Magic Initiate Fluff

[carrdrivesyou]

How does your table handle this feat? I have a character that i'd like to give this feat to (paladin homebrew oath), but I cant really find a way to justify taking it other than studying books and tomes and such. Even then, i'm trying to go druid, and my wisdom is awful. My charisma is up there though!

So, how would you handle this as either a DM or a player? Could you express it as an odd manifestation of powers?

[Red Vax]

Specter did a great guide for this feat. It included some very creative ways to add flavor (or fluff) to any character with Magic Initiate. The won't let me post a link. But the thread was titled "Magic Initiate - A guide to an underestimated (and cool) feat.

[Millstone85]

You mentioned studying books and an odd manifestation of powers.

I think those would be appropriate for MI-wizard and MI-sorcerer, respectively.

For MI-druid, you would need some sort of communing experience with nature.

[apepi]

I played a Druid who went Magic Initiate, backstory wise I had her get kicked out of Wizard school.

[Aquillion]

Honestly, it depends on the spells you take and how they relate to your current class. Most spells could be pretty easily interpreted as just some additional Paladin powers if that's how you want to flavor them (just like eg. a Bard taking Eldritch Blast is rarely going to bother explaining it outside of "just some more magic I learned.")

[BarneyBent]

My Arcana Cleric with MI (Druid) has the Anthropologist background. So I fluffed it as studying Druids/Shamans of different groups of humanoids and picking up some tricks while living amongst them.

For a Paladin, it probably depends on your oath, background and the spells you want. You can also refluff the spells themselves. For example, Goodberry might become a method for infusing ordinary rations (just a crumb required, no mechanical impact) with divinity, transforming it into 10 full size rations of the same type that grant 1 HP (sort of like Jesus with the fish and bread and stuff).

[The Jack]

Cleric- a God loves you
Druid-Nature loves you
Wizard- You studied
Warlock-You made a minor pact with a relatively insignificant force.
Sorc-You've got sorc blood in you that you've just learned to tap into.
Bard- You studied, or have a talent for the music of creation or something.


There's also -already full caster- justifications.
Cleric-Deity gave you more.
Wizard- You worked on converting some spells into wizard format, not perfectly.
Warlock- Your patron gave you more.

and so on.

[Aquillion]

Bards don't even need a justification, since it's almost indistinguishable from their Magical Secrets class feature anyway.

[DarkKnightJin]

The Naga Paladin I'm playing is getting a feat, and I'm snagging Magic Initiate (Warlock), and I'm fluffing it like his 'pact' with Bahamut granting him some more magic like it's done before.
It's going to make him a bit better at what he can do already.

But yeah, it heavily depends on what you're getting out of it. Of you're getting things like Shillellagh and Produce Flame or something, that could just be their deity granting them some additional power.

[Imbalance]

All of this came about backwards, but my fighter's minor magic talents were awakened recently after he took psychic damage. He has no recollection of the fact that he was rescued as an infant from the clutches of the rogue illithid that destroyed his parents, nor that there were lingering effects from that event. He specifically knows the cantrips Message (representing weak telepathy) and Booming Blade (as a conditional extension of Shocking Grasp, because reasons), as well as the Shield spell (as an "involuntary" reaction to temporarily project a psychically generated resistance) which has only been used once to date when he was about to be eaten by a dragon.

He doesn't understand what has been happening, much less how it works. The vocal components are words in Deep Speech that he only realizes he said after the sound of his own voice has reached his ears. He coincidentally acquired the bit of copper wire needed for Message for another purpose, and then only figured out the possible use after fashioning it into the shape of the religious symbol of another member of the party. He currently believes he has somehow gained the favor and blessing of the same deity that allows him to communicate with his friends. Booming Blade has yet to actually go off due to poor rolls or fatal damage, but he attributes the energy he felt to his brief handling of an enchanted weapon.

Last session he finally managed to shed the cursed armor that made him more tank than anything, and he may be about to find out the truth of his abilities whereupon i intend to step up their frequency of use. It's been a fun rp.

[carrdrivesyou]

Cleric- a God loves you
Druid-Nature loves you
Wizard- You studied
Warlock-You made a minor pact with a relatively insignificant force.
Sorc-You've got sorc blood in you that you've just learned to tap into.
Bard- You studied, or have a talent for the music of creation or something.


There's also -already full caster- justifications.
Cleric-Deity gave you more.
Wizard- You worked on converting some spells into wizard format, not perfectly.
Warlock- Your patron gave you more.

and so on.

I like it lol. Thanks!

[Sigreid]

Find a druid or 2 to hang with for a while.

[Pipquake]

My most recent character is a chultan pirate (swashbuckler rogue) who was exiled after her ship was sunk. Her grandfather was a kraken priest, so I took magic init sorcerer for booming blade as a 1st level human and I explained it as "she's infused with a little bit of kraken magic." :D

also took dancing lights (a bunch of glowing jellyfish) and mage armor (manifesting as barnacles and sea life clinging to me).

[Sigreid]

Alternately, charm a dryad with your good looks and winning personality.

[Vogie]

My party's fighter collected a mage's spellbook and was studying it. If he hadn't gone Eldritch Knight, I would have probably given him the Magic Initiate feat down the road.

I still might.

[Glorthindel]

On my Dragonborn, I made sure to take spells that either were the damage type of my breath or that could be refluffed to stick with the theme, and just RP'ed it as different ways I could utilise my breath weapon.

[Meichrob7]

Honestly, it depends on the spells you take and how they relate to your current class. Most spells could be pretty easily interpreted as just some additional Paladin powers if that's how you want to flavor them (just like eg. a Bard taking Eldritch Blast is rarely going to bother explaining it outside of "just some more magic I learned.")

If a bard is getting magic initiate for warlock magic he'd better have won them in an intense fiddle match with Asmodeus. "The devil went down to Georgia" is the most intense bard backstory ever put into song.

[monyarm]

The way i did it with my Variant Human Rogue was i had it that he was taught the basics by his adoptive father.

[Vogie]

I finally am getting a chance to play (instead of being a ForeverDMTM).

My character is a Magic initiate with a criminal background. He was a failed wizard's apprentice who fell into a life of crime, first to eat and later because he was good at it.