Basic Fantasy RPG Forums

The rate that classes receive their attack bonus is on page 47. Fighters' attack bonus progresses roughly double the rate of magic-users.

Thanks. That helps a lot.

I've read through all of this thread now, and my take on it is this. If you think of the MU in terms of Gandolf, or Merlin, you have to think that you never really saw them use magic much. Gandolf actually carried and used a sword. Merlin had his staff, but didn't fight.

My solution is to give the MU a nice staff to go with those Wizard robes. The staff can be used to fight in a tight spot, but it can be charged with spells as well. And he don't have to be the one to put the spells in there. His mentor can put some higher level spells that might be needed in it. On top of the staff is a crystal. Add the light cantrip, have the player cast light on the crystal, and you have a torch. In Excalibur, Merlin used the tip of his staff as a torch when he pushed the knights into a circle at Stonehenge.

If you want something more, give him a wand or two, which does something specific. Another creative thing to do would be to put jewels in a sword, and make them able to take a spell, making the sword itself a kind of a wand. Scale it down and put it on a dagger, and you get the same effect. It makes that dagger more important to the MU, in that it contains some magic he will want to use before throwing it in battle. It also makes the dagger a target for thieves.

There are ways to arm a MU for battle, while preserving his one spell at level one for when it is most needed.

I have a MU in a normal (translation:hard) campaign where his only combat spell is animate object. Not sleep or magic missile, but a gimped levitation. It's very hard for her to provide value because most combats she stays out of the thick of it. Once she even threw rocks.

What she ended up doing was unexpected but became very useful. In combat, she is the utility person (fetch the dropped now, save the drowning dwarf, etc). She is the party mapper. She is the pack mule. Next she gets back to town, she is going to buy a crossbow to become party reloader.

Sure, it's not as impressive as flinging fireballs every minute, but
definitely a fun challenge. Gandalf's career probably started much the same -- hanging out with elves, wishing he was as powerful as them, and fetching their jewelry when they asked.

Probably most unlikely as gandalf is a maiar. Basically a angle.

Gandalf's career started with him singing backup in the music of creation.

So you're saying that he wasn't a fan of Ring of Fire?