Perfect Wizard [Archive] - Wizards Community

Perfect Wizard [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
Emir
05-27-04, 04:49 PM See people, I'm in the need of the perfect Wizard :)

Well, I wanted to play a Lich Wizard...but the sad part about is that Lich's HAVE to be evil...

And my party members aren't really thrilled with the idea. They'll all be evil and all, but I'm not sure if us/DM will have the same ammount of fun as we had with our Neutral or Good characters/

And I don't want to spoil their fun, as I know what that is like.

So, what would the perfect Wizard be? What race? I have 32 Point Buy System and how should I use it to make my statuses? I'm really into having high int with my Wizard :)

And a good role-play or anything that would flavor my character is also welcome. The idea is having the following stats: Human Wizards Str 8, Dex 14, Con 14, Int 18 (:D), Wis 10, Cha 10

And the idea of the Wizard is that be craves knowledge. He will be going through old crypts and so lloking for old tombs etc and will be looking for the iternal life.
The_Yellow_Dart_Swinger
05-27-04, 06:45 PM This would probably be better placed on the character optimization board since your talking strickly mechanics and trying to be the best you can be a.k.a Min-Maxing.

Character Optimization Board (http://boards1.wizards.com/forumdisplay.php?s=&forumid=339)
Emir
06-02-04, 11:23 AM Well, my primary ideas was a good character idea...

...But I just asked for the perfect number for the hell of it.

Really, I would like some character development ideas, please.
DNA
06-02-04, 06:00 PM Race can be a good "spice" for a vanilla character. Elven and human mages are pretty common, but a halfling wizard might be interesting - a Napolean complex, maybe? Dwarves are decent statwise, and their racial bonus against spells might give them the advantage in a mage-duel, plus a dwarven wizard would be interesting to roleplay, probably as a bit of an outcast from his people.

Half-orc is the only core race that seems to directly harm your wizarding; anything else could prove a lot of fun.

In terms of purely conceptual stuff... a DM I once played with had a cool NPC inspired by the "Calculator" class in the Final Fantasy Tactics video game. The guy carried around a ledger and abacus and cast his spells as complex metaphysical equations; a math professor with some bite!

If you've decided that your character is gonna be after eternal life, you should probably thing of a fairly original reason if you want to avoid being hackneyed. Does he have something in particular he wants to accomplish? Maybe a somewhat noble goal that would offset his occasional greed and obsession? A character questing so that he can save, say, his dying mother would probably have a lot more drive than one acting out of pure self-interest.

Statwise, I dunno. Ask the Optimization guys ;-)
Qwimby the Halfling Mage
06-20-04, 08:04 AM I think your stats are good. They are almost identical to my halfling wizard's: 6, 16, 16, 16, 12, 10. Like they say, "you only need enough strength to carry your component pouch and spellbook" ;)
Loremaster is a good idea if all you're interested in is knowledge, but it's a little boring. But what better way to get knowledge than from the source? How bout a mindbender who likes to read ppl's minds to get knowledge? Or read a monster's mind to get info about their breeding cycles or something like that?
Work up to archmage and take the skill that'll give you a spell 3 times as a spell-like ability, and use it for detect thoughts. For the cost of an 8th level spell, you could have it 9 times! As well as the ability readmind from the Mindbender.
I see tremendous roleplaying potential here. And who would suspect the innocent little halfling to be raping the minds of <insert world here>?

This message has been brought to you by the Halfling Wizards' Guild and Pub where "Big bangs come in small packages!"
Spatula Of Doom
06-25-04, 02:40 PM If you're playing an evil campaign you can get a LOT of fun out of a wizard character. One of my favorate characters was a Chotic-neutral Wizard in an evil campaign.

Play him as a person who see's the world as a game meant to entertain him. In this way he doesn't have to be actively evil simply completely self-centered and chaotic. If you aren't quite comical enough the other PC's will wind up hating you but that's ok in an evil campaign.

Be a generalist because you want to always be wipping out oddball spells meant for your entertainment more than anything. Tasha's hideous laughter, Grease, Suggestion, Launch item, The various Summon Monster spells, ray of enfeeblement, hold portal, Gaseous Form, all the pollymorph spells, Blindness/deafness, Energy Transformation field, ventrioquism, Geas, Bigby's hands, Continual flame, Lutzaern's frequent jaunt.

I remember killing a mind flayer by using a ring of the ram to knock it down a well (he didn't take much damage from the fall because of the water) and then using Major Creation to drop a 550lb lead sphere down the well shaft. That hurt.
Trydan
06-26-04, 09:39 AM Originally posted by DNA
Half-orc is the only core race that seems to directly harm your wizarding; anything else could prove a lot of fun.

:nonono: Oh, I don't know. Just because it has "-2" to Intelligence, everyone suddenly assumes that it would be a disaster. But, come on, seriously... why not?

A wizard can still function on Int=16, and that is completely possible. Sure, you will not get that one or two extra bonus spell, but it is still playable, and the decent strength can make for some good touch-attack rolls for some spells.

Yes, the DC of your spells may be a bit lower, but only by 1 point, and that is practically nothing. :rolleyes:

However, the role-playing possibilities are vast. :smirk:

I created a Half-Orc wizard once, based on the following image:
http://www.wizards.com/dnd/images/pc_portraits/200102_274_10.jpg
He was a decendant of a long line of respectable half-orcs (none of this sordid origins nonsense), and grew up in a good home with loving parents. He studied the arcane arts, and would order tomes via post from far-off lands.

The problem was getting hold of components and the urge to further his knowledge. That lead him into adventuring.

He is a kind soul, but one with great intellect and resolve. But he doesn't take kindly to those who prejudice (sp?) him because of his race, or tar him with unwarranted stereotypes!

He's one of my favourite characters. :cloud9:

Oh... er... yeah, you probably wanted the Character Optimisation board instead of Character Development. :blush:
doublesquirrel
06-28-04, 02:29 PM Lich's don't have to be evil. In the monster manual supplement "monsters of Faerun", it gives stuff for a good lich. They get some bonus powers. It's neat.:cool:

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Emir 05-27-04, 04:49 PM	See people, I'm in the need of the perfect Wizard :) Well, I wanted to play a Lich Wizard...but the sad part about is that Lich's HAVE to be evil... And my party members aren't really thrilled with the idea. They'll all be evil and all, but I'm not sure if us/DM will have the same ammount of fun as we had with our Neutral or Good characters/ And I don't want to spoil their fun, as I know what that is like. So, what would the perfect Wizard be? What race? I have 32 Point Buy System and how should I use it to make my statuses? I'm really into having high int with my Wizard :) And a good role-play or anything that would flavor my character is also welcome. The idea is having the following stats: Human Wizards Str 8, Dex 14, Con 14, Int 18 (:D), Wis 10, Cha 10 And the idea of the Wizard is that be craves knowledge. He will be going through old crypts and so lloking for old tombs etc and will be looking for the iternal life.
The_Yellow_Dart_Swinger 05-27-04, 06:45 PM	This would probably be better placed on the character optimization board since your talking strickly mechanics and trying to be the best you can be a.k.a Min-Maxing. Character Optimization Board (http://boards1.wizards.com/forumdisplay.php?s=&forumid=339)
Emir 06-02-04, 11:23 AM	Well, my primary ideas was a good character idea... ...But I just asked for the perfect number for the hell of it. Really, I would like some character development ideas, please.
DNA 06-02-04, 06:00 PM	Race can be a good "spice" for a vanilla character. Elven and human mages are pretty common, but a halfling wizard might be interesting - a Napolean complex, maybe? Dwarves are decent statwise, and their racial bonus against spells might give them the advantage in a mage-duel, plus a dwarven wizard would be interesting to roleplay, probably as a bit of an outcast from his people. Half-orc is the only core race that seems to directly harm your wizarding; anything else could prove a lot of fun. In terms of purely conceptual stuff... a DM I once played with had a cool NPC inspired by the "Calculator" class in the Final Fantasy Tactics video game. The guy carried around a ledger and abacus and cast his spells as complex metaphysical equations; a math professor with some bite! If you've decided that your character is gonna be after eternal life, you should probably thing of a fairly original reason if you want to avoid being hackneyed. Does he have something in particular he wants to accomplish? Maybe a somewhat noble goal that would offset his occasional greed and obsession? A character questing so that he can save, say, his dying mother would probably have a lot more drive than one acting out of pure self-interest. Statwise, I dunno. Ask the Optimization guys ;-)
Qwimby the Halfling Mage 06-20-04, 08:04 AM	I think your stats are good. They are almost identical to my halfling wizard's: 6, 16, 16, 16, 12, 10. Like they say, "you only need enough strength to carry your component pouch and spellbook" ;) Loremaster is a good idea if all you're interested in is knowledge, but it's a little boring. But what better way to get knowledge than from the source? How bout a mindbender who likes to read ppl's minds to get knowledge? Or read a monster's mind to get info about their breeding cycles or something like that? Work up to archmage and take the skill that'll give you a spell 3 times as a spell-like ability, and use it for detect thoughts. For the cost of an 8th level spell, you could have it 9 times! As well as the ability readmind from the Mindbender. I see tremendous roleplaying potential here. And who would suspect the innocent little halfling to be raping the minds of <insert world here>? This message has been brought to you by the Halfling Wizards' Guild and Pub where "Big bangs come in small packages!"
Spatula Of Doom 06-25-04, 02:40 PM	If you're playing an evil campaign you can get a LOT of fun out of a wizard character. One of my favorate characters was a Chotic-neutral Wizard in an evil campaign. Play him as a person who see's the world as a game meant to entertain him. In this way he doesn't have to be actively evil simply completely self-centered and chaotic. If you aren't quite comical enough the other PC's will wind up hating you but that's ok in an evil campaign. Be a generalist because you want to always be wipping out oddball spells meant for your entertainment more than anything. Tasha's hideous laughter, Grease, Suggestion, Launch item, The various Summon Monster spells, ray of enfeeblement, hold portal, Gaseous Form, all the pollymorph spells, Blindness/deafness, Energy Transformation field, ventrioquism, Geas, Bigby's hands, Continual flame, Lutzaern's frequent jaunt. I remember killing a mind flayer by using a ring of the ram to knock it down a well (he didn't take much damage from the fall because of the water) and then using Major Creation to drop a 550lb lead sphere down the well shaft. That hurt.
Trydan 06-26-04, 09:39 AM	Originally posted by DNA Half-orc is the only core race that seems to directly harm your wizarding; anything else could prove a lot of fun. :nonono: Oh, I don't know. Just because it has "-2" to Intelligence, everyone suddenly assumes that it would be a disaster. But, come on, seriously... why not? A wizard can still function on Int=16, and that is completely possible. Sure, you will not get that one or two extra bonus spell, but it is still playable, and the decent strength can make for some good touch-attack rolls for some spells. Yes, the DC of your spells may be a bit lower, but only by 1 point, and that is practically nothing. :rolleyes: However, the role-playing possibilities are vast. :smirk: I created a Half-Orc wizard once, based on the following image: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/images/pc_portraits/200102_274_10.jpg He was a decendant of a long line of respectable half-orcs (none of this sordid origins nonsense), and grew up in a good home with loving parents. He studied the arcane arts, and would order tomes via post from far-off lands. The problem was getting hold of components and the urge to further his knowledge. That lead him into adventuring. He is a kind soul, but one with great intellect and resolve. But he doesn't take kindly to those who prejudice (sp?) him because of his race, or tar him with unwarranted stereotypes! He's one of my favourite characters. :cloud9: Oh... er... yeah, you probably wanted the Character Optimisation board instead of Character Development. :blush:
doublesquirrel 06-28-04, 02:29 PM	Lich's don't have to be evil. In the monster manual supplement "monsters of Faerun", it gives stuff for a good lich. They get some bonus powers. It's neat.:cool: