NATURE OF THE MAGICIANS

The Magician combines the qualities of a wizard with the qualities of a rogue. A magician is more than just a spellcaster, and he is more than a mere thief or bard that can do parlor tricks.

The Magician relies on sleight of hand and illusion for his survival. Examples of a magician run the gamut of history, from the ancient Egyptian magicians of Pharaoh (Exodus 7:11-12) to modern ones like Houdini and David Copperfield. Magicians can make an object "disappear" by sleight of hand or trick, but could also rely on magical powers to perform the same trick.

REQUIREMENTS AND RESTRICTIONS

The Magician's edge is his dexterity and intelligence, for performing the deft movements of the hand and of mechanical "false bottomed" boxes, mirrors, and so forth, as well as the smarts required to fool his opponents into believing what he wants them to believe.

ATTRIBUTE PREREQUISITES. A minimum Dexterity, Intelligence, and Wisdom of 12 are required for a character to be a Magician.

RACIAL LIMITATIONS. Humans, Elves, Half - Elves, and Gnomes may be Magicians. Elves have a maximum of 10th level in this class, Half - Elves can rise up to 12th level, and Gnomes can attain 14th level.

EQUIPMENT LIMITS. Magicians can use any weapon allowed to thieves, but are forbidden armor better than leather, and cannot cast spells while in armor at all. They may use any magical item except for weapons, armor, and rods, staves, and wands without restriction. Magical weapons not usable by thieves are forbidden, as is any armor of a class better than 2. Rods, staves, and wands may be used but with the penalty as incurred by Dwarves using magical items outside their class (20% of device malfunction whenever it is used or activated), but cursed items cannot be gotten rid of like Dwarves can.

SPELLCASTING SCHOOLS. Magicians can learn and cast any spell from the school of Illusion/Phantasm as a wizard of equal level. He can also learn and cast spells from the Alteration and Enchantment/Charm schools as a wizard of two levels lower; a Magician must be at least 3rd level before he can cast spells of these schools. The only exception to these rules are the Alteration Polymorph spells *Polymorph Other*, *Polymorph Self*, and *Polymorph Any Object*, which can be cast at normal level.

CANTRIPS. A Magician gains extra memorization slots for cantrips equal to his experience level. These extra slots can be used only for cantrips, and do not count towards his usual allotment of spell progression slots.

THIEF SKILLS. Magicians acquire a few thief skills as well as spellcasting abilities. They have the following: Pick Pockets (or Sleight of Hand), Open Locks, Find / Remove Traps (to undo complex puzzles like the "three rings" trick), and Escape Bonds (as found in the Player's Option: Skills & Powers book on pp. 52 - 54). They get the normal base of each skills as a thief does, but receives 20 points at Ist level to distribute and 10 points for each additional level.

For those who do not have the Player's Option book mentioned above, here is a brief description of this particular skill, as quoted from its source.

"Escape Bonds: There comes a time in every thief's career when his luck runs out and... he is apprehended. The ability to escape bonds such as ropes, leather thongs, manacles, chains and even straight jackets is a feat of contortion and determination. The thief must roll to break every device binding him. If he's tied at the wrists and at the ankles, then he must make two successful rolls to free himself. This skill takes five rounds to use. A thief might hurry his efforts, but he suffers a -5% penalty for each round he tries to shave. Locked items also require the thief to successfully pick the locks. A failure on any attempt means that the thief cannot loose that bond or pick the lock." (Player's Handbook: Skills and Powers, pp. 52)
The Escape Bonds skill has a base chance of 10%. Half - ogres add 5% to their Escape Bonds, and Halflings add 10% to their scores. For every point of DEX below 12, subtract 5% from Escape Bonds; for every point of DEX above 16, add 5%.

MISCELLANEOUS

Here are the standard statistics for the class:

HIT DICE SIZE: 1d5 (1d6, reroll 6's, or 1d10 / 2 and round up fractions), gaining +1 hp every level above 9th.

THAC0 PROGRESSION: As Rogue.

SAVING THROWS: As Wizard.

PROFICIENCY SLOTS: as Rogue.

PROFICIENCY GROUP ACCESS: Wizard, Rogue, General.

EXPERIENCE LEVEL PROGRESSION:

LEVEL	XP NEEDED	HD
1st -	0 -	1d5
2nd -	5,000 -	2d5
3rd -	10,000 -	3d5
4th -	25,000 -	4d5
5th -	50,000 -	5d5
6th -	75,000 -	6d5
7th -	100,000 -	7d5
8th -	200,000 -	8d5
9th -	350,000 -	9d5
10th -	750,000 -	9d5+1
11th -	1,150,000 -	9d5+2
12th -	1,550,000 -	9d5+3
13th -	1,950,000 -	9d5+4
14th -	2,450,000 -	9d5+5
15th -	2,850,000 -	9d5+6
16th -	3,250,000 -	9d5+7
17th -	3,650,000 -	9d5+8
18th -	4,050,000 -	9d5+9
19th -	4,450,000 -	9d5+10
20th -	4,850,000 -	9d5+11
21st -	5,250,000 -	9d5+12

* 400,000 per level above 9th.