Battlemage
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Divine Magick |
This is a career guide for players intending to create a battlemage character. For details of the type of magic used by these characters, see Sorcery.
What is a Battlemage?
In Tazlure, battlemages are regular magicians who have spent a part of their study on more war-like efforts. Unlike the other sorcerers, they did not focus purely on magick in their apprenticeship, but undertook a rigorous program of physical training, were taught how to handle weapons, and had classes on battlefield topics. While this necessarily diminishes their abilities as a spellcaster - they never grow as powerful as pure sorcerers - they are far more versatile and know how to survive a battlefield when the energy runs out. Capable with and without magick, they are capable warrior and leaders, and are frequently sought out as army captains, elite soldiers and bodyguards. Sample battlemages from Tazlure include K'mith, the duchess of Dort, and Ashtallion Urdil, of the University of Magick.
How is a battlemage trained?
The training of a battlemage resembles that of normal sorcerers: like them, the first stages involve learning to sense energy and to weave spells with it. However, where pure mages would learn lores and magick-related crafts (which indirectly strengthen their magick use) battlemages receive phyiscal training, including athletics, basic weapons usage, and lots and lots of running laps. The ideal is to bring the warrior-mage's physical strength in balance with her magickal strength.
As the apprenticeship progresses, magickal training focuses more and more on the areas of spellcraft that help in situations of conflict, such as augmentation, elemental magick and divination, while the physical training seeks to hone reflexes and to create a style that allows one to cast spells while also in a fight, mostly by the art of defensive casting.
Where can you get battlemage training?
The vast majority of battlemages are trained at the University of Magick, which contains four faculties devoted to the field. There, students can trained to become warrior-mages (weapon masters who focus on augmentation magick), Commanders (magicians who specialize in leading a squad or regiment of men), War-seers (spellweavers who combine personal combat with foresight and who are trained to interrogate prisoners) and Battlefield Elementalists (elemental behemoths who receive enough combat training to survive the heat of battle). The University isn't the only place where people can get battle-mage training, though; some wandering mentors exist, and a couple of University veterans now serve large garrisons and train soldiers in combat magick, if they show promise. Kislovan is one such nation that benefits from their own local battle mages. Also, some people grow naturally into battlemagery, especially student sorcerers who live in a city under siege, or are pressed into service - or just mages with a particularly physical violent streak.
What skills does a battlemage normally take?
Battlemagick-users gravitate towards three kinds of skills: physical endurance skills, combat skills, and just a smattering of magick. Apart from the Manipulation: Sorcery skill and the primary support skill for his magick style (which is Magickal Rote), warrior mages take very few magick skills, since their training usually doesn't allow for it. Instead, they pick up numerous skills that are useful in physical confrontation. Most battlemages have mastered at least one or two weapons in addition to being able to fight unarmed; because they value freedom of movement highly (due to casting gestures and dodging) they rarely learn to use heavy armours properly. Over the course of their training, the many athletic exercises and laps run make it logical that the battlemage has skills reflecting her practice in athletics and balance. Aside from this, a couple of general skills make sense for most mindcrafters. These are:
- Literacy: despite being focused on the physical side of things, battlemages are still also sorcerers, and benefit from teachings that are written down, or written exercises.
- Resolve: trained in physical and magickal endurance, resolve as a skill is suitable to any battlemage serious about her calling.
- Dodge Blow: Since a battlemage will frequently find herself in pointy or edged trouble and she needs appendages to cast spells, the ability to dodge an otherwise maiming blow is invaluable.
- Healing (non-magickal): Sorcery as a magick style lends itself badly to healing, and a battlefield medic might not always be available. Many warrior-mages pick up some skills in healing (like non-magickal healing or herbalism) to keep themselves going even if wounded.
- Running: Any battlemage who made at least a little effort during her training will have run many, many laps in order to improve her physique.
- Any weapons skill: A battlemage who does not know how to properly wield at least one weapon is a joke to her profession - like a scribe who cannot write or a juggler with a natural coordination problem.
Sample professions
- Elite Soldier
- Bodyguard
- Squad Captain
- Paladin
- Wandering Hero
- Acrobat
- Assassin
- Masked Vigilante
- Renaissance Man
- Master of Arms
