Mage Guild initiation tests...

[Vegan Kid]

I'm running a D&D 3.5 game and i'm trying to get my Sorcerer more involved as I feel he's kinda just coasting through the few games we've had with no real input or direction.

The party are lelvel 5, so their exploits have gotten them some attention in cities etc. and i'm thinking of doing something along the lines of having him be approached by a member of the mages guild, offering him the opportunity to join if he passes the initiation trial.

I wanted all my players to have their own class-based affiliations, Rouge being part of a thieves guild, Monk training in a particular monastry etc. so the Mage guild is an easy one for the Sorcerer. I'm just trying to come up with a good initiation trial. A mage dual is probably a bit too hardcore for the first initiation, maybe a dual will be used to advance further up in the guild ranks. Should the mage have to navigate a dungeon set up by the guild, accomponied by companions of his chosing? I wanted something cooler than just a dungeon crawl. I'm sure this scenario has come up in countless D&D games throughout the years. Anyone got any suggestions??

 

[Janx]

That's not a bad idea. Kinda similar to the Test that wizards had to go through in DragonLance.

I might not call it the Mages Guild, given that you've got a Sorceror. I might think the 2 classes might seperate themselves, as they have differing disciplines.

In my campaign, I called it the Circle of Magic (or just The Circle), but then, there were no Sorcerors. But that's just fluff.

You could do a little research to see what DragonLance did, not just the Raistlin specific test. I could have sworn there was a table or something. I do have the Dragonlance Adventures book from way back then...maybe it says something. I'll look after I post this...

I used duelling for my monk school of martial arts (which had ranks outside of the class levels, so PCs were encouraged to keep up by going back to the monastery).


A wizard vs. wizard duel in a special "damage is fake" arena might work. it certainly could be used to honor duels to resolve disputes.

The dungeon with friends is probably an OK test. It certainly involves the part (no need for a seperate session, or having idle players).

You might also try a mini-dungeon, which is really the setup for a puzzle that the candidate must solve. Less time spent, more meaning to the player, since they did it themselves.

The DL tests were meant to be both mental and emotionally stressing. You can get some of that, by telling the player once he's in it, that it's a lethal test. That'll apply mental pressure. The emotional part only works if you make the player make a hard choice they are emotionally invested in. You don't have to make it stick, so if you force him to choose between the lives of 2 PCs, it can turn out that neither mattered, the test was that he make a choice (or even better, refused to choose, thus condemning himself).

By that, you basically make a test that has no true wrong answer when it comes to the Choice, despite what the player thinks. Instead, the direction he chooses determines the boon or curse he is granted. In raistlin's case, he got hourglass eyes.

 

[Janx]

Here's a paraphrase from the DA book on the Test:

failure meeans death. The wizard is pledging his life to magic, literally

each test is unique and custom to the candidate

there are only guidelines to the nature of the Test

there should be at least 3 challenges of the wizard's knowledge of magic and its use, the Test should require the candidate cast all the spells he knows

at least 3 challenges cannot be solved by magic alone (puzzles?)

at least one combat against a character know to the candidate and considered an ally (fellow PC?)

at least one solo combat against an enemy that is 2 levels higher (translate that to CR or something)

You can bring coompanions, but no one is guarranteed to survive (if they die they die, though they may not be on the hook if the candidate dies)

it definitely seems to imply the candidate enters a structure (Tower in DA) and encounters a number of challenges.

 

[Dr. NRG]

Mage hand armwrestling. You get to figure out the mechanics, I just do ideas.

 

[weem]

Have you seen the movie "The Game" with Michael Douglas?

Awesome movie, one of my favorites. You could approach it in a similar fashion...


<edit> I feel compelled to say that the following could be seen by some as a spoiler for the movie... so... be warned? </edit>




For example, he could begin to hear about the guild... awesome magic, great power, etc. He goes to join/apply, takes a bunch of tests, and fails miserably...

...the group continues on it's way, and on to the next adventure, which happens to rely a lot on the powers of the Sorcerer, testing his wit and ingenuity - his manipulation of magic, and more, all of which leads up to recognizing in the end that the adventure was the real test (game), setup by the guild, and now he is in, he is a member.

Not exactly the same as the movie (really tho, if you/anyone has not seen it, check it out) but it's an idea inspired from it

 

[GlassEye]

If wizards in your world are snobs and don't want those sorcerer-hacks befouling their guild with nasty sorcery you could have a single individual who represents the 'Brotherhood of Blood' (a loosely organized sorcerer brotherhood) approach the character and do a similar style test.

I've used a three-stage test before: one part represents the past, one the present, and another the future (though not necessarily presented in that order). Make the player think that every aspect is significant. Later when you work elements from the test into adventures your players will make a connection that wasn't planned. I also like to work in physical, mental, and magical components to the tests. For example, for one particular wizard test the wizard saw himself as he was when a child being taunted by a bully. The wizard cannot use magic. This scene repeats over and over until the wizard acts in some fashion. When I used this the scene represented the wizard's past; the wizard beat the stuffing out of the bully (physical test, though he could have come up with a mental solution) and it was in actuality representative of the future (success in the test allowed him to become a full member of the guild where he was subjected to a tyrannical superior).

All in all this can be a great scene for the pc.

 

[Vegan Kid]

Removed a post that's more appropriate for textsfromlastnight than for ENworld. Come back when you're sober, dude.

 

[Vaslov]

I had a player who was part of a school. Just opening the front door was a DC5 spellcraft check. Sadly his first level was in rogue so he didn't have spell craft. Kept failing that "test" over and over much to his teachers disappointment.

I mention this in case it gives you some ideas. I'd have some tests where they had to pass some spellcraft or arcane knowledge rolls. Perhaps some of them could have an element of danger to them. For example, fix this magic seal (DC 20 spellcraft x times out of y rolls) or the elemental gets out. If it gets out he then has to defeat it.