The College Wizard

by

Jan Teekens

Introduction

"...Calculus didn't like it a bit, but he knew the Council was right. There was too much at stake here to employ one of those wild warrior wizards for the job. It had been his own investigations in the old 'Book of Light and Darkness' that had brought up the evidence that the 'Stone of Tar' was to be found beneath the deepest tunnels of Karak Drazh. The High Elves had wrought the precious jewel ages ago. Later on it passed to the Dwarfs as a reward. A couple of brave Dwarven Princes managed saved an important Elven-noble from sure dead when he had been ambushed by a horde of foul Skaven. The Dwarfs never fully realized the magic powers hidden in the Stone, let alone that they ever used it. They better had; nowadays there were no Dwarfs in Karak Drazh anymore. All kind of evil creatures had been digging for treasure there ever since the proud Dwarven stronghold was destroyed by an Orc legion. And the thought of an Orc Warboss putting the powers of the Stone to work to settle the score with the Empire was dreadful enough to have the Council make this rare decision. To find the Stone was one thing, but taking it home or, worst case scenario, destroy it would take all the knowledge gathered in the ancient magic colleges. Calculus looked his study over for one more time, missing it already, then closed the door behind him and left for the gymnasium. There he would meet the die-hards the council had hired as his company, and leave..."

So here he goes, will he manage to stay alive and bring the 'Stone of Tar' back to the old Colleges of Magic in Altdorf? It's for you to find out. Of course he doesn't exactly feel at home in the wet, cold jungle of the dungeon world. His fellow adventurers probably wouldn't name him as there first choice for the Best-Magician-in-the- Underground-Scene-Award. But you'll never know, great dangers sometimes bring out the best in a man....

College Wizard Stats

Title : Lecturer

Wounds : 1D6+4

Move : 4

Weapon Skill : 2

Ballistic Skill : 5 +

Strength : 2

Toughness : 2(3)

Initiative : 2

Attacks : 1

Equipment : Halo of Vengeance Scroll (use once per adventure)

Weapon : Sword, causing 1D6+2 damage

Armor : Armor of Light (+1 Toughness)

Pinning : Escape from pinning on 5 +

Do I have to play with THAT???

Wait and see!

Special Rules

Armor of Light

When the Colleges of Magic send one of their members on a dangerous quest, they don't hesitate to support him with one or more valuable items from there collection of magical artifacts. The Armor of Light is such a gift. It adds +1 Toughness against all attacks, except those that explicitly state to ignore magic armor(i.e. any damage with 'no modifiers for armor' IS modified for the Armor of Light, any damage 'ignoring magical armor' is NOT modified for the Armor of Light).

College Wizard Magic

• Being proverbially absent-minded, the College Wizard only remembers two spells as he enters the dungeon. Take two spells from different decks to start with (the decks are your choice, the spells are taken random).
• Because he spends most of his live in the magic-filled colleges of Altdorf, the College Wizard has a great inner power to draw from. He starts with 1D6+2 Power Tokens.
• Feeling a little uneasy in the darkness of the dungeons though, the College Wizard is at -1 when rolling for Power in the Power Phase (a Special event is only generated by a natural 1).
• But on a natural 6.... BrainWave! Suddenly all his knowledge comes to life! As close to the Wizard as possible appears the Walking Spellbook (a great miniature here is the chaos-familiar 'walking book'). As long as the Walking Spellbook is on the same boardsection as the College Wizard, the wizard remembers all the spells in the spell list up to casting level ( Battle Level+6 )! On top of this, the Walking Spellbook comes with 2 extra Power Tokens, that have to be used before the Book has vanished. The Walking Spellbook can be destroyed by the monsters, and otherwise slowly vanishes when all monsters are killed. If there are no monsters on the board at the end of a turn, the Spellbook loses one wound. The stats of the Walking Spellbook are given below.

So, if you are the neurotic type that builds it all up deep inside, only to give it to them in a destructive gulf of light, fire and smoke, here is your chance!!

Walking Spellbook Stats

Wounds : 3

Move : 2

Weapon Skill : 1

Ballistic Skill : -

Strength : -

Toughness : 0

Initiative : 2

Attacks : -

Equipment : -

Weapon : -

Armor : Leather Binding (+1 Toughness)

Pinning : Never pinned

Special rules: Comes with 2 Power Tokens, to be used during this appearance of the book

Settlements

It won't come as a surprise that the College Wizard should be treated as a wizard while visiting a settlement. There are only a few exceptions to the rule:

• The College Wizard is used to the broad streets of Altdorf, where you just have to follow the signs to get to any important building. He is therefor at a loss in the smaller towns. He is on -1 when rolling to find a special location.
• Also, smart tradesman recognize the inexperienced traveler, and always overcharge him 10%. How could he know??
• When visiting the Wizards Guild roll 1D6 on the following table

1-2 The College Wizard is treated as any other warrior wizard.

3-5 The College Wizard is recognized as a lecturer of the Altdorf University and is not charged for the consultation he makes.

6 The College Wizard is welcomed by an ex-pupil of him. He is asked to lecture on his favorite subject, and is rewarded with a standing ovation of the audience and 1D6x50 gold. A consultation is free.

• When trying to change his spells while visiting the Wizards Guild, the College Wizard, trained student that he once was, can re-roll any one roll in the process.

Training

Just like the ordinary wizard, the College Wizard's primary benefit from training comes in learning or in this case, remembering more spells. In addition to this some of his stats rise during training. There are two main differences between the warrior wizard en the College Wizard in the training procedure.

1. The number of dices rolled when determining which spells can be added to the wizards potential, the College Wizard uses a different(lower) number of dices. This is to reflect his ongoing absent-mindedness.
2. The College Wizard does gain a Skill: 'Bookbinding' which is described below.

Bookbinding Skill

Using a moment of 'quietness' in the battle the College Wizard manages to put the destroyed 'Walking Spellbook' back together, using some glue or thread-and-needle that he is carrying by chance. The book is back at full Wounds after the binding. Any extra Power Tokens that have not been used before the book was destroyed are lost. The College Wizard can do this as many times per adventure as is indicated by the number of skills in the Advance Level Table.

Advanced Level Table College Wizard

Advanced Level Table Walking Book

any other stats remain unchanged.

" .... What was he doing here in the first place? Smoke, fire, shimmering swords and numerous nasty little green goblins, encouraged by the shrieking voice of there shaman. Calculus tried to keep his foes one step away from him, he tried to remember how he should destroy the 'Stone of Tar' as a last deed before the goblins would slay them all, and he tried really hard to remember some useful spells. He managed to fail in all three attempts at the same time. "Get out of the way civilian" cried Krug the barbarian stepping forward to do some more damage. Civilian? Civilian?! Get lost! He 'd show this low-witted giant just how 'uncivilized' he could be! Light sprung to his eyes, suddenly all his knowledge came right back to him. And at the same moment that the shaman laid Krug down with a 'Fist of Gork' the Walking Spellbook appeared in a corner of the dungeon. "Now between the two of us!" shouted Calculus, and a 'Burning Storm' engulfed the green little magician. And after putting Krug back on his feet with some 'Healing hands' he looked around and smiled: "Come on big one, lets have some fun!"...."