Unleashing the Magic: Crafting Unforgettable Wizards for RPGs

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  • Опубликовано: 4 ноя 2024

Комментарии • 68

  • @HowtobeaGreatGM
    @HowtobeaGreatGM  Год назад +8

    *Thanks for watching!* What kind of wizard are you? Let us know in the comments below!

    • @AuntieHauntieGames
      @AuntieHauntieGames Год назад +1

      Oh Guy, you know what kind of wizard I am. I'm the ultra-traditionalist, no doubt. I cast spells the way my mentor taught me, and they cast them the way their mentor taught them, in an unbroken chain of Tradition all the way back to the very first wizard to ever put magic ink to scroll. ; )
      I'm not particularly picky about my components though. Any guano is good guano.

  • @D_A_D_
    @D_A_D_ Год назад +3

    Systems that give wizards a Spellbook provide a great way for players to personalize the aesthetic of their character by personalizing what the spellbook looks like. Maybe you have a tribal warrior wizard whose spellbook is tribal tattoos that he gains through his journey. Maybe you've got an inventor wizard whose spellbook is a bunch of technical manuals and drawings on how to make arcane devices to cast his spells. I once played a journalist wizard whose spellbook was partly jumbled notes about various conspiracies and cases combined with the occasional spell she had learned along the way jotted down. You could be a fairy wizard whose spellbook is pressed flower petals with runes drawn on them in fairy dust.
    Endless possibilities for creativity and unique character expression!

  • @Greshgore
    @Greshgore Год назад +8

    As much as I am a fan of the information you present guy , the additions of your characters in these videos adds so much. I've said it in multiple comments in the past but they're such a great part of the content you provide.
    Also, you unintentionally provided me with a comedic moment because I got an ad that started right at the moment you said "well" when you were talking about cutting the wizards hand off...almost as though youtube was forcibly trying to censor a curse word.
    As far as the topic goes, I was born disabled and I've always carried a bit of resentment and bitterness With me because of it. I think because of that, I would prefer that if magic were real, it would be accessible to everyone and not just some lottery of birth.
    There's a line from one of the original Star Wars extended universe novels from many years ago, where a man was recalling what his father told him. Paraphrase: "The Jedi don't necessarily deserve any extra respect or praise just because they won the genetic lottery, ordinary people like us just have to use our gifts that much better".
    If magic were real, I'd like it to be a skill anyone could learn through study and practice. I'm sure it would be heavily regulated, no magic until a certain age etc, And there would have to be safeguards put in place in case somebody let a spell get out of control or something. I think if it worked that way, enough of the evil or power hungry people would weed themselves out trying to run before they crawl so to speak, that it wouldn't be too dangerous.

    • @user-mr6hc9hy2t
      @user-mr6hc9hy2t Год назад +1

      I can definitely understand the preference for a setting of learned magic vs inherent magic- the Faerun equivalent being Wizard vs Sorcerer.
      In a homebrew setting I'm working on, there is a large inland sea region with a preeminent magical power that regulates magic similar to a way you describe. Dense, magical/cursed fog frequently blankets the area, and is known for having unpredictable amplifying effects on magic. Due to this, the powerful magic order pushes messaging/propaganda to the nearby nations that they should send their magically inclined their way to be trained to control their magic. While on some level this may benefit the local powers by reducing magical catastrophes, and getting formal training for their magic users, this also assures that the vast majority of magic users in the region flow directly through the Mage Order. The way they are taught, what they are taught, and their magical loyalties are with the order, which let's them maintain their influence.
      Even systems that may have originally been made with good intent will often become corrupted.

  • @JohnWheaton2PF
    @JohnWheaton2PF Год назад +1

    Nice reference to Merlin from Excalibur. Great movie. The armor was superb, and the fights were believable from the angle of a spectator. It was also awesome to see Sir Patrick Stewart in armor and wielding a sword. Pretty awesome.

  • @pocketmaster100
    @pocketmaster100 Год назад +15

    I really love the Oracle class from pathfinder 2e. The idea to draw magic and power by using some sort of curse is a great built in roleplaying feature. You get more powerful, but so do your curse. How will you live with this knowledge.

    • @johnathanrhoades7751
      @johnathanrhoades7751 Год назад

      That class is insane 😂 I really want to play the space one…but all the subclasses are so unique.

  • @FiLtheThriL
    @FiLtheThriL Год назад +2

    Yay! Thanks very much for the upload Guy

  • @davidbale8495
    @davidbale8495 Год назад +7

    Outstanding intro. Spot on with the topic and narrative. Enjoyed the video very much. Also: "Excalibur"

  • @JReilly9945
    @JReilly9945 Год назад +3

    I usually play some kind of high caster in games. My favorite character was a Wizard/Druid mystic theurge. Trying to balance two identities and viewing magic as a natural force that could be used for the betterment of all the world. He founded a university with the intent of teaching wizards to spread the good that could be done with magic. First two years had a lot of front loaded ethics courses though.

  • @axelthegreat9
    @axelthegreat9 Год назад +10

    I'm starting up a pathfinder 2e game this week, and I'm playing my first ever wizard.
    Lizardfolk necromancer with a lot of disfunctions and weird morality.
    I'm excited!

    • @JacksonOwex
      @JacksonOwex Год назад +4

      Weird moralities are just part of being your typical necromancer!

    • @axelthegreat9
      @axelthegreat9 Год назад +3

      @@JacksonOwex True! Going with a 'utilitarianism' approach. Skeletons can't get black lung, now can they?

    • @Peregijn
      @Peregijn Год назад

      Dont play with your food!

  • @joshuachamoun6073
    @joshuachamoun6073 Год назад +3

    That line about the schools of thought was solid gold , laughed my ass off. as always your content is contempory and entertaining as well as education. thank you for all the hard work you put into making your work high quality. 10 years of DM'ing and i still find your stuff helpful and refreshing.

  • @henrycaltagirone3959
    @henrycaltagirone3959 Год назад +5

    "Ohhh! I have slept for 9 moons. What I did for you wasn't easy. "

  • @benmwalls
    @benmwalls Год назад +4

    You're erudite voice is so close to Christopher Lee, I love it!

  • @RyuuKageDesu
    @RyuuKageDesu Год назад +6

    Great to see the characters seem to be sticking around, for a while at least.

  • @CRandyGamble
    @CRandyGamble Год назад

    I miss playing a wizard. I had a few and they were all unique and memorable. I love watching these videos and realizing that I was already doing all this and that's why they are such strong characters who remain in my mind even decades since I last played them. Follow Guy's advice, he's practically a wizard himself!

  • @TheRealGreedo8
    @TheRealGreedo8 Год назад +1

    I love the wizard king, please bring him back for another video!

  • @Weemadaggie
    @Weemadaggie Год назад

    Most fun re-flavor (Rework really) was for a warlock with a sentient biomechanoid starship as a patron. Everything that player does with their 'magic' was created by the ship interpreting what they want to happen and creating that change by manipulating the nanites it is reproducing in that character. There have been a couple of spells we had to nix but we'd negotiate on replacement spells. We've been able to explain every sort of destructive spell using phraseology and reasoning based in technology, physics and sci-fi terminology. But also things like invisibility (reflective layer), mind control type spells (nanites manipulating a targets brain chemistry) and even teleportation spells (Thank you Star Trek!).
    It has been a crazy journey and that character is ridiculously powerful but they also have endless fun with the challenge. With the right player (and I suppose the right GM) this stuff is gold.

  • @billharm6006
    @billharm6006 Год назад +2

    I recall an old Aladdin movie where the "evil" sorcerer "paid" for his magic with his own physical breakdown or aging. The concept of "cost" for magical performance seems to be minimized in RPG games. A short or long rest seems sufficient to recover all. There is no permanent loss. So what if there was a significant irreplaceable toll? What if there was a limit on the total amount of power that could be expended? Like a free diver trying to set a new depth record, there would be a limit to the energy resource and a serious consequence if the limit was exceeded. Such a restraint would certainly change player patterns. The flippant use of magic would be gone. Even magical training would be curtailed.

    • @Sam..123
      @Sam..123 Год назад +2

      I started out playing a Swedish game that has consequences for magic. Casting a spell required (at least) 3 skill checks, sourcing (at least one raw energy such as pyromancy for firespells etc) Weaving the spell and finally Casting the spell, if any of these steps failed there would be consequences, including the casters soul fading away leaving them an empty shell. Magic was fun back then, it still is I've learned that there are lots of different kinds of fun.

    • @billharm6006
      @billharm6006 Год назад +1

      @@Sam..123 Never heard of the game that you mention, but it sounds interesting if a bit complicated for modern tastes. I agree that fun has different forms (I explicitly limit this observation to RPGs to reduce the risk of encountering one of those things that lives under old bridges). After a long absence from the game, I was recently invited to participate in a 5e D&D game. My first D&D (circa 1981) was with books like Greyhawk. Therefore, much is different and new. I'm playing a Tiefling--never heard of them before this--who is a sorcerer--I stayed away from D&D magic before, focusing instead on roles like Ranger. Yes. I'm having fun (and thinking of growing horns and a prehensile tail as real life augments).

  • @noodles24601
    @noodles24601 Год назад

    My favorite wizard I've made has got to be my 5e order of scribes gnome who has an ancient spellbook containing the souls and minds of every previous owner. A sort of scholarly hivemind that he's slowly being assimilated into, that mostly just has the common drive to learn as much as possible about everything. He also comes from a magocratic society, but, partly to facilitate his own learning, partly from his own beliefs, is trying to spread learning to the masses and form a more egalitarian association of scholars. Kinda like Teachers Without Borders.

  • @johnathanrhoades7751
    @johnathanrhoades7751 Год назад

    Love these! They’re great reminders. Also love the characters 😊 they add so much personality and flavor!

  • @ashleyhiatt6662
    @ashleyhiatt6662 Год назад +1

    I have a "refusing the call" wizard I adore. My firbolg wizard, Mouse, was a frail girl who spent most of her time with books, and became a sort of village babysitter due to her passionate story telling but otherwise calm demeanor. She was subject to an arranged marriage to someone who turned out to be involved in some very dark goings on driving her to steal a spell book and run, eventually falling in with a group of adventures among whom she has become the "Party Mom" in a Wendy caring for the Lost Boys way.
    Our DM created a storyline that all our characters are descendents of long disbanded "Defenders of the Realm" who have been deliberately drawn together and she has spent a year fighting her fear and sense of inadequacy, finally coming around to the idea that power is best wielded by those who don't choose to seek it out. Her husband has also turned out to be a BBEG who has repeatedly sought to drag her home and seems to be on a path to Lichdom.

  • @Terashi
    @Terashi Год назад

    Gleeful academic. I take my time and study every aspect of every spell that I might better understand it, but I put myself through all that because I enjoy the process and, of course, the end result.

  • @olivergalitch5584
    @olivergalitch5584 Год назад

    I agree with the concepts. Usualy I tend to go about it a tad differently : I let the player put in their background ideas raw, then I have a discussion with them. I do it as if I were a biographer trying to understand the person in front of me, so I go and ask a bunch of questions, for exemple if the player hasn't written anything about family, I inquire about it. Doing this on the spot, with the player improvising based on his character is a great way of "filling the blanks" and getting a whole image of the character. It's a bit less strict than the options given here.

  • @TANSamuraiSmurf
    @TANSamuraiSmurf Год назад

    I’m playing a Lizardfolk (the OG Version) Order of Scribes wizard named Leopold and it’s so much fun. At the start of my turn in combat I secretly roll a D6 and 4-6 he uses magic but on a 1-3 he gives in to his carnal tendencies and tries to bite his opponent. I use this to lean into the Hungry Jaws feature to get a bump in Temp HP and lean into his internal struggle to “acting” more civilized and to disprove the stereotype of Lizardfolk only being senseless carnivores. It’s really fun seeing my groups reaction when I run on all fours across the battle and leap onto whoever I’m fighting and start chomping my opponent. And of course using Prestidigitation to clean the blood after the battle.

  • @averagedungeonenjoyer3960
    @averagedungeonenjoyer3960 Год назад

    i love it when you, as a wizard or mage or whatever, are not limited by pre-made spells, but rather, you can manipulate magical energy to do actions such as “i will sneakily put smalls amounts of mana as the fight goes and when the boss steps on it, i want it to make a small explosion” or maybe “i want to start to enhance this common shield through time so after some sessions it will become stronger and even better than other shields” as a mage i want to be able to play around with magic and make my own “spells” instead of following a list of things im limited to

  • @stianthijsen4784
    @stianthijsen4784 Год назад +2

    Your example-magican (or is he meant to be a noble man?) is VERY WELL acted!

  • @simplytao
    @simplytao Год назад +1

    I played a bladesinger for quite a while.

  • @Vanitas12Matt
    @Vanitas12Matt Год назад

    I have made a fire genasi pirate sorcerer character and he uses a staff for spells that aren't fire based. When using spells like fireball he would use his hands to create the fire and launch it, but using things like acid splash he uses his staff to do so. He's a rather fun character to play

  • @Tasfarel
    @Tasfarel Год назад

    In our current D&D Game i´m playing a warforged warlock who was corrupted by an evil lich before breaking free of his influence again. Ingame we tread his magic as a kind of futuristic technology: For example my fly spell is shown like a kind of Jetpack. He´s a pact of the blade warlock and his hand is morphing into his pact weapon when he is calling it like in terminator 2

  • @gamemasters
    @gamemasters Год назад +1

    while it's been a while since I've actually played as a character (forever dm I am, I think if I had the opportunity to play... I'd run a wizard that is convinced that a zombie / undead apocalypse is going to rise up at any moment and would prepare my spell list according to that possibility... Of course.. each time we fought a singular zombie or lich I'd be all... "SEE! i told ya this was gonna happen!"

  • @sirhamalot8651
    @sirhamalot8651 Год назад +2

    Avatar: the Legend of Korra, Season 1 had a storyline of political struggle between Benders (wizards) and non-benders.
    Yes, the goal is to have everyone live in harmony, but when someone has power that could be used to subjugate, even if not used, they will be feared.
    Great conflict for a campaign.

  • @karatekoala4270
    @karatekoala4270 Год назад

    21:47 lol after always playing martial, I'm finally playing a full caster in a new campaign. I'm the orc son of a blacksmith. My focus is a bracer made by my father that has a crystal embedded in it. I have an affinity for crystals, stones and gems. I use them to channel my magic.

  • @LordReginaldMeowmont
    @LordReginaldMeowmont Год назад +5

    My favorite example is Megumin from Knonosuba. Be overly dramatic about your spellcasting and shout out "explosion" every time you blast an enemy with a spell. Tell the other characters it's required for the spell. Never tell them your character just like being dramatic.

  • @lifigrugru6396
    @lifigrugru6396 Год назад +1

    I personaly find a Name to the last part. After i have all the informations over the caracter including background, place of birt, bad and good habbit. Nomen est Omen :)

  • @isaackarr6576
    @isaackarr6576 Год назад

    Flavor is free if you flavor otto's irresistible dance as the munchies. You add a usually irrelevant rashon damage to the spell.

  • @Desertpuma
    @Desertpuma Год назад +2

    EXCALIBUR

  • @FilipeAguiarCarvalho
    @FilipeAguiarCarvalho Год назад +3

    Make a Han Solo wizard. Why the Han Solo always have to be the rogue?
    Take a guy that has a knack to magic and take a job as a janitor in the most influential wizard academy. Then proceed to use magic hand to do the job while he studied.
    Then he could use his knowledge to con people.

  • @scoots291
    @scoots291 Год назад

    The most memorable wizard I played was only pretending to be one.
    The most memorable one I had in a campaign was the spare character (if a player forgot to bring their character or someone e wanted to join late). It was cursed so much it had 1 hp and level cursed to 1 amd its states all got cursed below 10 and nobody ever tried to get rid of them. People remembered to bring their character or gave me a extra character sheet after playing a game with papyrus

  • @Subariel
    @Subariel Год назад +2

    oh i had lots of fun with this king, jope to see them again in other videos

  • @thedragon133
    @thedragon133 Год назад

    Good examples of cultural enforcement would be the psi corps in babylon 5 and the magic academies from "the black eye". Only sanctioned wizards are allowed to practice magic.

  • @stianthijsen4784
    @stianthijsen4784 Год назад

    18:50 ... EXCALIBUR ! ! !

  • @Alverant
    @Alverant Год назад +1

    If the ability to use magic is inherited, how would that affect a mage's relationship with others? Would they want to sire a lot of children to spread magic around or would they be more selective? Would a wizardress avoid using magic while pregnant? Do wizards see each other as rivals or is there a degree of professional courtesy that's followed by all but the most despised magic user? Do they see their magic as something to use for everything or just in emergencies?

  • @ziggy78eog
    @ziggy78eog Год назад

    Would this apply to Warlocks and Sorcerers as well, or will they be getting their own videos?

  • @damianfarrer3992
    @damianfarrer3992 Год назад

    The movie Merlin with 2 VHS tapes? The one with the actor who played in the first Jurassic Park and Event Horizon (I don't remember his name)?

  • @indiesongwriter5474
    @indiesongwriter5474 Год назад +2

    I created an idiot savant wizard named Gringle who was an abused hobgoblin treated like a fool by the hobgoblin elite due to his intelligence and kind heart. He secretly studied magic (against hobgoblin law for him at least) and was brilliant at it, but has no common sense and acts like a child, and in the context of a party also calls the other members master and wants to be their minion. He is fun to play. When he learns a new spell he gets overly excited and wants to show it off because his dream was to become a wizard. He actually was just a random hobgoblin that the party captured that I played until I made a character... And if course he became my character lol

  • @Calebgoblin
    @Calebgoblin Год назад +2

    I'm hoping to learn about wizards that aren't just "The Big Effin Nerd Character"

  • @OlderSnake
    @OlderSnake Год назад

    From the Excalibur film, right?

  • @Frederic_S
    @Frederic_S Год назад +2

    Spells? How is the name of the weasel spelled? That is the question here.

  • @mrjohndstrain
    @mrjohndstrain Год назад +3

    Just lower the wand, and blast away...what, you don't have wands?

    • @carolinelabbott2451
      @carolinelabbott2451 Год назад +1

      I have a spork, does that count?

    • @mrjohndstrain
      @mrjohndstrain Год назад

      @@carolinelabbott2451 "sport"?? What is that...?...

    • @carolinelabbott2451
      @carolinelabbott2451 Год назад +1

      @@mrjohndstrain No idea, but I was handed it one day by a disgruntled school dinner lady. It just started to spark electricity as soon as I held, and the kitchen oven died. I was sent packing and have been using it ever since.
      It's made of plywood, and sort of spoon like but with small nubs on the top. No idea what it was used for before I was given it, but all I've been able to do with it is cause kitchen electrical appliances to permanently stop working.
      I tried talking to the dinner lady that gave it to me, but she keeps running away screaming as soon as I approach with the spork pointed towards her.

  • @OMentertainment
    @OMentertainment Год назад

    Accent was a bit weird but Excalibur then referenced in Ready Player One. Merlin's spell of making

  • @RavenCoyote
    @RavenCoyote Год назад

    an academic wizard tends to write too many books and brags about them

  • @lifigrugru6396
    @lifigrugru6396 Год назад

    For wizard personalitya bit naiv necromancer who have learned necromancy to fight the terrible things, fire white fire...and pay the price for it time to time. I have my first RPG not in dnd, or be more precies on tabeltop.
    Ther was definition like if you use your magic on someone whiteout consent is a black magic. Yes ther are fight and battles, but make sense, not only calling a demon is a "dark" magic if you get fireballed no reason..is not a good thing ;)

  • @pst5345
    @pst5345 Год назад

    If you start implying real life consequences the magic users will be either hunted or controlled massively.
    Think Avengers: Civil War.
    Gifted kids will be stolen or forced to leave their families with the result of exiling them if the parents refuse to put their kid into the 'talent program'.
    You had spotters being sent into the villages and cities... in short you had The Dark Eye society.
    Sorcerers were hunted or neutered. Wizards were controlled....
    There was a limit of spel level casters could learn to prevent abuse.
    And of course there were the villains who also kidnap or scam children to raise their own successors.
    Changing visual appearance: I disagree. Changing the visual appearance is a class feature or feat the character has to have or choose. It is not just flavor. Flavor is how the ingredients are used together if not ecplicitly described.

    • @johnathanrhoades7751
      @johnathanrhoades7751 Год назад

      I also love the situation with uncommon magic. Where it’s known of, but more a thing of legends. There’s maybe one wizard in the king/queens court. Other magic users are your “sorcerer in a remote tower” type.
      Think of Jedi in the original series or the magi in the first law trilogy.

  • @DungeonsAndDrams
    @DungeonsAndDrams Год назад

    That wizard is very good at the sleep spell... something about his voice makes me tired.

  • @morbidtabletopgaming
    @morbidtabletopgaming Год назад

    The movie Merlin with 2 VHS tapes? The one with the actor who played in the first Jurassic Park and Event Horizon (I don't remember his name)?