Differentiating Mages

Maybe I should leave well enough alone?  After all, there’s really nothing wrong with the ACKS mage.  And yet, somehow it tweaks me how similar player character mages seem to one another.  Proficiencies can help differentiate mages a lot, but mages only receive three Class proficiencies over fourteen levels.  Spells, especially expanding spell lists, like the Player’s Companion does, or creating custom spells can dramatically differentiate mages.  However, player character mages tend to gravitate toward the old standbys, the magic research breakthroughs of yore, like sleep and fireball.  I’m looking for something else.

What tools do we have to work with?  At its most basic level, the classic magic system we are all familiar with consists of “spell lists”, “spells known” and “spell slots”.  ACKS adds “spell repertoire”, or ready spells.  In ACKS, spell lists, spells known and spell repertoire are one and the same for divine spell casters, which gives divine spell casters tremendous flexibility.  Additionally, most divine spell casters have access to the Apostasy proficiency, which adds four spells to the character’s spell list (as well as spells known and spell repertoire).

An ACKS mage’s spell list is limited only by the Judge – potentially a mage could find a scroll with an unknown arcane spell and make use of that scroll, for example.  A mage’s spells known is limited only by the cost of adding new spells to the mage’s spell book.  Additionally, a mage’s master will teach him or her spells equal to the number and level of spells the caster can use in a single day, up until the mage exceeds 8th level.  That’s guaranteed knowledge of at least ten spells, plus up to three additional 1st level spells.  A mage’s spell slots increase with level, eventually reaching four each of 1st through 4th level and three each of 5th and 6th level.  Only mages receive 6th level spells.  A mage’s spell repertoire is the mage’s most limited resource.  A mage’s repertoire can include a number of spells up to the number and level of spells listed for his level, increased by his Intelligence bonus.

What if mages could make different choices, trading off between spell lists, spells known, spell repertoire and spell slots? As a practical matter, player modification of spell lists outside the context of campaign is problematic, as the Judge manages the existence, availability and “flavor” of all spells in a given campaign. Similarly, player modification of spells known, spell repertoire and spell slots at the most granular level is likely to lead to “min-maxing” around key spells. What if mages could choose between a limited selection of options balancing spells known, spell repertoire and spell slots? This choice would be made at 1st level and would be final. The choices I have created are the archivist mage, the generalist mage, the specialist mage and the focused mage. Any ability not modified by the choices detailed below remains as the standard mage.

The archivist mage values spell knowledge above all else. An archivist mage automatically learns two additional spells per mage level. Additionally, an archivist mage continues to automatically learn additional spells beyond 8th level, as the archivist’s accumulated spell knowledge opens the way to new spells without the aid of a master. Finally, archivist mages are more efficient at drawing upon their collected spell knowledge, needing only 1 day of game time and 500gp for each spell level to replace a spell in the repertoire with another. An archivist mage receives the normal Intelligence bonus to spell repertoire and 1st level spells learned as a 1st level mage.

A 5th level archivist mage readies 2 1st level spells, 2 2nd level spells and 1 3rd level spell, and a 5th level archivist mage has 2 1st level spell slots, 2 2nd level spell slots and 1 3rd level spell slot available for casting. The spell book of a 5th level archivist mage has a minimum of 6 1st level spells, 6 2nd level spells and 3 3rd level spells.

Archivist Mage Spells Learned

Level	1	2	3	4	5	6
1	1+2
2	2+4
3	2+4	1+2
4	2+4	2+4
5	2+4	2+4	1+2
6	2+4	2+4	2+4
7	3+4	2+4	2+4	1+2
8	3+4	3+4	2+4	2+4
9	3+4	3+4	3+4	2+4	1+2
10	3+4	3+4	3+4	3+4	2+4
11	4+4	3+4	3+4	3+4	2+4	1+2
12	4+4	4+4	3+4	3+4	3+4	2+4
13	4+6	4+4	4+4	3+4	3+4	2+4
14	4+6	4+6	4+4	4+4	3+4	3+4

The generalist mage values spell repertoire above all else. A generalist mage gains two additional spells readied per mage level. A generalist mage receives the normal Intelligence bonus to spell repertoire and 1st level spells learned as a 1st level mage.

A 5th level generalist mage readies 6 1st level spells, 6 2nd level spells and 3 3rd level spells, and a 5th level generalist mage has 2 1st level spell slots, 2 2nd level spell slots and 1 3rd level spell slot available for casting. The spell book of a 5th level generalist mage has a minimum of 2 1st level spells, 2 2nd level spells and 1 3rd level spell.

Generalist Mage Spell Repertoire

Level	1	2	3	4	5	6
1	1+2
2	2+4
3	2+4	1+2
4	2+4	2+4
5	2+4	2+4	1+2
6	2+4	2+4	2+4
7	3+4	2+4	2+4	1+2
8	3+4	3+4	2+4	2+4
9	3+4	3+4	3+4	2+4	1+2
10	3+4	3+4	3+4	3+4	2+4
11	4+4	3+4	3+4	3+4	2+4	1+2
12	4+4	4+4	3+4	3+4	3+4	2+4
13	4+6	4+4	4+4	3+4	3+4	2+4
14	4+6	4+6	4+4	4+4	3+4	3+4

The specialist mage balances spell repertoire and spell power through specialization in one spell type. Spell types include death/necromancy, elemental, enchantment, illusion and transmogrification. A specialist mage gains one additional spell readied per spell level and one additional spell slot per spell level, both of which may only be used for spells of the specialist’s selected spell type. A specialist mage’s master will always teach the specialist a spell of the specialist’s selected spell type when a new spell level is gained. A specialist mage receives the normal Intelligence bonus to spell repertoire and 1st level spells learned as a 1st level mage.

A 5th level specialist mage readies 3 1st level spells, 3 2nd level spells and 2 3rd level spells, and a 5th level specialist mage has 3 1st level spell slots, 3 2nd level spell slots and 2 3rd level spell slots available for casting. The spell book of a 5th level specialist mage has a minimum of 2 1st level spells, 2 2nd level spells and 1 3rd level spell, with the first spell of each spell level being of the specialist’s selected spell type.

Specialist Mage Spell Repertoire and Slots

Level	1	2	3	4	5	6
1	1+1
2	2+1
3	2+1	1+1
4	2+1	2+1
5	2+1	2+1	1+1
6	2+1	2+1	2+1
7	3+1	2+1	2+1	1+1
8	3+1	3+1	2+1	2+1
9	3+1	3+1	3+1	2+1	1+1
10	3+1	3+1	3+1	3+1	2+1
11	4+1	3+1	3+1	3+1	2+1	1+1
12	4+1	4+1	3+1	3+1	3+1	2+1
13	4+1	4+1	4+1	3+1	3+1	2+1
14	4+1	4+1	4+1	4+1	3+1	3+1

The focused mage values spell power above all else. A focused mage gains one additional spell slot per mage level. A focused mage does not receive the normal Intelligence bonus to spell repertoire and 1st level spells learned as a 1st level mage. Instead, a focused mage receives one additional spell slot per point of Intelligence above 12, of 1st through 6th level, as follows.

Intelligence	Spell Slot
13	1st level
14	2nd level
15	3rd level
16	4th level
17	5th level
18	6th level

A 5th level focused mage readies 2 1st level spells, 2 2nd level spells and 1 3rd level spell, and a 5th level focused mage has 4 1st level spell slots, 4 2nd level spell slots and 2 3rd level spell slots available for casting. The spell book of a 5th level focused mage has a minimum of 2 1st level spells, 2 2nd level spells and 1 3rd level spell.

Focused Mage Spell Slots

Level	1	2	3	4	5	6
1	1+1
2	2+2
3	2+2	1+1
4	2+2	2+2
5	2+2	2+2	1+1
6	2+2	2+2	2+2
7	3+2	2+2	2+2	1+1
8	3+2	3+2	2+2	2+2
9	3+2	3+2	3+2	2+2	1+1
10	3+2	3+2	3+2	3+2	2+2
11	4+2	3+2	3+2	3+2	2+2	1+1
12	4+2	4+2	3+2	3+2	3+2	2+2
13	4+3	4+2	4+2	3+2	3+2	2+2
14	4+3	4+3	4+2	4+2	3+2	3+2

Following is a comparison of each of these options for a 5th level mage and for a 5th level mage with an Intelligence of 18.

5th level Mage	Spell Repertoire	Spell Slots	Spell Book Minimum
Archivist	2/2/1	2/2/1	6/6/3
Generalist	6/6/3	2/2/1	2/2/1
Specialist	3/3/2	3/3/2	2/2/1
Focused	2/2/1	4/4/2	2/2/1

5th level Mage with INT 18	Spell Repertoire	Spell Slots	Spell Book Minimum
Archivist	5/5/4	2/2/1	9/6/3
Generalist	9/9/6	2/2/1	5/2/1
Specialist	6/6/5	3/3/2	5/2/1
Focused	2/2/1	5/5/3	2/2/1

When retrofitting these options to existing campaign NPC mages, the archivist mage is the closest to the mage in the core rulebook, as far as elements likely to enter play. I am currently trying these options for human mages only.