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Taako's Amazing School of Magic!
Alt Titled: So, Your Character Wants To Be A Wizard
So this post is for if your character is interested in learning magic, or is currently taking magic lessons from Taako in![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
hadriel. We'll go into character progression, what they can learn, and how to get started!
Step 1: Getting Your Paperwork Done
There are three ways your character might have signed up to get magic lessons, which are:
Once you're all enrolled, we can move on to...
Step 2: Understanding D&D Magic
Dungeons and Dragons has a LOT of magical types, with a lot of different ways people cast magic. What we'll be working with here is wizard magic, which is magic that comes from spells. Your character needs NO natural aptitude to be able to learn and cast it, other than the ability to either read or hear. While this system can be a bit complicated, I'm including a version of what's necessary to know for RP purposes.
Here's an example of what a D&D spell description looks like:
I'll describe what each of these are in numbered form below!
1. The spell's name.
2. The spell's level and type. Characters won't be picking specialties until higher levels, so the type doesn't matter unless they'll be studying for a long time. Level determines what level character can cast the spell; we'll get into that a bit later.
3. This determines how long it takes you to cast the spell. If it says "one action" or "one bonus action", it takes about three seconds. Otherwise it should show the amount of minutes.
4. Where you can hit something with the spell. The range could be just yourself, in melee (within 5 feet), or a long range away.
5. Required components. In order to make these spells work, each can have up to three things required of it:
Verbal: Your character has to be able to speak to cast this spell; it requires a word or noise of some kind. In the case of mute characters, sign language can also be acceptable.
Somatic: Your character must be able to move to cast this spell; it requires a specific motion. An example may be that a disintegrate spell forces you to point at the thing you'd like to target, or a spinning motion to start a Chromatic Orb.
Material: Your character has to have a material through which to channel this magic. The only exception to this is if your character has a spell focus, such as a wand or staff. These can be pretty much anything but will need to be enchanted in some way- Taako's willing to do this for his students if they provide the item. Feel free to get creative here- spell focuses can be rings or necklaces, very special rocks, a fucking crowbar if you really want, though if you break it you're not gonna be able to cast out of it again. The ONLY EXCEPTION here is if a spell CONSUMES a material component- it will be marked if it does. In that case, the material MUST be present.
Each spell will be marked with a V, S, or M- often multiple- to denote what it needs.
6. How long the spell lasts. If it's instantaneous, it happens and then it's over. Otherwise, it'll happen and then take the duration listed before it ends.
7. What classes can learn and cast this spell. Taako can only teach WIZARD magic, so this must mention the Wizard class to be learned from him.
8. The spell's description! What it does, it's damage, ect.
9. Certain spells get more powerful when your character is more powerful, such as generating additional beams or doing more damage. Some you can choose to cast more powerfully when you're stronger, or keep in it's lowered state- all that information will be here.
In addition, you may see spells that say "ritual" on them- this means the spell can also be prepared as a ritual, which will take one hour of time but produce the same desired effect. You do not need to have ritual spells prepared.
Moving on from all that, you'll also need to understand spell slots. Spell slots are shorthand for how much magic your character can cast in a day. Spells come in two forms- cantrips and slots. Cantrips can be cast as many times as you want, all the time, while slots require a spell slot to be burned to use them. This is what you see listed in #2 above- what level of spell slot is necessary to cast the spell. Your character will gain different spell slots at different levels, and be allowed to know a certain number of cantrips.
As for casting, wizards are prepared spellcasters- this means that every day, your character can load up a certain number of spells, and then cast however many they have slots for. You know your cantrips all the time and never need to load them, though you can swap which cantrips you know when you gain a level. Wizards have this information recorded in a spellbook, so be sure your character has somewhere to write this all down!
Here's how many spell slots wizards have per level:
So if your character is a level 2 wizard, they could know 3 cantrips and cast 3 level 1 spells per day.
Step 3: Progression
So in an actual game of D&D, how many spells you have and when you level up is controlled by a DM. That sounds like a lot of work and I don't have that kind of time to monitor all your characters individually. Instead, we'll work on a general scale based on how long your character has been a student- if they have specific magical aptitude (i.e. can already cast other spells/know other magic/are a goddamn genius) they can go twice as quickly through their progression. If you want to say your character signed up in response to his post and started lessons IMMEDIATELY, you may count December 2018 as your Month One.
A list and description of all available wizard spells can be found here.
Otherwise, here's our timetable:
Month One: Your character learns the basics of magical theory and what it means to cast a spell.
You don't need to update me on your progress; I'll assume what they know based on their period of enrollment and if you marked they were on the advanced track. If by SOME UNGODLY REASON this goes longer than this timetable I will update it accordingly.
Thanks for reading all this, everyone! Enjoy your new abilities, and thanks for enrolling in Taako's Amazing School Of Magic!
So this post is for if your character is interested in learning magic, or is currently taking magic lessons from Taako in
hadriel. We'll go into character progression, what they can learn, and how to get started!Step 1: Getting Your Paperwork Done
There are three ways your character might have signed up to get magic lessons, which are:
- You responded to Taako's interest post in December of 2018.
- You dropped a line in Taako's IC Inbox.
- We handwave it!
Once you're all enrolled, we can move on to...
Step 2: Understanding D&D Magic
Dungeons and Dragons has a LOT of magical types, with a lot of different ways people cast magic. What we'll be working with here is wizard magic, which is magic that comes from spells. Your character needs NO natural aptitude to be able to learn and cast it, other than the ability to either read or hear. While this system can be a bit complicated, I'm including a version of what's necessary to know for RP purposes.
Here's an example of what a D&D spell description looks like:
I'll describe what each of these are in numbered form below!
1. The spell's name.
2. The spell's level and type. Characters won't be picking specialties until higher levels, so the type doesn't matter unless they'll be studying for a long time. Level determines what level character can cast the spell; we'll get into that a bit later.
3. This determines how long it takes you to cast the spell. If it says "one action" or "one bonus action", it takes about three seconds. Otherwise it should show the amount of minutes.
4. Where you can hit something with the spell. The range could be just yourself, in melee (within 5 feet), or a long range away.
5. Required components. In order to make these spells work, each can have up to three things required of it:
Verbal: Your character has to be able to speak to cast this spell; it requires a word or noise of some kind. In the case of mute characters, sign language can also be acceptable.
Somatic: Your character must be able to move to cast this spell; it requires a specific motion. An example may be that a disintegrate spell forces you to point at the thing you'd like to target, or a spinning motion to start a Chromatic Orb.
Material: Your character has to have a material through which to channel this magic. The only exception to this is if your character has a spell focus, such as a wand or staff. These can be pretty much anything but will need to be enchanted in some way- Taako's willing to do this for his students if they provide the item. Feel free to get creative here- spell focuses can be rings or necklaces, very special rocks, a fucking crowbar if you really want, though if you break it you're not gonna be able to cast out of it again. The ONLY EXCEPTION here is if a spell CONSUMES a material component- it will be marked if it does. In that case, the material MUST be present.
Each spell will be marked with a V, S, or M- often multiple- to denote what it needs.
6. How long the spell lasts. If it's instantaneous, it happens and then it's over. Otherwise, it'll happen and then take the duration listed before it ends.
7. What classes can learn and cast this spell. Taako can only teach WIZARD magic, so this must mention the Wizard class to be learned from him.
8. The spell's description! What it does, it's damage, ect.
9. Certain spells get more powerful when your character is more powerful, such as generating additional beams or doing more damage. Some you can choose to cast more powerfully when you're stronger, or keep in it's lowered state- all that information will be here.
In addition, you may see spells that say "ritual" on them- this means the spell can also be prepared as a ritual, which will take one hour of time but produce the same desired effect. You do not need to have ritual spells prepared.
Moving on from all that, you'll also need to understand spell slots. Spell slots are shorthand for how much magic your character can cast in a day. Spells come in two forms- cantrips and slots. Cantrips can be cast as many times as you want, all the time, while slots require a spell slot to be burned to use them. This is what you see listed in #2 above- what level of spell slot is necessary to cast the spell. Your character will gain different spell slots at different levels, and be allowed to know a certain number of cantrips.
As for casting, wizards are prepared spellcasters- this means that every day, your character can load up a certain number of spells, and then cast however many they have slots for. You know your cantrips all the time and never need to load them, though you can swap which cantrips you know when you gain a level. Wizards have this information recorded in a spellbook, so be sure your character has somewhere to write this all down!
Here's how many spell slots wizards have per level:
So if your character is a level 2 wizard, they could know 3 cantrips and cast 3 level 1 spells per day.
Step 3: Progression
So in an actual game of D&D, how many spells you have and when you level up is controlled by a DM. That sounds like a lot of work and I don't have that kind of time to monitor all your characters individually. Instead, we'll work on a general scale based on how long your character has been a student- if they have specific magical aptitude (i.e. can already cast other spells/know other magic/are a goddamn genius) they can go twice as quickly through their progression. If you want to say your character signed up in response to his post and started lessons IMMEDIATELY, you may count December 2018 as your Month One.
A list and description of all available wizard spells can be found here.
Otherwise, here's our timetable:
Month One: Your character learns the basics of magical theory and what it means to cast a spell.
- GAIN: One cantrip of your choice from the Wizard spell list.
- GAIN: A second cantrip of your choice from the Wizard spell list.
- GAIN: One level 1 spell, that they can cast once a day.
- GAIN: A third cantrip! See, you get something out of this.
- GAIN: A second level one spell. At this stage, characters can cast ONE of their known level one spells ONCE per day, to be prepared at the day's start. You must prepare the spell you want to use in that day; this can be largely handwaved.
- GAIN: Two additional level one spells, to bring you to a total of FOUR level one spells, with the ability to prepare TWO per day, but can still only cast ONE level 1 spell per day.
- GAIN: Two more level one spells, bringing you to a total of SIX and reaching the status of level one wizard. Your character can now cast TWO level one spells per day, and prepare up to THREE for use in those slots.
- GAIN: Learn another level one spell, though slots and preparation remain unchanged.
- GAIN: Another level 1 spell slot! Your character is now considered a level two wizard and can prepare up to FOUR spells in a day.
- GAIN: An official specialty, along with the specialty power.
- GAIN: Learn another level one spell, though slots and preparation remain unchanged.
- GAIN: A level two spell, and one level two spell slot. You can now prepare up to FIVE spells in a day.
You don't need to update me on your progress; I'll assume what they know based on their period of enrollment and if you marked they were on the advanced track. If by SOME UNGODLY REASON this goes longer than this timetable I will update it accordingly.
Thanks for reading all this, everyone! Enjoy your new abilities, and thanks for enrolling in Taako's Amazing School Of Magic!
no subject
Journal: theladyofhighever
When did they start learning?: after Taako's post
What kind of magic do they want to learn?: anything and everything which lets her go on the offense
Are they good at it?: (Y/N) No. But this just makes her even more determined.
no subject
Journal:
When did they start learning?: right the fuck now
What kind of magic do they want to learn?:
how to look like the exact same person but with a bigger dick and a nicer assi mean yeah that but also maybe how to set annoying assholes on fire? but like without needing matches.Are they good at it?: (Y/N) fUCK NO
no subject
Journal:
When did they start learning?: Maybe after Taako's initial post?
What kind of magic do they want to learn?: Defensive magic, yo. Shields ftw if that's possible? A spell to rain down fire on her enemies? Everyone wants that, right?
Are they good at it?: (Y/N) Probably not. It's completely foreign to her, but she is a smart girl and determined, so expect her to do her homework.
no subject
Journal:
When did they start learning?: After his initial post!
What kind of magic do they want to learn?: HONESTLY whatever he offers/thinks is best, because she knows nothing about magic. Something to help her with the one-arm situation with respect to fighting (though that's changing in May-June) and to help defend people who need it.
Are they good at it?: I would say she's not at all magically inclined, though she probably has some ~strength of will~ stuff by nature of being a Protagonist, so i'll leave it to you!
no subject
Journal:
When did they start learning?: Following Kyna's post
What kind of magic do they want to learn?: Defensive (shields, etc) and healing
Are they good at it?: (Y/N) Leaning toward yes - she's canonically taught herself many skills and I think she'd have the aptitude for its study.