Growing a wizard

[Rustybarnacle]

Just out of curiosity, at what age does a human learn that he can be a wizard?

[Callin]

PHB says humans can start as low as 17 with Half Orcs being 16 as the lowest.

[jindra34]

PHB says humans can start as low as 17 with Half Orcs being 16 as the lowest.

Thats after years of training of course. So probably a good guess for when you first find out you can be a wizard is (for humans) 8-12. Essentially Grade/Primary school.

[Amphetryon]

Don't be silly; you start out as a Rogue or some other Class with a low age allowed for entrance, have your 14ish encounters over the course of 3 - 4 days, then multiclass into Wizard years ahead of the guys trying to get in the hard way.

[Slipperychicken]

If you mean what age you gain your first Wizard level and can start playing, then the answers is "as low as your race's minimum starting age by RAW, or however low your DM lets you start." For a Human Wizard, for example, the lowest RAW starting age is 17 years old, and a Half Orc could start as low as 16.


You can choose or randomly generate your character’s age. If you choose it, it must be at least the minimum age for the character’s race and class (see Table: Random Starting Ages). Your character’s minimum starting age is the adulthood age of his or her race plus the number of dice indicated in the entry corresponding to the character’s race and class on Table: Random Starting Ages.


If you mean at what age Hagrid shows up at your house saying "You're a wizard, Harry", that can be much younger. You can tell that a child is intelligent (and thus can be trained into a competent Wizard) from a surprisingly young age, so I would say around 7-8 years old, maybe 4-5 for a true child prodigy.

With magical means of learning a creature's Intelligence score (Detect Thoughts tells you the exact Intelligence score, no save), then I guess you could diagnose a sufficiently-high Intelligence score from any age. That's all you need, since anyone can train to be a Wizard.


EDIT:

Don't be silly; you start out as a Rogue or some other Class with a low age allowed for entrance, have your 14ish encounters over the course of 3 - 4 days, then multiclass into Wizard years ahead of the guys trying to get in the hard way.

And then you use your ill-gotten gains to retrain your Rogue level into a Wizard level :smallbiggrin:

[Ruethgar]

Any character can become a wizard so the age they learn that they can become a wizard is whenever they hear about wizards in stories which I would say would be pretty young. Sorcerers, on the other hand, learn of their magical ability around puberty according to most books I've seen(though I don't think any of them were official sources).

[Rustybarnacle]

Thanks guys. Will go with 8. Writing an autobiography for a wizard since one of my players wants more background info.

[Rhynn]

Just out of curiosity, at what age does a human learn that he can be a wizard?

There is no answer. By the rules, there is no age and no special "capacity to be a wizard." If you've got Int 11+, you can learn to cast as a wizard. The higher your Int, the better you are at it.

The details of how wizards are made are up to the DM to create.

Personally, I prefer to treat it as a rare, inborn capacity - something like 1:1,000 to 1:10,000, maybe. Not something just anyone who's smart can learn.

Of course, I treat clerics as even rarer... either a similar inborn capacity, or being chosen by a deity. Most of the clergy would be aristocrats and experts (or 0-level humans).

But it might be something anyone can learn, or something given to you externally - by exposure to magic (or a specific magic), by a magical or extraplanar creature, a ritual that imbues you with the power, etc.

Incidentally, in AD&D 1E, a human wizard's starting age was 24+2d8 (26-40, average 33).

[nobodez]

Just out of curiosity, at what age does a human learn that he can be a wizard?

Well, if you're willing to use non-D&D WotC resources, and you're willing to take a -3 to Str and Con and a -1 to Dex, Int, Wis, and Cha, you can start at 1 year old via the "Child" Age Category from d20 Modern.

Any self respecting wizard is going to have a high enough Dex, Con, and Int to not have to worry about the penalties.:smallbiggrin: