2019/10/07

OSR: Class: Geometer Wizard

Some ideas from Oblidisideryptch's post. I wanted to write a geometry-mechanism-astrology wizard school devoted to ordering the world. This is the result.
Alexander Shatohin
Starting Equipment: spellbook, ink and quill, protractor, ruler, plumb line. You also have a magnetic compass and black robes marked with white starcharts. 


The procession of equinoxes, the rise and fall of constellations, the movement of fixed and wandering stars; all fascinate the Geometer. Some parts of the world seem to follow perfect mathematical laws.This is not a coincidence because nothing is ever a coincidence. Other parts are disordered, but perhaps within the disorder there are hidden patterns and symmetries waiting to be discovered. 


Kuldar Leement

Perk


If you are casting with sunlight on you, your MD return to your pool on 1-4 (instead of 1-3).


Drawback


You cannot carry iron items. You must cast spells with a magnetic compass in your hand. You can make a new compass with 8 hours of effort and some basic tools. 


Cantrips


1. Know the exact angle and distance to any point you can see.

2. Instantly count how many objects are in a pile.
3. Before your roll MD for a spell, declare “odds” or “evens”. If the [sum] rolled matches your prediction, heal 1 HP or increase the damage dealt by the spell by 1.


Geometer Wizard Spell List


1. Magic Missile

R: 200' T: creature D: 0

Target takes [sum] + [dice] damage, no Save. As a Geometer Wizard, your spell is a right-angle lightning bolt of light.


2. Reform

R: touch T: creature with mutations D: [sum] hours / permanent

You remove or cure [dice] randomly selected mutations or magical transformations affecting a creature. Unwilling targets may Save to negate. If 4 or more [dice] are invested, the duration is permanent.


3. The Astrologer's Helper

R: 10' T: self D: [sum] minutes

Outlines of the planets, major stars, sun, and moon appear around you. You can use them to determine the time of day, true north, and your approximate position on the globe. You can also spend 5 minutes to read the horoscope of [dice] sentient creatures per casting. Roll 1d10. 1-8. No effect aside from the usual platitudes. 9. Doom. Creature must reroll their next Save and take the worse result. 10. Triumph. Creature automatically passes their next Save.


4. Moon Lust

R: 50' T: creature D: varies

Target creature loves the moon. They want to stare at it, jump up and hold it, or write poems about it. If [sum] is equal to or greater than the target's HD, they are stunned for 1d6 rounds. If [sum] is greater than 12, the target is stunned for 2d6 rounds and becomes permanently obsessed with the moon.


5. Package Neatly

R: 20' T: objects D: concentration / permanent

Up to [dice]x500lbs of nonliving objects, as you designate, are packed neatly. You must name the objects or their general category when you cast the spell ("those coins", "the contents of that room") If no packing materials are provided, the objects will be stacked into compact cubes, with the largest and most stable objects at the bottom. If chests, paper and twine, sacks, carts, etc. are provided, the spell will use them as you direct. The packages created will take up the minimum space possible, and will be remarkably sturdy. The spell will continue to pack objects for as long as you maintain concentration. The objects must be able to move freely. You could not use this spells to pack clothes someone was wearing. The objects will not lift more than 10' off the ground during the packing process.



6. Control Iron

R: 50’ T: example of [element] D: concentration

Control a handful of iron. At one [die]: (a) steer a chain like a snake, (b) fling a sword through the air, (c) open an iron lock or (d) pull the nails out of a small and badly built piece of furniture. Each [dice] you invest increases the effects. At 4 [dice], collapse a room or knock over a small army of knights.


7. Light

R: touch T: object or creature D: [dice]x2 hours

Object illuminates as a torch, with a radius of 20’+[dice]x10’. Alternatively, you can make an Attack roll against a sighted creature. If you succeed, the creature is blinded for [sum] rounds. If [sum] is greater than 12, the creature is permanently blinded. You can chose the colour of the light. If you invest 4 [dice] or more this light has all the qualities of natural sunlight. Alternatively, if you invest 4 [dice] or more the light can be purest octarine, although it will only last for 1 round. Octarine light is extremely dangerous.


8. Magnetic Blast

R: 50’ T: line D: 0

Designate a straight line up to 50’ long. The line can pass through solid objects. Any living creatures along the line take 1d6 damage. Anything in metal armour takes [sum] damage instead. Creatures made of iron, or with metal implants or piercings or delicate components, take 2x[sum] damage instead.


9. Track Ley Lines

R: [dice]x5 mile radius T: area D: 10 minutes

You trace the shape of ley lines, invisible rivers of magic that flow through the world. They can reveal hidden sites of magic power, ancient standing stones, or current rituals. If [sum] is 12 or more, you also know the location of a ley line node. Any spellcaster resting there may Save to gain a temporary bonus MD each morning.


10. Sturdy Circle in the Air

R: 100' T: point D: [sum] minutes

You draw a circle [dice]x5' in radius in the air. The circle is made of force, as solid as iron. You can draw the circle at any orientation. 


11. True Teleport

R: Creation T: self and 1+[dice] people or objects D: 0

The caster, and any number of willing people or objects touching the caster, teleport to a designated location the caster has seen before or knows well enough to visualize. They are swapped with an equivalent mass of matter from the target location. There is a 1% chance something goes awry during the teleportation. Teleporting east-west is safe, but changes in attitude require a roll under Dexterity on arrival, with a -1 penalty for every 100 miles travelled. 


12. Resurrection

R: touch T: recently dead creature D: 0

Target creature that died within the last [sum] rounds returns to life. Time briefly rewinds. They are restored to exactly the state they were in before combat. Any inconvenient bookkeeping can be adjusted arbitrarily by the GM. The target’s base Save becomes 1 and cannot be raised. If they were 10th level or sufficiently important (a king, a dragon, etc.), a Paradox Angel may be dispatched to investigate.

Mechanical Notes on the Geometer Wizard Spell List

A few of these spells come from my 1d100 Orthodox Spells list. The rest are new. Both Resurrection and True Teleport are very powerful. I also like the Control Iron spell. The formatting matches the other Control spells.
Marton Adam Marton
Geometer Wizard  Mishaps
1. MD only return to your pool on a 1-2 for 24hrs.
2. Take 1d6 damage.
3. Random mutation for 1d6 rounds, then Save. Permanent if you fail.
4. Blind for 1d6 rounds.
5. Can only move limbs at right angles for 1d6 rounds. -8 to Attack and Defense. -4 to Dexterity and Movement.
6. Spell targets you (if harmful) or an enemy (if helpful) or fizzles (if neutral).

Geometer Wizard Dooms
1. Become two dimensional for 24 hours. Triple all damage received, but you can slide under doors. Beware of strong winds.
2. You become painfully magnetic for 1d6 days.
3. You are folded by the fundamental forces of nature. You vanish between time and space. In 1d6 hours, 1d6 Paradox Angels will arrive and scour the area for any trace of you.

8 comments:

  1. Some of these new spells are neat, I especially like the Sturdy Circle and the Ley Lines.

    In Moon Lust, shouldn't the last sentence maybe read: "If [sum] is equal to double the target's HD or great"?

    Could I ask why give this wizard True Teleport and Resurrection? These are really powerful indeed.

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    Replies
    1. Nah, that'd be too much math.
      I wanted to try to make a wizard whose 2 highest-level spells aren't great at solving problems but are great at solving mistakes. True Teleport is great, but can only be cast once per day, and requires a bit of setup to avoid exploding people left behind. Resurrection is, effectively, temporary. With a Save of 1, a resurrected person isn't long for this world.

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  2. When I saw cantrip 3, I immediately began making some calculations. And, uh. With an odd number of dice, even/odd is clearly 50/50 because the outcomes are symmetrical. 2d6 and 4d6 both come out to 50/50 on even/odd too, leading me to believe that's also a guarantee that I can't intuit the proof for.

    That's really neat, I had no idea even and odd sums were equally likely. Where did you learn about that?

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    Replies
    1. Just intuition, I suppose?
      I'm sure there's a truly marvelous proof of this, which this comment box is too narrow to contain.

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    2. Think about it! A six sided die has three odds and three evens. No matter how many you add it'll never affect the balance!

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    3. Err, I'm not quite sure how that affects the probability of the sum of [n]d6s. Sure, each new d6 adds 3 odd and 3 even numbers, but the number of odd or even [i]sums[/i] varies:
      -d6 [3 odd, 3 even]
      -2d6 [5 odd, 6 even]
      -3d6 [8 odd, 8 even]
      -4d6 [11 odd, 12 even]
      etc.
      So yes, while I get that the probability of rolling an odd or even result on 1 die is the same so adding them together doesn't actually change anything, it still feels weird that the probabilities for 2d6, despite being centered around 7, still add up.

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    4. Thinking about this again, I did manage to come up with a proof.

      If you're rolling N+1 dice, then the sum of the first N can either be even, or odd. If the sum is even, then the last die has a 50/50 chance of being even (final total: even) or odd (final total: odd). If the sum of the first N is odd, then same thing reversed: 50/50 chance of being even (final total: odd) or odd (final total: even).

      So yeah, for even/odd doesn't matter what any die but the last rolls, because the last die always has a 50/50 chance to make it become even or odd.

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    5. Oh. Of course. Stupid proofs, being not obvious until you think of them. :D

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