Character Creation Q&A

[Rex]

I like him, he looks good.

[Ithril]

I shall select a modest human mage.
His name is Mogath Varaldrim.
Details to emerge shortly.

I

[atpollard]

Are there any limitations to the choice(s) I make?

I

From BLUEHOLME Prentice Rules

SPELL LEARNING
Magic-user spells are written down in great tomes known as magic books, each book containing spells of one level. A magic-user is not necessarily able to learn and transcribe all spells of that level into a book. This is determined by the magic-user’s Intelligence score, as detailed in the table below. A magic-user only gets one chance to figure out each spell; if it is not learned then, it will never be.

CHANCE OF LEARNING SPELLS
Intelligence Score: 13-14
Minimum per Level: 5
Chance to Learn: 65%
Maximum per Level: 8

Minimum denotes the fewest spells a magicuser will know for that level. Before the player makes any of the d% rolls for “chance to learn”, the player or referee will choose or randomly pick this many spells from the spell list for that level and inform the player that his or her character already knows these.

Chance to Learn gives the percentage chance of the magic-user being able to understand any one particular spell the first time a new magic book with a new level of spells is gained. Every time a new level of spells is acquired, and after the minimum spells have been picked, the player should roll a d% for each remaining spell of that level; if the roll is equal to or less than the chance listed, then that spell is written into the character’s magic book.

Maximum is the most spells a magic-user of a given Intelligence can enter into a magic book of a particular level. If, after rolling d% for each spell, the player finds that the maximum has been surpassed, the excess spells are struck from the list, either randomly or as chosen by the referee.

EXAMPLE: Let’s look at the 1st level magicuser Catweazle. The player has already picked out the minimum number of 6 spells, chosen randomly from the 1st level spell list. Catweazle is a pretty clever fellow, with an Intelligence of 15. That means there is a 75% chance of his understanding any one of the remaining spells and inscribing them in his book. Catweazle’s player gets out his trusty d% and starts rolling. By the time he gets to the end, he finds that he succeeded for 6 spells out of the remaining 8! His Intelligence limits him to 10 spells, however, so the referee chooses two of them at random to delete from the list.

[atpollard]

Just for the record, I posted this here because it relates to both this player's question and the In Character discussion among the mages ... and requires a DM/Referee's final decision on some of the details. It just offers a common frame of reference for discussion.

[tibbius]

Ah shoot. Well, so much for collegial discourse and recipe swapping.

[atpollard]

Ah shoot. Well, so much for collegial discourse and recipe swapping.

I believe that the rules may offer a reason to create spell scrolls.
You can probably only create a scroll of a spell that you can cast, but any Magic user may be able to read the spell to cast it from the scroll. That opens the door to “swapping scrolls” among the conclave of mages.

[Rex]

The scroll creation rules are one of the best part of the rules. Makes magic-users much more powerful, especially at low levels.

[Ithril]

I noticed on pg13, it mentions conjuring a water elemental and notes that is a 5th level spell... but the book only has first & second level spells. Alluding to something greater that never came to fruition in this iteration of D&D.


In later editions of D&D, scroll creation is limited to name level (9th) and above. I'm not certain low level magic users actually have the ability to create scrolls here, but it would be an interesting addition.
I

[Ithril]

Following is my roll matrix showing success & failure.

207001 Mogath Varaldrim learn spell charm [1d100] = 54 7/16/2020 2:21:37 PM s
207002 Mogath Varaldrim learn spell Dancing Lights [1d100] = 29 7/16/2020 2:23:09 PM s
207003 Mogath Varaldrim learn spell Detect Magic [1d100] = 94 7/16/2020 2:23:41 PM f
207009 Mogath Varaldrim learn spell enlargement [1d100] = 3 7/16/2020 2:29:46 PM s
207010 Mogath Varaldrim learn spell Hold Portal [1d100] = 24 7/16/2020 2:30:43 PM s
207011 Mogath Varaldrim learn spell light [1d100] = 56 7/16/2020 2:31:23 PM s
207012 Mogath Varaldrim learn spell Magic Missile [1d100] = 35 7/16/2020 2:32:06 PM s
207015 Mogath Varaldrim learn spell Read Magic [1d100] = 30 7/16/2020 2:33:23 PM s
207017 Mogath Varaldrim learn spell Sleep [1d100] = 90 7/16/2020 2:34:00 PM f
207018 Mogath Varaldrim learn spell Floating Disc [1d100] = 28 7/16/2020 2:34:36 PM s
207019 Mogath Varaldrim learn spell Ventriloquism [1d100] = 43 7/16/2020 2:34:57 PM s irrelevant as I already have my limit of 8

It appears I missed a couple. No matter, I have the total I can learn anyway.
I would wonder if Detect magic and Read magic should not be included as automatically known, and not count against spell totals as they would seem to be a requirement for any competent magic using character. Your ruling is unquestioned.

I

[Paladin]

99% of the time, I will be in favor of whatever helps the players. Heaven knows, low level mages drop like flies. Take any reasonable advantage that you can.

Sure, we can say those are known automatically.

[Paladin]

And if you magical types want to come up with a house-ruled system for swapping spells and crafting scrolls, pitch it and we'll tweak it to work for us. I'm wide open to good house rules. This system lends itself to that approach better than almost any other, IMHO.

[Rex]

I would think a certain amount of time per spell level and a roll to learn would work just fine. As far as scrolls the rules are on page 13. It takes 1 week per spell level and 100gp/spell level to create a scroll and you can only create a scroll for a spell you know.

[Valdus]

Gerar's starting gold.

[3d6] = 12

120 gp!