The Half Elf Aprentice`

[cynthialee]

This Hero just came to me...
Whatcha think?

The Half Elf Aprentice
This Hero starts the Quest with no spells however every time a Spell is Cast in the Half Elfs line of sight he learns the spell. After the effects of the spell have been adjudicated, the card is passed to the Half Elf who may later in the Quest utilize the spell themselves.
Zargon/Morcar beware, for even your spells may be learned by the Half Elf.
All scrolls, player spells, and chaos spells or other spell like effects cast in line of sight of the Half Elf may be learned.
The Half Elf may equip with most items allowable to the Wizard or the Elf up to and including Artifacts.
The Half Elf Starts play with a rusty old dagger. The Half Elf may not equip a cross bow, shield or 2 handed sword.
Due to a frail physique, the Half Elf loses 1 point of movement from all movement rolls.

Mind 7
Body 3

Attack 1
Defend 2

Move 2d6 -1

[Sjeng]

too overpowered when combined with the wizard.
You could cast Genie twice, fireball, wrath of fire, sleep... Makes the game too easy in my opinion.

[cynthialee]

That is why you limit the use of the Aprentice.
It would be a good combo for some of the tougher quests when you only have 2 or 3 players.

Also the low body points and slower movement should provide some game balance.

Also to recieve benifit to learn a spell the caster must obviously must be in LOS to the Half Elf, so chances are the HAlf Elf would not actually be able to learn every spell cast in a game due to LOS issues.

To add in some more balance you could require the Half Elf to roll anything but a black shield on a dice to learn a spell.

Personally as the GM, I make it my personal lifes quest to murder off the Wizard first chance I get, so if the Wizard gets smoked, there will be no spells for the aprentice except for the few the Elf casts.
(yes I consider it my holy mission to completely wipe every party of adventurers I can. Makes me glow.)

[el_flesh]

Would you use him as a fifth player or make him an option for the fourth player?

[drathe]

too overpowered when combined with the wizard.
You could cast Genie twice, fireball, wrath of fire, sleep... Makes the game too easy in my opinion.

If you are playing the European rules, I agree. Using the American rules, it actually balances the game and the Wizard having additional spells. Especially during the later expansions. More magic is a benefit. With my current group, we've been testing the Wizard with two of each spell. He's a little overpowered during the first few quests, but as the other Heroes gain equipment it seems to balance out nicely. The wizard player no longer "saves" the spells for a boss that may not be included in a quest. Uses courage and rock skin for more support and has actually become a hero worth playing.

I like the idea of the Half Elf and the learning spells. I think it's a character I would be interested in trying out. I don't think I'd bother with the -1 movement penalty. Having 3BP is scary enough. But the low BP would also add to the challenge of playing the character. Yes, the Half Elf can use more weapons and armour than the Wizard, but it's not a character you'd really want in the middle of the fray unless absolutely necessary.

I like it.

[cynthialee]

I think adding in a 5th character would be too cheesy for most tables. I would only allow the Half Elf if there was a dearth of players or a really hard quest where there will be need of more power.
I also thought that requireing the Half Elf to wait 2 turns before they can cast a newly learned spell would allow for more balance. The wizard or the elf won't be able to nuke something and have the aprentice imediatly follow suit. Also it will typically prevent the Half Elf from nuking the big boss at the end of a quest right after the Wizard.

Anyways,
have a great day,
Cyndi

[Big Bene]

I don't understand why (s)he has to be a half elf?

[sadkitchen]

Why does the Apprentice have more MP than the Wizard?

And this 2 hand sword you mention, are you referring the the Battle Axe, or do you have a home-brew weapon that you need to share as well?

Also, I strongly advise against a 3 BP hero. In quest 1 alone there are 13 different enemies that could kill the poor Elf/2 in one attack if the dice don't go his way. That is a huge difference from the 5 that have the chance to 1 hit the Wizard. Just a thought. (my )

-SadKitchen

[el_flesh]

I don't understand why (s)he has to be a half elf?

Because then she can be HOT like Liv Tyler!

[cynthialee]

I dont see why it is acceptable to have monsters that can die from one hit and not Heroes that can die as easy.
And I give the aprentice more Mind because he is suppossed to be smarter than the wizard. How else can he learn magic on the fly.