Why Magic Users Suck at Fighting

 

Often I find myself thinking about common critiques of classic D&D and trying to formulate responses to them. Sometimes it's not so much a defense of a rule, but an explanation of what I think the rules could be describing. Sort of a "Just think about it like this." suggestion. Which leads to the following, which occurred to me this morning as I was walking the dog.

 Magic Users are generally bad at combat for two main reasons. Firstly, they're nerds. They didn't train with swords or condition themselves to wearing and moving in armor during their apprenticeships. They were reading tomes and studying how to get physics to shut up and sit down. Even a MU with a decent Strength score isn't going to be trained in how to use that strength properly in a fight. Sure, if they do manage to connect, they'll hit a bit harder. But a miss is a miss as they say.

The second reason has more to do with the nature of magic in D&D, specifically "Vancian" magic. In Jack Vance's classic stories about The Dying Earth, wizards study and memorize spells to fit their situation or plans. They "hold" these spells in their minds, like a puzzle they are solving mentally. The spell lacks only the final piece to "close the circuit" and release it into the world. Novice wizards are lucky to hold just one simple spell in their minds for any length of time. The more skilled can maintain more than one. There is a reason spellcasters need so much sleep and time to study each day.

The result of these mental gymnastics is that a Magic User is also unable to react as easily in a combat situation. Melee requires total focus, and the wizard's focus is already spread out over several spells.

"Aha!" I hear you say, "but what about Elves? They use swords and wear armor but still can cast spells." Well, that's a fair point. Let's look at elves. 

In most fantasy settings, elves are long-lived. They simply have more time to learn these skills. Second, despite this wider skill set -or because of it- Elves progress slower as a class and can't even cast the highest level spells by the time they reach their XP level limits. Lastly, they're elves. In other words, they are "not human." Their minds are different, both physically and psychically. The way they focus their minds or the limits of their ability to multitask is different as well. In many settings, elves are considered fey (or fey-adjacent). In such cases they are semi-magical beings themselves and their relationship with magic should and is treated differently, while keeping the game mechanics roughly balanced.

Again, I'm not espousing gospel or saying This Is What Gary Intended. I'm just putting ideas out there. This is just a rationale I though might help some folks wrap their heads around things a bit. 

RSA: Protections from Evil

Neither of these are hardly an uncommon spell, but they do seem to generate a fair bit of confusion from time to time. I don’t pretend to be the final word on interpreting B/X D&D, but it is a game I spend a fair bit of time pondering.

Depending on how you count things, there are two to four spells in this category: 

The “personal” vs the 10’ radius and the Clerical vs MU/Elf versions. For the purposes of this Random 

Spell(s) Assessment, we’ll just be (mostly*) looking at the former.

Starting off with the first one of these spells that players are likely to get their hands on, there is the 

classic: Protection from Evil.

(from Moldvay)

Cleric 1/MU 1

Protection from Evil Range: 0 (caster only)

Duration: 12 turns

This spell circles the cleric with a magic barrier. This barrier will

move with the caster. The spell serves as some protection from

"evil" attacks (attacks by monsters of some alignment other than

the cleric's alignment) by adding 1 to the clerics' saving throws, and

subtracting 1 from the "to hit" die roll of these opponents. The

spell will also keep out hand-to-hand attacks from enchanted

(summoned or created) monsters (such as living statues), but not

missile fire attacks from these creatures (see COMBAT). The cleric

may break this protection by attacking the monster in hand-to-hand

combat, but still gains the bonus "to hit" and saves.

*Both MU versions are nearly identical to the clerical versions, so there’s no need to list both descriptions here. The one big change is that the duration for the MU 1st level spell is half that of the clerical: Six turns instead of twelve. I guess those arcane types aren’t getting a divine assist. Everything else is the same.

There is a fair bit to unpack in this description, so let’s dig in, shall we?

In essence, the spell creates a sort of force field around the cast that blocks or limits attacks by “evil” creatures. Since this is BX, there is no “Evil” alignment, just Law, Chaos, and Neutrality. As in the “Detect Evil” spell, evil is defined as a differing alignment having an “evil” intent (malice, etc.). So a Neutral Elf would be protected from lawful or chaotic beings wishing him harm, etc. 

The first effects listed are pretty straightforward. The caster gets a buff to saves and the baddies get a penalty to attacks (+1/-1). The next part is interesting, though. 

“The spell will also keep out hand-to-hand attacks from enchanted (summoned or created) monsters (such as living statues), but not missile fire attacks from these creatures (see COMBAT).”

This point is probably where I see the most confusion from people: Notice that the stuff about differing alignment is no longer in play here? That chaotic chieftain is getting a -1 to hit you, but he can absolutely try to smash you in the face with his battleaxe. That Bone Golem? Not so much. This is an important distinction. I’ve seen games where this wasn’t clear to the group and a lot of confusion arose about how exactly the baddies could do anything to the caster after this measly 1st level spell was in effect. 

The next thing to remember is that the caster cannot engage in melee combat with the warded monster without breaking the effect. It doesn’t say anything about missile fire, though. Also, the +1/-1 is still going even if the force field is gone. 

The area of effect version is pretty much the same, except it can protect more than one person at a time. It’s also the only way to put the effect on anyone else (both spells are centered on the caster, no other target is valid as written). 

(from Cook)

Cleric 4/MU 3

Protection from Evil 10' Radius Range: 0'

Duration: 12 turns

This spell circles the caster with a magical barrier that will protect

all friendly creatures within 10' of the cleric. This barrier will move

with the cleric. The spell serves as some protection from "evil"

attacks (attacks by monsters of an alignment other than the

caster's) by adding 1 to the caster's saving throw and subtracting 1

from evil opponents' "to hit" roll. This spell will also keep out

melee attacks from enchanted monsters (such as elementals) but

not missile or magical attacks from these creatures. Enchanted

monsters can melee if any of the protected creatures attempt to

attack them with hand-to-hand combat.

(Once again, the MU version is weaker in that it’s a higher level spell than for clerics. Otherwise, no differences.) The new takeaways from here are that multiple people are protected, but only if they stay close to the cleric, and that if anyone even tried melee with the warded monster(s), they can ignore the force field effect in general (“...if ANY of the protected creatures ATTEMPT to attack them with hand-to-hand combat). This means not only that INT 6 fighter could negate that protection with a swing and a miss, he dispels the field for *everyone*. Again though, missile fire is fine for some reason. I guess it’s a look don’t touch kind of thing?

Now, there is some ambiguity regarding the nature of the 10’ radius field. Part of the text seems to indicate that it simply creates a protective field for all the people in the radius, other parts make it sound like it could be used to block a corridor or similar. Personally I’m inclined to the latter, as a 3rd-4th level spell should have a little oomph, IMO. Also the idea that one person attempting melee dispels the effect for all makes it sound like one big field, not multiple personal ones. Fun tidbit: Remember that the alignments you are protected from are determined by the caster’s alignment, not each individual friendly getting the effects. So if a lawful cleric casts it on the party, it won’t grant penalties or bonuses vs. lawful for that neutral thief.

The duration for both of these spells are obviously applicable over more than a single combat. However, given how easily the “force field” can be dispelled, it seems that the +1/-1 is the more durable benefit. Smart timing could grant those receiving the spell’s benefits with a nice little modifier as they move into an area where they expect to be butting heads with folks of other alignments. Entering Area K in the Caves of Chaos would be a great example of when to use it!

RSA: Locate Object

Locate Object is one of those utility spells that -at first glance- sounds really handy, but seems fairly limited. Some creative spellcasting can make a big difference, though.

It's important to note that the magic-user/elf version of this spell is slightly different than the clerical one. It's a third level cleric spell and 2nd level for MU/Elves. Clerics have a fixed range (120'), which is better than the arcane types' at first, but their version gets boosted by caster level, eventually outpacing the cleric at 7th. The cleric gets a much longer duration, though. The general effects of the spell is identical for both. Most of the time I've seen the spell it's been clerical. After all, the cleric can just pray for the spell for the day rather than permanently tying up a slot in their spellbook with it. So when used, it's often the 120'/6 turns version.

There's nothing in the BX description about being blocked by materials like lead, as some versions of the game have used. So dungeon walls, etc. aren't going to impede it. The spell will tell only direction, not distance, and only if the object is in range. Outdoors, even converted to yards, that's not terribly far unless you already know you're close.

To locate something specific, you need to know exactly what it looks like. You can't just say "The Crown of Oogabooga!" unless you've seen it or at least a good likeness/detailed description. Common, nonspecific objects (the text uses "stairs" as an example) are searchable based on what the closest example is (again, if in range at all).

I think the "common item" facet is where the spell is most likely to be useful. Once a party has been through a stretch of dungeon and mapped it out, movement back through the area can be made faster than "exploration" speed. If, for example, a cleric casts the spell and moves steadily through the cleared area sweeping for "secret doors," he stands a good chance of finding any the party might have missed. If he "pings" one farther away in the dungeon, they know that there may areas they haven't seen yet.

The spell can't locate creatures, but -as the illustration above shows- it can get a fix on loot. "Gold." or "Coins" or "Gems" could save valuable searching time.

One caveat: The spell only locates one thing (or type) per casting. Meaning you can't start the spell with the crown example, then switch to secret doors, and then to gold coins. The duration's function is not to take inventory of the dungeon. It's to triangulate!

Let's say the caster was looking for secret doors. If they are right in front of one, small movements to either side will cause drastic swings in the "angle" of the ping. If the nearest secret door is nearer to maximum range, the shift in angle is subtler. While I wouldn't allow precision to seconds of arc, I wouldn't punish clever spell use coupled with careful map-making to help the party find something. If multiple castings were used over time, it might be possible to find hidden treasure vaults or the like.

As far as specific objects are concerned, I can imagine scenarios where the spell could be useful, but unless the DM deliberately sets things up for it (e.g. a portrait with a detailed image of the item) or the players plan well ahead on this tactic, I see that use being somewhat uncommon. Still, it could be fun if it happened!

REF (Random Encounter Fun): Magic Men

Switching things up from the last REF, I thought we'd go back to the dungeon. A random determination took us to level 3 of the crawl (Moldvay). The result? Medium.

That's right. 1st level magic-user(s). 1d4 of them, actually. I rolled and got a 3.

Three unarmored fellows with daggers and one spell apiece aren't exactly terrifying. Granted, the spells could be a challenge, but if our PCs are 3rd level on average, I doubt they're quaking in their boots, here. I decided to roll randomly for the spells for Huey, Dewey, and Louie. I came up with Read Magic, Protection from Evil, and Light.

Scary? Not so much.

However, there is an interesting wrinkle to Mediums in the monster listings. There is a 50% chance that they are accompanied by a 3rd level MU, like a senior student or teacher. Rolling d100, I got 09, so guess who's coming along?

The conjurer gets two 1st level and one 2nd level spells. Again, rolling randomly, it turns out he has Protection from Evil, Magic Missile, and Web. No wonder he was sent along to watch these three newbies!

There's nothing inherently hostile about this quartet of spell-casters. Maybe they are searching the dungeon for some magic item or a spell scroll. Or maybe they're in the employ of the evil overlord and they are patrolling this sector of the lair. The point is that because of the fact that they are essentially NPCs (as opposed to "monsters"), they can have just as many motivations as the PCs for being in the dungeon.

In my campaign, magic-users and elves need to find spells to fill their grimoires, so this encounter would be a huge potential win for them. Likewise, the mediums (and their 3rd level buddy) might covet the PC spellcasters' books.

Magic Mart: Buying/selling magic items

I am not a fan of how later D&D editions (particularly 3.X) reduced magic items to a simple commodity. I get that some of the rules about crafting costs and times were a bit subjective before, but I fall into the camp that magic should be magical. 

That being said, players will want to find ways to spend their loot and one of the most useful things for an adventurer is better gear. Once the fighter has bought plate mail and silver arrows, his upgrade options in the standard price list are a bit thin on the ground. I sometimes do have the odd item or two for sale in towns. Usually it's things like potions or scrolls and other "limited" magics.

In the current campaign I am running, the PCs have managed to get through two adventures, both times clearing a fair amount of coin; enough that the PCs that have survived since session one are at or near level 3 (except the elf). The nature of the adventures limited the chance to find items, though. I am thinking of giving them a chance to acquire some magical shinies. The question is how to decide what's available in such situations without being utterly arbitrary.

The idea I am currently playing with is based roughly off of the Treasure Type Tables on X43. The larger the town or city, the better the chance of any magical items for sale. Likewise, certain types of items are more often found than others. A first pass at this for a typical BX fantasy setting (not particularly high or low magic) might look something like:

Small Town or Village: 15% Any 1
Medium-sized Town: 25% Any 2 + 1 potion + 1 scroll
Large Town or Small City: 1d4 scrolls, 30% Any 3 + 1 sword, armor, or weapon
Large Metropolis: 1d4 scrolls, 2d4 potions, 35% Any 4

It's up to the individual DM to decide where a given population in his setting falls on this list. As examples, I would say a town like Threshold in Karameikos would be a medium town, whereas Specularum might be a small city. You might also tweak how you roll based on things like how much trade or traffic a location sees or if adventurers are common there.

In my campaign, the party is currently in a town of 3,000-4,000 people; what I would consider medium-sized in my setting.  But, it is also a busy river port that sees a good deal of trade and adventurer types are not uncommon here (a name-level mage has a tower just outside the town walls). Therefore, I have chosen to roll as a large town/small city.

Roll results are as follows:

1d4 Scrolls = 1. The % dice came "00"! Which is a nice treasure map to 5d6 gems and 2 magic items. Buuuut, the party is already following one map and I am trying to generate magical items here. So I re-rolled that and got a Protection from Magic scroll.

% dice for other magic = 30 exactly (!) So 3 items plus 1 arm or armor. I rolled a d3 to see which and got a 3, which is a non-sword weapon.

The percentile rolls for the specific items came up as follows:

• A potion of Giant Control
• +1 Spear
• A Staff of Healing Staff of Striking (18 charges)
• A MU/Elf spell scroll of 3 spells. This came up as one 4th, one 1st, and one 2nd level spell. I rolled randomly (d12s) and got Charm Monster, Ventriloquism, and Detect Evil.

Now this is a pretty impressive haul, and frankly a lot more magic than I like to be just lying around. If I want to let these results stand, I need to make sure these items aren't too easy to get. Namely, they need to be expensive or require the PCs do something to get them.

The protection scroll has a lot of potential utility, but it's one use only, so I will peg that at 1000gp.

I decided to roll randomly for what type of giant the potion can control. There are six kinds of giants and I rolled a 4: Fire Giant. This is pretty neat but of limited usefulness. Commanding 1d4 fire giants even for only an hour could be pretty epic, though! Let's say 1000gp

The +1 spear is nice, but is just a bonus to hit and damage. 1000 gp should cover that.

The healing staff is another matter. I will invoke DM fiat and say this is too powerful to be simply bought in town, ready to go. This item essentially allows a cleric to cast a Cure Light Wounds once per day on each PC and uses no charges! This sort of thing would be snapped up by one of the temples in town and not readily available to wandering murder hobos. As with the map, I re-rolled and the result was a Staff of Striking with 18 charges. This is a nice item, but limited by who can use it (clerics) and of finite charges. I will judge it roughly equivalent to the spear and set its price at 1000 gp as well.

The spell scroll would be pretty expensive. I have previously established house rules about spell books and scrolls, so using those I can pin its price tag at 3,500gp (7 spell levels total at 500 gp per). Since they are all on one scroll, it's an all or nothing price.

Now, this is a pretty generous haul, but the rolls were with them. The odds favored 2-3 scrolls and that's it. I would also argue that it would be a while (a month or two at least) before this particular town might be "restocked." Over the course of a campaign, I would see this as balancing out. I'm not sure it's the perfect system. I still needed to intervene a little to maintain what I see as a correct balance, but isn't that what DMs are supposed to do?

Spell Caster House Rules

I had posted this idea a while back in the BX G+ community, but thought I would add it to the blog as that's where I have similar ideas for house rules. The idea is to make the acquiring of spells a bigger part of adventuring as well as giving spell casters a little more magical power by allowing for scroll creation.

• All magic-users and elves have a grimoire. This can be a your classic spell book, a long scroll, a tattooed pelt, scrimshawed bones, or any other means of recording written spells. Casting Detect Magic will distinguish a grimoire from a normal book or object.
• 1st level MU/Elves start with the following spells: Detect Magic, Read Magic, a 1st level spell of their choice, and one random 2nd level spell (a gift from their teacher for when the character is advanced enough to use it.)
• Clerics must choose a designated time of day (or night) in which they pray for their spells. Magic-users and Elves can only replenish a spent spell slot once per day and after a full night's worth of rest (8 hours+). If their rest is interrupted by anything more strenuous than taking a turn at keeping watch, the rest time resets. Unused spells are retained until cast or "traded out" for different ones.
• As the caster goes up in level, spell slots are gained but new spells are not learned automatically. They must be found to add to one's grimoire. Spells can be gained by three methods: spell research (X51), scrolls, another casters’ grimoire
• Copying spells (from another grimoire or scroll) to one’s own grimoire requires use of the Read Magic spell. Once the caster can read the new spell, he must spend the time and purchase special materials to add it to his personal grimoire. The original of the spell is consumed in the process. (This is why wizards typically don’t let other wizards copy directly from their grimoires!) It takes one full day’s work and 100 gp per level of the spell to transcribe it. This requires the caster’s full attention for the duration of the process.
• A magic-user or elf may create a magical scroll from a spell in his grimoire without destroying the original copy. (This is how spells are typically shared.) It takes one day and 500 gp per spell level to create a scroll. The scroll can be used to cast the spell or copy it, but it is consumed in either case. 
• A cleric may create spell scrolls for the same costs in time and money as magic-users or elves, but must prepare -but not cast- the spell for each day he is scribing the scroll.
• If a caster is desperate, he can cast an unprepared spell directly out his grimoire like a scroll, but the copy of the spell is destroyed in the process. 

Curious Objects: Staff of Wizardry

Once again, he is undeterred!

The staff of wizardry is arguably one of the most powerful magic items in the game. It's effectively the BX equivalent of AD&D's Staff of the Magi. Basically, it is three separate magic staves in one: in addition to its own distinct powers, it has all the abilities of the Staff of Power, which in turn can be used as a Staff of Striking. Let's start with the most straightforward of the three and move upwards, shall we?

Firstly, the Staff of Striking lets the wielder have a stronger melee attack than your average MU is capable of (2d6 damage, but costs a charge). While this staff is unusual in that clerics can also wield it, I do not think that aspect translates to the Staff of Power or Wizardry. While it isn't expressly stated, this is usually ruled to count as a magic weapon attack for purposes of hitting special monsters like gargoyles.

The Staff of Power gives the wielder some nice attack spells: fireball, lightning bolt, and cone of cold. Each dealing 8d6 damage! Sure it costs charges, but an Elf or MU toting one of those around is going to have something to bring to almost any fight. I particularly like that he has a variety of damage types to choose from. Fighting something immune to fire? Cone of cold it is!

The Staff of Wizardry is the main event, though. In addition to all of the above powers, it can also cast quite the laundry list of super-useful (and powerful) spells:

• Invisibility
• Passwall
• Web
• Conjure Elemental

These are some awfully nice abilities that aren't tying up a spell slot! Something I hadn't previously considered is that the elemental conjuration isn't just for one kind, it's any of the four! We're not done yet, though.

The staff also allows the wizard to create a whirlwind like a djinn. It also doubles as a wand of paralyzation. 

The last trick the staff carries is its "final strike." This release a fireball effect of 8hp damage per remaining charge (not rolled) to anyone within 30'.* This includes the caster or any friendlies, so it's a last-ditch effort, to be sure. It's still mighty impressive.

Staves in BX are found with 3d10 charges, and there is no BtB way to recharge them. So while this is a very powerful item, it is limited. The Elf or MU that found one would probably want to be conservative in its use. With an average of less than 20 charges, it's not going to last forever. In fact, I can imagine an NPC wizard with one who knows it's down to just a couple charges, but does his best to hide the fact in order to appear more dangerous. 

*Cook lists both 20' and 30' as the radius, but the Rules Cyclopedia says 30', so I went with that.

Endgame, part 3: Mages, Magical Studies, and Masonry

Magic-Users vary a bit from the previous classes since they don't necessarily have a role in a larger political or religious institution when it comes to reaching name level and building a tower. I like to think that the local rulers turn a bit of a blind eye to wizards laying claim to some lonely hill and starting construction. In truth, there are a couple decent reasons when I think about it:

1. Wizards aren't (generally) trying to rule over an area. They just want a place to work.
2. I mentioned in an earlier post how magic in a BX setting is somewhat limited in nature, so it doesn't really do to irritate high level MUs unnecessarily.
3. Do you really want them doing magical experiments right in the middle of town?

While the wizard's redoubt is traditionally dubbed a "tower," I'm sticking with the Tarnskeep 175K price tag for simplicity. Also, there are other costs a name level MU incurs that we'll get to in a minute. At 600000 xp to reach 11th level (that's right, 11th, not 9th), The MU should be able to afford the place.

First off, I'm going to quote a chunk of Cook Expert's text about name level MUs from X7 and then break it down a bit:

"Magic-users may add more spells to their spell books through spell research. At 9th level (Wizard) or above, magic-users may also create magical items. Both of these activities are explained under Magical Research (p. X51). Upon reaching 11th level, a magic-user may choose to build a tower, provided that money to pay for the construction is available. A magic-user who constructs a tower will gain 1-6 apprentices of levels 1-3."

Spell Research:

So while any level MU can do research, it can get pricey. Page X51 sets it at 1000gp per spell level with two weeks' research. The other party members might find waiting around for weeks at a time as the MU plows through books a bit dull. Sure they can have a town adventure, but then the MU's player is left out, and that's no fun for him. Better to be in a play mode where people are more settled and have the facilities to do proper research. You can still have adventures. How awesome would it be for the wizard to find out that in order to complete the formula, he has to find the lost scrolls of Kalb-Th'arr? Time to go collect your pals and go raid a lost temple!

Item Creation:

Name level wizards can actually craft magic items. This is a time-consuming and expensive process. Having a "lab" and a place to work seems like an obvious choice. The expense of some items is why I leave the price tag for the tower as high as I do. Since a wizard (probably) isn't commanding armies or raising temples, he is probably adding to his knowledge and his magical skills. Not every mage is going to sell magic items, but they might. They might focus on strengthening their own power, or their tower's defenses. In either case, it can get expensive. I can envision some wizards seeking patrons instead, like powerful fighter or local rulers and going the "Court Magician" route. After all, spell research and item creation gets pricey when, "There is always a 15% chance (at least) that magical research or production will fail. This check is made after the time and money are spent." (X51).

Apprentices:

1d6 apprentices is not a huge following, but keep in mind some of these might be up to 3rd level MUs. The idea is that they are there to study and learn from the wizard, not act as soldiers, They still could certainly bolster the defense of the tower. Nothing prevents a wizard from hiring mercenaries, either! (I have a vague memory that one flavor of D&D or clone allowed for the idea that chaotic wizards might attract monsters into the lower halls of his tower, I couldn't find it. EDIT: It was in the Rules Cyclopedia) Apprentice MUs can act as errand runners, too. Perhaps allowing for a split-level campaign where recovering rare materials for the high-level mage is a task for the lower level (N)PCs.