You reside deep within the Lesser Plane contained in your WIZARD HAT, contemplating the nature of WIZARDLY THINGS. Today is the day you SET OUT TO ACCOMPLISH YOUR GOALS, which is to say the day where you FIGURE OUT WHAT YOU WANT TO DO WITH YOUR COSMIC POWER.
But such a CHOICE cannot be taken lightly. You decide to RUMINATE ABOUT YOUR PAST to help you decide what your GOALS are.
***
1. The day I was born...
A - a rare METEOR SHOWER passed overhead
B - a PROPHECY was made about my life
C - a group of FAERIES abducted me
D - a EVIL QUEEN placed a MYSTERIOUS CURSE on me
2. I was born a [gender] and my parents named me [name].
3. When I was a child:
A - I was always EXPLORING DANGEROUS AREAS
B - I spent my days at home, READING BOOKS
C - My parents DIED of THE PLAGUE
D - I spent a lot of time POKING DEAD THINGS with STICKS
4. Everything changed when:
A - I realized my AURIC POWERS (+1 to Auric Powers)
B - I discovered my MAGICAL AFFINITY (+1 to Magic Powers)
C - I beat the UNHOLY SHIT out of various YOUTHFUL TORMENTERS.
D - I created an UNDEAD MONSTROSITY out of my PET ANIMAL. (+2 to Necromancy)
E - I unlocked my PSYCHIC POTENTIAL (+1 to Mental Powers)
5. I decided to study wizardry because...
A - I wanted REVENGE ON THE WORLD
B - I wanted to MAKE THE WORLD A BETTER PLACE
C - I wanted to SAVE THE WORLD FROM EVIL
D - I wanted to SHOW THE WORLD WHAT I WAS MADE OF.
E - I wanted to UNDERSTAND THE UNIVERSE.
6. I studied the disciplines of...
(Pick 6 from the following list; you
must pick at least 1 from every category. If you had an Affinity, pick an additional domain from the powers of your specialty. If you chose Necromancy, pick 4 aside from "Blood Magic", which you automatically have.)
Ritual: Ritual magic involves the use of rituals for magical means - spoken words of power, runes, use of material components, and the like. Most abjuration, transportation, enchanting, and divination powers belong in this school.
Effects: Ritual Magic is as draining as physical activity; attempting a spell of too much power, trying to invent new rituals, and errors in the ritual can leave you exhausted, put you in a coma, or just kill you outright.
Blood: Blood magic involves the sacrifice or use of blood for magical power. Most necromancy, compulsion, bindings, and dark magic falls under this school, although healing, calling, and evocation spells are known to exist.
Effects: The obvious risk to Blood Magic comes from accidentally cutting too deep, shock from blood loss, infection from untreated wounds, and the like. However, overuse of Blood Magic can permanently strip you of powers altogether; necromancy and dark magic are also quite risky - especially so for the latter, and especially if you are caught performing certain spells.
Chaos: Chaos magic is mostly unexplored - it is known that innate racial powers and minor magic comes from the realms of Chaos without risk. For those who study it, Chaos is unrestricted in its schools, although often with unpredictable results.
Effects: It's Chaos Magic; any number of horrible things could happen to you - sudden new limbs, gender change, spontaneous combustion, forced high-velocity orbit around the planet, being sprayed by a skunk, etc.
Alchemical: Alchemical magic involves the preparation and combination of mundane and magical ingredients together for magical purposes. Most healing and transmutation powers belong in this school, although evocation and abjuration are also common.
Effects: Most Alchemists die by accidentally blowing themselves up, poisoning themselves, drinking certain potions together, etc. Aside from that, Alchemical Magic is relatively free of risks - if you trust your local Alchemist or stick to known alchemical recipes.
Divine: Divine magic is the power of priests and granted spells from the Gods - most of the time, these spells are simply more powerful versions of the spells of other schools, although Divine magic is casted virtually at will and refreshed only through devotion to the god in question.
Effects: Pissing off the Gods by whining for more spells is never a good idea; likewise, the God you pray to has rival Gods who view you with an apathy bordering on revulsion.
Summoning: Summoning magic relies on summoning spirits for magical effects, or creating/summoning objects, creatures, and other beings. Most summoning, illusion, and creation powers fall under this school, although evocations from this school are often quite powerful.
Effects: Summoning too powerful of a spirit can leave you possessed, too powerful of a creature could break free, and sometimes, what you call won't answer. Likewise, malevolent spirits could decide that your newly-called firestorm would be best off being focused on you.
Elemental: Elemental magic focuses entirely on the elements - fire, water, air, and the like, usually requiring a material "focus" to be perfomed. The spells under this domain are typically evocation, abjuration, and conjuration, although summoning spells are not unheard of.
Effects: Drowning, burning to death, asphyxiation, electrocution, hypothermia, and the like are the most common; there is also the risk of spontaneous and instantaneous teleportation to an Ascendant Plane.
Kinetic: Kinetic psionics include telekinesis, and other forms of mental control - pyrokinesis, thermokinesis, etc.
Effects: Same as Elemental Magic. Psychic feedback/overload (split lip for the minor stuff, head-exploding over-load at the worst)
Metabolic: Metabolic psionics include healing, biokinesis, vitakinesis, abjuration, and transmutation.
Effects: Same as Ritual Magic, plus the additional risks taken by trying to toy around with your biology. Psychic feedback/overload (split lip for the minor stuff, head-exploding over-load at the worst)
Telepathic: Telepathic psionics include clairvoyance, telepathy, empathy, and the like.
Effects: Psychosis, schizophrenia, paranoia, psychic lobotomies, THINGS THAT HAVE BEEN SEEN CANNOT BE UNSEEN, etc. Psychic feedback/overload (split lip for the minor stuff, head-exploding over-load at the worst)
Metacreative: Metacreative psionics include creation, summoning, and evocation.
Effects: Same as Summoning Magic. Psychic feedback/overload (split lip for the minor stuff, head-exploding over-load at the worst)
Projective: Projective abilities consist of evocation, creation, transportation, and necromantic abilites.
Effects: Same as Blood Magic with the additional risk of losing your soul.
Reflective: Reflective abilities consist of transmutation, illusion, and abjuration.
Effects: Loss of a soul, accidentally blowing yourself up, spontaneous planar travel, etc.
Intuitive: Intuitive abilities consist of divination, conjuration, healing, and enchantment.
Effects: Same as Ritual Magic with the additional risk of losing your soul.
7. When I finished my studies, I....
A - was given a lot of GOLD thanks to a MYSTERIOUS BENEFACTOR
B - went on a QUEST with SMALL HAIRY PEOPLE and fought a DRAGON
C - took a JOURNEY around the WORLD
D - played PRACTICAL JOKES on UNSUSPECTING RUBES
E - blew up the graduating class and made a SKELETAL ABOMINATION out of their corpses
8. For the past few years, I've been…
A - Learning how to KILL THINGS WITH SWORDS
B - Training my APPRENTICE
C - Building a SWEET CASTLE
D - Researching POWERFUL WIZARD STUFF
E - Raising an UNDEAD ARMY
F - Ingratiating myself with the KING to be appointed COURT WIZARD
[Third and final (for now) suggestion game. Unlike my others, this one has rails - there will generally be at least three options to take, with the last option always being "...SOMETHING ELSE?" to allow for input.]