Wizard
Clad in the silver robes that denote her station, an elf closes her eyes to shut out the distractions of the battlefield and begins her quiet chant. Fingers weaving in front of her, she completes her spell and launches a tiny bead of fire toward the enemy ranks, where it erupts into a conflagration that engulfs the soldiers.
Checking and rechecking his work, a human scribes an intricate magic circle in chalk on the bare stone floor, then sprinkles powdered iron along every line and graceful curve. When the circle is complete, he drones a long incantation. A hole opens in space inside the circle, bringing a whiff of brimstone from the otherworldly plane beyond.
Crouching on the floor in a dungeon intersection, a gnome tosses a handful of small bones inscribed with mystic symbols, muttering a few words of power over them. Closing his eyes to see the visions more clearly, he nods slowly, then opens his eyes and points down the passage to his left.
Wizards are supreme magic-users, defined and united as a class by the spells they cast. Drawing on the subtle weave of magic that permeates the cosmos, wizards cast spells of explosive fire, arcing lightning, subtle deception, and brute-force mind control. Their magic conjures monsters from other planes of existence, glimpses the future, or turns slain foes into zombies. Their mightiest spells change one substance into another, call meteors down from the sky, or open portals to other worlds.
Contents
Scholars of the Arcane
Wild and enigmatic, varied in form and function, the power of magic draws students who seek to master its mysteries. Some aspire to become like the gods, shaping reality itself. Though the casting of a typical spell requires merely the utterance of a few strange words, fleeting gestures, and sometimes a pinch or clump of exotic materials, these surface components barely hint at the expertise attained after years of apprenticeship and countless hours of study.
Wizards live and die by their spells. Everything else is secondary. They learn new spells as they experiment and grow in experience. They can also learn them from other wizards, from ancient tomes or inscriptions, and from ancient creatures (such as the fey) that are steeped in magic.
The Lure of Knowledge
Wizards’ lives are seldom mundane. The closest a wizard is likely to come to an ordinary life is working as a sage or lecturer in a library or university, teaching others the secrets of the multiverse. Other wizards sell their services as diviners, serve in military forces, or pursue lives of crime or domination.
But the lure of knowledge and power calls even the most unadventurous wizards out of the safety of their libraries and laboratories and into crumbling ruins and lost cities. Most wizards believe that their counterparts in ancient civilizations knew secrets of magic that have been lost to the ages, and discovering those secrets could unlock the path to a power greater than any magic available in the present age.
Creating a Wizard
Creating a wizard character demands a backstory dominated by at least one extraordinary event. How did your character first come into contact with magic? How did you discover you had an aptitude for it? Do you have a natural talent, or did you simply study hard and practice incessantly? Did you encounter a magical creature or an ancient tome that taught you the basics of magic?
What drew you forth from your life of study? Did your first taste of magical knowledge leave you hungry for more? Have you received word of a secret repository of knowledge not yet plundered by any other wizard? Perhaps you’re simply eager to put your newfound magical skills to the test in the face of danger.
Quick Build
You can make a wizard quickly by following these suggestions. First, Intelligence should be your highest ability score, followed by Constitution or Dexterity. If you plan to join the School of Enchantment, make Charisma your next-best score. Second, choose the sage background. Third, choose the mage hand, light, and ray of frost cantrips, along with the following 1st-level spells for your spellbook: burning hands, charm person, feather fall, mage armor, magic missile, and sleep.
| Level | Features | Cantrips Known | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | 5th | 6th | 7th | 8th | 9th |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | Spellcasting, Arcane Recovery | 3 | 2 | ||||||||
| 2nd | Arcane Tradition | 3 | 3 | ||||||||
| 3rd | — | 3 | 4 | 2 | |||||||
| 4th | Ability Score Improvement | 4 | 4 | 3 | |||||||
| 5th | — | 4 | 4 | 3 | 2 | ||||||
| 6th | Arcane Tradition feature | 4 | 4 | 3 | 3 | ||||||
| 7th | — | 4 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 1 | |||||
| 8th | Ability Score Improvement | 4 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 2 | |||||
| 9th | — | 4 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 1 | ||||
| 10th | Arcane Tradition feature | 5 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 2 | ||||
| 11th | — | 5 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 1 | |||
| 12th | Ability Score Improvement | 5 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 1 | |||
| 13th | — | 5 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 1 | ||
| 14th | Arcane Tradition feature | 5 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 1 | ||
| 15th | — | 5 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | |
| 16th | Ability Score Improvement | 5 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | |
| 17th | — | 5 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| 18th | Spell Mastery | 5 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| 19th | Ability Score Improvement | 5 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| 20th | Signature Spells | 5 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 |
Class Features
As a wizard, you gain the following class features.
Hit Points
Hit Dice: 1d6 per wizard level
Hit Points at 1st Level: 6 + your Constitution modifier
Hit Points at Higher Levels: 1d6 (or 4) + your Constitution modifier per wizard level after 1st
Proficiencies
Armor: None
Weapons: Daggers, darts, slings, quarterstaffs, light crossbows
Tools: None
Saving Throws: Intelligence, Wisdom
Skills: Choose two from Arcana, History, Insight, Investigation, Medicine, and Religion
Equipment
You start with the following equipment, in addition to the equipment granted by your background:
- (a) a quarterstaff or (b) a dagger
- (a) a component pouch or (b) an arcane focus
- (a) a scholar’s pack or (b) an explorer’s pack
- A spellbook
Xanathar’s Guide to Wizards
Wizardry requires understanding. The knowledge of how and why magic works, and our efforts to broaden that understanding, have brought about the key advances in civilization over the centuries.
— Gimble the illusionist
Only a select few people in the world are wielders of magic. Of all those, wizards stand at the pinnacle of the craft. Even the least of them can manipulate forces that flout the laws of nature, and the most accomplished among them can cast spells with world-shaking effects.
The price that wizards pay for their mastery is that most valuable of commodities: time. It takes years of study, instruction, and experimentation to learn how to harness magical energy and carry spells around in one’s own mind. For adventuring wizards and other spellcasters who aspire to the highest echelons of the profession, the studying never ends, nor does the quest for knowledge and power.
If you’re playing a wizard, take advantage of the opportunity to make your character more than just a stereotypical spell-slinger. Use the advice that follows to add some intriguing details to how your wizard interacts with the world.
Spellbook
Your wizard character’s most prized possession—your spellbook—might be an innocuous-looking volume whose covers show no hint of what’s inside. Or you might display some flair, as many wizards do, by carrying a spellbook of an unusual sort. If you don’t own such an item already, one of your goals might be to find a spellbook that sets you apart by its appearance or its means of manufacture.
| d6 | Spellbook |
|---|---|
| 1 | A tome with pages that are thin sheets of metal, spells etched into them with acid |
| 2 | Long straps of leather on which spells are written, wrapped around a staff for ease of transport |
| 3 | A battered tome filled with pictographs that only you can understand |
| 4 | Small stones inscribed with spells and kept in a cloth bag |
| 5 | A scorched book, ravaged by dragon fire, with the script of your spells barely visible on its pages |
| 6 | A tome full of black pages whose writing is visible only in dim light or darkness |
Ambition
Few aspiring wizards undertake the study of magic without some personal goal in mind. Many wizards use their spells as a tool to produce a tangible benefit, in material goods or in status, for themselves or their companions. For others, the theoretical aspect of magic might have a strong appeal, pushing those wizards to seek out knowledge that supports new theories of the arcane or confirms old ones.
Beyond the obvious, why does your wizard character study magic, and what do you want to achieve? If you haven’t given these questions much thought, you can do so now, and the answers you come up with will likely affect how your future unfolds.
| d6 | Ambition |
|---|---|
| 1 | You will prove that the gods aren’t as powerful as folk believe. |
| 2 | Immortality is the end goal of your studies. |
| 3 | If you can fully understand magic, you can unlock its use for all and usher in an era of equality. |
| 4 | Magic is a dangerous tool. You use it to protect what you treasure. |
| 5 | Arcane power must be taken away from those who would abuse it. |
| 6 | You will become the greatest wizard the world has seen in generations. |
Eccentricity
Endless hours of solitary study and research can have a negative effect on anyone’s social skills. Wizards, who are a breed apart to begin with, are no exception. An odd mannerism or two is not necessarily a drawback, though; an eccentricity of this sort is usually harmless and could provide a source of amusement or serve as a calling card of sorts.
If you character has an eccentricity, is it a physical tic or a mental one? Are you well known in some circles because of it? Do you fight to overcome it, or do you embrace this minor claim to fame of yours?
| d6 | Eccentricity |
|---|---|
| 1 | You have the habit of tapping your foot incessantly, which often annoys those around you. |
| 2 | Your memory is quite good, but you have no trouble pretending to be absentminded when it suits your purposes. |
| 3 | You never enter a room without looking to see what’s hanging from the ceiling. |
| 4 | Your most prized possession is a dead worm that you keep inside a potion vial. |
| 5 | When you want people to leave you alone, you start talking to yourself. That usually does the trick. |
| 6 | Your fashion sense and grooming, or more accurately lack thereof, sometimes cause others to assume you are a beggar. |
Wizards of the Sword Coast
The First Hilt parried a clumsy axe swing and caught the rhythm of the wizard’s spell. It was one with which he was well familiar. Using his free hand, the bladesinger mirrored his opponent’s casting then sent his considerable power out to surround the overmatched wizard, binding it to himself. Argent energy flew from the human’s outstretched hand only to fizzle into nothingness as the bladesinger quenched the spell.
— Keith Francis Strohm, Bladesinger
Scholars and practitioners of what they call “the Art” (see chapter 1 for details), wizards are the most disciplined spellcasters in the Forgotten Realms. They need to be, as their powers come from years of careful study and practice. Some wizards apprentice and study with an experienced master, while others attend formal academies or universities of wizardry, such as those in Evermeet or Halruaa, or in the great cities of the North like Waterdeep or Silverymoon.
With the intensity of their study and practice, wizards tend to become increasingly solitary as they advance in their Art, having fewer peers with whom they can share their insights, if they choose to share them with anyone at all. Thus great wizards often take up residence in isolated towers or strongholds, exhibiting ever more eccentric behavior as time goes on. Some say this is a mark of madness brought on by delving too deeply into arcane lore, but they never say it too loudly anywhere a wizard might overhear.
The greatest wizards of the Realms find means of extending their lives far beyond the span of any race except the elves. Archwizards may be centuries old, having seen civilizations rise and fall across Faerûn. Other wizards seeking this longevity turn to lichdom, dwelling in isolated tombs and strongholds as they withdraw from the world in body as well as mind.
Wizardly Groups
Many wizardly groups exist in the Forgotten Realms, but two, in particular, stand out.
The Red Wizards
The most infamous group of wizards in the Realms are the Red Wizards of Thay. Garbed in their distinctive red robes, the Red Wizards have sought to expand their power and to extend Thay’s influence across the Realms, particularly in lands in the East. They shave their heads and wear complex tattoos reflecting their ambitions and achievements and their favored school of magic.
In Thay, the Red Wizards have ultimate power, although they give governance of day-to-day affairs to those without skill in the Art. Every Red Wizard devotes study to one of the eight schools of magic and serves that school’s zulkir, the leader and ultimate master of that style of magic. The zulkirs and their underlings constantly vie with one another for power and influence, and this competition frequently sends Red Wizards far from Thay to seek new spells, recover lost artifacts, and create wealth that can flow back to Thay. The power the Red Wizards hold in Thay gives them a measure of diplomatic legitimacy in the lands of the Sword Coast and the North, but their presence is rarely welcome and is universally viewed with suspicion.
War Wizards
The potential for wizards to influence the outcome of battle is something no ruler in Faerûn can afford to ignore, and most great armies seek to recruit and include wizards among their ranks. Evokers are the most common, simply for the potential their spells have of inflicting the most damage to the greatest number of enemies. Still, all schools of magic find their applications in warfare.
The War Wizards of Cormyr are perhaps the best known application of the Art to the field of battle. As much soldiers as they are scholars, many of them were members of the Purple Dragons before they began their training in the Art. In addition to field duty in times of war, the War Wizards also protect the royalty of Cormyr, and each one swears a magic oath of service to the Crown. In this role, War Wizards serve as bodyguards, advisors, and even spies. Members of the royal family, Purple Dragon Knights, and officers of the Purple Dragons frequently wear magic rings that allow a War Wizards to know where they’ve gone and to scry upon them. Removing such a ring, even for innocent reasons, can call a cadre of battle-ready War Wizards to teleport nearby with attack spells already in the midst of being cast.
Mage Sigils
Wizards and many other arcane spellcasters develop a signature rune, which they use to identify their belongings, sign as their name, and warn others. As a mage gains in power, more individuals recognize the sigil and connect it with a mighty spellcaster, not to be trifled with. Some mage sigils are used in conjunction with spells such as glyph of warding, which enforces the tendency of ordinary people to shy away from items marked by such sigils. There are folktales, in fact, about the gods themselves punishing a person who misuse’s a wizard’s sigil—preposterous tales that were most likely started by wizards themselves. There is no set penalty for violating another mage’s signature sigil or using it without permission. Powerful mages tend to punish such activity themselves to discourage further use.
Apprentice wizards in Faerûn are reminded of the dangers of misusing another spellcaster’s sigil by a rhyme: “Whenever magic one doth weave / ’Tis never, ever, wise to deceive.”
Sources:
- Player’s Handbook, pp. 112-115
- Player’s Handbook—Errata, p. 1
- Xanathar’s Guide to Everything, pp. 58-59
- Sword Coast Adventurer’s Guide, pp. 140-142
