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Wild Mages... How do they work? With added discourse concerning dice...

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  • LemernisLemernis Member, Moderator Posts: 4,318
    edited April 2013
    @Jalily Thanks!

    Re: dice and what not, FYI here's the link for a dice roller at WotC, which is what I've been using in my current experimental game:

    http://www.wizards.com/dnd/dice/dice.htm
  • LuigirulesLuigirules Member Posts: 419
    Anduin said:



    You roll a D10 twice. One for the tens and one for the units. A roll of 00 = 100.

    Suddenly 18/00 strength makes a lot more sense.
  • NalrashidoNalrashido Member Posts: 31
    Actually there is a 100 side dice it goes in a multiple of 10. I'm enjoying the wild mage in BG2. I'm level 28 with godlike power and the robes of vecna
  • SCARY_WIZARDSCARY_WIZARD Member Posts: 1,438

    Actually there is a 100 side dice it goes in a multiple of 10. I'm enjoying the wild mage in BG2. I'm level 28 with godlike power and the robes of vecna

    Zocchihedrons! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zocchihedron
  • francofranco Member Posts: 507
    So if I get it right. If there is 6th level wild mage who is casting Nahal's Reckless Dweomer and has previously (within about the last turn) cast Chaos Shield, then the chance of reaching 100 and casting the higher level spell exactly is (15 + 6 + 1) % = 22 %.
  • JalilyJalily Member Posts: 4,681
    Yes.
  • CaptRoryCaptRory Member Posts: 1,660
    Aren't there other effects that also cast the spell but do different other things?
  • JalilyJalily Member Posts: 4,681
    edited April 2013
    Yes, but because you must hit their numbers precisely, your chances of getting any of them is 1% regardless of your bonus. Well, unless you have a bonus that equals or exceeds the number you're trying to hit.
  • CaptRoryCaptRory Member Posts: 1,660
    Righty-O. So your total chance of getting it to go off at all may be a bit higher than calculated if trying for #100.
  • kamuizinkamuizin Member Posts: 3,704
    Taking the fact you can cast time stop, or power word kill at lvl 1, wild mages can be pretty strong. Just have to use one Nahal's Reckless Dweomer to cast improved chaos shield, reload until it works and then you have 25% +your level to get a succefull cast.

    If you CLUAConsole or Shadowkeeper lvl 9 arcane spells scrolls, in Baldur's Gate where the ring of wizard doubles the lvl 1 spell you can put up some very epic battles (of course not for a serious playthrough, just for the fun of make a lol lvl character fake like an Elminster XD!).
  • francofranco Member Posts: 507
    Jalily said:

    Yes, but because you must hit their numbers precisely, your chances of getting any of them is 1% regardless of your bonus. Well, unless you have a bonus that equals or exceeds the number you're trying to hit.

    @Jalily. I just cast 'Detect Mathematical Aptitude" and your glowing.

  • JalilyJalily Member Posts: 4,681
    False positive. ;)
  • LadyRhianLadyRhian Member Posts: 14,694
    And here's a picture of a 100-sided die (someone also makes a 60-sided die as well). image
  • francofranco Member Posts: 507
    @LadyRhian. Great photo. But I'd rather throw 2D10's. They feel more like old time D&D pnp. I don't have much experience with 1D100, but they look like they might roll off the table.
  • francofranco Member Posts: 507
    Jalily said:

    False positive. ;)

    Next, preparing "Detect Unrealized Aptitude" spell.

  • LadyRhianLadyRhian Member Posts: 14,694
    @Franco Yes, they do, but apparently, there are particles suspended in Gel (?) in the middle that provide a stopping power. I use 2d10 myself, with Chessex Dice.
    image

    The die furthest to the right is the d% die... It has 00-90 on it. The regular d10 has 0-9, and together, you can roll a d100 without having to roll twice, or decide which color die goes first. :)
  • francofranco Member Posts: 507
    @LadyRhian. Neat. I fondly remember rolling two D10's with different colors.
  • LadyRhianLadyRhian Member Posts: 14,694
    :D My first D&D boxed set didn't even come with dice. It came with chits. Chits you got to cut out and mix up and pick out of a cup (or, if you didn't have a cup, out of the bottom of the box the game came in...).In point of fact, *this* boxed set:
    image
  • francofranco Member Posts: 507
    Wow. Neat. I don't remember that one. I remember reading the blue and red manuals for D&D (they were relatively thin and soft covered) on a flight to Hawaii and then on the beach. I soon bought a boxed set of Chainmail to keep as a memory.

    It's fascinating how the creators decided on the 5% incremental progression (1D20). It was just perfect for the game. The 10% progression (1D10) would have been too crude and simple, while the 1% progression (1D100) would have been too tedious and off-putting . But a 1D100 table works very well to give depth and texture to a phenomenon like the Wild Mage surge.
  • atcDaveatcDave Member Posts: 2,390
    LadyRhian said:

    :D My first D&D boxed set didn't even come with dice. It came with chits. Chits you got to cut out and mix up and pick out of a cup (or, if you didn't have a cup, out of the bottom of the box the game came in...).In point of fact, *this* boxed set:
    image

    Hey that's what I first started on too! Although AD&D and Gamma World came along very quickly for me, but I'll always remember that first set.
  • francofranco Member Posts: 507
    @LadyRhian. Can you tell me how many chits came with the boxed set? How were they numbered?

    Also, as you removed chits from the cup, the results would become less and less random. Did you have to constantly be replacing the chits in the cup and somehow mix them up again?
  • atcDaveatcDave Member Posts: 2,390
    franco said:

    @LadyRhian. Can you tell me how many chits came with the boxed set? How were they numbered?

    Also, as you removed chits from the cup, the results would become less and less random. Did you have to constantly be replacing the chits in the cup and somehow mix them up again?

    Constantly replace and re-shake the cup. I'd forgotten all about those chits! But if I remember correctly, the first day we actually played a friend brought some real dice. The first time I saw those I thought they were a joke!
  • francofranco Member Posts: 507
    @atcDave. Absolutely great memories. Even in the beginning I kept trying to simplify the rules so that the game would flow more quickly for six or seven people around the table. Now look at the size of the rulebooks.
  • LadyRhianLadyRhian Member Posts: 14,694
    @Franco Yes. It was a sheet, covered in plastic, or maybe just hard plastic. They had a set of chits for every die, from 1d4 to 1d20, and you had to keep each set separate, but that was (easy-ish) to do, because each set was colored differently. My first set of dice came with a grease pencil (in white) to color in the numbers. Because that was SO. MUCH. FUN. NOT!
  • atcDaveatcDave Member Posts: 2,390
    LadyRhian said:

    @Franco Yes. It was a sheet, covered in plastic, or maybe just hard plastic. They had a set of chits for every die, from 1d4 to 1d20, and you had to keep each set separate, but that was (easy-ish) to do, because each set was colored differently. My first set of dice came with a grease pencil (in white) to color in the numbers. Because that was SO. MUCH. FUN. NOT!

    And of course the color never stayed on the die.

    Even better, remember the d20s that did multi duty as d10s? So you'd color one set of 0-9 in black and the other red. But by the end of the night so much color had rubbed off you could no longer tell which was which. ("all right, natural 20!" "no way man, that's a 10...")
  • StarlilyStarlily Member Posts: 97
    LadyRhian said:

    @Franco Yes. It was a sheet, covered in plastic, or maybe just hard plastic. They had a set of chits for every die, from 1d4 to 1d20, and you had to keep each set separate, but that was (easy-ish) to do, because each set was colored differently. My first set of dice came with a grease pencil (in white) to color in the numbers. Because that was SO. MUCH. FUN. NOT!

    Heh, I remember those, not to mention getting the grease pencil onto your fingers and smearing character sheets.
  • ZanathKariashiZanathKariashi Member Posts: 2,869
    A random wild surge is a raw roll (they'll generally be worse then using Naehl's since you're rolling an unmodified d100 for the result), only using the mod of any chaos shield you may or may not have up.

    Naehl's on the other hand allows you to add your modified caster level to the roll, which means, generally speaking, you're more likely to get positive effects as your level gets higher (just NEVER cast a beneficial spell via Naehl's...the top numbers closer to 100 are generally "good and great" results, but there are a few instant death with no save to target options as well (awesome if you're using hostile spells...disastrous if you were buffing yourself).

    Naehl's also breaks the 1 cast per round limit, allowing you to quickly attempt several fast spells, prior to IA.

    To get the most out of a wild mage, forget Naehl's exists until you're 20+, and just play like an uber specialist with no downsides, aside from a random caster level and your spells deciding to rarely fail to work as planned, unless you're just bored and wanna roll the dice. Especially if you're having a bad day....nothing brightens a person's mood like nuking an entire town by accident with flying, exploding cows of doom.
  • SCARY_WIZARDSCARY_WIZARD Member Posts: 1,438
    edited April 2013
    LadyRhian said:

    @Franco Yes, they do, but apparently, there are particles suspended in Gel (?) in the middle that provide a stopping power. I use 2d10 myself, with Chessex Dice.

    So, uhm, interesting story about that...my sister's friend opened up a d100 to see what was inside it, and, well, long story short, everyone yelled at him after that.
  • dementeddemented Member Posts: 388
    I'm curious. Has anyone here ever done a solo run as a Wild Mage? It sounds like it would be nightmarishly difficult, but people on this forum seem to love a challenge.
  • CaptRoryCaptRory Member Posts: 1,660
    If you don't mind reloading over and over it might be easier since you could abuse wild surges.
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