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Whilst drawing up a spellcaster NPC, I got to wondering how many spells the wizard should have. (Talking specifically about wizards here.)
Here's what I came up with:
Cantrips: ALL (except prohibited schools).
Aside from that, the Highest Level of known spells is set at Int Mod.
The next highest at d4
And if the spell levels continue - develop the number known as follows:
d6 - d8 - d10 - 2d6 - 2d8 - 2d10 - 2d12
Thoughts?
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Depends on the NPC spellcaster. I would say they should have no more spells then they need for the encounter.
If a spellbook isn't loot, because the Wizard left it back in his lair, then you're wasting your time figuring that out.
If the spellbook is loot you'll need to figure some things out.
So if he's level 10, then his spellbook has a minimum of 21 non-cantrip spells (before the INT bonus spells.) I give 1/4 spell bonus to the lowest levels. So 20/4 = 5 extra spells. So the spellbook has 26 spells plus whatever he might have gotten as bonus at level 1 creation.
So ignoring bonus spells for now the default spellbook would probably be..
Lvl | # of spells
01 | 5
02 | 4
03 | 4
04 | 4
05 | 4
So he gets 5 bonus spells (from my 1/4 bonus)..
Lvl | # of spells
01 | 7
02 | 5
03 | 5
04 | 5
05 | 4
But that's only if the spellbook is going to be loot, if he's not an adventuring wizard and can teleport, he might not carry the spellbook around with him.
In any case, a Wizard's spell book always has twice his level + 1 as a minimum amount of spells if it's his only spellbook.
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If the spellbook is loot you'll need to figure some things out.
If the spoolbook is loot shouldn't you just use the NPC guidelines on page 136 for gear? Perhaps give him some defensive items and the spellbook would be considered his offensive capability? Alternately I guess you could give out offensive wands/ staves as the offensive spending.
Your 10th level caster with 21 spells has a spellbook with 72 pages worth 7200GP, I don't know if you would value that at face value or at what the PCs could sell it for.
Of course that section doesn't talk about spellbooks as part of gear, it only talks about staves and wands so maybe spellbooks are separate. I would just be careful adding lots of spellbooks to the game, that's a lot of portable wealth.
An easy method is to just double the known spells by giving the NPC wizard the Collegiate Wizard feat from Complete Arcane.
As professional spellcasters it is reasonable that much of a NPC Wizard's Suggested Wealth by Level would be additional known spells utility spells particularly low level first (generally 25 gp market) and second (generally 150 gp market) that NPCs would actually occasionally wish cast on their behalf.
I would say this depends highly on the personality of the NPC wizard. If he is scholarly, he should have more spells. If he spends more spare time in a tavern than a library, he would not be inclined to have as many spells in his spellbook.
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Maybe some "spell packs" would be a good idea for quick wizard NPCs: Something as 6-7 different concepts with 2-3 spells per level would be more than enough for a "1-encounter" wizard. If you want a full-fleshed out one, then you'd add the missing spells.
Blaster
This wizards just likes to blow things out. He might be an elementalist, a war mage or just a generalist wizard who happens to be prepared for battling today.
1 - Flaming hands, Mage armor, Magic missile.
2 - Acid arrow, Flaming sphere, Web.
3 - Dispel magic, Lightning bolt, Fireball
...
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Maybe some "spell packs" would be a good idea for quick wizard NPCs: Something as 6-7 different concepts with 2-3 spells per level would be more than enough for a "1-encounter" wizard. If you want a full-fleshed out one, then you'd add the missing spells.
Blaster
This wizards just likes to blow things out. He might be an elementalist, a war mage or just a generalist wizard who happens to be prepared for battling today.
1 - Flaming hands, Mage armor, Magic missile.
2 - Acid arrow, Flaming sphere, Web.
3 - Dispel magic, Lightning bolt, Fireball
...
You know - this is a grand idea. I am definitely in support of something like this. In fact, I'd expand it to recommend spell packs for all spellcasters. Obviously, some classes should have more than 1 spell pack available.
You know - this is a grand idea. I am definitely in support of something like this. In fact, I'd expand it to recommend spell packs for all spellcasters. Obviously, some classes should have more than 1 spell pack available.
I will back this idea too. Creating spell packs around roles (blaster, controller) would allow for some quick NPC reation. Indidividual spells can be switched out by the DM as needed.
Here are a few roles I can think of:
Crowd control
Ranged attack (blaster)
close attack
Deception
Movement
Protection (individual protection spells)
Defense (area protection/barrier spells)
Utility
Maybe some "spell packs" would be a good idea for quick wizard NPCs: Something as 6-7 different concepts with 2-3 spells per level would be more than enough for a "1-encounter" wizard. If you want a full-fleshed out one, then you'd add the missing spells.
I think this is a great idea except it would quickly become predictable unless you make a LOT of spell packs. Why not just premade NPCs? There are a ton of them out there, while there aren't a lot of them out there for PfRPG you could certainly skim them for spell lists.
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One could use a completely random generation mechanic for "on-the-fly":
Step one: Start with Saurstalk's or SirUrza's suggestions. So, either random number of spells per level, or determine using a formula.
Step two: If encountered, give the NPC a certain chance to know a spell and a seperate chance to have it prepared. Then you just randomly generate on the fly, write it down as you go, and finish up when you give the spellbook out as treasure. 50/50 is an easy way to go in either case. I had some formulae worked out that "made sense", but the numbers just came out to roughly 50/50 anyway.
I hope this makes sense. Oi.
Typically a wizard will only have 2 spells of the highest slot in his spellbook If he is just at the level where that spell level became available. If he's +1 that level then he'll probably have 4.
Wizards get 2 spells a level and have a spell level for 2 character levels before the next becomes available. That means typically 4 spells per level (and 2 or 4 for the highest, depending on actual character level) plus int mod for 1st level spells.
They get this *for free*. After that, if you wanted to do it strictly bookly, you'd have to spend their NPC wealth on extra scrolls.
What I would suggest is that you come up with 4 basic spell caster templates.
blaster
scholar
adventurer
enchanter
Give 1/2 of each spell level to that template.
Give the other 1/2 to "basic spells" that every caster probably has.
(everyone probaly takes dispel magic, for example, and mage armor.. etc).
Give each caster 1-3 spells of each level extra (only 1 for the highest level) but don't fill those in. Instead, use those for "on the fly" spells.
Wizards are more intelligent than We are. Even the DM's. Give yourself some fly-room with their spells. (keep some blank on spells per day, as well). This lets you "play the caster" a little bit without being the genius they are.
It's alot of work to get the lists down but once you have the tmeplate you are golden. Easy to make a caster on the fly, then.
(you can do the same for clerics spells memorized, and druids.. and sorcs. and nearly everyone actually- though with SOrc admittedly it'd have to be some spells known you kept free instead of just spell slots).
Alot of work initially but overall it'll save you alot of time and grief.
As to it being "predictable":
Never let the PC's see the 5 (or however many) lists you make.
And if you want to keep the spellbooks truly unique: when PC"s acquire them, remove 10% of the "common" spells (remove them at random). This will make each book unique without really compromising anything. Just make sure the 10% aren't spells the casters actually used :)
Finally:
This may seem like "cheating" to some. Just remember: You aren't as smart as your NPC is supposed to be. You have under 1 hour to prepare each NPC. The NPC has had a lifetime to know what they are doing. While I do NOT advocate ad-hoc screwing PC's over "Oh look, that sorc had a 1st level wizards spell that does 50 damage", I Do advocate you using the mechanics of the game to make NPC's interesting.
"oh shoot, i forgot to give him dispel magic. *erase* *write*".
As a DM its your job to keep the game interesting. Writing up NPC spell casters in this manner can help you to do that.
Hope that made some sense.
-S
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I choose a few spells, and then leave about 1 slot open / level, which I then fill in as needed with something that I wish I'd thought of earlier... Yeah, I cheat.
Sometimes a caster specifically has junk spells memorized, as a result of the story, say a city mage who is working on item crafting or doing some surveillance work / spellcasting-for-hire when the party breaks down the door. (He just finished another battle and has few left, and has 'blown his wad' by the time the party gets there, is another option.) In those cases, I tone down the CR for exp purposes, since the party isn't really fighting an X level Wizard, they are fighting an 8th-level-Expert-with-a-Wand.
Maybe some "spell packs" would be a good idea for quick wizard NPCs: Something as 6-7 different concepts with 2-3 spells per level would be more than enough for a "1-encounter" wizard. If you want a full-fleshed out one, then you'd add the missing spells.
Blaster
This wizards just likes to blow things out. He might be an elementalist, a war mage or just a generalist wizard who happens to be prepared for battling today.
1 - Flaming hands, Mage armor, Magic missile.
2 - Acid arrow, Flaming sphere, Web.
3 - Dispel magic, Lightning bolt, Fireball
...
sure is 4th edition in here
sure is 4th edition in here
You drag up a thread that's been dead for a month for an insulting/ condescending remark.... nice
4th edition would be limited to those things.
We're merely discussing a template to allow DM's to be abit faster when making them.
Even the "template" isn't really, it's just a list of preferred spells, given in lists typed by what you want the wizard to do.
-S
sure is 4th edition in hereYou drag up a thread that's been dead for a month for an insulting/ condescending remark.... nice
For shame.