Starting Spells for the Spellbinders of Thardferr
Basic Rules
Beginning PC wizards who are registered and part of the Imperial Mages' Academy
start play knowing 1d6+1 spells. Two of these spells are always read magic and
detect magic. If the character is a specialist wizard, he also gains one spell
of his specialty school. Further spells are chosen by the PC’s DM from the
Common spell list (70% chance) or the Uncommon spell list (25% chance) or the
Rare spell list (5%). Bard characters who have registered with the IMA at
character creation also gain this benefit.
Elven wizards, trained in the Academies of Edilar, begin play with 2d4 spells.
These spells must include read magic, detect magic, and additional spells must
include at least one spell of the school of Enchantment/Charm. The remainder
are chosen by the PC’s DM from the schools of Enchantment/Charm (1-40%),
Divination (41-80%), Illusion (81-90%), Alteration (91-95%) or Abjuration
(96-100%). Elven wizards in the human lands are recommended to join the IMA as
soon as possible.
Gnomish Illusionists, and others who have gone through the Gnomish Academies
begin play with 1d6+1 spells, which must include read magic, detect magic, and
half of the remaining spells must be taken from the school of Illusion. The
rest of the character's spells are chosen by the PC’s DM from the Common list
(80%) or the Uncommon list (20%). The Gnomish Illusionist Academies are
recognized by the IMA, and their pupils are assumed to be registered.
Other magic users outside of the IMA are limited to 1d3 starting spells, one of
which must be read magic. The remainder of their spells are chosen by the PC’s
DM from the Common spell list.
The DMG provides an optional rule stating "whenever the character attains a new
spell level, allow the player one new spell immediately. You can choose this
spell, let the player choose it, or select it randomly... No roll is needed to
learn this spell, unless you allow the character to choose it." In Thardferr,
this rule is not used! Not even specialist mages gain the benefit of free
spells. Only if new spells are researched can this benefit be gained.
All books are rare in Thardferr. The Imperial Mages has one of the largest
libraries and it has a little over 1000 volumes. Between 100 and 200 of these
are dedicated to spellbooks. A DM should NEVER make finding a spellbook easy.
The only routes are through other mages and old books that the Sythians missed.
First of all, murder is murder, and theft is theft.If magic is used to cause a
murder or effect a theft, the magic user will be hunted. If the murdered mage
is in the IMG the full extent of the IMI will be used to track the mage down.
