Beneath the Firehold Mountains (need map?) dwell a clan of dwarves of power, of reknown, and of legend. The Steelhelm clan was known across the land as vicious and worthy fighters, throughout history as well as recently, when they took up arms in the fight against the invaders from the dark regions. Only slightly more famous were their abilities to mine for precious metals and gems, and to forge these raw materials into weapons, armor, and even jewelry that they traded to cities, towns, and kingdoms both local and remote. These goods were known for their workmanship and strength, and owning an axe or suit of mail bearing the Steelhelm sigil bore a level of respect that had been cultivated for untold centuries.

Morgrim Doomhand of the Steelhelm clan was born under to proud parents Mordred and Ranna Doomhand, two dwarves who lent their abilities to fight, mine and forge to the Steelhelm clan in no insignificant manner. At an early age, Morgrim showed an affinity toward the clan's trades, as was expected from such capable parents. However, as he grew into his adolescent body, it became clear that Morgrim had an unorthodox approach to furthering the clan's goals. Morgrim never obtained the might with a pick or the skill with a hammer that were signature gifts of the Steelhelm clan; instead, he preferred to devise methods to mine ore more productively, or to figure out ways to make the forge fires burn hotter and longer. The Steelhelm clan was an ancient and prosperous clan, and never turned away skills that aided the clan. Morgrim had his pick and hammer set aside for him, and was welcomed by the clan's scholars in the mountain's higher chambers where light was more abundant and smoke would not invade the precious scrolls and books that the clan had amassed over Caligo's lifespan.

Morgrim never lost his zeal for mining or forging, but he realized his gifts were different from those of the rest of his friends'. Morgrim's parents nurtured and encouraged his direction through life down a path less traveled by others of the Steelhelm clan. Being young and thirstful for knowledge, Morgrim spent as much time buried in parchment and paper as his young friends did swinging axes and pushing mining carts. As such, he quickly became known throughout the clan for his innovations and ideas. His achievments (beyond those already listed) included a new recipe for a steel alloy that was harder and less prone to rust than previous recipes, and new designs for suits of armor that included angles and shapes that better deflected blows from one's enemy.

Morgrim quickly exhausted the clan's supply of written treasures, and would frequently accompany Steelhelm trading caravans to nearby cities to haggle buys and trades for new tomes. His innate shrewdness quickly became apparent to other dwarves on the excursions, and he was given increasingly more leeway to barter with local merchants. Morgrim wandered the cities with his money and goods for trades, becoming increasingly more confident with his transactions.

One day, while sitting in his library beneath the mountain, Morgrim unpacked his latest cache of books and sat down in anticipation of a long night of new discoveries. One book in particular had caught his attention during the trip, and it was this book he opened first: a diary of sorts written by a bard who had been part of a famous adventuring party, that spent a number of its days in proximity to the Firehold Mountains. As Morgrim delved deeper into the tome, he made a startling discovery. The party had at one point taken a job to dispatch a despicable wizard responsible for a number of atrocities across the land. One of the members of the party, a dwarven warrior from a clan long since gone, had cooked up a scheme to bypass the numerous defenses of the wizard's tower by tunneling under the structure and coming up through the basement, surprising the wizard and giving them the upper hand. The party, however, encountered an early demise. As they neared the wizard's tower, their tunneling took them into the den of an unnamed group of wicked subterranean beasts. The party, ill-prepared for such a battle, was quickly overcome and destroyed. The bard escaped with his life, finished his tale (now a requiem) of the party, and ended his adventuring days over the guilt of being unable to aid his friends and subsequently outliving them.

Morgrim quickly seized upon this story for a number of reasons. The life of an adventurer was always an attractive one to him, full of the promises of wealth, fame, and power. Of equal attraction was the promise of a wizard with untold knowledge, who could impart his knowledge (at axeblade, if necessary) to the clan to unearth previously-unthought of methods to increase the mining and forging skills of the clan. Besides, if the tower was now empty, perhaps it still contained books or even magic treasures that could be brought back to the Firehold. Morgrim used his guile (and perhaps a few less-than-true promises of wealth and reknown) to convince several of his stronger clanmates around his age to accompany him on a journey to find the almost-completed tunnel. He "forgot" to tell them that they were in search of a wizard's tower, and instead told them of a nearly-finished tunnel that was rumored to lead toward a lode of mithril of a size almost unfathomable to most minds. The book contained a small number of maps and notations that gave a general location of the area around the tower and tunnel. Morgrim and his newly-assembled band collected some basics (weapons, armor and provisions) and set off toward the tunnel entrance, which Morgrim calculated was several weeks' journey away.

Fortune smiled upon Morgrim's party, and they found a collapsed tunnel entrance in the vicinity of what Morgrim thought his book's maps described (dwarves are typically pretty good at finding and identifying these sorts of things). They unearthed the tunnel and descended into a dark, musty blackness. After traveling for some time, they happened upon what must've been the lair that was described in the bard's journal (also omitted from Morgrim's account to his friends). Once again, luck was with Morgrim, and the creatures had either moved on or since been long deceased. There was no sign of either the unfortunate adverturing party or the creatures that had beset them. Morgrim suggested his friends immediately begin work on the tunnel again, while Morgrim began formulating his plans for when they got to the tower.

After some time, one of the dwarves reported the discovery of a deep formation of worked stone, almost assuredly the foundation of some tall structure (given how deep they were underground). Morgrim, feigning ignorance, ordered the party to break through the foundation. Doing so brought them into a disused basement full of old boxes and other sundries long since rotted. The party quietly (as much as dwarves can manage) untied their axes and made their way up the stairs.

They traveled upwards for a disturbingly long time before coming to a locked door. Being the inexperienced young dwarves they were, the only method they knew of for continuing forward was to destroy the door. Unfortunately, this noise drew the attention of the tower's new occupant, a wizard named Olphric Darkflame, who was unrelated to (and actually knew nothing of) the one described in the journal ages ago. Olphric, who was very cross to find a band of dwarves breaking into his tower from below, set to a quick destruction of the offenders. The brazen dwarves armed with axes met their ends before they could even attempt to land a blow. After the ensuing chaos, Olphric glanced about the smoke from the charred dwarf flesh to find a terrified dwarf cowering among the furniture destroyed in the blasts. Seeing that Morgrim was unarmed and not a threat, Olphric immediately imprisoned and enslaved him.

Morgrim lost track of the weeks, months, and eventually years that he was a slave to Olphric. He was not a wicked master, but offered Morgrim no easy life. Morgrim performed all the tasks the wizard could not be bothered to do, from cleaning the tower to finding reagents for spell components to going to nearby towns for supplies. Somehow, while on these journeys, Morgrim could never seem to remember to tell anyone that he was a slave. During his servitude to Olphric, Morgrim began to absorb slices of arcane means and methods. He found that he was exceptionally well-suited to performing the gestures and chants that he observed Olphric performing, although he was very careful to keep these from Olphric. He found that he couldn't comprehend or mimic most of the spells that Olphric practiced, but there were a few that made sense to him. These he practiced and perfected during the times he was locked in his room high in the tower.

Unfortunately for Olphric, reclusive wizards often attract the attention of others in search of fame, glory and treasure. Also unfortunately for Olphric, he was not near the wizard that previous inhabitants of the tower had been. An adventuring party set upon Olphric's tower, and after a long and bloody battle, Olphric was vanquished and his treasures claimed. Being locked in his room, Morgrim could hear the sounds of a terrible battle but could neither aid (which side he might've chosen, he had no idea) nor flee. As the party explored the tower they happened upon Morgrim's locked room. They overcame the lock and entered, and immediately knew that they were in the room of a slave. A tattered mattress with a single table and chair are sometimes a dead giveaway. Morgrim was in a corner opposite of the door, doing his best to appear as non-threatening as possible. Luckily for him, the party was not a wicked party, but they could not leave an inhabitant of the tower (either willing or unwilling) there after them. So they looted the tower, bound Morgrim's hands, and took him with them.

The party was unwilling to converse much with Morgrim, and he never learned their names or anything about them. He caught snippets of conversation and soon pieced together that the party was on their way to an "unknown town (or city)" (see Zem's story) to offload their goods and find new adventures. Not long after he'd pieced this together, one of the party (presumably their leader) came over to Morgrim's patch of dirt near the fire and explained to him that they were near a city that was home to a large variety of races and and social classes, at which point they would leave Morgrim as free to go. He wouldn't be out of place there and could take whatever path he wished. The party's leader stood up and allowed no further discussion on the matter.

The next day, as they approached the city, Morgrim's bonds were removed and he was instructed to appear as a guide or porter for the party. They entered the city without incident, and once they were comfortably within the bustling city, the party leader bent down to Morgrim. He was told that he was now free, and that the party bore him no ill feelings or luck. He was handed a dagger and a small sack of coins, and the party departed. Morgrim was left standing in a crowd of people mostly taller than him and completely foreign to him. As he stood there feeling completely hopeless and lost, his elbow was grabbed and he was whisked into an alley. He recognized his "captor" as a member of the adventuring party who had always looked a little darker and less-reputable than the rest. He pushed a bundle into Morgrim's arms and slipped away before Morgrim could say a word. He unwrapped the bundle and found an otherwise-unremarkable book inside. He opened the cover and found a hastily-scrawled note which read "We found this among the codger's stash in his tower. It contains charms inconsequential to us. Maybe it will serve you better than its former master." Morgrim covered the book in the rags again, and stepped out into the street to begin his journey.

I get the impression you don't like cuddly characters.

Nah, I don't think Morgrim has anything against cuddly characters at all. As long as they don't try to enslave him. If they do, they won't be very cuddly for much longer.

I meant more that you don't like to create cuddly characters. Or cuddly names.

Ahhhh. Well, you kind of cornered the market on a cuddly character this time around. But even if you hadn't, I probably wouldn't have made a cuddle character. I don't see adventurers, sitting around a campfire in the mud after a hard day or slaying orcs and bugbears, as particularly cuddly.

But... Doomhand? I don't care if he's lawful good, I expect a dagger between my beautiful wings with a name like Doomhand. I don't think we're going to visit the Spell Components Warehouse together and split bulk purchases.

Bah, it's just a name. The hand doing the dooming could be scourging foul orcs and goblins from the face of Caligo. Just because pixies prefer tickling to scourging doesn't mean Morgrim isn't a nice guy.

Whatever. We all know I'm actually a smith and you're really... umm... a grapefruit or something.

Blueberry.

But this is high fantasy. We're supposed to have names full of flavor and color. I guess I could change his name to Leroy Whiteflower or something if it'll offend your fey sensibilities a little less.

I would totally share my wardrobe with someone named Leroy Whiteflower.

The name as written is fantastic! Do not be dissuaded by the pixie!

I like tha avatar.

A bit too old for my character, but I think it conveys the image well enough.

I've gotta get you from Firehold to Dulal I think.

Your PM also said that wizards don't have many choices in prestige classes, or that they are bad or something. Did you miss the part where I was immune to demigods for the last third of the campaign?

The only prestige classes for casters I get rid of are the ones with degenerate playstyles that are not obvious upon a first reading- most of balancing casters is making sure that people don't just gate in a Solar and think, ok, I won- in other words the spells. The wizard gets the following things on levelling up:

1/5 of a feat.
Familiar progression
1/3 of a reflex and fort.
1/2 of a will
Spell progression.

A wizard prestige class gets:
1/3 of a reflex and fort
1/2 of a will
Spell progression
Something tasty

Check out:

1- Master Specialist (Complete Mage, page 70)- this is only good if you specialize. It can be pretty fucking good if you do.
2- Unseen Seer (Complete Mage, 81)- this is a divination specialist. Divinations are not as powerful as they are in the book. This is still a really strong prestige class though- the only constraint is that it is expensive to enter.
3- Wild Soul (CM)- not super strong, this is still a pack of abilities. You lose a caster level though.
4- Argent Savant (CA)- I can extend this to 10 levels. It still loses a caster level.
5- Elemental Savant (CA)- Add back in the caster level at 10th level. This is a pretty good class. You will usually be able to deal decent energy damage. Note that earth -> sonic damage in my games.
6- Fatespinner (CA)- I can extend this to 10 levels. It still loses a caster level at 5 I think though, but it should probably just be "a level of spells", not a full caster level- aka, -1 caster level, +1 effective caster level.
7- Geometer (CA)- I can definitely extend this to 10 levels. This guy is super cool too, if you are looking for it. Not particularly powerful compared to some other options.
8- Initiate (CA)- Replace the level 1 "+1 level of existing arcane spellcasting class" with "+1 effective caster level". This is a nerf. It's the way Zem played the one we just had. This class is very sweet. Search this prestige class for "Speak with mustelids". That's the funniest fucking ability ever.
9- Mage of Zem Tower (Mage of the Arcane Order (CA))- You can swap spell packets like college cuties swapping the HPV virus. This is a very good class for sure.
10- Wild Mage (CA)- This is also a good class. Not great, but good for sure.
11- Archmage (DMG)- Decent, but not great.


Anyway, this is just from three generally good sources.

But what you actually want to read about is the Malconvoker, from Complete Scoundrel.

Yeah, I've seen most of those prestige classes. I should amend my statement about no good prestige classes - there are no good as-of-yet unused prestige classes. I'm not going to take the Oh Hai Gaiz I Like Buttsex prestige class because you just did it, and Sam did the Elemental Savant class the last time we played. So that chucks out two of the actually good prestige classes. The rest....meh. I've thought about them. Maybe I'll progress toward one of them as we get into the game. Not sure yet. Or I'll just stick with a wizard. We'll see how it goes.

Well, we are playing in a closed universe of possibilities. Sam's character was from like 2006. You were young back then probably, a youth in your twenties.

Do note that there are some other prestige classes that are campaign specific, and other classes in general.

From my campaign source:

Denier

The Denier is a mage who specializes in disenchanting, dispelling, and countering magic. A style developed in Balthran, Dulal, it was created as an intended counter for the might of the mages of Zem tower. Now, their organization strives to keep Dulal free of hostile magics, and safeguards its initation techniques, primarily so that no other wizarding group can train a group to specifically counter it. The Balthran Deniers do not dislike magic: they are essentially wizards themselves (some of them actually are wizards, not deniers at all). They do dislike the ability of those with magic to lord over those without, and decry the mageocracy in Zemnia to be, in truth, criminal activity. There are a few deniers outside of this organization (most of them adventurers), but they always find themselves unable to pass their skills onto others.

Thus far, all the deniers have been gnomes, humans or half elves (their current leader, Fassallen Sarth, is half elven), but, in theory, any member of a race capable of wizardry could learn the skill.

They are famous for their “Denial”, a “No” said with a sneer and a magical gesture that often destroys a rival wizard's spell as it is being crafted.


(that's a base class, not a prestige class, however)


There is a prestige class in Caligo knows as the Chronomancer. If you go that route you won't be starting it until around 7th level, so I have time to iron out the kinks. He specializes in time-warping transformation magic, such as haste, slow, time stop, and is also skilled at reversing such effects.


Do note that quite honestly, straight wizard is just fine, and they'll probably get a little something extra, as all the base classes do.