Thay, the ever-present bogeyman of Faerûn, is a violent empire whose culture reveres and embraces undeath. You might recognize their infamous Red Wizards, Thay's premiere sect of magic practitioners, from Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves. Thanks to these evil mages, zombies roam Thayan streets as laborers, and ghouls serve as infantry. These Red Wizards rule over Thayan society with unquestioned authority. In the rest of Faerûn, however, the Red Wizards are synonymous with intense cruelty, arcane hubris, and unchecked ambition.

• What Is Thay?
• Why Are the Red Wizards of Thay Important?
• Red Wizards Today
• Using Red Wizards in Your Game

Note: Some information in this article was drawn from earlier editions, as well as public statements and interviews with Forgotten Realms designers.

What Is Thay?

Thay is a powerful empire in east Faerûn, known for its aggressive raids into neighboring territories and vast populations of undead laborers and soldiers. Thay is a "magocracy," which is a culture and system of government where mages are held in the highest esteem. Often in these societies, mages are the only citizens allowed to wield governmental authority. In Thay, mages are taken into a sect known as the Red Wizards, who oversee all formal magical practices in the country.

Thay's history is aggressive and militaristic, full of conquest and civil wars. Individual zulkirs are encouraged to build up their own militaries, leading them to stuff their armies with creatures such as gnolls, zombies, wraiths, manticores, and trolls. More recently, Thay has favored necromancy above all other magical schools, and it is well-known that modern senior Red Wizards are vampires or liches. These practices have sickened Thayan society even further. After all, zombie laborers and vampire bosses don't exactly foster a sense of community.

Why Are the Red Wizards of Thay Important?

As mages in a magocracy, the Red Wizards enjoy the trappings of the upper class: riches, power, and legions of staff to shield them from consequences. These wizards oversee every aspect of Thayan life, including manipulating the very weather. (Apparently, Red Wizards are known to favor overnight downpours, soaking crops, and hampering nighttime bandits.) 

In Thay, Red Wizards can become governors, military leaders, academic prodigies, or even national heroes. Because magic is revered more highly than religion, art, science, or any other pursuit, Thayan parents eagerly send their magically-gifted children to apprentice under Red Wizards. (If the image of undead laborers didn't send a chill down your spine, perhaps hordes of red-robed 9-year-old students of necromancy will.)

Who Rules Over Thay?

Ruling over the Red Wizards and, by extension, Thay itself, is a council of eight zulkirs—powerful mages who are each paragons of their respective school of magic. This Council of Zulkirs dictates national policy and appoints Thayan governors, who nominally hold civil authority but report to the Red Wizards. Civil officials who forget the ceremonial nature of their role are promptly converted into undead creatures with more deferential attitudes.

When Thay goes to war, Red Wizards lead its armies. When Thay negotiates for peace, it sends Red Wizards as diplomats and negotiators. The sect dominates every aspect of Thayan society up to and including writing Thay's history.

Red Wizards Today

In 1375 DR, Thay was wrought with the dangers of its feudalist system when competing influential leaders, each with their own army of loyalists, attempted to seize absolute power. After a brutal civil war among the ruling council, the zulkir of necromancy, Szass Tam, took sole rulership of Thay. 

Tam's cabal consisted mainly of liches and vampires, and he used his power to reform Thay into a home of undeath. A nation that had always used zombies for war and labor now openly filled its highest government position with undead creatures while the living descended dramatically in social status. Most Red Wizards under Tam's rule know that they must eventually embrace undeath and become a lich or vampire if they want to rise in the ranks of the new Council of Zulkirs. (It may seem like a harsh transaction, but on the other hand, immortality makes for one hell of a pension.)

With their history of constant violence and abhorrent magic, the Red Wizards of Thay are widely shunned throughout the Forgotten Realms. Because they've spent centuries striking fear into the hearts of their neighbors, plenty of societies attack Red Wizards on sight. Most Faerûnians know that doing business with Red Wizards means working with marauders and conquerors. This has resulted in them making enemies of various factions throughout the continent, including the Harpers and the Emerald Enclave.

While most nations fear the Red Wizards to some degree, nothing unites a group of disparate peoples quite like a zombie army. Though Thay has enjoyed limited victories in the past and is certainly capable of raiding neighbors, they have thus far been unable to succeed in any mass conquests.

Using Red Wizards in Your Game

Red Wizards are presented to the Dungeon Master as the ultimate "evil mage" archetype, an embodiment of ambition and overreach. Use a Red Wizard to show your party how far a spellcaster can fall when they make evil pacts for selfish gain or demonstrate that unchecked ambition can leave a wizard surrounded by enemies with no one to trust. If you're looking for stat blocks to use, here are some suggestions:

• Thayan Apprentice: This CR 2 blaster caster is straight from Thay and has plenty of ways to inflict damage.
• Mage: This CR 6 stat block is a good start for any mid-tier Red Wizard and will give the party trouble with a combination of counterspell and greater invisibility.
• Necromancer: At a CR 9, the necromancer stat block could be used for any less Thayan nobility.
• Vampire: A classic CR 13 monster that can be used as one of Szass Tam's cabal.
• Sofina: An actual CR 15 Red Wizard from Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves! As we see in the movie, Sofina can certainly give a party a run for their money. Unlock the stat block for free by claiming the Thieves' Gallery with your D&D Beyond account.
• Lich: This CR 21 monster is reserved for high-level parties and may even represent Szass Tam in all his undead glory!

What Are Your Red Wizards' Motivations?

With Szass Tam currently ruling Thay, plenty of Red Wizards have fled the country and gone into hiding rather than descend into lichdom. Is your villain a necromancer loyalist or an escaped member of a competing faction? 

In Rise of Tiamat, a Red Wizard exile has allied with the Cult of the Dragon in the Sword Coast, hoping to use the cult's resources, army, and connection to Tiamat to defeat Szass Tam. Players can try to pit the Red Wizard factions against each other but are warned that getting too close to this cult's internal politics might draw the wrong kind of attention. Players should feel like the Red Wizards are as dangerous as a scorpion or snake: innately predatory and capable of turning on you at any moment. (No offense to scorpions or snakes, who didn't choose to be what they are.)

Whether your Red Wizard villain works for Szass Tam's inner cabal or is exiled from Thay, they are likely ruthlessly cunning and exhibit little-to-no regard for common customs of decency such as, say, mercy or honor. Though they don't particularly revere evil deities, Red Wizards tend to be perfectly willing to make pacts with them—in fact, it is strongly suspected that Tam himself made a deal with Bane, the Lord of Darkness. It is also not uncommon to see demons, efreeti, or wights bound to a Red Wizard's service. With all this in mind, I can only reasonably assume that a Red Wizard also kicks puppies in their spare time.

If your Red Wizard works for an institution, ensure that they bring the full weight of that institution to bear against the party. Once your Red Wizard is aware of how the party threatens their goals, they should be using their massive resources to thwart them. A Red Wizard of Thay in good standing probably has access to forbidden knowledge, political power, an entire staff of lesser mages, and money. Your villain can assign mages to scry on the party, send their assistants to research the party's personal histories, and hinder the party's travels with hordes of undead. Hire bandits, assassins, bounty hunters, and mercenaries to harass the party. Use their vast riches to turn every bartender or tavernkeeper the party talks to into an informant. Your Red Wizard should have access to almost every type of magic: They don't need to personally cast high-level cleric spells when they can hire priests and cultists to do their bidding.

Fighting As a Red Wizard

A Red Wizard does their homework and comes prepared. They know their enemy and don't start a fight unless they've brought backup and think they can win. If you're fighting a high-level party, don't be afraid to stack buffs on your wizard just like they do: You can have death ward and freedom of movement, too. In fact, why not go invisible and throw some meteors while you're at it? These wizards rule an entire nation through the sheer force of their cruelty and intellect—they should act like it.

See the Red Wizards in Action

Keep an eye out for the Red Wizards of Thay in Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves! There, you can witness firsthand the Red Wizard's deliciously evil plots and machinations, then use their dastardly deeds as motivations for your own game! This evil faction has been a staple in Forgotten Realms stories, and you can be sure we'll continue to see them crop up in future stories and adventures.

Damen Cook (@damen_joseph) is a lifelong fantasy reader, writer, and gamer. If he woke up tomorrow in Faerûn, he would bolt through the nearest fey crossing and drink from every stream and eat fruit from every tree in the Feywild until he found that sweet, sweet wild magic.