A wizard that can't read?

[Asmayus]

Hey folks, I'm going to be playing a wizard in a new 5e D&D campaign tomorrow, and I've been working hard on a back story that doesn't just translate as "wants more power".

His name is Zop.

The gist of the backstory:

Zop is an artisan weaver and minstrel, who uses cantrips and the performance skill to survive day to day; he performs in exchange for room and board and sells wicker baskets, chests, hats, chairs, etc on the side. He usually wears face paint and sports a comically over sized straw wizards hat (which he made and maintains himself in his down time). He views magic as a means to entertain the masses and earn more money. I'm planning to take him down the illusion route.

The topic:

I'd like to play him as a wizard that can't read. It will fit quite well with his back story and my own non-sequitur tendencies.

Obviously, the immediate sticking point is that Wizards have spell books. There are musicians out there who can't read music and do just fine, so I'm assuming that the paltry few spells he knows were verbally taught to him by a mentor. Going forwards, he'll have to learn to read (maybe the read magic cantrip) or get someone to show him each new spell.

It will be a different experience to the usual bookworm-with-low-charisma affair a wizard is. I decided to throw idea this out to the playground just to generate a little input, and maybe stimulate a few ideas. For the record, I don't particularly care about optimizing.

Can a wizard who can't read work? How would you go about it?

[Calen]

Fluff: Zop reads his spells in his own way. He records them in his weavings, so he owns the equivalent of a spell book, it is just something he wove out of some type of material. Encoded there are guidelines for the auditory and physical requirements for each of the spells he knows. As Zop learns more spells he can weave more "pages" with those spells.

[Ansem]

Make it so he can only read Arcane Mark or other magical writing, like he's blind to mundane form of written knowledge.

[Ravens_cry]

I believe there is a rules for wizards that gets you tattoos to use as a spellbook (Complete Arcane according to the Internet) which could fit. There is also a wizard whose spellbook is their brain, Eidetic Spellcaster, Dragon 357 pg. 89. They lose scribe scroll and their familiar, but that's really no big loss.

[Graypairofsocks]

I believe there is a rules for wizards that gets you tattoos to use as a spellbook (Complete Arcane according to the Internet) which could fit. There is also a wizard whose spellbook is their brain, Eidetic Spellcaster, Dragon 357 pg. 89. They lose scribe scroll and their familiar, but that's really no big loss.

I think with the second one the wizard uses incenses to meditate and memorize spells(something like that).


The only thing is I don't know if his DM will allow that as it is from 3.5 and they are playing 5th edition.

[Ravens_cry]

I think with the second one the wizard uses incenses to meditate and memorize spells(something like that).


The only thing is I don't know if his DM will allow that as it is from 3.5 and they are playing 5th edition.

Ah, that is more difficult.

[sktarq]

A form of quetwa (incan) language was recorded with a series of knotted cords. Something similar could have been taught in weaving to your character but has only ever been used for magic. He knows how to read that language but doesn't know he does. He thinks the weaving practice is more like a mental meditation used to prep himself. He thinks read magic is a spell to show the magical nature of the world or some such-a specialized detect magic type thing. .... or another approach where he doesn't know he is reading

[Asmayus]

Ah, that is more difficult.

Unfortunately, this is the case. I thrive on ideas though, so the suggestion is appreciated :)

@Calen and Ansem

I think I may be able to strike a nice middle ground by hiring someone with the read magic cantrip (rather than learning it myself) and having Zop weave his own book.

The person I hire could be a translator for me, in effect. I might even be able to convince a party member to help out, or just return to my mentor to learn each new spell.

@sktarq

I've actually been musing about that idea already. Maybe the weavers have their own version of the thieves cant?

....It's one in the morning here so I'll sleep on it.

Cheers all!

[Grinner]

A form of quetwa (incan) language was recorded with a series of knotted cords. Something similar could have been taught in weaving to your character but has only ever been used for magic. He knows how to read that language but doesn't know he does. He thinks the weaving practice is more like a mental meditation used to prep himself. He thinks read magic is a spell to show the magical nature of the world or some such-a specialized detect magic type thing. .... or another approach where he doesn't know he is reading

I recall a third party 3.5 sourcebook which detailed many similar methods.

Link.

[Thrudd]

You'll need to ask your DM if this is possible in the setting. It really depends on how magic works. Normally, since spells fade from the mind once they are cast, the mage needs a way to have them recorded and be able to re-study them. If a mentor taught you how to cast a spell somehow without doing this, you would cast the spell once and then never be able to do it again. I feel like you really should have read magic, it just solves all the logical difficulties. The spell description says that it makes magic writing that was unintelligible to you intelligible, in perpetuity. So effectively, the characacter can read magic spells from scrolls and books by means of the cantrip, but can't read or write any mundane language. This should have been the first cantrip he was taught, I don't know why the rules don't say that every mage has this cantrip automatically, like used to be in prior editions (they probably just overlooked that for the playtest).

I don't see any reason why a woven tapestry could not function as a spellbook, as long as the type of the materials used is cost equivalent to that of a normal spellbook. Maybe he has a series of small weavings roughly the size of a book, so it isn't as awkward to carry around, although it might be bulkier than parchment. Although, I don't see why drawing symbols on parchment copied from another parchment requires knowing how to read. Weaving his spellbook instead of writing in ink would just be a personal preference rather than a requirement.

Alternatively, a cleric or druid works perfectly well as a spellcaster who doesn't read. Divine magic is described as being received from inspiration and supernatural forces, and weaving or singing both would function perfectly as a means of prayer/meditation required to gain the spells. The character may pretend to be a wizard for his performance, but really he is using divine magic.

If you really want to create a magic user who doesn't use spellbooks or the read magic cantrip at all, I feel this will need to be a homebrew class. When 5e actually comes out, perhaps they will have a sorcerer or warlock type class that doesn't memorize spells the way wizards do.

Your concept reminds me of a couple characters from "Lord of the Isles" by David Drake. It's magic system is much different from D&D, but there is one character who intuitively uses magic through her weaving.

[Blightedmarsh]

He could have a childlike picture book....one with really really disturbing details squirreled away in odd corners of the page.

[Dhavaer]

There was an illiterate variant wizard in an issue of Dragon. No idea which issue, though.

[Asmayus]

Thanks for the replies folks! I'll work out the particulars with the dm this afternoon. You've given me plenty to think about. I think I'll start with spells recorded in "woven" form and be on a quest to learn the "read magic" cantrip. It should be plain sailing from there on.

Grinner, that link is awesome, cheers. I suspect I'll end up using a lot of that material if anything comes of this campaign.

[Rhynn]

A spellbook can be anything that can store information; Complete Mage (or Complete Arcane? whatever) gives a bunch of examples, including knotted ropes/strings. Seems like a fit for a weaver.

There's no definition for what is actually stored in spellbooks; words may be irrelevant, and the knowledge or power may be stored in patterns instead. Follow the patterns in the right way long enough, and hey presto, there's a spell in your head.

The same book has alternative scroll types; basically, anything that can store a pattern on it (like a knotted rope).

Edition is irrelevant. None of this affects any mechanics or rules.

[Sartharina]

It's purely fluff. The way he writes his spells down and reads them could be in the form of doodles, patterns, drawing, sketches, and other abstract designs in his spellbook or equivalent. D&D Next, like 4e before it, doesn't force mechanical drawbacks for interesting flavor. He'd still be able to read other's spellbooks and the like through magic-reading abilities, just as others would be able to read his drawings/patterns/whatever he uses to annotate and mark his spells.

After all, it's not like any spellcaster records their spells in a known language in any previous editions (Although 3.0 states that Draconic is frequently used as a written language magical writings are commonly based on, but that's not universal)

[1337 b4k4]

To really answer this question, you need to define what you mean by "can't read". Most of the time when we say "can't read" we mean "functionally illiterate". A functionally illiterate person should be able to recognize certain words as symbols and thus should be able to parse certain magical symbols in a spell book crafted for them. Being unable to read would make it difficult for the wizard to learn any new spells without having someone else help explain the symbolic context, but once that context is provided, they should be able to "read" a particular spell in their spell book for the purposes of preparing magic, just like a functionally illiterate person would be able to "read" the street signs around their neighborhood to know how to get home. They don't necessarily parse the word, but they understand what that symbol represents to them as a practical matter.

It's also worth noting the D&D default is that spell books are uniquely encoded to the user in a language no one else can read without the "Read Magic" spell. In older D&D that used to be an actual spell you needed to prepare. These days it's a cantrip. One possibility is that your wizard is illiterate and unable to read common language writings, but with the help of "Read Magic" is able to magically decipher magic writing used for spells.

[Raimun]

Hmm, learning new spells must be a challenge.

Sure, you get 2 spells per level automatically but after that? Reading scrolls is the usual method and that's right out. He'd need to find a very, very patient mentor to teach him new spells.

Or he could live in serious denial. Sure, he has a spellbook. Yes, he can read that. But anything else? He's incapable of reading even if his life depended on it.

[dps]

It's purely fluff. The way he writes his spells down and reads them could be in the form of doodles, patterns, drawing, sketches, and other abstract designs in his spellbook or equivalent.

Yeah, this matches how people IRL who are illiterate manage to function in advanced societies. They record stuff using markings of their own design (usually simple pictographs) instead of writing things down.

[illyahr]

He keeps and maintains an oversized wizards hat? Make that his spellbook. Have all of his spells be encoded as different weaving techniques in his hat.

[The Oni]

Definitely have his spells be the patterns in his hat.

...Actually, what might be interesting is that casting each spell destroyed the straw that represented it when you cast it (with an impressive flash, if you prefer), so his spell-preparation is literally weaving the pattern back in.

[illyahr]

Definitely have his spells be the patterns in his hat.

...Actually, what might be interesting is that casting each spell destroyed the straw that represented it when you cast it (with an impressive flash, if you prefer), so his spell-preparation is literally weaving the pattern back in.

Oh so much this.

[Asmayus]

Definitely have his spells be the patterns in his hat.

...Actually, what might be interesting is that casting each spell destroyed the straw that represented it when you cast it (with an impressive flash, if you prefer), so his spell-preparation is literally weaving the pattern back in.

This is amazing and I am absolutely using it. Props to ye both

Edit: I've also decided that Zop's hat should ignite if I roll a natural 1.

[Leon]

There was an illiterate variant wizard in an issue of Dragon. No idea which issue, though.

The Anagakok. Dragon 344.