Rogr Aglondier

[Mojczak]

I don't like very much the idea of introducing experimental stuff from unearthed arcana in the br setting. However, whatever the decision I will make a second variant rogr build, setting him as magician 1-3/wiz 3.

[Thelandrin]

You're then violating the 2nd Edition theme where no one was both a magician and a wizard. It is stated that Rogr was a magician, but he's written up a wizard. Both classes existed in 2nd Edition, so surely it's clear that Rogr is no longer a magician and is in fact a wizard?

[Mojczak]

Well, I will try to find something that makes it fit. I've been thinking about dwindling with a 3-5 level prestige class of "magician" converts. Or a template... something, but I am all against the pure wizard version. 2nd edition always seemed flawed for me on that one. Of course, they needed him to be a wizard because they otherwise wouldn't have been able to make him a worthy regent, but they just shot themselves in a foot with this character, I will try to make a conversion that doesn't bind the rules and still is a pretty decent character.

[kgauck]

they just shot themselves in a foot with this character

Don't forget you need to adjust the time line as well, because Rogr's succession to the county happened just recently, so he needs time to acquire whatever new wizard levels you assign him.

And rebuilding was in the PHB II, as I mentioned. Its a brown book rule.

[AndrewTall]

As a note, I'm fairly sure that the chamberlain was also a magician not a wizard - and specifically described as having avoided true magic, the question is moot however if you stack spellcasting levels rather than tracking them separately, as the wizard spell selection encompasses the magician spell set; the magician has a few hp too many but thats fairly minor at L3 and can be solved by restricting hp gain at the next level.

As a note, presumably any human spellcasters at Deismaar (excluding the lost of course) were magicians - can anyone recall if they were described as founding source networks, or if those came a few decades after the other holding types when the next generation learned true magic?

From a 'keeping it simple' point I'd go for conversion from magician to wizard over a modest amount of time rather than split the levels as the standard for a magician becoming blooded - which is far more common under brcs than 2e of course.

[Mojczak]

Well, from what I remember Azrai was supposed to have thaught some vos true magic before the battle. Could be wrong, tho.

[Mojczak]

Makes me think... why not a kind of "Teach blood magic" kind-of regional feat... allowed unblooded regents to take on wizard levels or teach by... or even a blood ability that would allow people to teach "true" magic, to untrue mages.

[Sorontar]

I suspect that you can get characters to do all the teaching of "true magic" they like, but if the student isn't blooded, then the student will be able to actually do diddlysquat. To use Jedi Masters in Star Wars as an allegory, you can't teach someone to use the Force if they can't feel it.

What Azrai taught might have been access to "True magic" via a more sinister route, i.e. his blood, death of innocents, who knows. Even in Middle Earth, the evil god Melkor was limited in his ability to create new life, so he had to put a little of himself into every "living" thing he designed (or just corrupted living things like elves). Azrai was probably doing something similar. I can't see that anyone on Cerilia or SW could access true magic through that route without Azrai being there.

Sorontar

[Mojczak]

Perhaps a kind of blood-bond ceremony of investiture...?

[geeman]

Makes me think... why not a kind of "Teach blood magic" kind-of regional feat... allowed unblooded regents to take on wizard levels or teach by... or even a blood ability that would allow people to teach "true" magic, to untrue mages.

Azrai did create The Lost--those characters who were able to cast true magic--before Deismaar, but their numbers would appear to have been quite limited, and their abilities tied to some kind of undeath.

So, allowing commoners to access true magic with a sort of regional feat seems like a rather paltry requirement for what is in the setting the immortal spirit of the Sidhe, the blood of the gods or the direct intervention of a god (and apparent self-sacrifice of the spellcaster.) There are a few slippery edges where other spellcasters are able to perform/learn magics that are normally barred to commoners, like the ability of bards to cast charm spells, but the full range of true magic should remain something that no commoner can do without some extraordinary requirements involved.

The ability to cast true magic is no small thing in Birthright. Personally, I don't think you can dilute its scarcity without similarly diluting the setting's flavour.

Gary