Defend the DCC RPG Wizard for me

[UlrichKrieghund]

If you like playing fighters, in first edition through third edition, then the Mighty Deeds of Arms makes your fighter explosive and dangerous. You're bound to enjoy the freedom and carnage you can dish out.

However, if you are an old school player who enjoys playing wizards, why would you like the DCC RPG wizard? It seems inferior, particularly with all of the nasty things that can happen to you. I've read estimates that 1 level in DCC RPG is equal to 2 levels in 1st edition D&D. Somehow I doubt that a 5th level DCC wizard with his 3rd level spells and foul corruptions could beat a 10th level AD&D wizard with his 5th level spells and almost double the amount of hit points.

And as funny as the corruption illustration is on page 117, what player would enjoy all of his wizards virtually being guaranteed to turn into freaks?

[Raven_Crowking]

If there is a cost, there is also power.

Have the prospective player actually read the spells, and read the potential Mercurial results. It is possible to have a 1st level wizard who can blot out the sun over a nation for centuries. Magic missile can do far more damage than in 1e (or 3e). Even spells which seem innocuous, such as ropework, can become encounter changers. The aid of the right patron can make any wizard a force to be feared....

The chance of corruption is dependent upon the spell level, with lower level spells being more likely to simply misfire. And neither misfire or corruption is always bad. When I ran Doom of the Savage Kings, my son was playing a wizard who had to face the Hound of Hirot, alone, for three rounds. He won initiative and attempted to cast magic shield. He rolled a "1". Then he rolled and discovered it was a misfire. He was cut off from the world, unable to affect it or be affected by it. For three rounds.

So, the answer is this: The 1st level magic-user in AD&D casts his one spell once per day. The 1st level wizard in DCC casts his spells (depending upon Intelligence and what he has learned, but a base of 4 potentials) until he loses them, and may then still spellburn to cast a lost spell again. Even when the dread "1" is rolled, the result matters.

Nor is corruption necessarily permanent. If you pick up Chaos Rising, you will find Mr. Michael Curtis' The Undulating Corruption, which includes the potential means of removing some or all corruption. My own The Falcate Idol (published by Purple Duck Games) also includes a means to remove corruption. Not only is corruption a potential cost for using arcane magic, it is also a potential hook to invest PCs in your adventure locations.

Finally, if you have one of those players who loves to play a half-dragon half-minotaur fire-born PC just because it makes the PC "stand out"....well, then, corruption will do that for you, too.

[DM Marcus]

I agree that the DCC wizard is a different animal. Comparing to D&D, it's really apples and oranges.
It has taken a while for my young group to transition from the automatic "Gatling-gun" wizard of our 4E campaign to the erratic unpredictable nature of magic in DCC. Funny thing is, the folks that played wizards before are playing someone else now. The ones who never played wizards before are suddenly intrigued by the role-play opportunities.

It's just a whole different mindset about magic all together. It is no longer a magic "clip" that you load into a gun with the same results every time. Now your weapon is a wild badger that you release from a cage, hoping it won't kill you instead.

There's nothing mundane about magic in DCC, that's for sure.

[Woodland Mutant]

I'm also a lover of this class from a pure roleplaying POV. Also reminds me of the terrible risks involved with screwing around with higher powers like patrons/gods. There's a Lovecraft / Moorecock synthesis as well as other weird fantasy influences. The higher powers are fickle bastards toward lowly mortals. And they WILL humble you.

[BanjoJohn]

Yeah, I don't think a D&D wizard can potentially fire a magic missile spell at a target 100 miles away like you can in DCC when you roll 32+

[Ravenheart87]

If you like playing fighters, in first edition through third edition, then the Mighty Deeds of Arms makes your fighter explosive and dangerous. You're bound to enjoy the freedom and carnage you can dish out.

Until you roll a fumble in heavy armor. Or someone crits you in melée, which has 5% chance per hit. Go check the demon and giant crit tables, they are hideous. Being a warrior is just as risky as being a wizard, but in a different way.

However, if you are an old school player who enjoys playing wizards, why would you like the DCC RPG wizard? It seems inferior, particularly with all of the nasty things that can happen to you.

They can, but it doesn't mean they will often. I haven't seen much spell failures and the nasty results can be avoided by burning Luck. The threat if spell failure is quite overrated.

I've read estimates that 1 level in DCC RPG is equal to 2 levels in 1st edition D&D. Somehow I doubt that a 5th level DCC wizard with his 3rd level spells and foul corruptions could beat a 10th level AD&D wizard with his 5th level spells and almost double the amount of hit points.

DCC wizard's spells can have much more powerful effects than spells in classic D&D. Just compare the spell tables of sleep or magic missile. Since spells scale, casting bonus grows with level, and there is the option for spellburn, DCC wizards can overpower even low level spells in such a way that an magic-user's Meteor Shower will seem tame. Alos: patrons.

And as funny as the corruption illustration is on page 117, what player would enjoy all of his wizards virtually being guaranteed to turn into freaks?

People who like playing freaks? Seriously, whenever I start a Warhammer campaign someone always asks if he can be a mutant or Chaos servant. As mentioned above the nasty effects can be avoided by burning a single Luck point.

[Raven_Crowking]

If you like playing fighters, in first edition through third edition, then the Mighty Deeds of Arms makes your fighter explosive and dangerous. You're bound to enjoy the freedom and carnage you can dish out.

Until you roll a fumble in heavy armor. Or someone crits you in melée, which has 5% chance per hit. Go check the demon and giant crit tables, they are hideous. Being a warrior is just as risky as being a wizard, but in a different way.

Point of fact: That giant rolls 1d24, and crits on a 20-24. That's more than 20% of the time.

[Ravenheart87]

Point of fact: That giant rolls 1d24, and crits on a 20-24. That's more than 20% of the time.

Oh yeah, I didn't even mention monsters with higher crit chance. Seriously, I would take a new tentacle over getting smashed into the ground any day.

[GnomeBoy]

...what player would enjoy all of his wizards virtually being guaranteed to turn into freaks?

We prefer the term "differently featured". ~wipes third nose with back of tentacle, noisily~

But seriously, what everyone else said pretty much covers it.

Mind you, some folks do play RPGs more like boardgames, and generally they don't want "bad things" to happen to their characters. That's fine. But part of the appeal of DCC is that it DOES THINGS to your characters, they have experiences (not just experience points), they have something to react to other than "the mission".

It's kinda cool.