Why play wizard?

Having not played in what I think of as a “real” campaign for years, I wasn’t sure what character I wanted to play as.

Initially, I thought about what classes I don’t know much about, or haven’t played before. That means almost all the caster classes were available. The craziest I ever got was a ranger, and then I was almost exclusively martial fighting.

I thought Paladin would be cool; they seem very powerful. I don’t feel the need to play a super powerful character, so I thought Monk. Monk is something I know next to nothing about, and it was a class that I don’t think anyone has ever played as. If they had, it was never for long enough to see them in any real action.

I got to this one shot. Really it’s my DM Jessey, he’s wanting to make sure we’re not all creepy and that everyone gels well together, or at least well enough that we can all play along.

Besides Jessey is Andrew, a early 20s guy who has played a decent amount of 5E, Most of it came from the 2014 rules, this is his first 2024 ruleset game, like it is for everyone. Sean has also joined us. Sean has claimed to never have played before, so fresh blood.

I really like the idea of someone who hasn’t played D&D before wanting to give it a try. I think it should be commended that someone took the time to try and find a group and come to a meeting to play. It takes courage, something that I feel I often lack, even when playing D&D. Turns out Sean has played before, he just didn’t want anyone to know that because he was so afraid of being judged poorly due to a lack of knowledge of the game. Again, I couldn't care less about knowing the rules. Almost everything in this game is best learned from experience, and if you haven’t played before, now is the best time to learn.

Playing in the normal campaign will be Jessey’s brother Stephen, who will be playing a Monk, and Jessey’s friend Tim. Tim already has his character made, and I don’t recall what he is playing. Tim so far is the odd man out. In the three sessions we’ve had we played a one shot in the first two, and made characters in our third session. I guess Jessey is getting our characters to level 7, which is where Tim will join.
On the first session we talk broad strokes about what we are hoping to do in the campaign. Andrew mentions that he was thinking of playing a Monk, and we all laugh when I mention the same. Three monks in a four-man party is a funny thought. After our first get together I’m liking the idea of playing Monk. I’ve finally gotten around to reading about them and they sound interesting to say the least.

During this time I am reading through the Dresden Files series of novels. They’re about the only wizard in the yellow pages, Harry Dresden. Novels are fantastic. The worst part about them is that they’re currently unfinished, as a new book is set to come out later this year.

I drop the idea of playing Monk pretty quickly, already having two other people who want to play them has soured me a little on the class. Maybe it's a bit too much of a good thing. But I am thinking wizard. I like the idea of having a spell book, I like the idea of casting. I also like the idea of being the only one who is a heavy caster.

I have nothing against not having a caster, but I think a high intelligence class among a group of more simple minded classes isn’t the worst idea. I can dump their good stats, and they can dump mine.

I even get the idea to form his background on Harry Dresden. Instead of Harry his name is Harold, but his friends still call him Hary, but with one R. I gave him a familiar, a cat named Mister, just like Harry in the novels.

Turns out Sean was never meant to last, as he wasn’t the best fit for a group. He did try to pull off some interesting tasks in game that didn’t make much sense. I never felt like he was hostile to me, but, others had expressed some doubt in him. Not my place to judge, and I do wish him the best, and I am bummed it ended the way it did with him. I thought about reaching out to wish him well, but he had already deleted his facebook conversations and left before the idea came to me. At this point, searching him out to say something feels a little forced; I also am not sure if he’d even like to talk to me. So I did the adult thing and ignored the issue until it became a distant thought.

I of course decided that I needed art for my character as well. I went to ChatGPT and typed in a prompt. I wanted a style that felt like D&D so I asked ChatGPT to do it in a style that looked fantasy. I thought the first picture was nice but too realistic. My first edit was to add a walking stick and a spell book. I also asked for it to look more cartoony. I wasn’t too happy with these results either. I think the last picture, looking like a Futurama/Lord of the Rings cross, was good enough. Asking it to just make me look like I belonged on a saturday morning kids show was the right call.






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