Wizardly wear?


Pathfinder First Edition General Discussion

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The iconic wizard wears the conical hat to draw down power, wears flowing robes and in many cases has a long (sometimes forked) beard to focus the channel of power (and to represent the wisdom of age).

There are many other tropes like binding the index and middle finger during tutelage, wearing kohl to protect against the spirits etc.

Going along with this, the stereotypical necromancer is draped in a black robe and bedecked in skulls and bones. So my question is, what would the other specialist wizards wear? What separates an evoker from an abjurer? One option would be to use the "Color of Magic" idea, with each specialty associated with the color of its school (using whatever spectrum of preference), but does anyone have any ideas as to what garb specialist wizards besides necromancers might wear to identify themselves in the world?

Often even a simple farmer can identify a wizard (or generally a spellcaster), but would someone a little bit more in the know be able to discern your average diviner from your average transmuter?


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Evokers often wear capes for two reasons. Firstly, the release of energy makes the cape billow impressively. Secondly, they need to make up for not having long garments in front. This is, of course, to prevent apprentices from lighting their clothes on fire by misjudging the distance.

Transmuters often have either tight clothing that merges easily, or elastic clothing to accommodate their changes in form.

Illusionists take the flowing robes to the extreme, to better conceal objects (and arrows) acquired while invisible.


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And now I'm imagining enchanters wearing sexy clothing for all those charm spells. Diviners? Probably something comfortable to wear at home?

But now it's more fun to imagine wizards dressing up in the wrong clothes. Yes, this includes plate armour.


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DragonBlood472 wrote:

(snip)

Often even a simple farmer can identify a wizard (or generally a spellcaster), but would someone a little bit more in the know be able to discern your average diviner from your average transmuter?

I'll address this separately ... it might be possible to recognise if someone's going to or has been to a school with a strong uniform tradition, perhaps. Without that, a wizard would look stereotypical only if he or she wished to. I don't know where the iconic outfit came from (although my first guess is academic garb of middle-ages Europe), but other than that why shouldn't a wizard wear whatever would be most useful in wherever he or she is? (Say, explorer outfit while walking the wilderness, fancy gown for the royal court, or mock armour for the Hellknight convention cosplay contest?)

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Qaianna wrote:
I don't know where the iconic outfit came from (although my first guess is academic garb of middle-ages Europe)

Dragon Magazine 338: Staffs of the Magi actually addresses many of the iconic images associated with wizardry. Tolkien and Arthurian influence being the biggest contributors to what we picture when we think of a wizard, but then again most fantasy game tropes stem from Tolkien anyways.


None of the wizards I have ever played worn pointed hats or robes. Those were "ceremonial" and formal garments. They usually wore regular, albeit tough, clothes for adventuring.


Qaianna wrote:

And now I'm imagining enchanters wearing sexy clothing for all those charm spells. Diviners? Probably something comfortable to wear at home?

But now it's more fun to imagine wizards dressing up in the wrong clothes. Yes, this includes plate armour.

Which is why the spellsword PrC in 3.5 was so interesting... wizard CASTING in plate armor.


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DungeonmasterCal wrote:
None of the wizards I have ever played worn pointed hats or robes. Those were "ceremonial" and formal garments. They usually wore regular, albeit tough, clothes for adventuring.

My all time favorite character wizard did wear robes... he had stumbled on robes of armor (equivalent to half plate/plate mail) early in his career, and he liked their looks.


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I would assume that diviners wear next year's hottest runway looks.

Shadow Lodge

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DragonBlood472 wrote:
One option would be to use the "Color of Magic" idea, with each specialty associated with the color of its school (using whatever spectrum of preference)

The Thassilonians were canonically fond of this idea.

In that chart, and also in this one from Xin's time, transmutation is associated with dark green, conjuration with yellow, abjuration with blue, enchantment with light green, illusion with light brown, evocation with red, and necromancy with dark brown.


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I once had a wizard who wore full imperial regalia to adventure. Of course, he was both rich and crazy.


quibblemuch wrote:
I would assume that diviners wear next year's hottest runway looks.

Only the fashion conscious ones.


Conjurers create their own clothing. Usually whatever is fashionable on the various planes and the hottest trends amongst outsiders.

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zimmerwald1915 wrote:


In that chart, and also in this one from Xin's time, transmutation is associated with dark green, conjuration with yellow, abjuration with blue, enchantment with light green, illusion with light brown, evocation with red, and necromancy with dark brown.

Thanks for the reference for the colors.


I could imagine a wizard who studied the Metal Elemental school of magic favoring plate armor. Earth elemental school wizards might don stoneplate if they can get away with it.

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Honestly, I believe the lack of armor means that each wizard can customize their own, attire. Their looks are determined by their personality, which also dictates their school of choice.

My Elven Necromancer wears a gaudy, asymmetrical entertainers's outfit mixing black and violet with gold trimmings.
My studious, "wizardly" Alchemist dresses in the cliche hat with robes and a staff.
My next Wizard, an Evoker, is going to dress in beggar's clothing and unkempt rags because he finds nonmagical attire to be unclean.


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Snowlilly wrote:
quibblemuch wrote:
I would assume that diviners wear next year's hottest runway looks.
Only the fashion conscious ones.

Right. The unfashionable ones wear looks from two, or even three seasons from now.


My wizard dresses like these guys

Galavant

Because nobody screams, "Kill the rogue first." or "Kill the swashbuckler first."

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Related, I find Sorcerers just wear whatever strips of fabric they can find.


Depends on the world that you are playing in, for example, in Dragonlance, wizards who pass the Test of High Sorcery tend to wear the color of the Order, at least on formal occassions.

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I once sent a powerful "crazy" wiz after the party. They know he was the "Crazy" wiz instanly since he was fighting them Naked (feet took out spell pouch). They where not sure if they should fight or run in Horror since he has a Chr of 4 and was 91 years old.


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Snowlilly wrote:

My wizard dresses like these guys

Galavant

Because nobody screams, "Kill the rogue first." or "Kill the swashbuckler first."

Pretty much this. Virtually all of my casty-type characters wear the adventurer's outfit and try to draw as little attention as possible to the fact they are magic users.


Mine, too.

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BigDTBone wrote:
Snowlilly wrote:

My wizard dresses like these guys

Galavant

Because nobody screams, "Kill the rogue first." or "Kill the swashbuckler first."

Pretty much this. Virtually all of my casty-type characters wear the adventurer's outfit and try to draw as little attention as possible to the fact they are magic users.

The Iconic Sorcerer and Oracle didn't get the memo XD


Snowlilly wrote:

My wizard dresses like these guys

Galavant

Because nobody screams, "Kill the rogue first." or "Kill the swashbuckler first."

Same!

Grand Lodge

I also had a player that would dress up to look like a wiz but he was a Thief (AD&D 2nd)


Terevalis Unctio of House Mysti wrote:
Depends on the world that you are playing in, for example, in Dragonlance, wizards who pass the Test of High Sorcery tend to wear the color of the Order, at least on formal occassions.

Aren't they required to wear their order's colours?

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DungeonmasterCal wrote:
None of the wizards I have ever played worn pointed hats or robes.

They should. It's a matter of practicality, and here's why:

First, the robes. When you're invisible (as tends to happen when you're a wizard), things you pick up don't immediately become invisible, and therefore give away your location. However, if you tuck the item away in your invisible clothing, the object becomes invisible. Having billowy robes gives you more leeway than pockets on what sizes/shapes of objects you can do this with.

As for the cone-shaped hat, that one's a bit more complicated. See, the most dangerous thing for a wizard is to have your magic taken away, which generally comes in the form of an anti-magic field. Wizards need a way to protect against this. So what do you do?

You get a teepee (a cone-shaped tent) and cast shrink item on it. Refresh it every couple of days. Now you have a teepee that you can wear as a hat. Should you find that you've run afoul of an AMF, the spell on the teepee-hat will end, returning it to its natural size. This means that suddenly there's a full-size, open-bottomed tent above your head. Gravity does its thing, and now you're standing in a tent.

As a result, there is no longer any line of effect from the point-of-origin of the AMF to your wizardy self, meaning you're no longer affected. You can now teleport to safety. And make a new hat.

That is why wizards wear flowing robes and pointy hats.


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Jiggy wrote:
DungeonmasterCal wrote:
None of the wizards I have ever played worn pointed hats or robes.

They should. It's a matter of practicality, and here's why:

First, the robes. When you're invisible (as tends to happen when you're a wizard), things you pick up don't immediately become invisible, and therefore give away your location. However, if you tuck the item away in your invisible clothing, the object becomes invisible. Having billowy robes gives you more leeway than pockets on what sizes/shapes of objects you can do this with.

As for the cone-shaped hat, that one's a bit more complicated. See, the most dangerous thing for a wizard is to have your magic taken away, which generally comes in the form of an anti-magic field. Wizards need a way to protect against this. So what do you do?

You get a teepee (a cone-shaped tent) and cast shrink item on it. Refresh it every couple of days. Now you have a teepee that you can wear as a hat. Should you find that you've run afoul of an AMF, the spell on the teepee-hat will end, returning it to its natural size. This means that suddenly there's a full-size, open-bottomed tent above your head. Gravity does its thing, and now you're standing in a tent.

As a result, there is no longer any line of effect from the point-of-origin of the AMF to your wizardy self, meaning you're no longer affected. You can now teleport to safety. And make a new hat.

That is why wizards wear flowing robes and pointy hats.

Damn. You beat me to it. :-\


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Jiggy wrote:
DungeonmasterCal wrote:
None of the wizards I have ever played worn pointed hats or robes.

They should. It's a matter of practicality, and here's why:

First, the robes. When you're invisible (as tends to happen when you're a wizard), things you pick up don't immediately become invisible, and therefore give away your location. However, if you tuck the item away in your invisible clothing, the object becomes invisible. Having billowy robes gives you more leeway than pockets on what sizes/shapes of objects you can do this with.

As for the cone-shaped hat, that one's a bit more complicated. See, the most dangerous thing for a wizard is to have your magic taken away, which generally comes in the form of an anti-magic field. Wizards need a way to protect against this. So what do you do?

You get a teepee (a cone-shaped tent) and cast shrink item on it. Refresh it every couple of days. Now you have a teepee that you can wear as a hat. Should you find that you've run afoul of an AMF, the spell on the teepee-hat will end, returning it to its natural size. This means that suddenly there's a full-size, open-bottomed tent above your head. Gravity does its thing, and now you're standing in a tent.

As a result, there is no longer any line of effect from the point-of-origin of the AMF to your wizardy self, meaning you're no longer affected. You can now teleport to safety. And make a new hat.

That is why wizards wear flowing robes and pointy hats.

I actually went to the rules and double checked that the teepee thing worked. That's brilliant.


Buri Reborn wrote:
Snowlilly wrote:

My wizard dresses like these guys

Galavant

Because nobody screams, "Kill the rogue first." or "Kill the swashbuckler first."

Same!

I have a hat of disguise and always appear to be wearing heavy armor.


Tiny Coffee Golem wrote:
Buri Reborn wrote:
Snowlilly wrote:

My wizard dresses like these guys

Galavant

Because nobody screams, "Kill the rogue first." or "Kill the swashbuckler first."

Same!
I have a hat of disguise and always appear to be wearing heavy armor.

My magus wears robes and tells everyone he is a wizard :P


I make wizards take concentration checks to cast if they don't have their robes and pointy hat on. Its harder for them to think if they aren't dressed properly for magic.


johnlocke90 wrote:
I make wizards take concentration checks to cast if they don't have their robes and pointy hat on. Its harder for them to think if they aren't dressed properly for magic.

Hopefully that's in jest. 'Properly' is, as this thread is showing, pretty subjective -- you're opening yourself to 'Well, of course MY wizard learned to cast in something else!'.

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My magus wears wizard robes and calls himself a wizard. Color foes surprised when he whips out a massive sword and they discover he has an 18 Strength.


Cyrad wrote:
My magus wears wizard robes and calls himself a wizard. Color foes surprised when he whips out a massive sword and they discover he has an 18 Strength.

I liked that story from The Book of Joy, too.


Qaianna wrote:
johnlocke90 wrote:
I make wizards take concentration checks to cast if they don't have their robes and pointy hat on. Its harder for them to think if they aren't dressed properly for magic.
Hopefully that's in jest. 'Properly' is, as this thread is showing, pretty subjective -- you're opening yourself to 'Well, of course MY wizard learned to cast in something else!'.

Well then their character learned how to do magic wrong and will take penalties for that.


johnlocke90 wrote:
Qaianna wrote:
johnlocke90 wrote:
I make wizards take concentration checks to cast if they don't have their robes and pointy hat on. Its harder for them to think if they aren't dressed properly for magic.
Hopefully that's in jest. 'Properly' is, as this thread is showing, pretty subjective -- you're opening yourself to 'Well, of course MY wizard learned to cast in something else!'.
Well then their character learned how to do magic wrong and will take penalties for that.

I would imagine you have fits over the concept of hellknight signifiers.


johnlocke90 wrote:
Qaianna wrote:
johnlocke90 wrote:
I make wizards take concentration checks to cast if they don't have their robes and pointy hat on. Its harder for them to think if they aren't dressed properly for magic.
Hopefully that's in jest. 'Properly' is, as this thread is showing, pretty subjective -- you're opening yourself to 'Well, of course MY wizard learned to cast in something else!'.
Well then their character learned how to do magic wrong and will take penalties for that.

That's why Sorcerers are superior. They can just do magic instictually, and thus can still wear fashionable clothes instead of frumpy robes and pointy hat.


Espy Lacopa wrote:
johnlocke90 wrote:
Qaianna wrote:
johnlocke90 wrote:
I make wizards take concentration checks to cast if they don't have their robes and pointy hat on. Its harder for them to think if they aren't dressed properly for magic.
Hopefully that's in jest. 'Properly' is, as this thread is showing, pretty subjective -- you're opening yourself to 'Well, of course MY wizard learned to cast in something else!'.
Well then their character learned how to do magic wrong and will take penalties for that.
That's why Sorcerers are superior. They can just do magic instictually, and thus can still wear fashionable clothes instead of frumpy robes and pointy hat.

Yep, sorcerers are different. Which is fitting as sorcerers are the more charismatic and sociable of the two classes.


johnlocke90 wrote:
Espy Lacopa wrote:
johnlocke90 wrote:
Qaianna wrote:
johnlocke90 wrote:
I make wizards take concentration checks to cast if they don't have their robes and pointy hat on. Its harder for them to think if they aren't dressed properly for magic.
Hopefully that's in jest. 'Properly' is, as this thread is showing, pretty subjective -- you're opening yourself to 'Well, of course MY wizard learned to cast in something else!'.
Well then their character learned how to do magic wrong and will take penalties for that.
That's why Sorcerers are superior. They can just do magic instictually, and thus can still wear fashionable clothes instead of frumpy robes and pointy hat.
Yep, sorcerers are different. Which is fitting as sorcerers are the more charismatic and sociable of the two classes.

So, what kind of outfits are your Magi, Bards, and Witches required to wear?


If you look up the "Colleges of Magic" from the old Warhammer Fantasy setting, it shows the orders and commonly worn clothing styles of the different wizards. "Bright Wizards" were your Evoker types, with a focus on Fire, that wore lots of red and orange. "Amber Wizards" wore forest green and were your more druidic wizards. "Gold Wizards" wore lots of yellow and gold and focused on the metallurgic magic. And so on. Lots of good material there.


johnlocke90 wrote:
Qaianna wrote:
johnlocke90 wrote:
I make wizards take concentration checks to cast if they don't have their robes and pointy hat on. Its harder for them to think if they aren't dressed properly for magic.
Hopefully that's in jest. 'Properly' is, as this thread is showing, pretty subjective -- you're opening yourself to 'Well, of course MY wizard learned to cast in something else!'.
Well then their character learned how to do magic wrong and will take penalties for that.

What if it's clothing that is magically glamered to not look like wizard robes, but otherwise is?


Ars Magica actually went into some length on this. While a magus (a term they used decades before Paizo) tends to inspire wariness among Churchfolk, dressing like one tends to discourage most forms of accostment. On the other hand a wizard who dresses like a common warrior may be attacked by bandits who don't realise what they're getting into.

My wizard/loremaster in LSJ dresses VERY much the wizard in Dr. Strange fashion. He tends to look down on wizards who don't consigning them to the lesser social station of "sorcerer".


Arcane magic, by virtue of being (primarily) learned, is setting-specific in what it can and cannot do. If I wanted to make a setting where a large surface of conductive material was needed, adventuring mages would rock the mithril tower shield. Another might require robes. But we shouldn't be arguing about the requirements for Arcane magic in the general case, as they are not set.


Ventnor wrote:
johnlocke90 wrote:
Qaianna wrote:
johnlocke90 wrote:
I make wizards take concentration checks to cast if they don't have their robes and pointy hat on. Its harder for them to think if they aren't dressed properly for magic.
Hopefully that's in jest. 'Properly' is, as this thread is showing, pretty subjective -- you're opening yourself to 'Well, of course MY wizard learned to cast in something else!'.
Well then their character learned how to do magic wrong and will take penalties for that.
What if it's clothing that is magically glamered to not look like wizard robes, but otherwise is?

If it's illusion spell, the wizard is okay, but if it actual transforms the clothes, then penalties.


johnlocke90 wrote:
Ventnor wrote:
johnlocke90 wrote:
Qaianna wrote:
johnlocke90 wrote:
I make wizards take concentration checks to cast if they don't have their robes and pointy hat on. Its harder for them to think if they aren't dressed properly for magic.
Hopefully that's in jest. 'Properly' is, as this thread is showing, pretty subjective -- you're opening yourself to 'Well, of course MY wizard learned to cast in something else!'.
Well then their character learned how to do magic wrong and will take penalties for that.
What if it's clothing that is magically glamered to not look like wizard robes, but otherwise is?
If it's illusion spell, the wizard is okay, but if it actual transforms the clothes, then penalties.

What about shirtless wizards?


DungeonmasterCal wrote:
None of the wizards I have ever played worn pointed hats or robes. Those were "ceremonial" and formal garments. They usually wore regular, albeit tough, clothes for adventuring.

Monks robes are popular, too.


Drahliana Moonrunner wrote:
Ars Magica actually went into some length on this. While a magus (a term they used decades before Paizo) tends to inspire wariness among Churchfolk, dressing like one tends to discourage most forms of accostment. .

The ancient Persians used for millennia before Ars Magica did.


Yeah, the whole meme of "kill the spellcaster first" doesn't work, at least for the first round anyway.

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