So after a TPK we are restarting our antihero campaign. Im considering playing the wizard this time, i think im gonna go with Div or Enchantment depending if i go with human, half-elf or dhampir. But what I'm considering is using the Dark Gifts idea and using the symbiotic being option for a possessing spirit type thing like Lasciel from Dresden Files or Xana from Dark Messiah. The clutch point of the back story is that spirit would be his source of learning magic. He's not having it bestowed on him like a sorcerer or making any kinds of deals like a warlock but he ends up getting the spirit by accident ala dresden files, and the spirit to help him survive and help achieve its ends teaches my character the basics of spellcasting. I also thought as an RP element that the spirit helps him write and memorize spells and if he pisses the spirit off maybe his spellbook likes like gibberish or having to communicate with the spirit is how he prepares spells and doesnt have a traditional spellbook? Thoughts?
As a quick note, since your question is about backstory and flavor I'd recommend posting it in the "Story and Lore" section where more people looking to discuss such things are likely to see it.
On topic, while I'm unfamiliar with the media you're taking your inspiration from (I'm aware that Harry Dresden is a badass wizard in a modern dark fantasy world or somesuch and that's about it), I would say it sounds like a decent idea. This is also very much "ask your DM" territory, particularly with the nebulous nature of the rules concerning Dark Gifts. Assuming your DM is cool with it, then sure, go for it. Just be aware that the DM can exert control of the symbiote and make it a hassle/challenge/weakness to your character in all sorts of ways if they decide doing so fits the situation.
I do rather like the idea of using the possessing spirit as your spellbook, though there would have to be conditions to balance it. Mainly adding spells to a normal spellbook requires spending gold, so my recommendation would be adjusting the flavor to spending that gold on mystic incense or drugs or whatnot to facilitate communing with the spirit and imprinting the knowledge of the spells on it rather than the normal scribing process. Then you still have to "commune with your spirit" to prepare spells, which conveniently has the same conditions and requirements a normal wizard would for memorizing them from a normal spellbook.
This would be for a group and dm ive been playing with for the better part of 2 decades. Plus we've talked about it and she likes the idea but wont push me to pick one backstory of character concept over another. Ill go ahead and repost in story and lore as suggested.
The spirit as a source of magic still seems very sorcerer/Warlock to me. I wouldn't say a sorcerer is someone who had magic "bestowed on them" necessarily, but rather someone who has magic inborn either through birth or circumstance, and I think being possessed by a magical spirit and having its magic bleeding through into you sounds a lot like one of those circumstances.
Likewise, not all Warlock pacts look like the same sort of compact with a great and terrible being. You could have a pact that benefits the patron more than the Warlock; maybe the spirit needs a mortal soul to take shelter in and as long as the Warlock keeps the spirit safe, they supply them with magical knowledge and power. Maybe the Warlock isn't even necessarily aware of their pact at first. There's some play there too.
But like, ultimately, if you want to play a wizard, play a wizard, I'm not gonna stop you. Wizards are great. I only mention just because the fiction of the Wizard is of someone who learns magic by rote intellect, which doesn't seem to fully match what you described above, so just throwing in my 2 cents.
Part of the bridge im trying to cross with the symbiont is the general backstory and personality that I want is a brooding and sheltered noble who suddenly ends up as a level 3 or 5 wizard. So I thought the symbiont would be a good bridge.
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So after a TPK we are restarting our antihero campaign. Im considering playing the wizard this time, i think im gonna go with Div or Enchantment depending if i go with human, half-elf or dhampir. But what I'm considering is using the Dark Gifts idea and using the symbiotic being option for a possessing spirit type thing like Lasciel from Dresden Files or Xana from Dark Messiah. The clutch point of the back story is that spirit would be his source of learning magic. He's not having it bestowed on him like a sorcerer or making any kinds of deals like a warlock but he ends up getting the spirit by accident ala dresden files, and the spirit to help him survive and help achieve its ends teaches my character the basics of spellcasting. I also thought as an RP element that the spirit helps him write and memorize spells and if he pisses the spirit off maybe his spellbook likes like gibberish or having to communicate with the spirit is how he prepares spells and doesnt have a traditional spellbook? Thoughts?
As a quick note, since your question is about backstory and flavor I'd recommend posting it in the "Story and Lore" section where more people looking to discuss such things are likely to see it.
On topic, while I'm unfamiliar with the media you're taking your inspiration from (I'm aware that Harry Dresden is a badass wizard in a modern dark fantasy world or somesuch and that's about it), I would say it sounds like a decent idea. This is also very much "ask your DM" territory, particularly with the nebulous nature of the rules concerning Dark Gifts. Assuming your DM is cool with it, then sure, go for it. Just be aware that the DM can exert control of the symbiote and make it a hassle/challenge/weakness to your character in all sorts of ways if they decide doing so fits the situation.
I do rather like the idea of using the possessing spirit as your spellbook, though there would have to be conditions to balance it. Mainly adding spells to a normal spellbook requires spending gold, so my recommendation would be adjusting the flavor to spending that gold on mystic incense or drugs or whatnot to facilitate communing with the spirit and imprinting the knowledge of the spells on it rather than the normal scribing process. Then you still have to "commune with your spirit" to prepare spells, which conveniently has the same conditions and requirements a normal wizard would for memorizing them from a normal spellbook.
This would be for a group and dm ive been playing with for the better part of 2 decades. Plus we've talked about it and she likes the idea but wont push me to pick one backstory of character concept over another. Ill go ahead and repost in story and lore as suggested.
No further thoughts?
The spirit as a source of magic still seems very sorcerer/Warlock to me. I wouldn't say a sorcerer is someone who had magic "bestowed on them" necessarily, but rather someone who has magic inborn either through birth or circumstance, and I think being possessed by a magical spirit and having its magic bleeding through into you sounds a lot like one of those circumstances.
Likewise, not all Warlock pacts look like the same sort of compact with a great and terrible being. You could have a pact that benefits the patron more than the Warlock; maybe the spirit needs a mortal soul to take shelter in and as long as the Warlock keeps the spirit safe, they supply them with magical knowledge and power. Maybe the Warlock isn't even necessarily aware of their pact at first. There's some play there too.
But like, ultimately, if you want to play a wizard, play a wizard, I'm not gonna stop you. Wizards are great. I only mention just because the fiction of the Wizard is of someone who learns magic by rote intellect, which doesn't seem to fully match what you described above, so just throwing in my 2 cents.
Part of the bridge im trying to cross with the symbiont is the general backstory and personality that I want is a brooding and sheltered noble who suddenly ends up as a level 3 or 5 wizard. So I thought the symbiont would be a good bridge.