |
— |
|
|
Level 6 |
(6 + CON mod) x 10 |
4 adventurer 2 champion |
— |
2 |
8 |
— |
— |
|
|
Level 7 |
(6 + CON mod) x 12 |
4 adventurer 3 champion |
— |
1 |
4 |
5 |
— |
+1 to 3 abilities |
|
Level 8 |
(6 + CON mod) x 16 |
4 adventurer 3 champion 1 epic |
— |
— |
3 |
8 |
— |
|
|
Level 9 |
(6 + CON mod) x 20 |
4 adventurer 3 champion 2 epic |
— |
— |
1 |
5 |
6 |
|
|
Level 10 |
(6 + CON mod) x 24 |
4 adventurer 3 champion 3 epic |
— |
— |
— |
3 |
9 |
+1 to 3 abilities |
Note: Although not listed on the table, this class gets three talents. It does not gain more at higher levels.
Stats
Initiative, AC, PD, MD, Hit Points, Recovery Dice, Feats, and some Talents are level dependent.
|
Ability Bonus |
+2 Intelligence or Wisdom (different from racial bonus) |
|
Initiative |
Dex mod + Level |
|
Armor Class (light armor) |
10 + middle mod of Con/Dex/Wis + Level |
|
Physical Defense |
10 + middle mod of Str/Con/Dex + Level |
|
Mental Defense |
12 + middle mod of Int/Wis/Cha + Level |
|
Hit Points |
(6 + Con mod) x Level modifier (see level progression chart) |
|
Recoveries |
8 |
|
Recovery Dice |
(1d6 x Level) + Con mod |
|
Backgrounds |
8 points, max 5 in any one background |
|
Icon Relationships |
3 points |
|
Talents |
3 |
|
Feats |
1 per Level |
Class Features
Wizards have four class features: Cantrips, Cyclic Spells, Overworld Advantage, and Ritual Magic.
Cantrips
Every wizard can cast a handful of cantrips each day. You don't have to memorize or choose them beforehand, you just cast them on the fly.
Wizards can cast a number of cantrips equal to their Intelligence modifier each battle. Each cantrip takes a standard action to cast as a ranged spell. Outside of battle, a wizard can cast about three to six cantrips every five minutes. The Cantrip Mastery talent speeds up cantrip casting.
At the adventurer tier (levels 1–4), cantrips with a standard duration last 10–60 minutes, plus 10 minutes per wizard level. The GM rolls and the wizard becomes aware that their cantrip is about to end a couple minutes before it's done.
At the champion tier, levels 5–7, most cantrips last 1–6 hours.
At the epic tier, levels 8–10, cantrips last between 2–12 hours.
For a list of available cantrips, see Cantrips.
Cyclic Spells
Spells that have a cyclic usage can always be cast at least once per battle, and are only expended in that battle if they are cast when the escalation die is 0 or odd. In other words, if you cast a cyclic spell like color spray or rebuke when the escalation die is even, the spell is not expended and can still be cast later in the battle.
Ritual Magic
Wizards can cast their spells as rituals.
You can cast full rituals by using all your actions each round to focus on the ritual for 1d3 + 1 rounds. As with standard rituals, your fast rituals are not meant to replace combat spells; they're a means of acquiring and improvising wondrous magical effects rather than a means of inflicting damage and conditions.
Utility Spell
When you choose spells during a full heal-up, instead of taking a standard spell, you can choose to give up a spell slot to memorize the utility spell at the same level. When you take the utility spell, you gain access to a range of useful non-combat spells of the level you memorized it or below. You cast each utility spell at the level of the spell slot you gave up for it. You can give up multiple spell slots to take utility spell multiple times.
Choose from among the following utility spells:
| Spell Level | Spell |
|---|---|
| 1st level | disguise self |
| 1st level | feather fall |
| 1st level | hold portal |
| 3rd level | levitate |
| 3rd level | message |
| 3rd level | speak with item |
| 5th level | water breathing |
| 7th level | scrying |
Each utility spell you take lets you cast two spells from the available options instead of one.
As above, but you can cast three utility spells instead of one.
Class Talents
Choose three of the following class talents.
Abjuration
Whenever you cast a daily wizard spell, you gain a +4 AC bonus until the end of your next turn.
The bonus also applies to your Physical Defense.
You gain 2d12 temporary hit points each time you cast a daily spell.
The bonus also applies to Mental Defense.
Cantrip Mastery
Cantrips are at-will spells for you.
Unlike normal wizards, who use a standard action to cast a cantrip, you can cast a cantrip as a quick action.
To do something particularly cunning or surprising with one of your cantrips where the GM isn't sure whether you could pull off that use of the spell, roll a normal save (11+) to cast the spell the way you envision it.
Additionally, you can expend a 3rd level spell slot or higher to choose one cantrip per spell slot you have given up and create a once-per-day related effect with it that is much greater, if you and your GM can agree on a cool effect that suits the cantrip.
You can use cantrip-style versions of any wizard spell you have memorized. When you expend a spell, however, you can't make cantrip-style use of it any more. The key is that none of these uses should be combat relevant or deal damage.
The Cantrip Mastery talent is more about enhance the roleplaying and less about combat usefulness.
Evocation
Once per battle, when you cast a spell that targets Physical Defense, before rolling for the number of targets or making the spell's attack roll, you can expend your quick action to evoke the spell. Hit or miss, you'll max out the spell's damage dice (except on a natural one, which deals no damage to the target and likely damages the caster in some manner).
Whenever you evoke a spell, you can reroll one of the attack rolls if that natural roll was less than or equal to the escalation die. You must take the new result.
High Arcana
Your study of the highest orders of magic gives you options that lesser wizards cannot match: Memorization and a bonus spell: counter-magic
Memorization
When you pick your spells, you can choose any daily wizard spell twice (instead of once). This doesn't apply to spells that start as recharge spells. For example, at 7thlevel when you have five 7th level spells and four 5th level spells, you could choose fireball twice as a 7th level spell, or once as a 7th level spell and once as a 5th level spell. (Your 3rd level spell slot can't be used for fireball because fireball starts as a 5th level spell.)
Polysyllabic Verbalizations
Rename each of your daily and recharge spells. Think up the most over-the-top and extravagant names you can muster. Since these alternate spells are so lengthy, they take an additional quick action to cast. While the regular effects of the spells are the same as the more common versions, they have a small bonus effect appropriate to the situation.
The bonus effect is determined by the GM, or by a collaboration between the GM and the player. It should add to the storytelling power of the situation.
The bonus effect should suit the name of the spell or the way it's delivered, and shouldn't precisely match up with what the spell normally accomplishes.
Wizard's Familiar
Your familiar is a tiny or small animal or creature that aids your magic and provides companionship. It also provides opportunities for improvisation between you and the GM.
Your familiar is as intelligent as a normal person. It can communicate with you and will stay close you unless you've chosen abilities that let it roam. Your familiar is on your side but it's not perfectly in your control.
If your familiar dies, it can come back to you the next time you get a full heal-up. (The method or story used is between you and the GM.) Alternatively, you can get a new familiar.
Familiars are useless in combat, except as indicated by their abilities. Ordinarily they aren't damaged by enemy attacks and spells unless the story calls for it.
Familiar Abilities
Choose two of the following abilities for your familiar.
Agile
You gain a +2 bonus to Dexterity skill checks.
Alert, Maybe Even Insightful
You gain a +2 bonus to Wisdom skill checks.
Counter-bite
Each battle, if your familiar is close to you, it bites the first enemy that hits you with a melee attack after that attack, dealing 1d4 damage per level (no attack roll) to that enemy.
Flight
Your familiar flies as well as a hawk. It doesn't fly that often and usually sticks with you, but it can do so when its other abilities allow.
Mimic
One battle per day, you gain the use of the racial power (without feats) of one nearby ally.
Poisonous
Once per battle, when you hit an enemy engaged with you, you can add 5 ongoing poison damage per tier to the damage roll.
Scout
Once per day, your familiar can separate itself from you and make a reconnaissance run of an area or location. Roll an easy skill check for the environment to get your familiar to scout unseen.
Tough
You gain a +1 save bonus. Tough counts as two familiar abilities.
Talkative
Your familiar can talk like a person (but the GM speaks for the familiar more than you do).
Your familiar gains another ability.
Once per level, if your familiar is close to you, it can cast one of your spells as a free action on your initiative count, even if you have already expended the spell. The spell functions as if you had cast it.
Your familiar gains another ability.
Cantrips
Alarm (standard duration)
The cantrip creates a minor watch-sprite that can be instructed to scream if someone comes through an area or touches an object. Watch-sprites are notoriously stupid and sleepy, but with the right talking-to they might stay focused for the duration of the spell. At higher levels, the spell might summon little fanged spirits buzzing back and forth serving as both visual and actual deterrents.
Ghost Sound
This spell creates false noises emanating from somewhere nearby. The effect is like an exceptionally good version of throwing your voice, if your voice could create a wide variety of sounds. Attempted distractions with the cantrip are DC 15 challenges in adventurer environments, higher as you move into champion and epic environments. If someone is using ghost sound against the PCs, a Wisdom-based skill check can identify the sound as a magical fake.
Knock
This cantrip summons a magical servitor three to four times as big as your closed fist that swarms around the door and attempts to punch or push it open (depending on whether you want to be quiet or announce your presence). Success is determined with an Intelligence check against the environment's DC using an appropriate magical background. This cantrip does nothing to avoid any traps that might exist.
Mending
This cantrip summons a variety of tiny (hand-sized and smaller) magical sprites who swarm over a chosen broken object attempting to mend it (over the course of 1–6 rounds). Small-scale repairs like torn wineskins, muddy clothing, a broken handgrip on a sword, and similar repairs that anyone could fix with two to four hours of devoted work gets handled in seconds. More elaborate repairs to complicated objects might require an Intelligence check, or at the GM's discretion could only be possible if the wizard has taken the Cantrip Mastery talent.
Spark
This is a minor fire creation spell, enough to light a pipe, or a campfire, or even a page or two of an unprotected spellbook. It doesn't work against living beings or against things that couldn't easily be set on fire with a few seconds of steady application of a candle. The target of the spark has to be nearby and in sight.
Utility Spell
Disguise Self (1st Level Utility)
This spell provides you with an effective magical disguise that lasts about ten minutes, making the skill check to avoid unmasking one step easier: easy if it would have been a normal task, normal if it would have been a hard task, and hard if it would have been a ridiculously hard task. The spell only affects your general appearance, not your size. It can be used to hide your features behind the generic features of another person or race. Using it to impersonate a specific creature makes it less effective as a disguise (-2 to -5 penalty).
Feather Fall (1st Level Utility)
When you cast this spell, it arrests your fall, letting you glide down the ground over a round or two.
Hold Portal (1st Level Utility)
You cast this spell on a door. For ten minutes, adventurer-tier creatures can't get through the door. Champion-tier creatures can batter it down; each attempt requires a DC 20 Intelligence skill check (including an applicable background) by the caster to resist the battering and keep the spell going. Epic-tier creatures can walk right through.
Levitate (3rd Level Utility)
Until the end of the battle, you can use a move action to rise straight up into the air or descend straight down. The spell itself won't move you horizontally. The up-or-down movement is about half as fast as your normal movement. While levitating, you take a –2 penalty to your attacks and are vulnerable to attacks against you.
Message (3rd Level Utility)
You send a one to two sentence message to another person you know and have touched in the last week. Sending a message to a person you can see is always easy. Sending a message to a person you can't see requires a skill check using Intelligence against the highest-tier environment that you or the sender are occupying.
The maximum distance you can send a message depends on the spell's level.
Scrying (7th Level Utility)
You can use this spell to get information you shouldn't be able to get, peering in on other people's lives for a short period of time, usually no more than ten minutes at a time. Some areas may be warded at the GM's discretion. You must have touched the person you wish to spy on in the last month, or, at 9th level, within the last a year.
Scrying as a single standard action won't yield much. Concentrating on the spell for a while with props like a scrying pool or a crystal ball will work better.
Speak with Item (3rd Level Utility)
Speak briefly, mind-to-mind, with a magic item you are touching that is owned by you or one of your allies. The item's owner gets a free power recharge roll if that item's power has been expended.
Water Breathing (5th Level Utility)
You can breathe underwater for the rest of the battle (or about five minutes). You become aware a couple of rounds ahead of when the magic of the spell is about to end.
1st Level Spells
Acid Arrow
Blur
For the rest of the battle (or for five minutes), attacks against the target miss 20% of the time.
Charm Person
This spell cannot be cast during combat or on a target that has rolled initiative to fight.
On a miss, the spell is not detectible by most others unless you miss by 4+ or roll a natural 1, in which case the target and its allies knows what you tried to do and will usually be angry about it.
Color Spray
Increase the hit point threshold of the weakened effect by 5 hp.
On a miss, the spell deals damage equal to your level.
The spell now targets 1d4 + 1 nearby enemies in a group.
Magic Missile
2d4 force damage.
You can choose two targets; roll half the damage dice for one missile and half the damage dice for the other, then assign one set of damage dice to each of the two targets.
Roll a d20 when you use the spell; if you roll a natural 20, the magic missile crits and deals double damage. (Rolling a 1 is not a fumble; this roll checks only to see if you can crit.)
The 7th and 9th level versions of the spell now use d8s as damage dice.
Ray of Frost
When your ray of frost attack roll is a natural even hit, if the target is staggered after taking the damage, it is also dazed until the end of your next turn.
The target of the spell can also be far away.
When you cast the spell you can change the damage type to lightning or negative energy.
Shield
The attacker must reroll the attack. You must accept the new result.
You can now choose either of the attack rolls, in case the second one crits or is otherwise bad for you.
Recharge roll after battle is now 6+.
Hit or miss, you take only half damage from any attack you use shield against.
Shocking Grasp
The spell now requires only a quick action to cast (once per round).
Once per battle, when you hit the target of the spell, you can also daze it until the end of your next turn.
The damage dice of the spell increase to d8s.
3rd Level Spells
Confusion
On a miss against all targets with this spell, you can choose to daze those targets (save ends). If you do, you do not regain the spell.
Each failed save against the spell deals 6d10 psychic damage to the target.
The save against confused is now a difficult save (16+).
Crescendo
You can choose more than one target for this spell, but you take a –2 penalty when attacking two targets, a –3 penalty for three targets, and so on.
Force Salvo
The spell creates a number of force bolts equal to 1 + your Intelligence modifier. You must target a different creature with each bolt; any extras can't be used.
You can now target a specific creature with more than one bolt. Once you hit that target, you must target a different creature, and so on. (Roll your attack after each bolt before picking a target for the next bolt.)
On a miss, a bolt now deals miss damage equal to your level.
Increase the number of bolts by 1.
Hold Monster
If the spell misses all targets, you regain the spell during your next quick rest.
The spell can target up to 2 nearby enemies whose total hit points don't exceed the limit.
Increase the limit by +50 hp.
Lightning Bolt
A natural even hit also deals 10 ongoing lightning damage.
A natural even hit now deals 20 ongoing lightning damage (hard save ends, 16+).
Rebuke
When you roll a natural even hit with the spell, you also deal psychic damage equal to double your level to the target.
When you hit the target with the spell, you also daze it until the end of your next turn.
When you roll a natural even miss against the target, you daze it until the end of your next turn.
Sleep
Teleport Shield
Always: For the rest of the battle, once per round when an enemy moves to engage you, you can make the following attack against it as a free action before it has the chance to attack in melee.
When your teleport shield attack misses, the spell's attack is not expended that round.
You can now teleport the enemy somewhere far away that you can see; other restrictions still apply.
5th Level Spells
Denial
When you roll a natural even miss with the spell, the target is also hampered until the end of your next turn.
Increase the number of targets to 1d4 + 1.
Dimension Door
You teleport somewhere nearby that you can see.
Fireball
When you cast this spell, you can choose to cast it recklessly.
Casting the spell recklessly increases the number of additional targets to 1d4 instead of 1d3.
Increase the number of targets to 1d3 + 1 instead of 1d3.
Invisibility
Until the end of the battle (or for five minutes out of combat), the target becomes invisible until it attacks or uses some ridiculously flashy action.
High Arcana: The duration out of combat is 1 hour instead.
7th Level Spells
Blink
For the rest of the battle (or for five minutes), the target gains resist damage 16+. Enemies who can see invisible creatures ignore this resistance.
Whenever the target uses a move action, there is a 50% chance that it can teleport somewhere nearby instead of physically moving.
Flight
The target can fly until the end of the battle (or for five minutes). Your speed doesn't increase appreciably but you can move in three-dimensions.
Haste
On the target's next turn (not this one, if you cast it on yourself), the target gains an additional standard action.
In addition, at the start of each of the target's turns this battle, if the escalation die is even, roll a d20 and add the escalation die; on a 16+, the target gains an additional standard action that turn.
Invisibility Purge
Overcome Resistance
Until the end of the battle, the target ignores the resistance power of any creature it targets with an attack.
Transfer Enchantment
You or an ally you are next to must be suffering from a condition caused by an enemy for you to cast this spell.
9th Level Spells
Disintegrate
You can now target a far away creature with the spell.
Meteor Swarm
You summon a meteor swarm. If you're underground, you get the ur-dark stalactite equivalent! Nothing more happens this round, but roll 1d3 + 1 to determine how many meteors you have summoned.
At the start of your next turn, even if you are unconscious or dead or have left the area, the meteors arrive one per turn at the start of each of your turns and slam into the combat area.
Each meteor now deals 5d4 x 10 damage.
Teleport
You and up to 4 allies next to you can teleport to any location in the world, underworld, or overworld that you have previously visited.
When you teleport, roll a d20. If you roll a 1, you miss your desired location and arrive somewhere else altogether. Otherwise, you and your allies arrive at the desired location at the start of your next turn.
Any effects of spells or items cast before teleporting are dispelled and no longer function on arrival.
Your allies don't need to be next to you before you cast the spell, just nearby. Alternately, if they are all next to you when you cast the spell, you can teleport to a location known to one of your allies.