101 Atypical Wizards

[Anderlith]

Yep, I'm gonna jump on the bandwagon

The Warrior
He was always cunning, & smart & gifted when it came to tactics & strategy, but when he marched out on to the training field even the lowest recruit could knock his head around. Not to be putout he delved into magical lore researching adjuration, evocation, even illusion, whatever he could to give his men an edge on the battlefield. Eschewing a robe for a uniform, & a staff for a banner pole, he guides his fellow adventurers onto glory with his experience serving on a battlefield.

The Barbarian
Words is power, writin' dem words on you gets you power. Makes you punch lightnin' & spit fire.

He may be smart but that doesn't mean he knows what he is doing. Without a proper schooling in wizardry this uncouth wildman has learned to cast spells. He prepares spells from tattoos, instead of a spellbook.

[Crisis21]

3. The Jerk Jock

You know that stereotype that wizards are scrawny, weak, and clumsy? Yeah, not this guy. In between hitting the books, he clearly hit the gym too. He's got a body like a Fighter and can take a hit better than most Rogues. And he never lets anyone forget it. Ever.

[Prince Zahn]

4. The Zookeeper
Slaying your enemies is fun, but to the Zookeeper, the real fun begins when you take a prisoner.
This wizard always makes sure to capture at least one specimen in any unusual encounter, so that he may keep them in cages, or Vats, and further his magical studies by providing components, or by being available targets or lab rats.
If you are caught by the Zookeeper, don't even think about escaping, as the Zookeeper will embark on an epic personal arc until he can find you and claim you again - dead or alive, the Zookeeper will find use for you either way.

[Mr. E]

5. The Tragedian.

A man/woman with a tragic past. What exactly this tragic past entails in unclear, and certainly the character will never, ever talk about it, at least until he feels that other party members are forgetting his true history, at which point he will endlessly drop hints. Constantly mutters Never again will I be the weakest and the world will know my true power even when casting spells like Identify or Minor Illusion. Any villain he/she runs into is treated to a thousand word monologue about how Now I will have my revenge even if the villain has never seen the character before.

[NovenFromTheSun]

6. I could try to think of a title but nothing sums it up better than "the magical equivalent of Red Green."

You certainly couldn't say this persons magical contraptions aren't effective. And his or her creative use of tossed aside junk is respectable. Still, when you heard of a great source of enchanted gear for the coming journey you weren't expecting golems held together by calipers and duct tape, scrying equipment made from scrap metal attached to rats, or flying carpets nailed to a wooden board for stability and with seats and barrels attached.

[Anderlith]

6. I could try to think of a title but nothing sums it up better than "the magical equivalent of Red Green."

You certainly couldn't say this persons magical contraptions aren't effective. And his or her creative use of tossed aside junk is respectable. Still, when you heard of a great source of enchanted gear for the coming journey you weren't expecting golems held together by calipers and duct tape, scrying equipment made from scrap metal attached to rats, or flying carpets nailed to a wooden board for stability and with seats and barrels attached.

DiY Enchanter/Artificer?

[VoxRationis]

7. The Open Source Wizard
All those runes and magical notations are just means of keeping power from the uninitiated. This wizard writes his spellbooks in as plain Common as can be found, and has a glossary of the notations he does use. When possible, he makes copies of his spellbook for distribution to interested parties at cost (or perhaps even free of charge). During downtime, he freely chats with party members about the principles of magic and offers to teach them everything he knows.

[M Placeholder]

8 - The Fashionista

They wanted the robes, the trinkets, the hat......the power is a nice plus. Using eldritch power to keep up with the latest trends is all well and good, but its better to be a trendsetter.

Plus, Ioun Stones are SO last season.

[Bohandas]

9.) A pyromaniacal evoker

[Tiri]

9.) A pyromaniacal evoker

I'd hardly call that atypical.

[Lord Raziere]

10. A pyromaniacal abjurer
He knows he has an addiction to setting things on fire and is trying to change. That is why he is an abjurer, to keep things from being set on fire despite the temptation. Every day he must fight to not set things on fire and every day as he adventures, the temptation grows bigger and bigger until he can no longer contain it and when he finally breaks, NO ONE WILL BE SAFE.

no one.

[Crisis21]

11. The Enchanter

No, we don't mean the wizard's ability to cast Enchantment magic, though they're not bad at that, we mean the wizard's ability to pick up willing companionship at any and every town we stop in. It's kind of ridiculous actually. The bard keeps taking notes.

[NovenFromTheSun]

DiY Enchanter/Artificer?

That works, definitely.

[Bohandas]

I'd hardly call that atypical.

No I mean like really really pyromaniacal. Like she sleeps in a funeral pyre wearing a ring of fire resistence

[Anderlith]

The Consigliere
Living on the mean streets of the meanest city made him strong, capable & ruthless. He uses all of his magical talent like many of men of his talents, in service to his King. Its just that his King is a bit less of a sovereign & more of a crimeboss.

[Tiri]

No I mean like really really pyromaniacal. Like she sleeps in a funeral pyre wearing a ring of fire resistence

At the end of the day, though, it's not atypical for an evoker to be pyromaniacal, and all that's doing is taking it a bit further.

[noob]

And if he likes to adventure on the elemental plane of fire and to kill fire elementals with fire spells that are so much burning it burns fire itself?(possible in dnd 3.5)

[TeeHee]

12. The Doper

His familiar is a brightly colored tree frog that secretes a psychedelic substance rather than a poisonous one. The substance goes to the bloodstream fastest if it is ingested, but can also be absorbed through the skin. Results in frequent bouts of forgetfulness and generally chill attitude.
(One of my most beloved NPCs named Whod, who was found of licking his toad and laying on a bed of them while naked)

[Crisis21]

13. The Stage Magician

It's hard being a sleight of hand performer in a world where feats of actual magic are relatively common. You honed your skills all through childhood and adolescence and yet you keep getting upstaged by every single up-and-coming spellcaster who crosses your path. You've become a laughingstock in at least a dozen towns, and it's really been starting to get to you. So when this pretentious jerkwad of a wizard decided to go above and beyond in his humiliation of you, you 'let' him. You sucked up your pride and suffered precisely the way the jerk was looking for.

Which is why he never noticed you swiping his spellbook. You've mastered the art of misdirection already. Time to see what you can do when you add real spellcasting to your arsenal.

[NovenFromTheSun]

14. The Spectre

Sometimes magical experiments blow up in your face. This mage's experiment blew up in their face, brain, innards, pancreas; they just kind of blew up. But there was so much magic energy left over that it condensed around their spirit and gave them a new form. With that inconvenient physical body out of the way, the mage takes note and tries again.

[souridealist]

15) The Diplomat: Magic's not a solution to every problem. Honestly, magic isn't the best solution to most problems. A little sensible conversation can do so much more. (And no, I'm not using enchantment on them! That would just be wrong. And frankly stupid, because it wears off eventually - but mostly, it's just wrong.) No matter how long you spend up there in that tower, there's only so much magic you can do in a day, and it will never be enough to force the world to be the way you want it. But persuade people to want the same things you do, and it's amazing how quickly things start to get done. But, of course, some people just won't see reason, bless their hearts - and other people are just a lot happier to do things the easy way when they know the hard way involves fireballs. So speak softly and carry some bat guano.

16) The Artist: She can't sing. She can't dance. She can't carry a tune and has no sense of rhythm. She forgets the words to any poem the instant she stands in front of a crowd. She can't paint or draw or sculpt - it's like she has two left hands, and no matter how hard she tries, it never looks quite the way it does in her head. But hey, there's a school of magic that's all about showing the world what something looks like in your head. She remembers what the song was supposed to sound like, and Ghost Sound works just fine for accompaniment. When everyone's looking at her handiwork instead of her, there's no stage fright to worry about. Once she learns permanency, she can even make art that you can take away with you. After all, people want to see something entertaining - and she can make you see what she wants you to see.

[scalyfreak]

13. The Stage Magician

In one of the very first RPG groups I was ever in (a very long time ago in my lost youth) the party spellcaster was based on a concept very similar to this. He combined animation of small items and sleight-of-hand skills into something that eventually became quite frightening as he gained levels and honed his very creative approach to magic use. To this day, I cling to the foolish hope that I eventually will learn a magical system well enough to be able to do the same with a caseter class of my own...

And since I don't want to derail the thread too much:

17) The Bartender

Who said alchemy is a dull and serious discipline? Potions are all well and good, but compared to that sense of accomplishment when you mix the perfect cocktail? On the fly, every night, while humming/mumbling just the right incantation where the crowd can't hear you? Nothing beats that feeling!

Drinks in The Bartender's establishment will actually make you stronger, the women/men around you more attractive, and you will indeed be irresistible and unstoppable. At least until you wake up with a hangover tomorrow, that is.

[Bohandas]

18.) Actually too dumb to cast wizard spells by nature but enhanced into a passable wizard by an 8ntelligence boosting magic item

19.) The Expy- Due to a magical incident this low level wizard's level 1 spell slots have been replaced with epic level spell slots. However he doesn't have even nearly the int score or spellcraft modifier necessary for this to be in any way useful; if anything it's a hindrance.

[minderp]

When everyone's looking at her handiwork instead of her, there's no stage fright to worry about. Once she learns permanency, she can even make art that you can take away with you. After all, people want to see something entertaining - and she can make you see what she wants you to see...

That is kind of... beautiful.

[JAL_1138]

20) The Ailurophobe: A deranged old coot who is decidedly well-preserved for a human over a century old, able to climb a tree or up the side of a building faster than a man a quarter of his age. Which he will do, and subsequently lob a Fireball, if he catches the slightest glimpse of an ordinary housecat. Calling them "murderous hellbeasts," he claims to have lost several friends during his youth to the flesh-ripping claws and teeth of a small tabby kitten that held the apprentice dormitory of the Arcane Academy hostage for two months.