WIZARD - SORCERER War Wizard Kit Description: This type of Sorcerer is skilled in both magical and military arts, being skilled in battle far beyond the normal skill of a Sorcerer. They can come from aggressive, warmongering cultures bent on the conquest of weaker nations or from cultures that are continually under siege from their more warlike neighbors, making military preparedness vital to their defense. In any case, a War Wizard considers a trained body as important as a trained mind and prides him- or herself on keeping combat skills as sharp as magical talents. War Wizards are among the most honored and respected citizens in their societies, since their powerful magic and war training make them exceptionally able soldiers. Depending on their background, they may be simply brutal, savage killers, wallowing in the violence of the battlefield, or they may be heroic mystical knights, fighting with honor and taking lives only when necessary. War Wizards have a variety of reasons for joining adventuring parties; sometimes sharing the goal of overthrowing an evil power or seeking treasure to send home to the war effort. They might even wish to study the fighting techniques of other cultures (in terms of magical and mundane tactics). They make excellent leaders but are also capable of following the orders of others with initiative and alacrity (assuming that their commander has their respect), but all War Wizards prefer decisive action to inaction. They tend to mistrust overly philosophical or contemplative characters as being unreliable or unwilling soldiers. Whatever their reasons, a War Wizard's fighting skills greatly benefit any party they accompany. Requirements: In addition to standard Sorcerer requirements, War Wizards must have a Strength of at least 12. They can be of any alignment but must be humans, half-elves, or aasimar. Weapons & Armor: War Wizards may not wear armor, but unlike other wizards they may use shields. A War Wizard may become proficient in any weapon. Special Benefits: War Wizards gain an array of soldiering skills in addition to being expert in the application of their magic to combat. Magical Attack: As a standard Sorcerer. Magical Defense: As a standard Sorcerer. Progressive Mastery: As a standard Sorcerer, but note that a War Wizard's effective Intelligence is penalized by 2 for magical purposes, and he or she suffers an additional -10% penalty to their chance to learn any type of noncombat spells, such as read magic (see Special Hindrances). Soldiering Skills: As noted under Weapons & Armor, a War Wizard is skilled in the use of a shield and can become proficient in any weapon he or she desires. He or she can also select non-weapon proficiencies from the Warrior list without penalty. A War Wizard also gains double the normal number of weapon proficiencies for a Wizard of his or her level. A War Wizard of 10th level or above who establishes a stronghold will attract a body of loyal warriors similar to those drawn to a high-level Fighter, though only half the normal number of men-at-arms will arrive. Unlike a Fighter, a War Wizard does not continue to attract more men-at-arms as he or she advances in level; if the initial soldiers are lost, they are not replaced. Although a War Wizard retains his or her standard THAC0 progression, he or she does gain multiple attacks as a Warrior of equal level. A War Wizard can also elect to spend weapon proficiency slots to learn weapon specialization in any one weapon. Since soldiering is not a War Wizard's primary profession, however, such training requires double the normal amount of time. Because of their rigorous training for battle, War Wizards gain one additional hit point for every level they possess; hence, they gain 1d4+1 hit points up to 10th level and 2 hit points per level thereafter, in addition to any bonus due to Constitution. Finally, War Wizards learn how to integrate their magical powers with their mundane skill at arms. They gain free proficiency in both Battle Magic and Tactics, and these proficiencies gain a +1 bonus for every three levels of the War Wizard (rounding down). Spell Specialization: As a standard Sorcerer, but a War Wizard spends less time perfecting his or her wizardry than other Sorcerers, being able to attempt Spell Specialization only every two levels of experience (rounded down). Special Hindrances: A War Wizard's largest hindrance is that he or she devotes much of his or her intellect to sorting out the best possible combination of magical power and mundane force to accomplish any task. War Wizards are simply unable or unwilling to devote all of their 'brainpower' to their magical studies, and as a result a War Wizard's Intelligence score should be considered 2 points lower than the actual score for all purposes related to magic, including maximum spells per level, maximum level of spells, chance to know spells, and attempts to learn Fields of Study or gain Spell Specialization. Other functions of Intelligence, such as non-weapon proficiencies, are unaffected. In a similar vein, War Wizards are very utilitarian in their consideration of battlefield value for spells, looking at direct usefulness in combat situations. A War Wizard will never select the Realm of Lore as a Field of Study, and he or she also cannot make use of Metamagic spells; his or her magical skills are simply too direct to bother with such legerdemain. In addition, a War Wizard will tend to avoid using spells that are not specifically attack or defense spells (i.e., those cast at an opponent to neutralize them in combat or to neutralize the attacks of others), and he or she suffers an additional -10% penalty to his or her chance to learn any spell that is not of this type. At least half of all spells memorized at each spell level must be direct attack or defense spells, as these will tend to be memorized in preference to 'general purpose' spells (e.g., fly, monster summoning I, strength, detect magic, teleport). Finally, it is possible that an individual War Wizard may have certain responsibilities to his or her homeland and may be called back to report the findings of their studies or to help defend the homeland (or prosecute a war against a neighbor). Bonus Proficiencies: Battle Magic, Tactics Required Proficiencies: Reading/Writing, Spellcraft Preferred Proficiencies: Ancient History (military), Cartography, Direction Sense, Engineering, Leadership, Monster Lore, Navigation, Weaponsmithing, all Warrior proficiencies ***DISCLAIMER*** As with all postings by me of classes or races, it should be noted that portions of the information contained herein were inspired by or derived from information in published works of TSR, Inc., and may contain references to those works, quotations or passages of text (especially in the area of 'Character Description', where applicable sections from TSR works were often carried over more or less intact into my campaign world), or particular powers or abilities invented by TSR staff writers. No relationship with TSR, Inc., is to be implied by this use, nor is any attempt being made to solicit profit or remuneration of any kind. I have read the TSR Online Policy document, and have tried to accommodate the stipulations contained therein. In instances where I have lifted an essentially complete class or race without significant alteration, I have not included these in my postings but instead have inserted a reference to the appropriate D&D sourcebook for those curious in including it in their campaign. Only variations that include a significant component of original work, alteration, or reformulation (including the compositing elements from various TSR sources into new combinations) of have been included in this set of postings. Jason Eric Nelson < tjaden@u.washington.edu >