Homebrew Wizard of Legend Species Details

New Race: Wizard

As a Wizard, you are not a mere human, nor indeed quite like any of the other races of your world. You are not someone who learned to be a "wizard." A Wizard is both who, and what, you are.

Ancient and Mysterious

Wizards are generally aloof, and may be almost inhuman in their perspectives, though some may have a very human side. They tend to seek knowledge, wisdom, power, enlightenment, and perhaps other more abstract or secret goals.

While most Wizards appear to be middle-aged or older, they could be as old as the world, as language and civilization, as the mountains and seas, or as young as the latest dawn, regardless of how they appear.

You may be cruel, kind, personable, impassive, arrogant, or empathic, but above all you are not like other people. Neither you, nor they, have likely ever met anyone like you.

Rare, Even Unique

While the world you adventure in may be full of spellcasters, and even have countless people who call themselves "wizards," what you are is extremely rare, perhaps even unique.

Whether they are known of or not, Wizards of Legend come along once in a generation, perhaps even once in the history of a world.

You should work with your Game Master to decide the place of a Wizard of Legend in the setting: who if anyone knows of their existence, what those people think and believe about them, whether anyone knows that you are one.

Legendary Wizards typically cannot separate their sense of self, sense of race/species, sense of gender, sense of class, or the rest of their identity from being a Wizard. They do not have to see themselves as above others, but they should not understand any rank, class, or role as inherently higher than that of Wizard. If regular wizards exist by that name in this world, a Wizard of Legend may be confused or offended by others claiming the term "wizard," show the respect due to a Wizard of Legend to all wizards, or know that a mere "wizard" is something different.

Epic but Playable

While you may be playing a Wizard whose story predates even the races of others in your party, balanced gameplay rules mean that you will follow a progression of power and knowledge mirroring the others.

In creating this character, you will need to consider why they have attributes and skills similar to their adventuring peers. We go into this in more detail in the Background section: Perhaps you died long ago and were recently reborn. Perhaps you are All-Knowing and All-Powerful, but bound by cosmic law not to interfere beyond the scope that mortals can. Perhaps even you don't know who you are, or how you got to this point in your life. Perhaps, like your fellows, you have just begun your heroic journey.

Wizard Names

Stories of a Legendary Wizard's childhood aren't common, perhaps because they come into the world (or the story) fully formed. Whether born with them, bestowed, or earned, Wizards have names befitting their unique station.
 

Wizard names from myth to media:

Merlin, Morgan Le Fey, Circe, Gandalf the Grey, Saruman the White, Granny Weatherwax, Albertus Magnus, Archchancellor Ridcully, Taborlin the Great, Maleficent, Ged, The Wicked Witch of the West, The Great and Powerful Oz, The Phantom Stranger, Madame Xanadu, The Ancient One, Dumbledore, Lord Voldemort, The Abhorsen, and The Doctor.

 
Naming conventions for each type of Wizard of Legend, and further examples, are included under Affinities below. It is uncommon for any type of Wizard to go by a first and last name.

Wizard of Legend Traits

Each Wizard has the following traits due to their unique background:

Ability Score Increase

Your Wisdom score increases by 2, and your Intelligence or Charisma score (you choose) increases by 1. (With the Wizard of Legend sorcerous origin, Wisdom will be your spellcasting ability for all spells granted by the Sorcerer class.)

Age

Wizards of Legend are usually not seen as children, but if they age at all they are presumed to reach adulthood as quickly as humans. You may choose an actual age, or leave it completely unknown. Also choose an apparent human age, which need not coincide. Wizards most often appear to be anywhere from middle-age to elderly. Wizards of Legend are functionally immortal, and do not die of old age.

Alignment

You may be of any alignment, but Wizards of Legend tend toward Neutrality and away from Chaotic Evil. Good Wizards tend to be Chaotic or Neutral Good, and Evil Wizards tend to be Lawful Evil.

Size

True Wizards tend towards the unusually tall or unusually short end of the human scale. Your size is Medium.

Speed

Your base walking speed is 30 feet.

Darkvision

Your eyes are aided by your ability to perceive magic. You can see in dim light within 60 feet of you as if it were bright light, and in darkness as if it were dim light. You can't discern color in darkness, only shades of grey.

Magical Sight

With little conscious effort, a Wizard can see magic, which may aid in their ability to understand it or react to it. The Blindness status removes this ability.

As a bonus action, you may activate this sense until the beginning of your next turn. (If used out of combat, you can choose to activate it for a duration of about six seconds.) You cannot activate it as an immediate reaction, it must be active before events occur to see them.

To determine what you see, make a Wisdom (Arcana) check. At a DC of 10, you to see the presence of any magic in your field of vision. At a DC of 12, you see the school of magic as a faint aura. The DC will increase at the discretion of your Game Master if the magic is obscured in any way, magical or physical.

Class Restriction

You may only select the Sorcerer class with the Wizard of Legend sorcerous origin, or the Wizard class with the Wizard of Legend arcane tradition as your first class, and you may never have more levels in any other class than in either of those two classes (that you have levels in).

Subrace (Affinity)

In place of traditional subraces, Wizards of Legend have an Affinity, which also impacts their class features.

Improved Magical Sight (14th level)

Starting at your 14th level total in classes with a Wizard of Legend subclass, your Magical Sight racial ability improves. Your minimum result on the Wisdom (Arcana) check to use this sense is now automatically 12, so no roll is required to see unobscured magic and know the school. The Blindness status no longer removes this ability, though you will only see magic not anything else.

If you already have your Magical Sight active when a spell is cast, your Magical Sight now grants advantage on the Intelligence (Arcana) check under the Spell Awareness rules on page 2.

If you already have your Magical Sight active when a spell is cast or a magical effect is triggered your Magical Sight now grants you advantage on saving throws versus that spell or magical effect.

Also see the Innate Resistance feature of each subclass, which interact with this ability.