Going off on a slight tangent, are any of you reading this thread old enough to have been fans of the Bewitched series? Whenever I study the wild mage class, I think of Aunt Clara, Esmerelda, and Uncle Arthur. They are the very archetypes of comedic wild mages - in fact, they might have even been the inspiration for the class.
The show used to base whole episodes on the "wild surge" spell misfires of these three characters. For example, Esmerelda tries to conjure a caesar salad for dinner, and poof, there stands Julius Caesar himself, transported from history. "I said caesar salad, not Julius Caesar!"
Or Uncle Arthur tries an incantation to summon a bunny rabbit to entertain children at a birthday party for Tabitha, and poof, there stands a scantily clad playboy bunny with strapped on bunny ears and cotton tail. "I said bunny rabbit, not playboy bunny!"
Remember the funny music that used to play when Samantha caste her Haste spells (which she would use to clean the kitchen in 30 seconds), with all the trombone glissandi?
Tangent time! Both this show and "I Dream of Jeannie" had a husband or "master" who didn't want his wife/magic-user to use their magic skills. I realize it was the core concept of the show, and drove virtually every plot. It was probably reflecting Women's Lib, or so the writers probably felt. But it always bugged me as such an unbelievable premise, lol! Especially the second Darren who was an even more uptight buttstick about it than the first.
That and the fact that the marooned party of the Minnow always forgave Gilligan every time he prevented them from getting off the island. Um, yeah. Right.
Don't get me wrong. I still have great fondness for these shows. But there was this part of me that always held back from enjoying them because it was so out of line with what most people would do, lol.
@Lemernis, LOL. Did you notice how much Neera resembles Samantha or Jeannie? She's exactly the same type. You know, I'm just sayin'. Wouldn't you want to "encourage" her to *not* use her powers if you were in a dangerous world like Faerun where her "misfires" would get you, her, Larry, Louise, and everybody else you know killed?
@HaHaCharade, LOL. Good Steve Martin, SNL reference, there. It goes to my hypothesis that people who like wild mages want a lot of parody and comedy in their D&D games.
@Elminster, LOL. You've heard of "suspension of disbelief", I assume? Well, invoking the trope of "A WIzard Did It", suppose that Esmerelda's invocation of "I call on Caesar's eternal soul, here and now to fill this bowl" included a magical Universal Translator? Speaking of which, did'ya ever notice how every Klingon, Romulan, Cardassian, Ferengi, and godlike outerspace energy being in Star Trek magically speaks English? Suspension of disbelief, my friend, suspension of disbelief. If we didn't all use it, we'd all never get to enjoy the magic of human storytelling.
BTW - Has anybody else ever thought about what an awesome show Bewitched would be if it were played for serious action and drama rather than comedy? I think that the producers of the "Charmed" TV series were thinking along these lines. In fact, the Charmed series actually did an episode where Phoebe got cursed and started seeing herself and Leo in a "Bewitched" episode.
All the more contemporary supernatural dramas, including "Supernatural", "Buffy the Vampire Slayer", "Angel", "True Blood", "Reaper" (that one should have lasted longer), "Vampire Diaries", "Hercules", "Xena", and a lot of others, likely took their inspiration from "Bewitched", reimagined as serious drama or comedy-drama.
I just wonder how Dorn is going to react to her. Because all three of the new NPCs are going to be in my party in the first run-through. I mean I don't want him to lop her head off when she accidentally fireballs the party.
@Lemernis, ha! That would be kind of interesting. I don't think that all three of them are really meant to be played at once, since at least in Dorn's case, he's going to leave the party as soon as your rep gets high, and if you play to make him happy, the monk will leave, and maybe Neera, too.
I guess it could become a mini-game in rep management. Try to have Imoen steal something from a shop if it gets too high, contribute to a temple if it gets too low.
I assume they are just wearing inner ear translators. Remember the episode of DS9 "Little Green Men", well ...
[Spoiler]In one of the scenes the ferengi are having trouble understanding 20th century humans because their inner ear translators were not functioning. Even when they fixed them, the humans could not understand them, because they did not have their own.[/Spoiler]
@elminster, LOL! I just watched that very episode a couple of nights ago from my complete collection of DS9 dvd's. You are a man after my own heart, indeed. If we had emoticons in here, I'd give you a smiley face.
I've got no explanations for why it is the case in Stargate though (or any other sci-fi show featuring similar issues). The movie was just too lazy to get into it and the tv shows just went with it (well oddly except for universe).
Back on topic for a moment... I think I will make Neera my new Khalid. Except in her case if she screws up I want her to be away from my party because of it, rather than just being a distraction for enemies.
@elminster, LOL again. I guess "A Wizard Did It". Or, maybe the Goa'uld implanted Universal Translator nanobots into the entire human race during their ancient Egyptian Empire rule over Earth.
@Lemernis, ha! That would be kind of interesting. I don't think that all three of them are really meant to be played at once, since at least in Dorn's case, he's going to leave the party as soon as your rep gets high, and if you play to make him happy, the monk will leave, and maybe Neera, too.
I guess it could become a mini-game in rep management. Try to have Imoen steal something from a shop if it gets too high, contribute to a temple if it gets too low.
Yeah, I'm not going to have the "happy party" mod component, as I'll be playing vanilla...
CHARNAME will be TN and he actually will *want* a balance in the party. So if it makes Dorn happy to punch out someone in a bar if Rep is at 18, then, um, that'll probably happen. That would not be out of character, actually since high rep will make him unhappy to begin with. I think I may have him blow off some steam from time to time.
I'll try to come up with some creative ways to keep that balance. If Neera unintentionally kills some innocents with her wild surge spells, that'll keep rep down too.
Per the BG1 manual, Evil breaks from the party at rep 19. Neutral breaks at 1, and Good breaks at 2. So it's really just Dorn that I have to keep an eye on.
@Belgarathmth Remember that in the Original Star Trek, Spock's mother, Amanda Grayson, came up with the universal translator, which is why everyone could understand each other. That's the in-universe explanation, anyhow. But there were species it didn't work on.
As for my games, I liked an article in Dragon Magazine which reworked spells for Wild Mages having really strange spell effects. Some were visual, some auditory, etc. For instance, you could have a fireball that went off with a sound like a squeaky hinge. Or which burned purple. Or emitted an odor of roses. Or all of the above. My favorite was a spell of Magic Missile which looked like humanoid skulls appearing out of nothingness to fly at you, jawbones clacking, and appeared to actually bite you to deliver the damage. I know there is no way to do this in the game, but that was pure crazy awesomeness.
Okay. Been playing as a wildmage all day on BG2. At lvl 7 from the dungeon up to the circus at lvl 9. (Did you always jump from lvl 7 to 8 as soon as you start?) Played as I would a normal mage. So buffed myself and blasted everything, like every good wizard should. Most notable thing I noticed was casting at different lvls. This was not bad as the diff was + or - 4 and most things still died. In all the time I played, I had two wildsurges. One healed the monster (I was going to hit it with a melfs acid arrow) The second put me in a coloured bubble, but didn't seem to do anything (I wanted to use melfs missiles) Sooo, my stance is. Wildmages ain't that wild... You just have that chance... Something could go wrong... But probably won't.
@Anduin, thanks for doing some testing. It probably doesn't matter if you don't mind at least a few reloads. It is never going to work in a no-reload.
So, if we take your position, one would become a wild mage to get the extra wizard spell slot without needing to go without any spell schools.
That's interesting. Is it worth it? Would you actually use that extra spell slot for either a reckless dweomer, which could be used as a Hail Mary pass (How many outcomes on the wild surge table would actually make that worth the risk? Is it at least 50%?)
Would you use any spell slots on the spells that reduce the chances for a wild surge? That seems to ruin the whole idea of playing the class to get an extra spell slot with no spell school restrictions.
Now you are actually getting me interested in trying the class, for roleplay reasons. I am 47 years old, and I notice a marked decline in my academic ability from when I was younger, especially in my memory for book facts, my speed of mastering new skills, and in my overall disposition, that is, I am learning to use the "disabilities" of my more advanced age to try to charm other people by making them think that I am a "bumbling, absent-minded" wizard or professor or old-man type of person who is harmless, while I actually can surprise people a lot of the time with some unexpected ability to influence the situation around me.
Maybe I could be a male version of Aunt Clara or Esmerelda. That actually appeals to me.
@Moomintroll Yep. Been playing BGT and have always taken a character from BG1 beforehand, when playing BG2 unmodified. Bit of a noob when playing kits due to this
As for my games, I liked an article in Dragon Magazine which reworked spells for Wild Mages having really strange spell effects. Some were visual, some auditory, etc. For instance, you could have a fireball that went off with a sound like a squeaky hinge. Or which burned purple. Or emitted an odor of roses. Or all of the above. My favorite was a spell of Magic Missile which looked like humanoid skulls appearing out of nothingness to fly at you, jawbones clacking, and appeared to actually bite you to deliver the damage. I know there is no way to do this in the game, but that was pure crazy awesomeness.
The odor of roses is difficult, the rest is totally easy. Actually, there is already a purple fireball projectile. The skull projectile also has all the art resources, it just needs a little work to assemble a projectile.
The same reason roulette wheels and dice games exist. Some people like to gamble. Playing a Wild Mage is a constant dance with danger, a ride on the ragged edge of disaster, that you can't with Über Dual-Classed Cheese Build #163.
Comments
The show used to base whole episodes on the "wild surge" spell misfires of these three characters. For example, Esmerelda tries to conjure a caesar salad for dinner, and poof, there stands Julius Caesar himself, transported from history. "I said caesar salad, not Julius Caesar!"
Or Uncle Arthur tries an incantation to summon a bunny rabbit to entertain children at a birthday party for Tabitha, and poof, there stands a scantily clad playboy bunny with strapped on bunny ears and cotton tail. "I said bunny rabbit, not playboy bunny!"
Remember the funny music that used to play when Samantha caste her Haste spells (which she would use to clean the kitchen in 30 seconds), with all the trombone glissandi?
LOL - that was a good show.
EDIT: Found the Haste spell music:
Here's the "caesar salad" wild surge - it happens at 1:58 seconds into the video:
Here's the bunny rabbit wild surge. It happens at 8:40. Just click the slider to 8:40.
That and the fact that the marooned party of the Minnow always forgave Gilligan every time he prevented them from getting off the island. Um, yeah. Right.
Don't get me wrong. I still have great fondness for these shows. But there was this part of me that always held back from enjoying them because it was so out of line with what most people would do, lol.
Well, its that they're just....
'Wiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiild and Craaaaazy guys!"
@HaHaCharade, LOL. Good Steve Martin, SNL reference, there. It goes to my hypothesis that people who like wild mages want a lot of parody and comedy in their D&D games.
@Elminster, LOL. You've heard of "suspension of disbelief", I assume? Well, invoking the trope of "A WIzard Did It", suppose that Esmerelda's invocation of "I call on Caesar's eternal soul, here and now to fill this bowl" included a magical Universal Translator? Speaking of which, did'ya ever notice how every Klingon, Romulan, Cardassian, Ferengi, and godlike outerspace energy being in Star Trek magically speaks English? Suspension of disbelief, my friend, suspension of disbelief. If we didn't all use it, we'd all never get to enjoy the magic of human storytelling.
BTW - Has anybody else ever thought about what an awesome show Bewitched would be if it were played for serious action and drama rather than comedy? I think that the producers of the "Charmed" TV series were thinking along these lines. In fact, the Charmed series actually did an episode where Phoebe got cursed and started seeing herself and Leo in a "Bewitched" episode.
All the more contemporary supernatural dramas, including "Supernatural", "Buffy the Vampire Slayer", "Angel", "True Blood", "Reaper" (that one should have lasted longer), "Vampire Diaries", "Hercules", "Xena", and a lot of others, likely took their inspiration from "Bewitched", reimagined as serious drama or comedy-drama.
I just wonder how Dorn is going to react to her. Because all three of the new NPCs are going to be in my party in the first run-through. I mean I don't want him to lop her head off when she accidentally fireballs the party.
I guess it could become a mini-game in rep management. Try to have Imoen steal something from a shop if it gets too high, contribute to a temple if it gets too low.
I assume they are just wearing inner ear translators. Remember the episode of DS9 "Little Green Men", well ...
[Spoiler]In one of the scenes the ferengi are having trouble understanding 20th century humans because their inner ear translators were not functioning. Even when they fixed them, the humans could not understand them, because they did not have their own.[/Spoiler]
Back on topic for a moment... I think I will make Neera my new Khalid. Except in her case if she screws up I want her to be away from my party because of it, rather than just being a distraction for enemies.
CHARNAME will be TN and he actually will *want* a balance in the party. So if it makes Dorn happy to punch out someone in a bar if Rep is at 18, then, um, that'll probably happen.
I'll try to come up with some creative ways to keep that balance. If Neera unintentionally kills some innocents with her wild surge spells, that'll keep rep down too.
Per the BG1 manual, Evil breaks from the party at rep 19. Neutral breaks at 1, and Good breaks at 2. So it's really just Dorn that I have to keep an eye on.
"Oh hey there little person dude man dude. They got a new book over in the-"
"I'M SICK OF YOUR FREAKIN' BOOKS. KNOWLEDGE IS POWER AND POWER DISRUPTS BALANCE."
*murder*
"Hey Imoen, these elven blood-stained robes look mighty fine on you."
*Imoen horrified face as she cries, putting on the robes*
As for my games, I liked an article in Dragon Magazine which reworked spells for Wild Mages having really strange spell effects. Some were visual, some auditory, etc. For instance, you could have a fireball that went off with a sound like a squeaky hinge. Or which burned purple. Or emitted an odor of roses. Or all of the above. My favorite was a spell of Magic Missile which looked like humanoid skulls appearing out of nothingness to fly at you, jawbones clacking, and appeared to actually bite you to deliver the damage. I know there is no way to do this in the game, but that was pure crazy awesomeness.
So, if we take your position, one would become a wild mage to get the extra wizard spell slot without needing to go without any spell schools.
That's interesting. Is it worth it? Would you actually use that extra spell slot for either a reckless dweomer, which could be used as a Hail Mary pass (How many outcomes on the wild surge table would actually make that worth the risk? Is it at least 50%?)
Would you use any spell slots on the spells that reduce the chances for a wild surge? That seems to ruin the whole idea of playing the class to get an extra spell slot with no spell school restrictions.
Now you are actually getting me interested in trying the class, for roleplay reasons. I am 47 years old, and I notice a marked decline in my academic ability from when I was younger, especially in my memory for book facts, my speed of mastering new skills, and in my overall disposition, that is, I am learning to use the "disabilities" of my more advanced age to try to charm other people by making them think that I am a "bumbling, absent-minded" wizard or professor or old-man type of person who is harmless, while I actually can surprise people a lot of the time with some unexpected ability to influence the situation around me.
Maybe I could be a male version of Aunt Clara or Esmerelda. That actually appeals to me.
Hmm, you've definitely got me to thinking.
The skull projectile also has all the art resources, it just needs a little work to assemble a projectile.