Naked High-lvl Wizard

[Brumski]

Hi Playground

I'm starting a new high-lvl campaign next week and I just got my player's character sheets in, one is a wizard/ mage of the arcane order (CA). I've already hinted pretty strongly that they will be starting naked, but I did not mention that they will be in the wilderness, far from civilization, or any wizards guild. So no spellbook, or Arcane Order focus, and not likely to get one for a couple sessions.

Should I warn him that his character will be largely inconsequential for a while, or just let him roll with it, letting the unarmed swordsage and swift hunter have their time in the spotlight?

Well he does have some Iot7v, so not totally worthless.

Thanks!

[Doorhandle]

Depends. How well can the player take a joke?

[Curious]

Wait for him to re-roll a sorceror with Eschew Materials, continue as normal.

[Runestar]

A simple alternate class feature can negate this. Think there is a variant in an issue of dragon which lets a wizard do away with a spellbook altogether (he trades his familiar and scribe scroll for this). Are you okay with letting him take this, or does it defeat the point altogether? :smallwink:

Because especially at higher lvs, when gear is all the more paramount, spells are pretty much the only way of mitigating this drawback.

[Alleran]

A simple alternate class feature can negate this. Think there is a variant in an issue of dragon which lets a wizard do away with a spellbook altogether (he trades his familiar and scribe scroll for this).
Eidetic Spellcaster.

[Dusk Eclipse]

Not mine, but seems to be what you want



Easy Bake No "Worries" Wizard

Elf, preferably Gray

Elf Wizard Racial Sub - Races of the Wild
Eidetic Spellcaster ACF - Dragon Magazine #357
Spontaneous Divination ACF - Complete Champion - Optional but great at higher levels
Collegiate Wizard feat - Complete Arcane

1st Level - 7+ Int mod 1st level spells known, all cantrips, 1 extra spell per day of highest level
No Familiar, No Scribe Scroll, No Spellbook

If flaws are available
Precocious Apprentice: Melf's Acid Arrow, Ice Knife, or Combust - Complete Arcane
Acidic Splatter, Winter's Blast, or Fiery Burst - Complete Mage
Sacred Vow + Vow of Poverty - Book of Exalted Deeds - depending on the campaign, this may work

Note: Every level after 1st that advances wizard spellcasting gets you 5 spells known for free instead of the usual 2
Edit: If you're playing in Eberron, the feat Aerenal Arcanist (Player's Guide to Eberron) will net you an additional spell known per level netting you 8+Int spells at 1st level and 6 additional spells known every level after that.

[Brumski]

Eidetic Spellcaster sounds spot on, thanks. He was actually looking for an ACF to get rid of his familiar. How does it work though? He just gets some spells known like a sorceror, but still has to prepare for the day? How many spells does he know?

[Elric VIII]

Eidetic Spellcaster sounds spot on, thanks. He was actually looking for an ACF to get rid of his familiar. How does it work though? He just gets some spells known like a sorceror, but still has to prepare for the day? How many spells does he know?

He replaces the spellbook with his brain and the special ink with a special insence with (conveniently) the same price as the ink. Aside from lack of Scribe Scroll and Familiar (and of course, the brain-spellbook) everything else is mechanically the same.

[silver spectre]

Eidetic Spellcaster sounds spot on, thanks. He was actually looking for an ACF to get rid of his familiar. How does it work though? He just gets some spells known like a sorceror, but still has to prepare for the day? How many spells does he know?

His spell book is in his head. Instead of paying the normal prices for scribing a spell into a spellbook, he pays the price in incense/ritual compents.
It has no effect on his spells per day, but means no lugging around the multiple books that a typical high level wizard type needs.

[dextercorvia]

Mage of the Arcane Order gives him the Spellpool*. He can call any spell he wants, and then pay it back the next day. If he wants to prepare spells, Read Magic is always an option. There is also Spell Mastery, Uncanny Forethought, Alacritous Cogitation, Spontaneous Divination, some Spontaneous Summoning. That isn't even to mention more esoteric methods like Domain granting PrC+Sacred Exorcist with domain spontaneity.

*unless you take away his focus item. Since that is largely fluff, I'd let it be a tatoo.

[Brumski]

Sounds great, thanks guys and/or gals.

Since we're starting high-lvl, I think I'll have him starting out knowing whatever he wants from the PH, other resources he'll have to research in-game normally.

Per my campaign set up, he would not have a physical Arcane Order focus, so the tattoo idea sounds good.

Also good for the Wizard/Cleric/Geomancer player

[Flickerdart]

Complete Arcane has rules for tattooing spells on yourself, and there's actually quite a lot of room on the body as it lays things out. Not enough to put your entire book there, and it does cost extra, but he can have his favourite spells inked on his armpit for emergencies such as this.

[Diarmuid]

So I guess my question is whether or not the character would have taken all of those precautions to be as capable as possible while naked?

Did he/she know they were going to be stripped of all of their belongings? Are you similarly allowed all of the martial types to refocus their builds to be unarmed melee monsters?

Catering to this PC to circumvent whats supposed to be an obstacle seems counterproductive.

Edit - Even if he/she doesnt need a spellbook, they'll still need some material components.

[ericgrau]

Or eschew material components. Or eventual access to small town, and scrimping by on dung, metal filings, cobwebs, etc., etc. through diligent party efforts in the mean time.

[Downysole]

Depending on how long you intended to have them "naked" I would just give him full prep on his spells and let him conserve them as much as possible until you get to a town.

I'm envisioning a normal player whose stuff all got taken or eaten by an ooze or something. They'll do their best to get it all back as soon as possible, but they have their class abilities as normal.

[Wings of Peace]

So I guess my question is whether or not the character would have taken all of those precautions to be as capable as possible while naked?

Did he/she know they were going to be stripped of all of their belongings? Are you similarly allowed all of the martial types to refocus their builds to be unarmed melee monsters?

Catering to this PC to circumvent whats supposed to be an obstacle seems counterproductive.

Edit - Even if he/she doesnt need a spellbook, they'll still need some material components.

It doesn't seem like a massive leap in logic for a wizard to say "I don't see what all the fuss about having a familiar is, I wonder what I learn instead."

[Runestar]

If he needs extra spells, there is always collegiate wizard (Complete arcane). 8 spells/lv should be plenty, if he chooses wisely. :smallsmile:

[HunterOfJello]

Tell the wizard that he feels a very strong sensation in his bladder. After the wizard goes to the bathroom, he finds several Spellshards in his poop. It appears that he wisely swallowed several of them before being transported to this location.


Each spellshard holds 20 pages worth of wizard's spells that can be used exactly like a spellbook. Since high level spells take multiple pages, give him 5 spellshards and tell him that he can choose 100 pages worth of spells to retain (excluding those currently in his mind). If he wants to go find more, it will be up to him.

Note: You can change the number around based on how many spells he should have as a base number due to his level.

[Cieyrin]

Tell the wizard that he feels a very strong sensation in his bladder. After the wizard goes to the bathroom, he finds several Spellshards in his poop. It appears that he wisely swallowed several of them before being transported to this location.

Ouch. :smalleek:

And honestly, I don't see a big deal here, as the cleric lacks a divine focus for their spells, too. If they can't handle being outdoors and actually thinking about the spells they use and not just throwing magic whenever they feel like, they are being a bit whiny about the entire situation. It's not gonna last forever and having to think about spell components and where you can find them can be a nice change of pace.

Alternatively, Spell Mastery and Reserve feats can let you do something. Plus Wizards have all Knowledge as class skills, put 'em to use! Think outside the box a little and use what resources you have as best you can. It creates tension and fear, something adventurers should actually feel now and again. If done right, they'll remember this for a good long time and think a bit about sustainability when they build their characters from now on, which is a good thing in my book.

[Godskook]

1.He's a member of the Order. Getting spells to cast isn't 'hard' for him. A spellbook only makes it easier if you're the kind of DM that requires several days of tough adventuring in a row. Considering he can hold onto a debt for class level days, I'd say provoking this would likely prove unreasonable.

2.Tattoos, also from the same book(CArcane), are a great way to save your most important spells.

3.Instant Summons is one of the most useful spells in the game related to this issue, with the slight problem of requiring a Sapphire. If you're feeling guilty, suggest he swallowed the Sapphire(smooth cut!), and thus, can prepare one item that he can have with him, after reading the spell off his tattoo.

4.If you really want to get into 'functional', but don't want to encourage bypassing of the starting conditions, suggesting that he tattoo his most important spells onto his person after becoming a 2nd level geometer is another idea. Geometers are notable for being able to scribe their spells at the rate of 1 page per spell, making them *INCREDIBLY* better when it comes to scribing with a limited workspace(such as one's body). Geometers are part of my favorite build, the faux-faux-wizard. I.e., the wizard who pretends he's really a sorcerer pretending to be a wizard. Usually, most people will see the spellbook and assume that stealing it was a good idea. Smarter people would notice he never, ever actually prepared a spell from his book, despite taking it with him to meditate. So far, Cobb is the only one that's looked for the wizard within the sorcerer within the wizard.

[Cieyrin]

Y'know what would be good is if we actually knew what level we're dealing with, as people's definition of 'high level' tends to vary.

[RecklessAbaddon]

I wasn't aware that clerics required a focus to cast their spells.

[Runestar]

Alternatively, consider playing a sorc? :smalltongue:

[Shades of Gray]

He can use the Complete Arcane rules to get the spellbook tattooed to his body.

[Cieyrin]

I wasn't aware that clerics required a focus to cast their spells.

Check out the vast majority of cleric spells, they have DF as a spell component. No Holy symbol, no casting. It's just that simple. It's why I have my clerics carry redundant symbols in case some Sunder Monkey gets ideas.

[Escheton]

Do note however that such a focus could be as mundane as a wooden carved symbol of his god. It's even priced in the plaha.

[Cieyrin]

Do note however that such a focus could be as mundane as a wooden carved symbol of his god. It's even priced in the plaha.

I know it is, the OP said naked, which since we're talking about spellbook replacement, I would think the divine characters wouldn't have anything either. It's not like you can just go out in the woods, grab some sticks and some grass and make a make-shift holy symbol, not unless you're a druid and you Knowledge(Nature) or Survival yourself some mistletoe.

[prufock]

The Spell Mastery feat is also an option, though certainly a less powerful one than the alternate features and tattoo spells. You didn't mention what level you're playing at, but it seems to be mid-high. Take a few high-level spells that don't require material components as your mastered spells, voila! Got Limited Wish yet? Greater Shadow Conjuration? And so on. It depends on just how challenging you want this "no equipment" thing to be.

[Escheton]

The dc for crafting a simple holy symbol out of wood with a sharp object is 10 or so.
Getting such a sharp object should take an adventurer about 6 seconds and a 0 lvl spell. If noone happens to be a soulknife or totemist or such.

[Talya]

I would instead build the character linked in my signature. :smallcool:

[Cieyrin]

The dc for crafting a simple holy symbol out of wood with a sharp object is 10 or so.
Getting such a sharp object should take an adventurer about 6 seconds and a 0 lvl spell. If noone happens to be a soulknife or totemist or such.

I'm not saying you can't craft it yourself, just that it would take a day to carve one, as Craft by day on a DC 10 for a 1 gp wooden holy symbol produces at least 1 gp of work after an 8 hour session, at least by RAW. You'd at least be without one for a day till you sit around carving one, which may not be the best expenditure of time when you're out in the elements with only your own hide and whatever club or quarterstaff you pick out of the bush to defend yourself with.

[erikun]

An Illusionist with Eschew Materials (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/feats.htm#eschewMaterials) and the Illusion Mastery (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/variant/classes/specialistWizardVariants.htm#illusionistVariants) ACF operates just fine with absolutely nothing. You can even go the Shadowcraft Mage route this way, further proof that gnomes are the best wizards. :smallwink:

[Cieyrin]

An Illusionist with Eschew Materials (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/feats.htm#eschewMaterials) and the Illusion Mastery (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/variant/classes/specialistWizardVariants.htm#illusionistVariants) ACF operates just fine with absolutely nothing. You can even go the Shadowcraft Mage route this way, further proof that gnomes are the best wizards. :smallwink:

Ghost Sound and Silent Image can go a long way when dealing with wild animals and superstitious humanoids. :smallwink:

[Elric VIII]

I'm not saying you can't craft it yourself, just that it would take a day to carve one, as Craft by day on a DC 10 for a 1 gp wooden holy symbol produces at least 1 gp of work after an 8 hour session, at least by RAW. You'd at least be without one for a day till you sit around carving one, which may not be the best expenditure of time when you're out in the elements with only your own hide and whatever club or quarterstaff you pick out of the bush to defend yourself with.

Well, the Summon Holy Symbol spell is always a good option...

[shadow_archmagi]

Tell the wizard that he feels a very strong sensation in his bladder. After the wizard goes to the bathroom, he finds several Spellshards in his poop. It appears that he wisely swallowed several of them before being transported to this location.


Uhhh.. I don't know about you, but PERSONALLY, I do not poop with my bladder.

[Escheton]

They are just really big enchanted kidney-stones?