Can the Wizard be improved?

[Striker]

Sorry if this has been done before (?)

I recently played a quest with a friend, each of us controlling two characters vs HQGM, I had heard previously that the wizard is comparatively weak beforehand, and during the quest the wizard quickly ran out of 'aggressive' spells and spent the remainder just wandering around backing up the other characters where possible as his hand to hand is rather pathetic. This experience left me a bit dis-enamoured with the Wizard.

I had read a while back about fixes that had been suggested, such as spending mind points when spell casting to try and reabsorb the spell, resting which enabled the wizard to risk a wandering monster to recharge all spells or I was thinking, letting him use healing potions to restore mind points instead of BP.

I am in the UK but am playing US rules which I think does not place restrictions on what equipment the Wizard can buy and use (I think-I am paitning at the moment but sure that is what I have read), so that might help.

If you havent seen my other post I'm preparing an epic playthrough of ALL the expansions in order with some experienced (not HQ) boardgamers and I would like the Wizard player to have a fighting chance.

I would be very interested to hear if anyone has anything solutions (if needed) that have worked, or direct me to another thread.

Thanks
Jon

[Anderas]

Ah yes there are a lot of solutions indeed. Try searching for the wizard's house of house rules, there are some good ideas there.
I spend the free portion of today redesigning my reusable spells. I changed my card format and used the opportunity to change some of the spell effects as well.
Except for healings and stun spells, it rarely hurts if you let him reuse his spells, with some cost attached for sure.

[cynthialee]

Ah yes there are a lot of solutions indeed. Try searching for the wizard's house of house rules, there are some good ideas there.
I spend the free portion of today redesigning my reusable spells. I changed my card format and used the opportunity to change some of the spell effects as well.
Except for healings and stun spells, it rarely hurts if you let him reuse his spells, with some cost attached for sure.

Funny that was gonna be my advice.

It is "The Wizard Clearing House of House Rules". I started the thread Nov. 20 2014 and it is a good one. So many people have sounded off with good ideas. And a few lemons.

viewtopic.php?f=38&t=2706

[Count Mohawk]

The Wizard can always be improved. It's up to you how much you want to invoke Linear Warriors, Quadratic Wizards though.

[whitebeard]

I recently played a quest with a friend, each of us controlling two characters vs HQGM, I had heard previously that the wizard is comparatively weak beforehand, and during the quest the wizard quickly ran out of 'aggressive' spells and spent the remainder just wandering around backing up the other characters where possible as his hand to hand is rather pathetic. This experience left me a bit dis-enamoured with the Wizard.

While it is true that the wizard does not keep-up with the growth of the other heroes, this is mainly attributed to the lack of progression in strength and number of spells. The wizard is at full spell strength from the start and his weakness should not yet be a problem. In a boss fight, he is the most powerful hero at the start of the game.

With a healing spell he can take more risks and effectively has 7 body points. Perhaps you think he is weak because you are saving that spell for one of the other players?

He should also cast stone skin on himself immediately at the start of the quest. And as the wizard he is smart enough not to walk on new squares (avoid traps) and not to search for treasure until he has taken that first body point of damage. His armor in the first few quests is as good or better than everyone else!

I like to play the dwarf, but I get stuck with the wizard most times and it is always a lot of fun to try to use all of my spells. Once you have the "wand of magic", the wizard's single turn power is enormous, but he also runs out of spells immediately.

I think the wizard is fixed later on if you house rule that the wizard is the only one who can read magic. This makes him the keeper of all of the scrolls the party finds and you just need the lesser spell scrolls (fire spells, stoneskin, genie, etc) to become somewhat commonplace. Buy some extra spell cards and give him a "spell book of efficiency" which helps him study and he has all 4 elemental groups (I make the elf roll to see which group he gets).

Then there are always more artifacts. A fire staff could let him add one to fire damage on his spells (and scrolls) AND distribute the damage points to different targets. A genie lamp could allow the genie to hang out for two turns OR better still, summon him again on a second turn at any time later in the quest (not an action).

The wizard is fun! It is always hilarious when the barbarian misses with 4 dice and the wizard kills the monster with his one or two . Or he keeps stone skin active through an entire quest

[Striker]

Great, thanks!

I had a cursory look through the wizard house rules thread, brilliant stuff, if a little daunting to read through, managed p6last night .

I guess I feel that the others heroes can just get stuck in and keep attacking but the wizard has to be strategic with his attack...which makes it less fun especially if a spell turns out to have been used too early, which is going to happen and makes it fun, but harsh. I mean, the wizard could spend all of his attacks very early on, and it's the attacks I feel are lacking?what do you think? Especially pertinent as he is restricted as to what equipment he can use to upgrade his hand to hand.

I'm also cautious of adding my own artifacts, more keen to tweak the rules, like a ranged 'fireball' attack, just something to give him more punch-nothing OP, far from it. Or spend a MP to recast, so you play a spell, roll a dice, if you roll.less than your MP you keep the spell, MP is reduced by one.

to be honest, even just giving the Wizard all elements and making the elf roll for his school.from surplus cards may even tip the balance.

Keen for your thoughts but I will keep reading the wizard house rules.

[Anderas]

One of the main problems of the wizard, that we identified, was that the players are too cautious.
They save the spells, just in case, for later, and later, and suddenly the quest is over and the spells have not been used.

You don't want a machine gun wizard who can use all his spell in a single turn. That one would be too much of a bossmonster killer.

So how do you get the wizard to use his spells all the time, and early on? It's never too early. If you need a spell, use it.

The mind point spending system of Slev, Mohawk and me is quite good achieving it - as the wizard does not necessarily lose the spell, he is more free to use them all the time. Mind, i talk about freedom of mind. Suddenly it's fun to play him.

[Striker]

Ooo, whats youp system?is that in the wizard house rules? But yes, that is my general problem with the character, either too late or too early(which is worse in my opinion, walking around vulnerable).

He's actually an exciting prospect but in reality I think the rules need a gentle tweak rather than and overhaul or something heavy handed as I'm keen to play the game first time as close to intended as possible.

[Goblin-King]

Even without house ruling there are a few things you can do to make playing the wizard a better experience.

Give him Borin's Armor once you find it. If you do the wizard can get a pretty good defense and actually engage more in combat without dying instantly to trash.
He can even wield the Spirit Blade as well. Of course he will never be your main slayer as his low BP will still force him to retreat sooner than the other characters. But he would be much more engaged still...
Agree to make the elf pick either Water or Rock. That leaves the 3 aggressive spells to the Wizard. The elf usually has better offense. No use making him cast offensive spells.
And as has already been mentioned... Learn how to play him right. It's a horrible thing to tell a player, but he really does improve if you aren't afraid to actually use his spells.

[Anderas]

If you want to change something but the change shall be small, you could give 50 gold extra after a quest, if you spent your last spell just before the quest objective was achieved.

Or you take Knightkrawler's artifact. He changes as little as possible of Heroquest, but even he was doing the wizard a favor. You'll find it over at the wizard's clearing house of house rules.