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Lesser Mage
A Lesser Mage studies magic as an accompaniment to hir skill in arms. Ze learns to use some types of armor, but still avoids shields since ze needs to keep hir off hand clear for arcane gestures.
Hit Die: d8
Hit Points at 1st level: Constitution Score + d8
Hit Points at later levels: 1d8 (5) + Constitution Modifier
Lesser Mage
Proficiencies
Armor: Light and Medium Armor
Weapons: Simple and Martial Weapons
Saving Throws: Dexterity & Intelligence OR Strength & Wisdom
Tools: None
Skills: Choose three from Animal Handling, Arcana, Athletics, Investigation, Medicine, Nature, Religion, Sleight of Hand, Stealth, and Survival
Features
Optional Features. At 1st level, a mage can choose to take either a Major or Minor Virtue from any category in Ars Magica, with the DM’s approval. However, if the player chooses to take a Virtue, ze must also take a Flaw of the same level. If ze wishes, the player may choose to take two Minor Virtues in exchange for one Major Flaw.
Magical Arts. Lesser Mages have access to the same power as Greater Mages, but they split their training between magic and arms. In this ruleset, mages learn arts by Magnitude, giving them 5 Levels of spells for every level of proficiency.
Lesser Mages start with proficiencies in 3 Arts at Magnitude 1.
Don’t forget to take proficiency in at least one Form and one Technique!
The mage must choose hir Sigil, a deeply personal expression or phenomenon that manifests itself in every spell ze casts and leaves traces of the caster’s identity.
In addition, they gain 1 magnitude in Arts at 2nd level and again at each even level thereafter. A character can’t have a higher magnitude proficiency than hir Proficiency Bonus. (Magnitude 2 at Level 1, Mag 3 @ Lvl 5, etc...)
Spells. Mages can create spontaneous spells on the fly at any time, but it’s faster and easier for them to use spell formulae from a grimoire.
At 1st level, a mage gains 30 levels of spells in their chosen Arts. With the DM’s permission, the player can save some of these spell levels to define after gameplay starts.
On each level after the first, the mage gains up to 15 levels of new spells.
Magic Resistance. All magi gain Magic Resistance 0. If the mage is rated in the Form cast on hir, ze adds that rating to hir Magic Resistance against the appropriate spell.
Fighting Style. At Level 2, the character can choose a Fighting Style from the Paladin or Ranger class.
Minor Feature. On some levels, a mage gains any one Minor Feature of hir choice from the list below. The mage may choose to take a Major feature instead by accepting a Minor flaw to compensate.
Extra Attack. Beginning at 5th level, you can attack twice, instead of once, whenever you take the Attack action on your turn.
Major Feature. Occasionally, a mage gains any one Major Feature of hir choice from the list below.
Optional Features
Extra Learning (Minor)
The character learns 1 level of magnitude in a chosen Art and one new Spell.
Extra Learning (Major)
The character gains 1 level of magnitude in 2 separate Arts and two new Spells.
Minor Virtue (Minor)
The character gains a minor virtue from the Hermetic or Supernatural categories in Ars Magica, with DM approval.
Major Virtue (Major)
The character gains a major virtue from the Hermetic or Supernatural categories in Ars Magica, with DM approval.
Parma Magica (Major)
If you have Parma Magica, increase its level by 1. If not, you gain Parma Magica 1.
Penetration (Minor)
If you have Penetration, increase its level by 1. If not, you gain Penetration 1.
Spell Mastery (Minor)
For every possible Hermetic spell, there is a corresponding Ability. This Ability can be studied in the normal ways, and is called the spell’s “mastery” ability. If a mage has a score of one or greater in a mastery ability, ze is said to have “mastered” that spell.
A mage adds hir score in the mastery ability to the casting check whenever ze casts that spell. In addition, a mage subtracts hir mastery ability from the Botch Range for any spellcasting check, to a minimum of zero. If the mage has Mastery 2 in the spell, the Botch Range for casting under stress reduces from 1 to none or from 1-3 to 1.
Finally, if the mage is proficient in wearing the armor, a mage does not suffer Disadvantage when casting a mastered spell in it.
You can take this ability more than once; each new time, you choose a different spell or increase your level of a mastery you already have.
Optional Restriction
Minor Flaw (Minor)
The character takes a minor flaw from the Hermetic or Supernatural categories in Ars Magica, with DM approval.
Major Flaw (Major)
The character takes a major flaw from the Hermetic or Supernatural categories in Ars Magica, with DM approval.
For example, we’re creating Jean de Arc, an intrepid Waterdhavian schoolgirl that hears Tyr’s voice and responds with faith and devotion. She’s human, with the following ability scores: Str 16 (+3), Dex 11 (+0), Con 13 (+1), Int 9 (-1), Wis 15 (+2), Cha 14 (+2)
She knows the Common tongue.
For her background we’ll choose Acolyte. Jean was dedicated to the temple of Tyr at a young age because her family was too poor to feed her. She gains proficiency in Insight and Religion. She also learns two more languages, Celestial and Primordial. Her background feature is Shelter of the Faithful, which gives her a place to stay at temples of Tyr.
Jean is a Lesser Mage. She learns how to use Light and Medium Armor, but she needs one hand for gestures so shields are out. She’s trained in all kinds of weapons, though, and she’s proficient in Strength and Wisdom saves. Her skills will be Arcana, Athletics, and Survival. Now for Jean’s Arts. We’re making her a Paladin-type, so she needs the Corpus Form to affect humanoid bodies. We’ll give her Creo for healing and Perdo for smiting. That means Jean is proficient in Corpus I, Creo I, and Perdo I.
Jean’s sigil will be a holy halo of light that shines around her, especially above her head, when she casts spells. It’s warm like sunlight and difficult to miss, but it doesn’t last long enough to provide lighting for a useful duration.
As a Lesser Mage, Jean gets 2 cantrips, which we’ll pick from the Cleric spell list. With her Sigil, we can’t help but pick Light as the first cantrip. We’ll also pick Thaumaturgy, as it provides useful effects for commanding respect and bolstering morale.
Finally, Jean gets 30 levels of spells in her spell book. Bind Wound (CrCo 10) heals her target enough that they don’t have to worry about aggravating an injury. Touch of the Goose Feather (PeCo 5) forces the target to let out a loud sneeze, a great distraction or alarm for many circumstances. The Wound that Weeps (PeCo 15) inflicts a Light Wound on the target, inflicting 25% of hir total Hit Points.
Jean sticks with Studded Leather armor so she doesn’t suffer Disadvantage on her spells, at least until she masters a few. She can take her pick from the Martial Weapons, though, so Jean chooses a longsword as her primary weapon.
Let’s make another Lesser Mage. This one will be Lars the Leonine, a fancy tiefling bard with a flair for the demonic. He gets the following ability scores:
Str 10 (+0), Dex 15 (+2), Con 12 (+1), Int 14 (+2), Wis 8 (-1), Cha 16 (+3)
For his race, Lars gains Darkvision 60’, Hellish Resistance to fire damage, and the Thaumaturgy cantrip. He knows the Common tongue and Infernal.
Entertainer would seem a natural choice for a bard, but let’s go with Sage. We’ll swap out one of his Languages for a Tool Proficiency. He learns Arcana and History, and the language he picks up is Draconic. For his Tool Proficiency, let’s choose Lyre. Lars travels around with a mini- harp. For his specialty, we choose Researcher: Lars worked for an old mage as a research assistant, and he often got distracted. He was so good at fabricating evidence that his master never knew the difference. That also gives Lars the feature Researcher, perfect for a troubadour. As a Lesser Mage, Lars is trained in Light Armor and Medium Armor. He’s proficient in Simple and Martial weapons, and he takes Dexterity and Intelligence for his save proficiencies. For his skills, we choose Investigation, Sleight of Hand, and Stealth.
Lars gets proficiency in three separate Arts at Magnitude I. We want Lars to deal more with senses and perceptions, so let’s choose Imaginem and Mentem. That will let him deal with the way all kinds of things are perceived and the way people think or remember. The Technique is a toss-up between Muto and Rego, but Muto Imagninem seems more useful than Rego Imaginem, so we’ll got with Muto. Lars knows Imaginem I, Mentem I, and Muto I.
Since Lars is a bardic spell caster, we’ll take a Flaw from Ars Magica for him: Necessary Condition, a major Hermetic flaw requiring a specific action to cast a spell: in his case, playing music or singing. This grants Lars either a major virtue or two minor virtues in exchange. We’ll choose Subtle Magic, a minor Hermetic virtue that exempts Lars from using gestures (or somatic components) since he’ll be busy playing the harp. Also Venus’ Blessing, another minor virtue which grants a bonus to social checks with sexually compatible characters in appropriate situations. We should rename it to Sune’s Blessing, and a +2 bonus feels more d20-ish than +3. The dashing tiefling’s Sigil will be Morning Glories. Sometimes petals blow into the air around him, sometimes it’s just the scent that lingers.
Like Jean, Lars gets 2 cantrips. He already knows Thaumaturgy because of his racial feature; we’ll pick the other two from the Bard spell list. Mage Hand seems like a must-have for our mischievous friend. Besides that, Vicious Mockery. A Charisma-based attack spell seems great. Lastly, Lars gets 30 levels of spells. Lars needs Taste of the Spices and Herbs, a Level 5 Muto Imaginem (MuIm 5) spell that makes food and drink taste however you like. Notes of a Delightful Sound also seems appropriate, a Level 10 Muto Imaginem (MuIm 10) spell that makes sounds, especially musical sounds, in a room clearer and more pleasant. The Level 4 Muto Mentem spell, Recollection of Memories Never Quite Lived (MuMe 4), changes a single detail in a memory until the sun rises or sets. That could be useful. We have 11 levels of spells left and the next Muto Mentem spell in the book is Level 30, so let’s make our own. At Level 3, a Muto Mentem spell can make a major change to a person’s emotion. That sounds perfect. We’ll increase the range to Eye contact for 1 shift and the duration to Diameter, about 2 minutes or the length of a short song, for another shift. Level 3 + 2 shifts is Level 5, which is perfect. Let’s call the spell 'Pathos' Portent;' (MuMe 5) for one person with whom the mage establishes eye contact, this spell causes a deep grief to well up for about 2 minutes. Another useful spell might remove supernatural fear from a target. Since the fear it targets isn’t natural, we won’t have to sustain the effect—it’ll just counter existing magic. It sounds like a complete change to the target’s emotions, which has a Base Level of 4. The Duration will stay Momentary, and we’ll make its Range Touch with a single shift; that raises the Level from 4 to 5. This spell is 'Scourge of Phantom Fears': it removes unnatural fear effects from a target the caster touches, whether caused by spells or supernatural auras. It has no effect on natural fear, however.
Last edited by ionathas, November 26 2023 01:51:39. Secured game article. You most log in to contribute.