Wild Mage

Wild magic is a theory of magic that emphasizes study of the forces of randomness; a wild mage never knows exactly what’s going to happen when he casts a spell.

Wild magic is so different from traditional magic that only those devoted to its study may cast wild magic; no wizard other than a wild mage may attempt to use the spells of wild magic. However, wild mages do not study confine their studies to a single school of magic — wild magic has no opposition school. Instead, their research into new theories of wild magic carries them into many different fields. Wild magic has strengths in some areas (particularly divination and evocation), but it is not confined to any single school of magic. The proponents of wild magic proudly trumpet their art's broad base and flexibility as its great advantages.

Of course, these same advocates are quick to downplay wild magic's drawbacks. First and foremost, it is wild magic. On rare occasions, any spell can have dangerously unpredictable results, including backfiring or creating an entirely different effect from that which was desired. More commonly, the magnitude of a spell — range, duration, area of effect, or even damage — may fluctuate from casting to casting. Spells cast by wild mages are inherently unpredictable.

Since wild magic is a difficult field of study, a wizard must have an Intelligence/Reason score of 16 or better to specialize in this field. Like other specialists, they gain the bonus memorized spell at each level. They have no saving throw adjustments for their own saves or their targets’ saves. Wild mages receive a bonus of +10% when learning new wild magic spells and suffer a penalty of –5% when learning magic spells from other schools. When a wild mage researches a new wild magic spell, the spell is treated as if it were one level lower.

There are no restrictions to the alignment of a wild mage. The race of a wild mage is limited to those races with competency at magic; thus, only humans, elves, half-elves and hobgoblins can be wild mages. Gnomes have some magical talent, but lack the broad base of skills and knowledge necessary to master this new field.

Wild mages have a special ability to control certain magical items that normally behave randomly for other characters. A wild mage has a 50% chance to control one of the following items, selecting the result of his choice: the amulet of the planes, bag of beans, bag of tricks, deck of illusions, deck of many things, and the well of many worlds. The wand of wonder is a special case; if the wild mage successfully controls the wand, he may use charges from the wand to cast any spell he already knows, whether or not he has the spell memorized. The number of charges expended equals the level of the spell chosen; if the mage fails his roll, he simply expends one charge from the wand and rolls for a random result.

Level Variations

The most broad-reaching aspect of the wild mage's powers is his approach to spells. The wild mage's work with the principles of uncertainty affects all spells that have a level variable for range, duration, area of effect, or damage. Each time a wild mage uses a spell with a level variable, he randomly determines the resulting casting level of the spell. The spell may function at lesser, equal or greater effect than normal. The degree of variation depends on the true level of the caster, as shown on Table 3.4.9. Positive results on the table indicate an increase in casting level, negative results a decrease, and results of zero indicate no change in the casting level.

One additional effect can occur when the wild mage casts a spell. If the result from Table 3.4.9 is boldfaced, the caster has inadvertently created a wild surge in the spell, in addition to the spell's normal effects. A wild surge briefly opens a doorway through which raw magical energy pours. The energy is incompletely controlled by the actions of the spellcaster. The result, often spectacular, is seldom what the caster intended and is sometimes a smaller or greater version of the desired spell. At other times, wildly improbable results occur. Songs may fill the air, people might appear out of nowhere, or the floor may become a pool of grease. Whatever happens, it is the essence of wildness.

When a wild surge occurs, the DM must roll on Table 3.4.10. Unlike many other instances in the AD&D game in which the DM is encouraged to choose a suitable result, wild surges are best resolved by random chance. Actively choosing a result biases the nature of wild magic. DMs are encouraged to be random and have fun.

Unless otherwise noted, all spells created by a wild surge occur at the designated target point and function normally (appropriate saving throws are allowed). The caster's true level is used when calculating range, duration, area of effect, etc., of these spells.

Tables like those below cannot take into account the situation at the instant of casting. It is not feasible to create tailored effects for every spell used in every possible way. Therefore, it is quite likely that some wild magic results will make no sense, be impossible, or have no visible effect. In these cases, the wild surge has no effect. For example, if a mage were casting a wizard lock on a door and triggered a wild surge with the result "Target changes sex," no effect would be visible, since doors do not have a sex (at least as far as we know). Likewise, a rock might be hastened or a snake might have its feet enlarged. In these cases, nothing happens — at least nothing that affects play. When determining the result of wild magic, the DM must use his best judgment.

Finally, not even the randomness of wild surges should be allowed to ruin the story of an adventure. As ultimate storyteller and arbiter of the game, the DM can overrule any wild surge he deems too destructive to the adventure. If this happens, reroll the dice to get a new result. In a case such as this, do not treat a wild surge as having no effect.