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Magic User in action

The adventurer’s handbook

Magic User

Scholar of battlefield magic

The Magic User has spent years learning words that sensible people refuse to pronounce. The result is a frail scholar capable of making a crowded room much less crowded, provided nobody interrupts the sentence. Treat the spellbook with respect. Treat its owner with care. Both are expensive to replace, and only one can be dried out beside the fire without complaints.

Playing a Magic User

Key ability
Intelligence
Hit points
1d4 per level, adjusted by Constitution; at least 1 HP gained.
Equipment
No armor or shields. Keep your hands and position suited to casting, and carry an ordinary weapon for emergencies.

Remain out of melee and choose spells for the room ahead. Control a group before it reaches you. Fireball and Web can catch companions, so an empty line of fire is not the same as a safe target area.

Level progression

Keep the abilities of earlier levels as you gain new ones. XP is experience; the figures below are cumulative thresholds from the beginning of an adventurer’s career.

  1. Level 1

    0 XP

    One first-level copy. Spellbook and Arcane Bolt.

  2. Level 2

    2,500 XP

    Two first-level copies. Arcane Recovery.

  3. Level 3

    5,000 XP

    Two first-level and one second-level copy. Learn one chosen core second-level spell free.

  4. Level 4

    10,000 XP

    Two first-level and two second-level copies. Reprepare.

  5. Level 5

    20,000 XP

    Two first-level, two second-level, and one third-level copy. Learn one chosen core third-level spell free.

  6. Level 6

    40,000 XP

    Two copies of each of the first three spell levels. Recovery budget becomes two spell levels. Magic Missile produces three missiles.

Abilities and their limits

Spellbook, discovery, and preparation

Begin knowing Magic Missile, Sleep, and Shield. Recover formulas to expand your spellbook; Light is learned this way. Teaching in town costs 50 gold per spell level. When a new spell tier opens, choose one core spell of that tier to learn free. A discovered formula, a learned spell, and a prepared copy are different things: learning never grants another cast. Prepare matching copies before departure. Each casting spends one copy; damage before casting can disrupt the spell and still spend it.

Arcane Bolt

Spend your action to attack one visible enemy within three areas. Use your class attack score with Intelligence in place of Dexterity. A hit deals 1d4 plus your Intelligence modifier, minimum 1 damage. It consumes no prepared copy. You cannot use it while engaged in melee, and magical defenses apply.

Arcane Recovery · level 2

Once per crawl, between cleared rooms, restore one spent first-level spell copy. At level 6, restore either two first-level copies or one second-level copy in that single recovery session. Recovery restores the spells already spent; it does not choose new spells.

Reprepare · level 4

Once per crawl, between cleared rooms, exchange one unspent prepared copy for another known spell of the same spell level. This does not restore a spent copy.

First-level spells

Magic Missile strikes without a normal attack roll for 1d6+1 damage per missile: one missile at levels 1–5, three at level 6. Sleep affects susceptible enemies in a chosen area within 240 feet, weakest first, with a 2d8 Hit Dice budget and no save. Creatures above 4+1 Hit Dice are unaffected; a 4+1 Hit Dice creature is targeted alone. Damage wakes sleepers. Shield gives its caster base AC 4 against melee and AC 2 against missiles for 20 minutes, keeping any better existing defense. Light blinds a sighted enemy within 120 feet if it fails a spell save; a blinded enemy cannot attack. Creature defenses and each spell’s targeting rules still apply.

Web · second-level spell

Fill one area within two areas with webs for three rounds. Caught creatures save against paralysis or become immobilized, and can spend an action attempting escape. Allies can be caught too.

Mirror Image · second-level spell

Create two decoys for three rounds. A targeted weapon attack randomly selects you or a remaining image. An image absorbs the attack and disappears. Area effects bypass the images.

Fireball · third-level spell

Strike every creature in one area within three areas for 1d6 fire damage per caster level, to a maximum of 6d6. A spell save halves damage. Allies in the area are also struck.

Dispel Magic · third-level spell

Choose one dispellable ongoing effect within three areas. Magic from an equal or lower-level caster ends automatically. Against stronger magic, success becomes less likely as the difference in caster levels grows.

Combat reference

An action is your main choice on a turn. A reaction answers a particular event. An encounter is one battle; a crawl includes all its rooms. Encounter resources return for a new battle, not by reloading a page or returning to the same fight.

AC measures armor defense; lower is better. THAC0 is the attack score needed to hit AC 0 before modifiers; lower is better. Saving throws resist hazards. The table shows the required unmodified saving-throw scores; lower is better. Class abilities and equipment can improve them.

Magic User attack and saving-throw progression
LevelTHAC0Death / poisonWandsParalysis / stoneBreathSpells
1191314131615
2191314131615
3191314131615
4191314131615
5191314131615
6171112111412