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Both "Wizard" and "Wisdom" both derive from the same word, "wise." And yet, in no iteration of D&D have wizards been required to actually be wise, despite having that word in the name of their class.
I dunno, it's weird, isn't it?
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Yeah, but a wiseguy isn't considered wise either.
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"I've never met a magic-user who knew when not to cast glitterdust," Waglinde
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I don't know, why don't paladins guard the king of the Franks? Just because a word once meant something it doesn't mean it means the same thing anymore.
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I think it's good they are not. The combination of high Int and (at best) mediocre Wis is an interesting one, because:
1) It's a great model of RL nerds. If you play this game, chances are that you are actually a nerd, so being a wizard allows you to somewhat play yourself. For example with mediocre Wis you don't have to pay too much attention to the environment presented by the GM - your PC doesn't care, you probably don't care either. You both are focused on very specific things, which adds quite a bit to the campaign.
2) A mentally superior buddy is taxing on the long run. Sure, you can learn some stuff from them, and they might save the day for you. But after a while you get sick of always being inferior. That applies to both RL and playing, in my opinion. Now the party wizard might be a big box of knowledge, but if they can't figure out people, you always have something to retreat to. As soon as they start to play the smarta**, you can remember them of the story where they missed the signs of the interested barmaid...
3) It leaves room for high Wis PCs. Ideally an encounter offers something for all involved PCs, this is easier if the wizard 'only' covers knowledge, analysis and complex planning.
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I don't know, why don't paladins guard the king of the Franks? Just because a word once meant something it doesn't mean it means the same thing anymore.
Heck, most of them aren't even from the Palatine Hill in Rome! This game is ruined for me! RUINED! Hrrrrggghhh!
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Wise => wizard is a mistaken folk etymology.
The word wizard correctly derives from OE "weosian", meaning "to dry up, shrivel", related to German "verwesen" (to decay, to rot) and Modern English "wizened." It refers to the fact that wizards dump Strength, can't do a push-up to save their lives, and, no matter what the Age line on the character sheet says, appear as shriveled and spotted as year-old-potatoes.
#TheMoreYouKnow
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Well, a wizard can be wise. They can also be strong or tough or charismatic. But being wise isn't necessary to [insert boring mechanics reason here].
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But being wise isn't necessary to [insert boring mechanics reason here].
...to have an adequate Will save when it's the only good save your class gives you?
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I have much more of a problem with the magus being int-based sword-swinging brutal warriors.
I mean, you know, "We three kings of orient are, bearing gifts and kicking your-" uh, "-face!" may be really cool, but it's also really dissonant.
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Well, to be fair, once the magus gets mirror image it's only 1 *real* king of orient. The other two guys are mirrors.
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Actually, the Magi kings were likely wizards or arcanists... or who knows, oracles of something favoring divination... still no wisdom in there,
Then again, wizard means 'knowledgeable one', not 'wise' in the d&d/PF meaning
Wizard is often played as so busy casting spells because they can that they never bother to consider if they should. Not a very wise way to be.
For that matter, if you somehow had high Wisdom on a Wizard (race gives a bonus and/or you got it from good rolls), how would you best leverage this (other than the obvious side effect of having a better Will Save and the obvious measures of picking more Wisdom-based skills)? Best I can come up with if it is really good is to go Mystic Theurge, assuming that you can get the Equipment Trick (Sunrod) to fly (theoretically should, but sounds weird enough that it might get banned), or alternatively use Faith Magic (definitely legal Rules As Written, but needs 7 Wizard levels first for this purpose) and then be a Wizard-focused Mystic Theurge.
Unfortunately Arcanist doesn't have an alternate specialization or archetype that lets you use Wisdom instead of Charisma for those Arcane Exploits that use Charisma. (Psychic, in contrast, does have both Charisma-dependent and Wisdom-dependent Disciplines. Wizard, on the other hand, has neither.)
The absent minded professor was more the model I imagine.
Wisdom is also often used as a measure of Sanity in Pathfinder, and 'Mad Wizard' is a very common trope.
Wise people do not build deep dungeons with no bathrooms but with multiple deathtraps.
Wise people do not consider it a good idea to breed owls and bears, and then take the time and effort to make it possible.
Leave that wisdom stuff to the god botherers, wizards are more likely to operate on the 'hold my beer' principle.
Because gygax modeled it on tropes as presented by vance., et. Al. Thieves read scrolls because of eyes of the overlord.
Add equal mixtures of the Grey mouser, where fafhard & co beat wizards through cunning...
And you have dnd of today..
@ perfect Tommy: When does Cugel read a magic scroll already? I have trouble concentrating and don't feel like reading EotOW from cover to cover again at the moment.
The Gray Mouse, IIRC, read, and even misread, magic scrolls...