How to Guide:
Flashy Magic: Magery

Being a wizard in a combat system is about more than having a pointy hat and a staff. Most wizards don't have either. Here's my guide to making an impression as a mage.

Know Your Magic

If you have a spell list, learn at least the salient bits of it. If you don't know what your character can cast, you aren't going to look good. Work out which spells you're going to use most often.

Find out how magic works in this system, what you can actually do with it and what the limitations are. Does it need so many lines per level of spell? Are there set vocals, or must the vocals be of a set length? What ways are there to resist it or twist a spell into something unintended? If you can issue a one-word command to your foe and your favourite command is 'charge', most people will run headlong at your line, but a few canny ones will start demanding money from you for fighting them. 'Grovel', however, is much funnier and much less open to interpretation.

If it's a beanbag magic system, where your fireball only hits if you do, practice throwing with your beanbags. It sounds obvious, but it can make a difference. You don't have to be able to wang the beanbag half a mile - it's better not to, if your target's on the move - but if you can hit him or her with the beanbag when you're on uncertain ground and trying not to provide them with a new lifesize human pincushion, that's always going to help.

Look The Part

You don't have to wear a pointy hat or have a staff, but you do need something that says 'Wizard Here' unless you're deliberately trying to go incognito. If you're a fighter-mage, get runes on your tabard and have a pouch with ingredients in. If you're wearing a dress (kaftan robe) covered in embroidered runes people will assume you're a mage, which is fun if you're actually an assassin.

Spellbooks are always good - cover a blank notebook with leather or vinyl for a nice effect - even if your system doesn't require one. They can also be handy pointers for when memory fails and you've got time to burn, such as if your Armour of Bone demands a ritual, you're in the middle of an adventure, you've got the bodies of the slain all around you and you now need to spend fifteen minutes making stuff up and looking good doing it.