Thoughts about mages

[pampl]

(The Angband class spectrum: the more physical guys are easiest in the start and the hardest in the end, and the more magical ones vice versa.)

That's a common set-up in RPGs but it doesn't describe Angband at all.

[Bad Tempered Geezer]

I agree with the idea of making Charisma have an effect on charm spells, whatever the effect may be.

Writing spellbooks seems unbalanced and would be detrimental to gameplay; as PowerDiver said Angband is a game of inventory management, and if a single spell you may use from a spellbook isn't worth the slot.. you're just going to have to make compromises. That's the way it is.

Randomized spellbooks are an interesting idea; I see a different advantage than you all are pointing out, though. You would need to be extremely lucky to get a super-book that can replace two of your current ones. However, randomized spellbooks could be very useful in that they may contain spells from spellbooks which you haven't acquired yet. Someone a bit lucky would find a random spellbook with just one useful spell from SB5 or SB6 - and this may in fact make the random book worth keeping until the original book is found. In this way, randomized spellbooks would help remove the big, irregular stepladder of acquiring an arsenal of spells, and they would make the process more gradual.

[Hariolor]

In this way, randomized spellbooks would help remove the big, irregular stepladder of acquiring an arsenal of spells, and they would make the process more gradual.

This is a great point. Having the possibility of a more continuous spectrum of spell gain might make mages less frustrating in the mid-game.

This also will introduce another layer of variability for mages, whom I feel have fewer options through most of the game than more combat-oriented classes. The replay value skyrockets when each mage you play will grow in a different way.

[Estie]

The problem of mages is that the game doesnt provide enough content for spellcasting. It is a hack and slash game at its core, with an intricate system ruling melee and missile combat. Rings of to hit, to damage, strength or dex, (+x,+y) on all weapons and many other items, weapon weight versus damage dice, slays and brands all can be had and have to be taken into consideration to make a successful fighter or archer.

A wizard, on the other hand, has only 3 ways to improve his spell offense:
character level, spell availability and intelligence score.
The first of those is affecting all classes; so if offensive spells were balanced to do damage compareable to what a fighter or archer does, all that would remain for the wizard to do would be finding the dungeon books and maximizing his int.

I think this had been the case at one point; I dimly remember mages complaining that their elemental bolt spells werent effective at killing monsters anymore after some patch. The current situation is that mages are bad fighters/archers with good utility (that is, they are getting away with less inventory slots for their non-combat spells and having a few mage-only spells available).

To make interesting "real" spellcasters, one would have to add item affixes to the game that affect spellcasting similar to weapon combat, like increase in spell damage, reducing cast time or increasing spell area. Some variants have taken steps into that direction (for example ToME), but I know none who have done it thoroughly.

[Hariolor]

Add to that list the ability to scribe your own scrolls (maybe at the cost of EXP?)

And perhaps rings that store several different spells at a time. You get the activation benefit of a staff (confusion, blindness, etc matters less), and immediate access to one of several spells. For a downside - the charge only lasts as long as you are wearing the ring, so you can't just carry them as swaps.

Just ideas.

[Eagle]

I find the suggestion of putting a room full of hounds to sleep, and just walk past them very appealing!
That's the kind of spell power a mage should master in his life!

A mage should wield a wand or a staff as his primary weapon. These wands/staffs should enhance (certain?) known spells and/or abillities.

[Atarlost]

This is Angband, not D&D. At least one suspected mage besides Gandalf used a sword (Finrod) Possibly more if you think Feanor or Thingol might be mages. Actually nobody used staves except the Istari which means anyone you might want to map to the mage class is either a sword or axe user or a noncombatant. If you want to use Istari as a model you still have to consider the example of Gandalf, who apparently wields his staff in his shield slot because he dual wields it with Glamdring on at least one occasion and uses it to block rather than attack.