What’s the deal with all these wizards? There sure are a lot of ensorcellating types on the Isle, 43 in all. There are 15 clerics and 28 wizards written up, with levels ranging from 2-11. Only a few are above Name level and most are in the 4-8 HD range.
There are two things I really like about these NPCs. The first is their non-standard powers. Pretty much all these dudes have at least one ability your players wont have encountered before. Another thing is the vaguely zodiacal connotations of the illustrated (beautifully I might add) NPCs. There seems to be a wizard for each sign of the zodiac, which implies some kind of mystical association or cabal.
What draws them all to the Isle? The sheer number of magical states on the Isle point to a sorcerous precursor culture, which many wizards would want to study. Or perhaps they’re drawn there by some mystical property of the Island itself. Of course, the weird monsters might also be there for the same reason. I’m trying to avoid the standard “A Wizard did it” explanation for all these randomly-esoterically-generated lifeforms, but a sorcerous Isle of Dr. Unknown is an admittedly attractive idea. I also thought about some kind of mystical Dharma Initiative, but implying that they’re all there for the same reason seems like a missed opportunity. The motives for these wizards should be as varied as they are inscrutable. Plus, wizards are pretty much guaranteed to have rockstar egos, so you know a lot of these dudes don't get along very well. Don't even get me started on the kind of arguments the Fire Wizard from hex 1807 and the Ice Wizard from Hex 0807 get into.
Another random idea: If the Isle exists in some analog of the real world, perhaps the wizards have been driven there by outside forces. A formal crusade against arcane magic could have been a backroom deal at the Council of Vienne.
No comments:
Post a Comment