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the wasard

A wasard will be hollowed out by their use of magic. Magic, you see, conforms to the will of the magicker. It is a siphon. Push your intent in a direction, and the magic flows that way, pulling the intent along with it as it goes, and consuming it at the pointy end. It cannot stop until the fuel source runs out. You will be surprised at the tenacity of the human spirit, but it won't be enough.

Important update: I remembered that this class was inspired by a post over on deus ex parabola's blog.

WASARD

Starting gear: Mighty and intricate staff whose weight is not yet a burden; mirrored shield
Starting skill: Having the last word
A: Obsession, Apprentice
B: Unchecked Power
C: Tragic Shell, Ascension

A: Obsession

You got into this for a reason. Choose or roll an Obsession Arcane. When you use it, roll a d6. If it comes up 6, you have to keep using it until it runs out. Otherwise, you can stop before that happens. Using your Obsession takes your whole turn and all your attention.

  1. Purging Flame. You can call a downpour of molten metal from the air above you. It falls in a wave directly away from you. Creatures running for their lives might escape it. When you stop using Purging Flame, the metal vanishes. Purging Flame runs out when there's no living creature in sight. You need to drink five gallons of water before you can use it again.
  2. Impenetrable Defense. You can shut your eyes and predict every incoming danger with just enough time to neatly deflect it with your practiced repertoire of parries and magic tricks. While you're using Impenetrable Defense, nothing anyone does can hurt you or touch you, get inside your lungs or your mind, or fall upon your ears as anything more than a vague, distant noise. Impenetrable Defense runs out in twelve hours. You can use it again immediately.
  3. Joyous Song. You can sing in a voice that every creature finds appealing, from men to devils, from birds to mountain lions. Creatures that can't hear aren't affected. While you sing, anyone who hears you can effortlessly ignore all pain, sadness, and horror. The benefits last until the next pain, sadness, or horror a listener would hear is prevented. Creatures who hear your Joyous Song have a 2-in-6 chance of trying their very best to hear it again, after they do experience one of these things. Joyous Song runs out when you find yourself and your audience at a ledge and one of them is stepping off. You need to smile at a stranger before you can use it again.
  4. Clockwork Purpose. By tracing the veins of your hands, you can perceive the delicate balance of elements that govern the world and know that your life has meaning. This power reveals to you any magical effects in your sight, and lays their design bare to you. You know how they were made, and you can make them again, using mundane materials, such is your mastery. You can learn a well-hidden fact about a person by touching their hand. Nothing can shake your resolve. You can see through illusions. Clockwork Purpose ends when you once again look upon unworked stone and glimpse the terrible role it will play in the times to come. When you do, take 1 damage and you can't speak coherently until you deprive your sight and hearing for an hour. You need to really try at something and fail before you can use it again.
  5. Life Once More. You can bring a dead person back to life as a newborn baby. They rapidly age, a year every minute until you stop using this power. Life Once More runs out when they die of old age. You can't use it again until you kill someone else.
  6. Rewrite Reality. You can transmute material you touch, or change someone's opinion. You can change the weather or your own body. The changes last as long as you're using this power. Rewrite Reality runs out when your mind wanders and causes the ground you're walking on to turn to venomous snakes. You need to eat a pebble before you can use it again.

A: Apprentice

A would-be apprentice finds you every time you gain a template in this class, including now. They want desperately to have what you have. Each one has a random latent Obsession, and you can give them the power to try to use it. 3-in-6 it works, and also, 3-in-6 it kills them. They will only ever use these gifts for their own ends. They may lie to you about what those ends are. Wouldn't you?

B: Unchecked Power

You can't take templates in other classes anymore. Your body has transformed, subtly at first, into a caricature of your Obsession Arcane. All who look upon you see a terrible force which might, possibly, have some shred of humanity left. If you would be surprised, or at any other time, you can rise up to twenty feet in the air and bellow a terrible warning. Any who don't heed your warning have a [templates]-in-10 chance of bursting into flame on the spot. Also you're not surprised. You can reuse the Obsession Arcane you chose without limitations now.

Tragic Shell

The fuel you use for your Obsession is dwindling. The effect is tied to which Obsession you have:

  1. Purging Flame. Nothing can move you to anger. When you kill, mark 1 Cold. At 10 Cold, you know in your heart that nothing can truly be solved by violence. At 20, you wouldn't even kill to save your own life, let alone for another purpose.
  2. Impenetrable Defense. Your self-preservation instinct is fading. When faced with danger, mark 1 Open, then make a morale check against your Open score. If you fail, invite the danger in, as you should have done all along.
  3. Joyous Song. You're becoming distant. When someone talks to you, mark 1 Stone. At 10 Stone, you don't really feel sympathy. At 20, any means you had of understanding other people's emotions have gone away.
  4. Clockwork Purpose. None of it's real. You've been a fool. Every day that passes, mark 1 Lost. At 10 Lost, you're always surprised, and you need someone to guide you or you just stand still. At 20, respect and admiration are to you as poison and knives. You cannot survive them. Do whatever you have to, just avoid them.
  5. Life Once More. You're having real trouble believing anyone or anything is better off alive than dead. When you have some time to think, mark 1 Pointless. At 10 Pointless, you don't even hear cries for help anymore. At 20, matters of life and death are simply not your problem, if they're even a problem at all.
  6. Rewrite Reality. Your imagination is burning out. Whenever you make a plan, mark 1 Rigid. At 10 Rigid, you can no longer envision any better futures. It just doesn't make sense to you that things could improve. At 20, you can't really conceptualize the outcomes of your actions.

C: Ascension

You are caught in the cycle of folly now. Either retire to a secluded mountain, or embark on the path again. You can start taking this class again, right now, starting at A: Obsession with a new Obsession Arcane, keeping all your previous templates. This way lies only ruin.