School of Wild Magic
House Mamercus
Wild magic is a new theory of magic that emphasizes study of the forces of randomness; a wild mage never knows exactly what’s going to happen when he casts a spell.
Acquired Powers
They have no saving throw adjustments for their own saves or their targets’ saves.
Like other specialists, they gain the bonus memorized spell at each level. Wild mages receive a bonus of +10% when learning new wild magic spells, and a penalty of –5% when learning magic spells from other schools. When a wild mage researches a new wild magic spell, the spell is treated as if it were one level lower.
Wild mages have a special ability to control certain magical items that normally behave randomly for other characters. A wild mage has a 50% chance to control one of the following items, selecting the result of his choice: the amulet of the planes, bag of beans, bag of tricks, deck of illusions, deck of many things, and the well of many worlds. The wand of wonder is a special case; if the wild mage successfully controls the wand, he may use charges from the wand to cast any spell he already knows, whether or not he has the spell memorized. The number of charges expended equals the level of the spell chosen; if the mage fails his roll, he simply expends one charge from the wand and rolls for a random result.
Spell Analysis
Every time a wild mage casts a spell, the effective casting level may vary. While the level variation rules are explained in detail in the Tome of Magic, here’s a quick and simple method for determining the variation. When the wild mage casts a spell, roll d20: on a roll of 6 or less, the caster’s effective level drops by d3 levels; on a 15 or better, it increases by d3 levels; and on a roll of 10, the spell results in a wild surge. Note that the level variation can’t exceed the caster’s level, so a 2nd‑level wizard can’t vary by more than two levels either way. Level variation affects all level‑based aspects of a spell, including damage, duration, range, opponent’s saving throws, and other such factors.
Kelmaran, a 5th‑level wild mage, casts a fireball spell at a band of orcs. He rolls d20 and comes up with a 1, so his effective level will be reduced by d3 levels. Rolling d3, he is relieved to see that he only loses 1 level, so his fireball does 4 dice of damage instead of 5 and may suffer a small reduction in range. With a lucky roll, Kelmaran’s spell could have done as much damage as an 8th‑level wizard’s fireball.
Wild surges are strange manifestations of the randomness of wild magic. Note that a number of wild magic spells appear in the Tome of Magic and the Wizard Spell Compendium.