D&D 3E/3.5 Dragonlance: 3E Wizard of High Sorcery Character Class

Devall2000

First Post
I've been working on this for awhile. I was told that this class should be posted here versus the general RPG discussion. Any feedback is appreciated.Wizards of High Sorcery Character Class

By: Jamie Devall
email: devall3000@aol.com
last update: 3/29/2002

Summary of Conversion: This conversion retains a lot of the flavor from the Wizards of High Sorcery PC class in the first edition hardcover: Dragonlance Adventures(DLA). It also has a sprinkling from Tales of the Lance. The specialization was inspired by "The Anvil of Time." It conforms to the Wizard character class found in the 3rd Edition Player's Handbook.

Wizard PC's on Krynn start out as other wizards from 3rd Edition for the first 3 levels. They cannot go any higher than level 3 unless they declare allegiance to one of the 3 orders or become a renegade mage. Wizards of High Sorcery gain spells, feats, bonus feats, saves, hit dice, and skill points in the same way as wizards in the 3E PHB. Before a wizard declares allegiance, he/she must take the Test of High Sorcery. Each test is individualized for the initiate/wizard petitioning for membership. Tests are conducted this way not just to test the initiate's abilities, but to see how he/she will use his/her magical abilities. In each test, there should be 3 tests of the wizard's knowledge of magic and its use, mandatory casting of all spells known to the initiate, 3 tests that cannot be completed solely by the use of magic, combat against a PC who is a friend or ally, and one encounter with an opponent who is 2 CR's higher than the initiate. The initiate is not allowed any sort of help in the last test even though friends/allies are alowed to help in all other portions of the test.

Advancement Table for Level 1-3 Wizards
Level Title Special
1. Student -Summon Familiar, Scribe Scroll
2. Novice
3. Initiate*

* Wizards take the Test and Declare Allegiance or become renegades.

There are 3 orders of mages that comprise the Wizards of High Sorcery. They are the White Robe Mages, Red Robe Mages, and the Black Robe mages. The orders differ based on alignment, spheres of magic, and moon magic. The White Robes are good while the Red Robes are Neutral. The Black Robes are evil. However, while at a conclave or in the tower of Wayreth, the wizards put those differences aside. Each order is granted unlimited access to only some of the spheres of magic. These are listed below.

White Robes- Abjuration, Conjuration, Divination, Enchantment, and Evocation
Red Robes- Conjuration, Divination, Evocation, Illusion, and Transmutation
Black Robes- Conjuration, Divination, Enchantment, Illusion, and Necromancy

The spheres not listed for a given order are restricted. This limited access only applies to spells of 4th level or higher. Wizards of High Sorcery have access to all spells between spell levels 1 through 3. The only catch is that no more than half of a Wizard's spells at spell levels 1-3 can be from the restricted spheres. For example, a Wizard with 4 first level spell slots, 2 second level spell slots, and 1 third level spell slot would only be able to cast 2 first level spells and 1 second level spell from the restricted spheres.

The Moons of Magic: Each order is affected by one of the moons of magic. White Robe mages receive their abilities from Solinari, Black Robe mages receive their abilities from Nuitari, and Red Robe mages receive theirs from Lunitari. The position and aspect of a given order's moon determines that order's saving throws, additional spells, and effective level. It is important to note that each order is affected by its moon, and its moon alone where moon phases are concerned.

Moon Phase Effects Table*
Moon Saving Additional Effective
Phase Throw Spells** Level
Low Sanction -1 0 -1
Waning Normal 0 Even
Waxing Normal +1 Even
High Sanction +1 +2 +1***

* Wizards between levels 1-3 are unaffected by the moons due to their low power levels. This is why the test for wizards occurs at level 3.
** The additional spells can come from any level in which the wizard can cast spells.
*** In order to gain this benefit, a wizard must be of 6th level and have an intelligence of 15. Otherwise, a wizards effective level will be unchanged regardless of the phase of the moon.

If 2 or more of the moons become aligned, there are additional bonuses to the Moon Phase Effects.

Moon Alignment Effects Table*
Saving Additional Effective
Alignment Throw Spells Level
Sol. with Lun. +1 +1 +1
Nuit. with Lun. +1 +1 +1
Sol. with Nuit. +1 0 Normal
All Three Moons +2 +2 +1

*All of the plusses on the preceding table are cumulitive with any other bonuses. Any time in which all of the moons align at high sanction results in all Wizards of High Sorcery receiving a +3 saving throw, 4 additional spells, and +2 effective levels to any spells they cast. Any evening in which this occurs is known as the "Night of the Eye" because magic is said to be at its peak when this event occurs.

For a diagram to track the moon phases, consult 'Dragonlance adventures' (DLA), or download it from Wizards of the Coast at a minimal price. If you would just like an explanation of how it works, feel free to email me. My address is at the top of the page.

The Wizards' Conclave is the ruling body over the members of the 3 orders. It is composed of 21 members with each of the orders having a total of 7 members on the Conclave. The Master Level Mage of each order is in charge of the other 6 members. Each order uses a different method to determine the Master Level Mage. While the White Robes elect theirs, the Red Robes draw lots. The most powerful Black Robe usually ends up being the master level mage, but on occasion, two mages do battle to see who will be Master of the order. The Master of the Conclave is determined using the Consensus spell. This spell takes the views of all Wizards of High Sorcery into consideration when utilized to make a decision. The Master of the Conclave decides the majority of decisions that come before the Conclave. However, if the rest of the Conclave strongly disagrees, they can call for the election of a new Master of the Conclave through use of the Consensus spell.

Changing orders after becoming a wizard of High Sorcery has effects upon the wizard. Whether it be through actions or choice, a wizard who changes orders immediately loses 2 levels of experience. The wizard also will not be able to cast some spells since the spheres of magic a wizard has access to are based on the order he/she is in. The moons of magic factor into this as well.

Renegade Mages operate outside of the jurisdiction of the Wizards of High Sorcery. Renegades can be wizards who have advanced higher than the level of initiate without taking the test or spell-casters who come from another world. They can also be Wizards of one of the three orders who have defied their order and/or the conclave. Regardless, Renegade mages are seen as a threat to the orders and the balance of magic in general. When a renegade is detected by the orders one of three things happens. The renegade either joins one of the orders, goes before the Conclave, or is destroyed. Renegade wizards who go before the Conclave are given a final chance to join the Wizards of High Sorcery. If the renegade refuses this final chance, he is cast out of Krynn and sent to another world. Each of the 3 orders employs different methods for dealing with renegades. White Robes try to capture renegades in a multitude of ways while doing as little harm as possible. If unsuccesful, the renegade would be reported but monitored closely. Should the renegade do anything threatening toward life or magic, White Robes would be forced to destroy him. Red Robes try to capture renegades and bring them before the Conclave. Renegades who can't be captured are destroyed by Red Robes. Black Robes try and get renegades to join their order before opting to destroy them. Renegades are a little more easy to detect than one might believe. How easy this is depends on the skill number that the renegade has in disguise, the skill number in spot that the Wizard of High Sorcery has, along with the magical means employed by the Wizard of High Sorcery in detecting a renegade, and those employed by the renegade in avoiding detection.

School Specialization: Wizards of High Sorcery are considered to be specialists. They get their bonus spells for specialization from the spheres of magic that they have unlimited access to. It is also important to note that Renegade Mages can specialize as well. However, they specialize as the wizard PC class does in the 3E PHB.

White Robe Mages

Advancement Table
Level Title Special
4. 9th Order
5. 8th Order -Bonus Feat
6. 7th Order
7. 6th Order
8. 5th Order
9. 4th Order
10. 3rd Order -Bonus Feat
11. 2nd Order
12. 1st Order
13.
14.
15. -Bonus Feat
16.
17.
18. Master*
19.
20. -Bonus Feat

* Only one White Robe wizard can be of Master level.

At the higher levels, White Robe mages become the most powerful of the 3 orders. This is due to a much higher level ceiling for non-master mages.

Red Robe Mages

Advancement Table
Level Title Special
4. 9th Order
5. 8th Order -Bonus Feat
6. 7th Order
7. 6th Order
8. 5th Order
9. 4th Order
10. 3rd Order -Bonus Feat
11. 2nd Order
12. 1st Order
13.
14.
15. -Bonus Feat
16. Master*
17.
18.
19.
20. -Bonus Feat

* Only one Red Robe can be of Master level or above.

Red Robe Mages, save for the Master, can't advance as high as White Robe Mages.

Black Robe Mages

Advancement Table
Level Title Special
4. 9th Order
5. 8th Order -Bonus Feat
6. 7th Order
7. 6th Order
8. 5th Order
9. 4th Order
10. Trimorte -Bonus Feat
11. Brother to Darkness
12. Blackmage
13. Master*
14.
15. -Bonus Feat
16.
17.
18.
19.
20. -Bonus Feat

* Only one Black Robe wizard can be of Master level or higher.

Black Robe Mages can only advance so high before bottoming out. However, any Black Robe with the tenacity and ambition can attempt to usurp the Master of the Black Robes position by challenging the current master through magical combat outside of the conclave and the walls of the tower.

Master Level Mages are the only mages with access to the really high level spellbooks, scrolls, magic items, etc. To varying degrees, the Master Mages maintain level supremacy amongst their respective orders by being the ones who control access to these items amongst their orders. Only extraordinary circumstances should allow a Mage of a given order to become more powerful than the given order's Master (ex. Raistlin) or to supercede the maximum non-master level permitted by a given order (ex. Dalamar).
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twjensen

First Post
query about feats

Are the bonus feats listed for each order in addition to or in replacement of the bonus feats that are standard for wizards?
 

Wolf72

Explorer
Re: query about feats

twjensen said:
Are the bonus feats listed for each order in addition to or in replacement of the bonus feats that are standard for wizards?

I think they are as a standard wizard.

1. lvl/titles ... unless WoHS get different spell advancements they're not going to matter to much.

2. moon magic: no comment ... honestly I never really used it (... was never that keen on keeping that much detail of moons and such)

3. schools: ... hmm said before, but black robes really get screwed over on this ... it would take some work, but how about having a spell list for each ... maybe like a clerical domain?

4. schools2: ... my thoughts were to make the white/red/black multispecialists for all their schools (still only +1 spell at each lvl though)

5. didn't see it in there, but did you include sorcerer support?
 

~Joseph~

First Post
ok..... Now I know that you were going for an almost direct conversion from 1E, but there are some balancing issues to look at.....

First: The Black wizards are WAY underpowered, Raistlin was the most powerful wizard EVER, but I don't believe he was ever the head of his order (the other wizards to aftraid of what he meay do with that power). How do you expect a black wizard to strike fear in the hearts of all and be powerful enough to chalenge a GODDESS!!! and a powerful one at that, when he's only at 13th level and he' restricted to the 3 smallest schools? Divination, illusion and necromancy have less spells between them than transmutation has by it's self.

Another thing, why can't a black mage caste Bestow Curse? It's a 4th level trans spell, now, in my opinion, that's one of the most evil spells below fifth level, so why can't an evil mage caste it?

Thirdly: I think you should throw out the level restrictions on teh wizards, or at least make it 20 white, 19 red, 18 black, that way the orders are at least a LITTLE even, if the level cap for blacks was 13 then the whites would have been running the show the whole time, how would a black or red mage ever be the head of the conclave if they're at lvl13 and 15 respectavely when the highest level white is at 18? Level limits for non-human humanoids has been thrown out, so why not with magi?

I bet that next year when the DLCS comes out the ENTIRE tower mage system will be changed, my guess is that you won't beable to recignise it when they're done.
 

Devall2000

First Post
I'm going to have to analyze it a little more. I've heard similar complaints about the magic, so I'll have to look at it. It's easy enough to ignore the level limits.

I agree that the WoHS will probably be very cool in the 3E dragonlance book that will be coming out.

I'll post more about the magic after I read over it a little more.
-Jamie
 

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