The Primary Colors: The Mage

Hey all,

Let's finish out our look at the primary colors of character class with the mage.

The mage is archetypically the glass cannon. The fighter charges in, the rogue strikes from the shadows, and the mage calls down fire and arcane energies. Outside of fighting, the mage also fits the archetypes of the scholar. Think of Gandalf's encyclopedic knowledge of middle earth, Kvothe's scholastic background, or even the Elric brothers' quest for knowledge. Even a character like Tony Stark can fit the archetypal role of the party's mage using his specialized knowledge of threats, and powerful one-off attacks like the omni-beam. All of these are indicative of the classic mage.

While the fighter is termed our feat monkey, and the rogue fits in as our skill monkey, the mage is the spell monkey. They have a suite of specific and powerful abilities with which to alter their surroundings or turn the tide of battle. In OGL systems, the mage leans hard into Intelligence and Wisdom. They are the brains of the group.

The mage's strength is in the pursuit of knowledge, whether scientific or arcane, with which they can reshape the world as they see fit. The mage can rely on devastatingly powerful one-off attacks as well as their brilliant insight and thorough knowledge. However, there is a flip-side to the glass cannon. The mage tends to be the most physically weak and vulnerable of the group. They may use their knowledge to cast or to invent ways to mitigate their physical limitations, but without such measures, they are easy pickings for an enemy.

The stereotypical mage is usually the party's expert, guide, or even the voice of reason. They can have a reputation for arrogance, scholasticism, dogmatism, or brilliance.

Within fantasy, there are a slew of mechanical and narrative variations on the mage. These include wizards, illusionists, druids, clerics, warlocks, bards, shamans, and sorcerors. In other settings, a player may play up the mental excellence, magical ability, or both. Such characters might be: telepathics, telekinetics, doctors, translators, navigators, accountants, professors, inventors, cultists, scholars, researchers, investigators, tech experts, chemists, etc.

In more light-hearted settings, the mage tends toward the mad scientist or light wielding zealot archetypes. In some ways, a religious mage or scholar can be very similar to a gag fighter, but with a different skill set.

Additionally, acting as the agent of an inept or capricious deity can add a lot of humor to a campaign.

In the mad scientist vein; the more absent-minded the inventor, or the more amoral the researcher, the better. Try to pepper in phrases involving "Those fools at the academy" or "The prudish sensibilities of the masses" or even "The, frankly, anti-intellectual will-to-live so often found among test subjects."

That said, we reach the end of our examination of the primary colors of character classes in tabletop roleplaying games. What are your thoughts on the mage? Any fun stories of your own adventures in magery? Tell us about them in the comments below. Until next time, happy gaming, all.