Two of the classic ‘Old School‘ character classes that often get maligned these days are the Magic-User and the Thief. This is partly because the style of more modern D&D versions (primarily from 3e onwards, but more specifically the current 5e D&D rules) provide a completely different type of game and place a lot more focus on detailed micro-managing of the role-playing aspect with their feats & skills and in the case of spell casters much more generous numbers of spells at lower level (e.g. cantrips for magic-users). Here’s some thoughts on the magic-user class.

A while ago Daniel at Bandit’s Keep talked about his thoughts, so here’s his video on the subject:

I really like some of Daniel’s campaign ideas about how to make the Magic-User “more magical” in Old School D&D (i.e. OD&D, Holmes Basic, D&D B/X and BECMI, and retro-clones like OSE – probably not so critical for AD&D 1e); watch the video above if you haven’t already, but a handful of his key points are below and critically most of these apply for Magic-Users only, not Elves, in B/X and similar where magic-users are always single class humans and elves are a class of their own that are innately more powerful.

His first ideas are ways to give very low level magic-users (i.e. 1st & 2nd level) more spells, or spell options, note this does not apply to elves, only (human) magic-users – and you would not necessarily do both of the first 2 items (see his video above for full details), and there is a caveat around these two ideas (see the video):

• A variant on familiars (not normally present in B/X) – but much weaker than the type in AD&D and similar (so not capable of fighting), but which the character has from the start and has the benefit of granting the magic-user an extra spell memorisation slot while its alive and close to them, and an ability to see & hear through the familiar with certain restrictions. I like this idea as familiars add another aspect to magic-user play that’s not included by default in the original B/X and similar rules, and a long time ago we dabbled with some sort of familiars in ‘Basic’ games. Having them present also opens up other aspects of play for the character related to their pet, but tying them into increasing spell availability is a nice touch.
• A unique personal wand every magic-user has from first level – this behaves generally like a weak ring of spell storing (Cook/Marsh Pg. X49) and is recharged the same way; but is very fragile (so can be broken accidentally or deliberately), the magic-user can make a replacement if it is broken, and it holds spell ‘levels’ equal to ½ the magic-user’s level rounded up, etc. A good alternate option to the familiar above, there are a few variations on this theme and it is a simpler option than the familiar (and although this is not the ultimate purpose it also possibly presents a more useful benefit to the magic-user long-term at higher levels, e.g. once 7th Level he can store 4 ‘spell levels’ in the wand versus just having 1 extra spell memorised by the familiar).
• Allow magic-user (and possibly elf) characters to start with a couple of scrolls – do this in conjunction with the next point below (re: Read Magic) and the scrolls may have multiple spells each. I would add if I did this possibly have one of them scribed by the magic-user themselves while doing their training before going adventuring, so they are only as a 1st level caster and are determined randomly from the list of spells the magic-user knows in their spell book (see point below) although there may be as many as 3 spells on the scroll. Another scroll might be from their tutor so will be a higher level caster (e.g. 4th or 5th level) and may included a couple of spells they don’t know incl. possibly even a 2nd level one – but they will need to cast Read Magic on it to learn what they are.
• Allow magic-users (but again not elves) to have more than 1 spell in their spell book at 1st level (somewhat vaguely like in AD&D), so every magic user would have Read Magic and 1-3 other spells in their book. They could still only memorise 1 spell at 1st level – but now they have some choice on a day by day basis (and elves wouldn’t have this knowledge, making the magic-user a more useful or powerful caster when starting out).
• Lastly ensure more scrolls are found as treasure, etc, so magic-users have more recourse to these – and in conjunction with the third point (due to the Read Magic spell) this will give them more capability sooner as they find the scrolls. Remember in B/X and similar magic-users can happily cast spells from scrolls that are higher level than their current ability and a single scroll can have more than one spell on it (so a single ‘Read Magic‘ spell cast on it may make multiple spells, up to 3 on a scroll, available to the magic-user or elf).

The second set of ideas are to add extra ‘magical‘ related behaviour and things to magic-users that aren’t specifically spells but add to their ability to contribute outside of (or at least in the lead up to, or after, combat):

• A magic-user will typically have a high INTELLIGENCE score – so make use of this; such as language skills (don’t have everyone speak common) so the magic-user may be the only one who can communicate with some of the races or monsters encountered. Or due to high intelligence and arcane knowledge they may be able to use rudimentary sign-language to communicate if the language isn’t known.
• A magic-users arcane knowledge (plus presumably higher intelligence) allows them to identify or extrapolate possible meanings from runes, ancient languages, even magic items (based on their type and markings or aura, etc). I’d also add that B/X and similar do not have ‘Identify’ spell like AD&D 1e and later editions – so the party needs a way to identify magic items they find, at least the lesser or more simple ones (more powerful ones may need soliciting help from a higher level magic-user, cleric or similar – but for more straight forward items this is another way for a magic-user to be more actively involved and important at lower levels).
• Have the Magic-User research and develop extra-ordinary spells or abilities (at a cost in money, time, etc) – these would then be a ‘spell like’ special ability so they don’t use a spell slot but instead can be used periodically (e.g. once a month or once a week, etc). They may not necessary be very powerful but will provide them extra ‘magical’ things they can do.
• Daniel also presents some great ideas from a ‘player’s’ perspective on how to play a magic-user in old school D&D and how to appear and behave more magical without necessarily casting more spells.

More Making Magic-Users More Magical Thoughts

Another idea of mine is that High Intelligence Ability Adjustment gives a Magic-User in B/X additional spell slots (so the +1 = an extra 1st Level Spell can be memorised, +2 an extra 2nd Level, and and +3 a 3rd level), and these are cumulative (e.g. so 18 INT gives you all 3 bonus slots to your memorisation).

There are some more thoughts along similar lines in the Rambling Cleric’s B/X D&D House Rules post too, namely that the High Intelligence Ability Adjustment gives a Magic-User +1, +2 or +3 additional known (not memorised) 1st Level Spells (a great concept for boosting low-level Magic-Users akin to the 4th bullet point in the first list above). In addition the limit on known spells (i.e. in spell book) is also scrapped and extra spells can be learnt (written into spell book) from tomes and if lucky enough other magic-user spell books (but not scrolls).

These are all great ideas and primers – its a great video in my opinion. At some time in the future I may return and more commentary of my own on this subject, as I have a few ideas that I haven’t had time to write down here, and the video’s ideas also have me thinking of a couple of new ideas too.

More on Old School D&D Classes

• Old School D&D Thief
• Old School D&D Cleric
• Old School D&D Elf