The Wyrddin
Using Wild Spellcraft from Natural20 Press (see below)
Wyrddinman is the title given to a sorcerer in Fioré; female sorcerers are known as lady wyrrdin, or wyrrd-witches. Sorcerers are relatively common in the Steel Kingdom, but their magic is warped and hard to control. For generations, the wyrrdinmen were shunned; when signs of the arcane power manifested in a young person, they generally left their homes, and sought out one of the hidden wyrrdinmen communes that cropped up in the wilds of Fioré. In these small enclaves, elder wyrrdinmen would teach what they knew of the power of the Wyrrd, as the magical talent was called. Wyrrdinmen are marked by their magic in some physical way: cat's eyes, strangely colored hair, scaled limbs, and stone fingernails are but a few of the marks of magic that have been reported.
To a wyrrdinman, their Wyrrd is a very personal thing, and similar magic spells cast by two different sorcerers can be told apart if you know what to look for. It may be a color, a smell, a sound, or the overall appearance of a spell, but some personal mark or signature will mark a wyrrdinman's spells from those of another. The clinical approach to magic that the Pentatra favors is alien to the wyrrdinmen, who
Wyrddinmen recently assisted Grahm Max Sparstag, the High King of Fioré, in thwarting a rebel clan's attempts to overthrown the crown with Pentatric assistance. The rebels were executed, and the wyrrdinmen who King Sparstag turned to for aid received titles and lands formerly belonging to the rebel clan. Due to this, most wyrrdinmen are accorded a rank equal to that of a lesser landed nobleman or a lesser knight. Some wyrddinmen, such as Yavin Catseye the King's Advisor, are of higher station, approaching that of a Duke. The younger wyrrdinmen who did not assist in putting down the rebellion may choose to serve the king, serving as a 'squire' to an elder wyrddinman.
Rules: The Wyrrdinmen, as well as the Grey Preachers, the clerics of Marthayn, use the Wild Spellcaster Template from Natural20 Press' Wild Spellcraft, an excellent toolkit pdf for adding wild magical spells and classes to any campaign. It's available as a $5 pdf from Natural20 Press, and I cannot recommend it enough. It gives you the tools to make magic quirky and strange, unknowable and ancient, or dangerously Lovecraftian depending on your needs and desires. It's a very versatile product which allows you to choose what sort of mysterious elements you want magic to have.
The following is some Open Game Content from their product, which will give you an idea of what Wyrrdinmen are, and what they do. Wyrrdinmen also use the Exotic Mishaps Optional Rule.
Wild
Spellcaster Template
Apply
this template to any character with a spellcasting class, or any creature with
spell-like abilities. The template
can apply to any or all spellcasting classes a character has.
You might be a wild spellcaster with your magic from one class, but not
another, such as a Cleric/Wizard who worships a chaotic deity who grants wild
spells, but is able to cast her wizard spells as normal.
CR:
This template does not add to the character's Challenge Rating or
Equivalent Character Level, since its benefits balance against its drawbacks.
Wild spellcasting is primarily for flavor, not power.
Wild
Spellcasting:
As a wild spellcaster, your magic is less controlled than normal, and
sometimes it fails. Whenever you cast a spell or use a spell-like ability, roll
an unmodified d20. On a roll of 1,
the spell or ability fails and the uncontrolled magic causes a mishap.
A mishap is a burst of wild spell energy, too powerful for the caster to
reign in. This wild energy
manifests in many varieties of spell-like effects, taking a random form by
chance.
Mishaps:
When a spell
mishaps, the GM rolls a d% and adds the caster’s Will saving throw bonus
(including any modifiers from Wisdom, feats, or other sources). He consults Table 1 below, then describes the effect
appropriate to the die roll. If a
creature or object is affected by a mishap, it is allowed to resist the mishap
with a successful Will save. The DC
for this save is the same as that of the spell that instigated the mishap.
The player can roll to see whether the spell mishaps, and her character knows intuitively that her spell is not working properly, but the GM should determine the result of the mishap secretly, since its effects might not be immediately apparent to the character.
Optional
Rule – Exotic & Bizarre Mishaps:
When
using the Exotic & Bizarre Mishaps optional rule, replace the standard rules
for mishaps with the following:
Mishap
Roll:
Whenever
you cast a spell or use a spell-like ability, roll an unmodified d20.
On a 1, the spell or ability fails and the uncontrolled magic causes a
mishap.
Mishap
Effects:
Mishaps
have random results, but the severity of the effect is consistent with the power
of the spell that causes the mishap. There
are three mishap tables, appropriate to three different power levels of spells.
Spells from 0th to 3rd level use the Minor Mishap Table.
Spells of 4th to 7th level use the Major Mishap Table.
Spells of 8th or 9th level use the Wild Mishap Table.
If a spell is modified by a metamagic feat, use the effective level it is
cast at when determining which mishap table you should roll on.
Effects
lower on the table are more negative toward the caster or generally more
dangerous, while effects higher on the table are more positive toward the caster
or simply unusual, so a higher roll is generally better and safer.
If the modified roll is less than 1, treat it as 1; and if the modified
roll is over 100, treat it as 100.
Exotic
& Bizarre Mishap Tables: