On Magic-Users and Illusionists - Part One

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THE MAGIC-USER

The magic-user is a mysterious figure, a student of arcane powers and spell casting. Usually cloaked in robes woven with mystical symbols, magic-users can be devastating opponents. However, they are usually physically weaker than other adventuring classes, and are untrained in the use of armor and weapons. As magic-users progress in level, they generally become the most powerful of the character classes. Perhaps one day, though, you will rise to such heights of power that you can build a mystically protected tower for your researches, create fabulous magic items, and scribe new formulae for hitherto unknown spells. Such arch-mages can sway the politics of kingdoms, and command respect and fear across the realms.

Prime Attribute: Intelligence, 13+ (+5% experience)

Hit Dice: 1d6-1 (Gains 1 hp/level after 9th level.)

Armor/Shield Permitted: None.

Weapons Permitted: Club, dagger, staff, and darts.

SPELLS (1st): A magic-user casts arcane spells. Each magic-user can cast a limited number of spells from each spell level per day. The table below lists the number of spells per day a magic-user may cast of each spell level. For example, a fifth level magic-user can cast four 1st level spells, two 2nd level spells, and one 3rd level spell. A magic-user must prepare spells before casting them by studying from a spell book. While studying, the magic-user decides which spells to prepare.

The magic-user keeps his spells in a spell book, or grimoire. The number of spells that a magic-user has in his spell book at the beginning of play is up to the Referee, but usually includes read magic, plus three additional spells - one offensive, one defensive and one practical.

						Spells Per Day (By Spell Level)
Level	Experience	Hit Dice	Attack	Save	Title	1	2	3	4	5	6
1	0	1	+0	15	Adept	1	-	-	-	-	-
2	2,500	2	+0	14	Soothsayer	2	-	-	-	-	-
3	5,000	3	+0	13	Evocator	2	1	-	-	-	-
4	10,000	4	+1	12	Mage	3	2	-	-	-	-
5	20,000	5	+1	11	Spellbinder	4	2	1	-	-	-
6	40,000	6	+2	10	Enchanter	4	2	2	-	-	-
7	65,000	7	+2	9	Marvel	4	3	2	1	-	-
8	95,000	8	+3	8	Archimage	4	3	3	2	-	-
9	135,000	9	+3	7	Wizard	4	3	3	2	1	-
10	190,000	+1	+4	6	Wizard	4	4	3	2	2	-
11	285,000	+2	+5	5	Wizard	4	4	4	3	3	-
12	385,000	+3	+5	4	Wizard	4	4	4	4	4	1

The Illusionist Sub-Class

The illusionist is a sub-class of magic-user that specializes in illusions. Illusionists are tricksters and charlatans. Illusionists tend to make their homes not in isolated towers but in towns, where there are people on whom they can practice their art. A high-level illusionist might open an emporium or found a traveling wonder show, attracting young apprentices with a yen for trickery. Where magic-users are scholarly, illusionists have an artistic temperament. They are often "bohemians" and may be agents of chaos and freedom, confidence men looking to make a dishonest gold piece, or even philosophers attempting to grasp the true meaning of reality.

Prime Attribute: Intelligence & Charisma, 13+ (+5% experience)

Hit Dice: 1d6-1 (Gains 1 hp/level after 9th level.)

Armor/Shield Permitted: None.

Weapons Permitted: Club, dagger, staff, and darts.

SPELLS (1st): An illusionist casts spells from the illusionist spell list. Each illusionist knows a limited number of spells from each spell level. These spells are learned through practice and invention, and new "spells known" gained via level advancement are gained without study or expense.

Unlike a traditional magic-user, the illusionist does not have to prepare spells each day before casting them. When an illusionist casts a spell from her repertoire, she must pay for it with spell points. A spell costs a number of spell points equal to its level. The chart below shows how many spell points the illusionist has at each level.

SHARP SENSES (1st): An illusionist's innate ability to perceive the real from the unreal imparts a +1 bonus to all saving throws against illusions.

SILVER TONGUE (1st): Using her natural charisma and a bit of fast talking, the illusionist is a capable manipulator of people. Potential victims of the illusionist's silver tongue receive a saving throw to see through her. If the saving throw is successful, apply a -2 penalty to reaction rolls with the NPC. If the saving throw fails, apply a +2 bonus to reaction rolls with the NPC.

							Spells Known (By Spell Level)
Level	Experience	Hit Dice	Attack	Save	SP	Title	1	2	3	4	5	6
1	0	1	+0	15	2	Quacksalver	2	-	-	-	-	-
2	2,600	2	+0	14	3	Humbug	2	-	-	-	-	-
3	5,200	3	+0	13	5	Prestidigitator	3	1	-	-	-	-
4	12,000	4	+1	12	9	Mountebank	4	2	-	-	-	-
5	24,000	5	+1	11	12	Pharisee	5	2	1	-	-	-
6	48,000	6	+2	10	15	Tregatour	5	3	2	-	-	-
7	70,000	7	+2	9	21	Charlatan	5	3	2	1	-	-
8	100,000	8	+3	8	28	Virtuoso	5	3	3	2	-	-
9	140,000	9	+3	7	33	Illusionist	6	4	3	2	1	-
10	195,000	+1	+4	6	42	Illusionist	6	4	4	3	2	-
11	290,000	+2	+5	5	51	Illusionist	6	4	4	3	3	-
12	400,000	+3	+5	4	66	Illusionist	6	5	5	4	4	1

Illusionist Spell List

* Indicates an existing magic-user spell

Level 1

1. Change Self
   
2. Color Spray
   
3. Dancing Lights
   
4. Daze
   
5. Flare
   
6. Ghost Sound
   
7. Hideous Laughter
   
8. Hypnotism
   
9. Prestidigitation
   
10. Silent Image
    
11. Ventriloquism
    
12. Wizard Mark
    

CHANGE Self

Level: 1

Range: Personal

Duration: 10 minutes per level

You make yourself, including your equipment, look different. You can seem 1 foot shorter or taller, thin, fat, or in between. You cannot change your body type. Otherwise, the extent of the apparent change is up to you.

COLOR SPRAY

Level: 1

Range: 15 ft cone

Duration: Instantaneous

A vivid cone of clashing colors springs forth from your hand. Each creature within the cone is affected according to its Hit Dice. Creatures with 2 HD or less is knocked unconscious for 2d4 rounds, then blinded and stunned for 1d4 rounds and then stunned for 1 round. Creatures with 3 or 4 HD are blinded and stunned for 1d4 rounds, then stunned for 1 round. Creatures with 5 or more HD are stunned for 1 round. Sightless creatures are not affected by color spray.

DANCING LIGHTS

Level: 1

Range: 150 ft

Duration: 1 minute

You create up to four lights that resemble lanterns or torches (and cast that amount of light), or up to four glowing spheres of light (which look like will-o'-wisps), or one faintly glowing, vaguely humanoid shape. The dancing lights
must stay within a 10-foot-radius area in relation to each other but otherwise move as you desire. The lights can move up to 100 feet per round. A light winks out if the distance between you and it exceeds the spell's range.

DAZE

Level: 1

Range: 30 ft

Duration: 1 round

You cloud the mind of a humanoid creature with 4 or fewer Hit Dice so that it takes no actions for 1 round.

Flare

Level: 1

Range: 30 ft

Duration: Instantaneous

This spell creates a burst of light. If you cause the light to burst directly in front of a single creature, that creature is blinded for 1 minute unless it makes a successful saving throw.

Ghost Sound

Level: 1

Range: 30 ft.

Duration: 1 round per level

Ghost sound
allows you to create a volume of sound that rises, recedes, approaches, or remains at a fixed place. You choose what type of sound ghost sound
creates when casting it and cannot thereafter change the sound's basic character.

Hideous Laughter

Level: 1

Range: 30 ft

Duration: 1 round per level

This spell afflicts the sentient subject with uncontrollable laughter. The subject can take no actions while laughing, but is not considered helpless. After the spell ends, it can act normally.

Hypnotism

Level: 1

Range: 30 ft.

Duration: 2d4 rounds

Your gestures and droning incantation fascinate nearby creatures, causing them to stop and stare blankly at you. In addition, you can use their rapt attention to make your suggestions and requests seem more plausible. Roll 2d4 to see how many total Hit Dice of creatures you affect. Creatures with fewer HD are affected before creatures with more HD. Only creatures that can see or hear you are affected, but they do not need to understand you to be fascinated.

Prestidigitation

Level: 1

Range: 10 ft

Duration: 1 hour

Prestidigitations are minor tricks that novice spell casters use for practice. Once cast, a prestidigitation
spell enables you to perform simple magical effects for 1 hour. The effects are minor and have severe limitations. A prestidigitation can slowly lift 1 pound of material. It can color, clean, or soil items in a 1-foot cube each round. It can chill, warm, or flavor 1 pound of nonliving material. It cannot deal damage or affect the concentration of spell casters. Prestidigitation
can create small objects, but they look crude and artificial. The materials created by a prestidigitation
spell are extremely fragile, and they cannot be used as tools, weapons, or spell components. Finally, a prestidigitation
lacks the power to duplicate any other spell effects. Any actual change to an object (beyond just moving, cleaning, or soiling it) persists only 1 hour.

Silent Image

Level: 1

Range: 600 ft

Duration: Concentration

This spell creates the visual illusion of an object, creature, or force, as visualized by you. The illusion does not create sound, smell, texture, or temperature. You can move the image within the limits of the size of the effect.

Ventriloquism

Level: 1

Range: 30 ft

Duration: 1 minute per level

You can make your voice (or any sound that you can normally make vocally) seem to issue from someplace else.

WIZARD Mark

Level: 1

Duration: Permanent

This spell allows you to inscribe your personal rune or mark, which can consist of no more than six characters. The writing can be visible or invisible. An arcane mark
spell enables you to etch the rune upon any substance without harm to the material upon which it is placed. If an invisible mark is made, a detect magic
spell causes it to glow and be visible, though not necessarily understandable.

Level 2

1. Blur
   
2. Darkness, 15 ft Radius *
   
3. Hypnotic Pattern
   
4. Invisibility *
   
5. Magic Mouth *
   
6. Mirror Image *
   
7. Misdirection
   
8. Phantasmal Force *
   
9. Silence, 15 ft Radius *
   
10. Suggestion *
    

Blur

Level: 2

Range: Touch

Duration: 1 minute per level

The subject's outline appears blurred, shifting and wavering. This distortion grants the subject a +4 bonus to Armor Class against opponents with sight.

Hypnotic Pattern

Level: 2

Range: 150 ft

Duration: Concentration + 2 rounds

A twisting pattern of subtle, shifting colors weaves through the air, fascinating creatures within it. This spell works like hypnotism, except it lasts for as long as the illusionist concentrates, plus 2 rounds after.

Misdirection

Level: 2

Range: 30 ft

Duration: 1 hour per level

You misdirect the information from divination spells that reveal auras (detect evil, detect magic, discern lies,
and the like). On casting the spell, you choose another object within range. For the duration of the spell, the subject of misdirection
is detected as if it were the other object, with no saving throws allowed.

Level 3

1. Blink
   
2. Detect Invisibility *
   
3. Dispel Illusion (as dispel magic, but only works against illusions)
   
4. Displacement
   
5. Enthrall
   
6. Illusory Script
   
7. Invisibility, 10 ft Radius *
   

Blink

Level: 3

Range: Personal

Duration: 1 round per level

You "blink" back and forth between the Material Plane and the Ethereal Plane. You look as though you're winking in and out of reality very quickly and at random. Physical attacks against you are at a -5 penalty. If the attacker can hit ethereal creatures or see invisible creatures, the "to hit" penalty is reduced to -2. Spells that target you fail to work on you 50% of the time, and spells cast by you have a 20% chance of not working. You take half damage from area attacks and falling, and you gain a +2 bonus to hit in combat.

Displacement

Level: 3

Range: Touch

Duration: 1 round per level

The subject of this spell appears to be about 2 feet away from its true location. The creature benefits from a 50% miss chance on attacks.

Enthrall

Level: 3

Range: 150 ft

Duration: 1 hour or less

If you have the attention of a group of creatures, you can use this spell to hold them spellbound. To cast the spell, you must speak or sing without interruption for 1 round. Thereafter, those affected give you their undivided attention, ignoring their surroundings. They are considered to be friendly while under the effect of the spell. Any potentially affected creature of a race or religion unfriendly to yours gets a +2 bonus on the saving throw.

A creature with 4 or more HD or with a wisdom score of 15 or higher remains aware of its surroundings and remains indifferent. It gains a new saving throw if it witnesses actions that it opposes.

The effect lasts as long as you speak or sing, to a maximum of 1 hour. Those enthralled
by your words take no action while you speak or sing and for 1d3 rounds thereafter while they discuss the topic or performance. Those entering the area during the performance must also successfully save or become enthralled. The speech ends (but the 1d3-round delay still applies) if you lose concentration or do anything other than speak or sing.

If those not enthralled
have unfriendly or hostile attitudes toward you, they can collectively make a saving throw to try to end the spell by jeering and heckling. The heckling ends the spell.

If any member of the audience is attacked or subjected to some other overtly hostile act, the spell ends and the previously enthralled
members become immediately unfriendly toward you. Each creature with 4 or more HD or with a wisdom score of 15 or higher becomes hostile.

Illusory Script

Level: 3

Range: Touch

Duration: One day per level

You write instructions or other information on parchment, paper, or any suitable writing material. The illusory script
appears to be some form of foreign or magical writing. Only the person (or people) designated by you at the time of the casting are able to read the writing; it's unintelligible to any other character, although an illusionist recognizes it as illusory script.

Any unauthorized creature attempting to read the script triggers a potent illusory effect and must make a saving throw. A successful saving throw means the creature can look away with only a mild sense of disorientation. Failure means the creature is subject to a suggestion implanted in the script by you at the time the illusory script spell was cast. The suggestion lasts only 30 minutes.

Level 4

1. Confusion *
   
2. Greater Invisibility
   
3. Hallucinatory Terrain *
   
4. Illusory Wall
   
5. Phantasmal Killer
   
6. Rainbow Pattern
   
7. Shadow Conjuration
   
8. Zone of Silence
   

Greater Invisibility

Level: 4

Duration: 1 round per level

This spell functions like invisibility, except that it doesn't end if the subject attacks.

Illusory Wall

Level: 4

Range: 50 ft

Duration: Permanent

This spell creates the illusion of a wall, floor, ceiling, or similar surface. It appears absolutely real when viewed, but physical objects can pass through it without difficulty.

Phantasmal Killer

Level: 4

Range: 150 ft

Duration: Instantaneous

You create a phantasmal image of the most fearsome creature imaginable to the subject. Only the spell's subject can see the phantasmal killer. You see only a vague shape. The target first gets a saving throw to recognize the image as unreal. If that fails, the phantasm touches the subject and the subject must succeed on a saving throw or die from fear. Even if the saving throw is successful, the subject takes 3d6 points of damage. If the subject of a phantasmal killer
attack succeeds in disbelieving and is wearing a helm of telepathy or is a psychic with the telepathy power, the beast can be turned upon you. You must then disbelieve it or become subject to its deadly fear attack.

Rainbow Pattern

Level: 4

Range: 150 ft

Duration: Concentration + 1 round per level

A glowing, rainbow-hued pattern of interweaving colors fascinates those within it. Rainbow pattern fascinates a maximum of 24 Hit Dice of creatures. An affected creature that fails its saves is fascinated by the pattern. With a simple gesture, you can make the rainbow pattern move up to 30 feet per round, moving its effective point of origin. All fascinated creatures follow the moving rainbow of light, trying to get or remain within the effect. Fascinated creatures who are restrained and removed from the pattern still try to follow it. If the pattern leads its subjects into a dangerous area each fascinated creature gets a second saving throw. If the view of the lights is completely blocked creatures who can't see them are no longer affected.

Shadow Conjuration

Level: 4

Range: See text

Duration: See text

You use shadows to shape quasi-real illusions of one or more creatures, objects, or forces. Shadow conjuration can mimic any magic-user conjuration or summoning spell of 3rd level or lower. Shadow conjurations are 20% as strong as the real things, though creatures who believe the shadow conjurations to be real are affected by them at full strength. Any creature that interacts with the conjured object, force, or creature can make a saving throw to recognize its true nature. Spells that deal damage have normal effects unless the affected creature succeeds on a saving throw. Each disbelieving creature takes only 20% damage from the attack. If the disbelieved attack has a special effect other than damage, that effect is only 20% likely to occur.

A shadow creature has one-fifth the hit points of a normal creature of its kind (regardless of whether it's recognized as shadowy). It deals normal damage and has all normal abilities and weaknesses. Against a creature that recognizes it as a shadow creature, however, the shadow creature's damage is one-fifth (20%) normal, and all special abilities that do not deal lethal damage are only 20% likely to work. (Roll for each use and each affected character separately.) Furthermore, the shadow creature's AC bonuses (i.e. points of Armor Class better than 9 [10]).are one-fifth as large.

A creature that succeeds on its save sees the shadow conjurations as transparent images superimposed on vague, shadowy forms.

Zone of Silence

Level: 4

Range: Personal

Duration: 1 hour per level

By casting zone of silence, you manipulate sound waves in your immediate vicinity so that you and those within the spell's area can converse normally, yet no one outside can hear your voices or any other noises from within. This effect is centered on you and moves with you. Anyone who enters the zone immediately becomes subject to its effects, but those who leave are no longer affected.