The Magus : A Character Class for Second Edition AD&D By David Bolack Magus are a rare member of the fantasy society who are so in tune with the forces of magic that they are able to directly manipulate it at will. Chances of becoming a magus are directly related to both the character's parents and the character. To see if a character has a chance of being a magus roll percentile die. Based of the following chart determine whether or not the characters parents had the abilities of the magus. Then roll again. If the character's parents had the ability, then the characters normal chances are tripled. Chances of becoming a Magus : Human 10% Elf 9% Halfling 6% Half-Elf 9% Gnome 4% Dwarf 2%* Mother Was Mage +5%** Mother Was Priestess +3%** * Even though the Dwarf is a highly non-magical creature, they have been known to weild this ability, though rarely. Obviously the Mother was Mage bonus cannot apply to dwarves. ** Do not use these bonuses when determining a parent's chances of having been a magus. For AD&D purposes the magus can be either a semiclass or a class. If used as a semiclass treat the character as a multiclass no matter the characters race; however, instead of averaging their hit points, add the bonus listed below. Semiclassed Magus may not be either Mages or use normal magic (IE Bards can't cast magic user spells, and any homebrew classes that cast spells may no longer do such. Level HP Bonus (Cumulative) 1 1d2 2 1d2 3 1d4 4 1d4 5 1d6-1 6 1d6 7 1d6+1 8 1d8 9 1d10-1 10 +2 Classed Magus fight as a Cleric. They also save a mage, though they have a +2 bonus to all but Dragon Breath. High level magus are rumored to have a +2 save versus dragon breath. (IE DM call. Reasoning, Dragons are of a highly magical nature which allows the magus alter some of the damage.) Magus may use any weapon, but bladed weapons cause strange problems for the magus' ability to pull forth enough raw magic to perform their amazing abilities; (IE active mana is cut in half ! see below for more info on mana use.) Arrows and spiked weapons, however, don't cause such problems. Hide, leather, and any armor heavier than chain cause similar problems. (Same penalty) Mana Use The magus' has the ability to manipulate raw magic of the world. The magus can use this in the following ways. Heal, Defend, Attack, and Special. These abilities can be used to either emulate known spells or to 'create' their own. If a known spell is copied then it costs the character 4 mana per level of the spell. (Note that a magus can only emulate spells he has seen, or can reasonably think up.) Otherwise, a generic effect under one of the above attacks costs as below. Effect Cost Heal 2 per D4 healed Attack 2 per d4 damage Defend 5 per AC Bonus 3 per Save Bonus 4 for other bonuses (Versus Dragonfear, specific damage type, etc) Special (These are generally compared to a specific Spell.) Effects can be combined into one 'spell' if predetermined and if they are of the same category. For example, a defend 'spell effect' can give a character +2 AC and +2 on all saves for a total of 35 mana, but a 'spell effect' can't do the above and add 2d4 worth of hit points. The cost of combining effects an additional mana point per different effect. the above example would cost an additional 5 mana points. Effects can also have special modifiers. For example, the desired effect is a lightning bolt that attacks one target and then spreads out to attack his partners. Based on the following chart that would cost the normal amount for the damage +3 mana per additional target + cost for damage to additional targets. Now if a desired effect did as above, but the effect attacked X random targets it would cost normal damage + additional damage + 2 mana per additional target. Effect Bonus Cost Bonus Specific Additional Target +3 per target Random Additional Target +2 per target Decreasing Damage +1 per base d4 damage Delayed +2 per segment Mana Progression A Magus gains mana based off of a quarter level system. Although levels and HP are gained as per a priest. Every 1/4 level a character gains +1d6 points of mana. Every full level a character gains 1d12 mana. A character starts out with a mere 1d8 of mana. I could use some suggestion for term renaming and additional effect bonuses, though I think I've covered most that will be used.