Basic D&D: The WIzard from Level 1 to 20, plus the Wizard vs. the Fighter at Level 20

Wizards in D&D Basic are Evokers, one of multiple schools of magic, the rest of which will be in the full game. The evoker is a damage dealer, so it’s a good way to see how the spell combat versatility of the wizard stacks up to the cleaving might of the champion fighter.

The Beginning: I offer up Tarvena Ozandras, a human (for ease of comparison) wizard at level 1. Like Davin the fighter I’m making Tarvena using the point-buy method, but I’m going to play her to wizard strength’s exclusively, which means great INT and WIS.

Tarvena Ozandras

Race:     Human female Class:    Wizard           Level :   1

Alignment:         chaotic good    Background:       Sage (discredited academic)

STR 11 (+0); DEX 12 (+1); CON 10 (0); INT 16 (+3); WIS 16 (+3); CHA 12 (+1)

HD D6; HPs 6; Saves INT, WIS; Proficiency +2; AC 11   

Languages: Middle Tongue (common), Elvish

Skills: Arcana, History, Religion, Investigation

Tool Proficiencies: none

Wizard Traits:                                  

Spellcasting (ritual casting, Save DC 13; Spell Attack Modifier +5)

Spell Slots: 1^st level: 3

Arcane Recovery (regain 1 spell slot = to ½ level rounded up once between rests)

Three Cantrips: light, mage hand, shocking grasp

1^st Level Spells (2 slots):  burning hands, charm person, comprehend languages, detect magic, shield, sleep

Sage Feature: Researcher           

Armor:  a comfy cloak

Melee Weapons: Quarterstaff (+2 attack; 1D6 bludgeoning; versatile 1D8)

Equipment: one component pouch, scholar’s pack, spellbook, black ink, quill,
 small knife, letter from a dead colleague, clothes, belt pouch, 10 GP

Trinket: a set of bone pipes

Personality Trait: Convinced people are always trying to steal my secrets

Ideal: No Limits

Bond: Sold soul for knowledge, seek to regain it through great deeds

Flaw: unlocking an ancient mystery is worth the price of a civilization

Tarvena at level 1

Tarvena Ozandras is ready for adventuring now. After many years of exciting debacles, turmoil and trouble she reaches level 20. While she likely would have acquired a variety of magic items, since we’re still lacking detailed rules for them her new assessment will stand on its own, with learned class magic only. Here then is Tarvena at level 20:

Tarvena Ozandras

Race:     Human female Class:    Wizard        Level :   1

Alignment:         chaotic good     Background:       Sage (discredited academic)

STR 11 (+0); DEX 14 (+2); CON 10 (0); INT 20 (+5/+11 saves); WIS 20 (+5/+11 saves); CHA 12 (+1)

HD 20D6; HPs 74; Saves INT, WIS; Proficiency +6; AC 12   

Languages: Middle Tongue (common), Elvish

Skills: Arcana, History, Religion, Investigation

Tool Proficiencies: none

Wizard Traits:                                  

Spellcasting (ritual casting, Save DC 19; Spell Attack Modifier +11)

Arcane Recovery (regain 1 spell slot = to ½ level rounded up once between rests)

Spell Mastery (declare one 1^st and one 2^nd level spell to be at-will after 8 hours of study)

Arcane Tradition – Evocation:

Evocation Spell (cost in gold and time for evocation spell transcription is ½)

Sculpt Spells (allow 1+spell level targets in spell effect to make saves/take no damage)

Potent Cantrip (cantrip attacks that miss still deal ½ damage)

Empowered Evocation (add INT mod (+5) to evocation spell damage)

Overchannel (deal max damage with spell of 5^th level or less; if done a 2^nd time take 2D12 necrotic damage for each level of spell if you cast it a 2^nd and this goes up 1D12 per level for 3^rd time, etc.)

Five Cantrips: light, mage hand, shocking grasp, prestidigitation, fire bolt

1^st Level Spells (4 slots):  burning hands, charm person, comprehend languages, detect magic, shield, sleep, magic armor, magic missile

2^nd Level Spells (3 slots):  blur, hold person, invisibility, magic weapon, spider climb, suggestion

3^rd Level Spells (3 slots): fireball, dispel magic, haste, fly, major image

4^th Level Spells (3 slots): arcane eye, dimension door, greater invisibility, stoneskin

5^th Level Spells (3 slots): dominate person, dream, cone of cold, passwall

6^th Level Spells (2 slots): disintegrate, globe of invulnerability, mass suggestion, true seeing

7^th Level Spells (2 slots): delayed blast fireball, finger of death, modenkainen’s sword, teleport

8^th Level Spells (1 slot): dominate monster, maze, power word stun, sunburst

9^th Level Spells (1 slot): foresight, imprisonment, meteor swarm, power word kill, time stop

Sage Feature: Researcher           

Armor:  a comfy cloak, or mage armor when cast (AC 15 for 8 hours)

Melee Weapons: Quarterstaff (+2 attack; 1D6 bludgeoning; versatile 1D8) – can power it up to be a +3 enchanted weapon for up to 1 hour with Magic Weapon using a 6^th level slot

Equipment: one component pouch, scholar’s pack, spellbook, black ink, quill, 
small knife, letter from a dead colleague, clothes, belt pouch, 10 GP

Trinket: a set of bone pipes

Personality Trait: Convinced people are always trying to steal my secrets

Ideal: No Limits

Bond: Sold soul for knowledge, seek to regain it through great deeds

Flaw: unlocking an ancient mystery is worth the price of a civilization

Tarvena at Level 20

Pretty nice….and also eerily similar to the way a 2^nd edition spellcaster might look (or 3^rd edition, too, but with fewer slots).  I’ve not made any decisions about what spells Tarvena would have encountered in the wilds, but you can safely assume she might know all of the spells in the Basic rules….these spells above are what she learned from her own leveling experience, though.

In combat, Tarvena’s deadliest spell against a single target is disintegration, which can deal an average of 75 points against a foe which fails its saving roll. To look at Davin Kormak the level 20 warrior as an example, that means he needs to beat Tarvena’s DC of  19. He’s got a Dex save of +5, so he’ll succeed 35% of the time. Even if he fails, he can take two or possibly three disintegration blasts to the face before he keels over. In the same amount of time…..assuming Tarvena is not flying….he should be able to take her out in one or two rounds with a little luck, maybe three rounds if he’s firing a long bow to pick her off at a distance. Tarvena, for the record, can cast disintegration up to 6 times: twice at normal damage, twice with +3D6 damage for a level 7 slot, two more times for +6D6 damage using a level 8 slot, and finally once at level 9 for an additional +9D6 damage. Yowza!!!!

So does this make Tarvena an impossible foe? Since wizards can only keep one active concentration effect going at a time she could be invisible and attacking with disintegration….but that exposes her after the first spell. Flying is a better bet, especially if you know your foe can’t reach you. Or, just forget disintegration for a moment and slam something with meteor swarm, dealing and average of 145 points of damage….then polish him off with one well-placed disintegration shot if he doesn’t reach you first. In our prior example, assuming Tarvena is flying when she unleashes a meteor attack on the first shot, even if Davin is using a long bow (and not a crossbow) to strike back he can pop his action surge and fire eight arrow attacks at her. If he hits, he will deal 1D8+4 per attack, and since his chance of hitting her with Mage Armor active (it doesn’t require concentration) and assuming she also pops a shield as a reaction, then he hits her 55% of the time. With 8 arrows that means he hits her roughly 4 times for 36 points of damage.

Can the level 20 fighter have any hope of defeating the level 20 wizard at this stage?  Circumstances will likely suggest it’s possible, but only because there’s a very important element missing from these hypothetical examples: the actual game story elements that are going on. In a spherical cow scenario as I am presenting here we are assuming the wizard has come in with flight and mage armor on, ready to bombard the fighter into oblivion. Fair enough, right? He’s walking along out in the open, minding his own business when….bam, wizard has him on the defensive and not enough arrows in the world can take her down.

The smart fighter, of course, may be traveling to avoid an ambush. He may be planning to kill the wizard….if he gets even one round’s initiative on her, and catches her in melee range when he does then she’s got a decent chance of dying on the spot. If the fighter knows he’s going to fight a wizard then he might come a bit better prepared, too….but this could be construed as cheating, if we assume the fighter needs some gear or allies to back him against the wizard, no?

So....what do you think? If we're assuming class balance is a requirement, is the fighter hosed? The scenario I'm proposing above is frankly a fairer fight than anything the fighter might have gotten in 3rd or 2nd edition.....and while it might have been a fair fight in 4E it frankly would have been rather boring watching the two trade blows for a few hours to get to the conclusion (I say this with unpleasant experience backing my contention).

Here's my take: the fighter is actually a "hard mode" class. It's what you play when you know the odds aren't always in your favor because you're the guy who kills the wizards that summon bad stuff and make life miserable for everyone else. You have a combat advantage, yes....but to counter the magic the wizard brings to the table you also need brains to go with the brawn, tactics and strategies that take advantage of your foe.

Conan never stood out in the open while a flying mage armored wizard hosed him down with meteor fire, is what I'm saying......he would run for cover and get the hell out of sight, then wait until the wizard's back was turned and hit that sucker for all his might! That's why the fighter is a more rewarding class....it's the Blood and Guts level of play.