Bringing Wizard's Sight to life

I have two human magicians in my game, and both have chosen the Wizard’s Sight trait. We are running through House of Three Squires, and neither player has come up with a way to use the trait, either to their advantage or disadvantage. The latter is particularly troublesome because neither character has been able to earn any checks, while the conditions continue to accumulate.

Any good ideas for using Wizard’s Sight in a dungeon? Keep in mind that there is nothing magical about this dungeon. Here are some ideas I thought of, but maybe they are too flimsy:

  1. You “sense” an aura of magic around an enemy, say a kobold, and focus your efforts on him/her, making you/your companions more vulnerable (disadvantage)

  2. Assuming you have already used Wisdom of the Sages, your Wizard’s Sight detects a lie in the kobold’s statement (advantage)

Honestly, that is all I’ve been able to come up with at this point. Granted, I am exhausted (in life, not in the game… I’m the GM), but I could really use some help with ideas of how to use this trait. Also, any advice on how to handle this check drought? I’m tempted to give them examples of how to use the trait, since all of my players are noobs to TB, and have only played a couple sessions of MG in the past.

Thanks in advance

First thought, object reading. The Wizard can see the “vibe” of a location. Could be useful in context. Similarly, perhaps if the room suggests violence or the like, maybe the Wizard is distracted by flickering haunts of terror. Auras can be invoked for all kinds of social uses, I’d imagine, but they can also be blinding or terrifying or misleading. Perhaps the “astral” version of a being or location is different than it’s physical version in some important way, and the Wizard is confused or mislead. Maybe a ghost or spirit or elemental is just passing through at the right or wrong time, providing a hint or a distraction. I’m just making things up here. Hope that’s helpful.

The dungeon might not be magical, but the world at large mostly is.

It’s the players’ job to come up with uses for the skill. But I would suggest using it to see beyond the normal plane of existence - seeing auras, floating creatures, things that would make non-magic users lose their mind. You might be able to see glowing runes, highlight features in the environment that hold a small amount of magic. Imagine being able to see more spectrums of light or the beating heart of life. I feel like the description for the trait in the book does a pretty good job of explaining how it works. Honestly, I feel like it’s a trait that would be overused more than others. Just gotta be creative.

Thanks for the tips. I agree. I think the trait has a number of uses, but my players seems to be at a loss. I know it is the player’s job to come up with uses, so do you recommend I just let them drown in their lack of creativity? I guess this would force them to make a new character, with traits that hopefully they can find uses for. Still, as a GM to new players, I feel like I should try to help them a little bit. Maybe I can lay some hints for them.

I think maybe if you start to describe ways that their Wizard Sight affects what they see and experience (as part of your description of the dungeon) then it might start to inspire them a little. When some enemy shows up describe it as having a dark aura and an obvious intent to kill. That might get their minds turning.

I don’t think you should be too cruel with newbies. Let’s put it this way, it’s perfectly fair to explain some ways categorically that they can use the trait, just don’t spell it out for them in context for a specific test.

To be fair, it can be hard to make up stuff about something that isn’t real. It might help to give them an analogy, like, “It’s like peeking behind the curtain of reality, backstage into all of the hidden gears and organs and entities that tie everything together and make things work, revealing the true nature of things in a confusing, symbolic way, if your mind isn’t shattered by the alien beauty and horror of it all.”

And of course, that only works if that works for your group.

Great advice. Thank you. I can certainly describe things in way that invokes Wizard’s Sight to inspire them. Cheers.

Well put!

Not unlike Secret Rules, eh? :smiley:

Stanky Wizard Eyes.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2l67RK_tvaM

Another thing to try and take from are bloodstains from Demon Souls and Darks Souls.

You can even allow them to use it in conflicts, both for and against themselves. An aura reading can let you anticipate an attack well or gauge a creature in some way to gain you an advantage - and similarly, a misread aura (perhaps because the creature is alien and unfamiliar) can lead to mistakes.

There’s an example of using Wizard’s Sight at the end of our Kickstarter video.

Stanky Old Wizard Eyes must be the best trait ever because you could incorporate it in positive or negative ways in many many rolls. Compare it to the elf trait, First Born or whatever, and the superiority is clear.

All great suggestions. thanks!