I'm trying to come up with some interesting ideas for a Wizard character and all I can seem to come up with is an antihero. I have no problem with antiheroes, I just think they are overdone. So does anyone have any ideas they would be willing to share?
A wizard who only uses a particular school, and only that one, for any reason such as : A drunk dare by another wizard/friend that he cant master all illusions/necromancy/divination spells.
A wizard who got expelled from university for pulling the biggest magical prank the school has ever seen. Now, since they are officially blacklisted from most accredited wizard support centers, they must take their show on the road and become and adventurer, digging up lost lore and learning new spells without the guidance or sanction of the wizard elders.
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"The mongoose blew out its candle and was asleep in bed before the room went dark." —Llanowar fable
I think more than almost any other class, the Wizard definitely needs to be shaken up. There's a huge temptation to 'Go Gandalf' by default.
A few random ideas:
Awkward son of a proud Weaponmaster family. Was always told magic was cowardly and evil and got into it as a form of rebellion. Seeks to impress, or possibly even get back at their parents.
A lone old woman living off the paltry land of her once great estate, having developed her conjuration knowledge to help her farms survive drought.
An illusionist who desperately wants to be a bard, having developed their skill around creating false music and images for shows. Seeks fame and riches.
Angry, broken soldier, crippled in battle, who picked up a skill in wizardry in the years following his incident. Still wants revenge against his old enemies.
A young woman who studies the natural world. After reading books out of her league, becomes obsessed with the idea of becoming a Lich, purely so she can spend eternity in research and the further exploration of knowledge.
I have one that's a bit of an oddball. The Eldritch Knight Archetype from Fighter. Sure you need to get to level 3 to start casting, but I feel like a Wizard who can fight, while not extremely unusual, is uncommon enough to be interesting. If they look and act like a normal Warrior most of the time, it can be a big surprise to everyone (especially enemies) when they start casting.
Plus, there's fun RP opportunities where you can just drop little hints here and there, even in small things like clothing, appearance, and items / trinkets that indicate to the observant that there's more to your character than meets the eye than their first impression might suggest. An example of this would be the cinematic trailer for Dragon Age 2 where Hawke seems like an ordinary agile staff/spear fighter until halfway through the fight.
I feel like this video sells the idea of a combat mage more than anything else I've seen.
Edit: Plus, when you get cantrips, you can use them to make yourself, your eyes, weapons, etc. glow or have strange symbols on them etc. for coolness / intimidation factor even if that doesn't actually give you any more stats. Then, unlike most casters, you can wade into melee with all the cool glowy effects on you that you want / your DM allows. And War Bond allows you to play "hammer of Thor" with one weapon, allowing you to keep throwing it, then summoning back next turn as a bonus action. All kinds of potential.
A wizard who is blind. He uses long strings attached to his robes, with beads attached in a pattern (think prayer beads) that act as his spellbook; he 'read's' each spell by running his fingers down the strings, like brail. Then... the party gets nervous when this blind wizard announces that he's casting fireball...
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Be careful what you Wish for... your DM may just give it to you!
I had the idea a while back for a child who finds a spellbook and plays with it enough that he becomes familiar with the spells exept that he is doing one thing wrong. Then someone sees him and tells him to change that one thing and the child is dumbfounded by the revelation that he can cast magic.
And just for giggles (and if your DM allows) use a soup spoon for a wand/spell casting focus
I have two concepts for wizards, but you could probably squish them together without much trouble.
The first is a wizard from a peasant-esque upbringing who is trying to raise funds to open a school for magic users who can't afford the more expensive educations available in his hometown. This could also work for a sorcerer.
The second is a half-elf who was adopted by the headmaster of a prestigious magical school. Said headmaster dies because they're old, but demands that the half-elf is allowed to stay as long as they want. The staff comply, but it's obvious that the half-elf isn't liked much. Eventually, the resentment comes to a head and the half-elf activates an arcane lock to keep everyone out of the headmaster's room...while forgetting that the only way to deactivate the lock is still inside said room. Now, the half-elf is on a quest to find a way back into that room and get all their stuff.
If you like, you can exchange 'headmaster' with 'old wizard' and 'prestigious magical school' with 'old tower outside of a town that is more than a little suspicious of magic.'
Go outlander, barbarian shaman type wizard, scrolls are written on the skins of your enemies, arcane focus is the skull of a vanquished foe, get downright feral on it ...
My Wizard is an 11 year old girl who - thanks to prophetic visions she has - stole some guys backpack. Turns out he had a spellbook in it and she's never looked back. Apparently she has an aptitude for Divination.
A gruff former military commander who looks nothing like the typical wizard- short cropped hair, sensible clothes, a very grounded demeanor, who uses magic purely as a strategic tool without getting carried away with the mystery of it.
Insert tragic backstories as needed, maybe give them a history with the main villain (maybe the war they fought in was against the bad guy, maybe they fought alongside someone who would become a big bad)
You could make a more shaman-y type. A divination wizard from a tribal community who gazes into the fire to see the future. You could have his spellbook tattooed on your body, but you would have to talk to your DM about that.
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I'm trying to come up with some interesting ideas for a Wizard character and all I can seem to come up with is an antihero. I have no problem with antiheroes, I just think they are overdone. So does anyone have any ideas they would be willing to share?
A wizard who only uses a particular school, and only that one, for any reason such as : A drunk dare by another wizard/friend that he cant master all illusions/necromancy/divination spells.
Malti u kburi
A wizard who got expelled from university for pulling the biggest magical prank the school has ever seen. Now, since they are officially blacklisted from most accredited wizard support centers, they must take their show on the road and become and adventurer, digging up lost lore and learning new spells without the guidance or sanction of the wizard elders.
I think more than almost any other class, the Wizard definitely needs to be shaken up. There's a huge temptation to 'Go Gandalf' by default.
A few random ideas:
Awkward son of a proud Weaponmaster family. Was always told magic was cowardly and evil and got into it as a form of rebellion. Seeks to impress, or possibly even get back at their parents.
A lone old woman living off the paltry land of her once great estate, having developed her conjuration knowledge to help her farms survive drought.
An illusionist who desperately wants to be a bard, having developed their skill around creating false music and images for shows. Seeks fame and riches.
Angry, broken soldier, crippled in battle, who picked up a skill in wizardry in the years following his incident. Still wants revenge against his old enemies.
A young woman who studies the natural world. After reading books out of her league, becomes obsessed with the idea of becoming a Lich, purely so she can spend eternity in research and the further exploration of knowledge.
I have one that's a bit of an oddball. The Eldritch Knight Archetype from Fighter. Sure you need to get to level 3 to start casting, but I feel like a Wizard who can fight, while not extremely unusual, is uncommon enough to be interesting. If they look and act like a normal Warrior most of the time, it can be a big surprise to everyone (especially enemies) when they start casting.
Plus, there's fun RP opportunities where you can just drop little hints here and there, even in small things like clothing, appearance, and items / trinkets that indicate to the observant that there's more to your character than meets the eye than their first impression might suggest. An example of this would be the cinematic trailer for Dragon Age 2 where Hawke seems like an ordinary agile staff/spear fighter until halfway through the fight.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QzDGwhJ-fkE
I feel like this video sells the idea of a combat mage more than anything else I've seen.
Edit: Plus, when you get cantrips, you can use them to make yourself, your eyes, weapons, etc. glow or have strange symbols on them etc. for coolness / intimidation factor even if that doesn't actually give you any more stats. Then, unlike most casters, you can wade into melee with all the cool glowy effects on you that you want / your DM allows. And War Bond allows you to play "hammer of Thor" with one weapon, allowing you to keep throwing it, then summoning back next turn as a bonus action. All kinds of potential.
A wizard who is blind. He uses long strings attached to his robes, with beads attached in a pattern (think prayer beads) that act as his spellbook; he 'read's' each spell by running his fingers down the strings, like brail. Then... the party gets nervous when this blind wizard announces that he's casting fireball...
Be careful what you Wish for... your DM may just give it to you!
I had the idea a while back for a child who finds a spellbook and plays with it enough that he becomes familiar with the spells exept that he is doing one thing wrong. Then someone sees him and tells him to change that one thing and the child is dumbfounded by the revelation that he can cast magic.
And just for giggles (and if your DM allows) use a soup spoon for a wand/spell casting focus
I have two concepts for wizards, but you could probably squish them together without much trouble.
The first is a wizard from a peasant-esque upbringing who is trying to raise funds to open a school for magic users who can't afford the more expensive educations available in his hometown. This could also work for a sorcerer.
The second is a half-elf who was adopted by the headmaster of a prestigious magical school. Said headmaster dies because they're old, but demands that the half-elf is allowed to stay as long as they want. The staff comply, but it's obvious that the half-elf isn't liked much. Eventually, the resentment comes to a head and the half-elf activates an arcane lock to keep everyone out of the headmaster's room...while forgetting that the only way to deactivate the lock is still inside said room. Now, the half-elf is on a quest to find a way back into that room and get all their stuff.
If you like, you can exchange 'headmaster' with 'old wizard' and 'prestigious magical school' with 'old tower outside of a town that is more than a little suspicious of magic.'
I created a blind wizard who always looks through his familiar's eyes.
Go outlander, barbarian shaman type wizard, scrolls are written on the skins of your enemies, arcane focus is the skull of a vanquished foe, get downright feral on it ...
watch this clip, some great casting 2:53 to 3:30 ... wizard from conan the barbarian
Life's hard - get a helmet!
My Wizard is an 11 year old girl who - thanks to prophetic visions she has - stole some guys backpack. Turns out he had a spellbook in it and she's never looked back. Apparently she has an aptitude for Divination.
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A gruff former military commander who looks nothing like the typical wizard- short cropped hair, sensible clothes, a very grounded demeanor, who uses magic purely as a strategic tool without getting carried away with the mystery of it.
Insert tragic backstories as needed, maybe give them a history with the main villain (maybe the war they fought in was against the bad guy, maybe they fought alongside someone who would become a big bad)
Boom: fun, non antihero wizard
Halfling divination wizard named Reed Tealeaf.
You could make a more shaman-y type. A divination wizard from a tribal community who gazes into the fire to see the future.
You could have his spellbook tattooed on your body, but you would have to talk to your DM about that.