Faerûnian Prestige Class : War Wizard of Cormyr
The Cormyrean war wizards are some of the most respected battle-mages in all Faerûn. Trained by experienced combat mages, they bring great power to the battlefield. In the war against the Tuigan horde, they were instrumental in protecting the outnumbered allied troops fighting against the horde. In the recent war in Cormyr against the dragon and her goblin minions, many war wizards lost their lives holding back the onslaught. Since their creation, they have been one of Cormyr's most effective tools against subversion by foreign or hostile powers. The road they must travel to achieve such ends is long, difficult, and often lonely, but the special people who follow this path are made of the stuff that can endure such hardships. Their reward? The respect of their peers and the people of Cormyr, and the gratitude of kings.
As expected, wizards make the best war wizards, but despite the name the class is not limited to wizards alone. Sorcerers often select this path, for their dedication to a specific area of magic can make them powerful servants of Cormyr's crown. Though bards can qualify, few find this path worthwhile.
Most war wizards serve the kingdom of Cormyr directly, and that duty rarely allows adventuring. Still, some war wizards work more pro-actively, - seeking out potential threats to Cormyr and rectifying them before the situation merits greater attention.
Requirements
To qualify to become a War Wizard of Cormyr, a character must fulfill all the following criteria:
- Alignment: Any nonevil, nonchaotic.
- Skills: Spellcraft 10 ranks.
- Feats: Enlarge Spell, Widen Spell, Martial Weapon Proficiency (any).
- Spellcasting: Ability to cast 4th-level arcane spells.
Class Skills
The war wizard's class skills are Concentration, Craft, Knowledge (any), Profession, and SpellCraft.
Skill Points at Each Level: 2 + Int modifier.
Class Features
All the following are Class Features of the war wizard prestige class.
Weapon and Armor Proficiency: War wizards gain no proficiency with any weapon or armor.
Spells per Day: A war wizard's training focuses on magic. Thus, when a character gains a new level of war wizard, she gains new spells per day as if she had also gained a level in whatever spellcasting class she belonged to before she added the prestige class. She does not, however, gain any other benefit a character of that class would have gained (increased familiar powers, metamagic or item creation feats, and so on).
If a character had more than one spellcasting class before she became a war wizard, she must decide to which class she adds each level of war wizard for purposes of determining spells per day when she adds the new level.
Weapon Focus: The war wizard gains a free Weapon Focus feat for a martial weapon of her choice. She must be Proficient with that weapon in order to apply this feat to it.
Metamagic Feat: War wizards focus their studies of spellcasting efficiency. In order to achieve that end, they develop expertise in a variety of metamagic techniques. At 2nd level and again at 4th level, the war wizard gains a bonus metamagic feat of her choice to add to her repertoire of knowledge.
Widen Spell: Part of the war wizard's training involves study of the essence of magic. In her training, she learns to adapt to the rapidly changing conditions of the battlefield. Although she may prepare some of her spells with metamagic feats, sometimes she needs to modify a spell on the spur of the moment. Beginning at 3rd level, a war wizard may cast a spell as if it were under the effects of the Widen Spell feat. She does not need to prepare this in advance, and it does not increase the casting time or use a higher spell slot. The war wizard can use this ability a number of times per day equal to 1 + her Charisma bonus (if any).
Enhanced Spell Area: Particularly important to war wizards is the ability to use fewer spells to defeat their enemies, so they perfect their understanding of spell dimensions to cast spells affected by the Widen Spell metamagic feat with even greater area. Any time a war wizard of 5th level casts a spell modified by the Widen Spell feat, the spell area increases by 100% rather than 50%. Thus, instead of a widened fireball spell having a 30-ft.-radius spread, it has a 40-ft. radius spread.
| War Wizard of Cormyr | Hit Die: d4 | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CL | BAB | Fort | Ref | Will | Special | Spells per day |
| 1st | +0 | +2 | +0 | +2 | Weapon Focus | +1 level of existing class |
| 2nd | +1 | +3 | +0 | +3 | Metamagic feat | +1 level of existing class |
| 3rd | +1 | +3 | +1 | +3 | Widen spell | +1 level of existing class |
| 4th | +2 | +4 | +1 | +4 | Metamagic feat | +1 level of existing class |
| 5th | +2 | +4 | +1 | +4 | Enhanced spell area | +1 level of existing class |
Source: Magic of Faerûn