Raistlin Redux or Why Wizards Turn To Evil
Dragonlance. The name alone sends me whirling into thoughts of the greatest six D&D novels ever written (of course I’m referring to the Chronicles and Legends trilogies). My favorite character has always been Sturm (sure he had an attitude problem, but wouldn’t you?), but a close second is Raistlin. Let’s face it Raistlin is one bad dude. He is what every mage dreams of becoming: powerful enough to do whatever he wants and challenge the very Gods themselves on their home turf. Ahhh, Raistlin is a figure to aspire towards becoming.
What? You say he is evil? Well okay. There is that. But you know we shouldn’t let that stand in our way. His story is inspirational I tell you. The lowly, sickly, nerdy kids makes good and wields power unimaginable (sort of like Bill Gates). This is a great underdog story if ever I heard of one. So he tramples over some friends and family on his way to the top, big deal, we’re talking cosmic power here.
So what is the point of this rambling? A few years ago I put some of the pieces of my gaming history together and came to a most serious conclusion: Magic Leads to EVIL. Now before you start mentioning all of the GOOD wizards in gaming you should read the rest of the article. I do qualify this statement later on, but the timing is just not quite right yet. So set your Elminsters and Palin Majeres aside and hear me out.
Five years ago I played in a D&D campaign where I started off as a Neutral Good mage who’s intentions were good. Through the course of the campaign my poor little mage turned ever more evil until the day came when Neutral Evil was my character’s new alignment. The road was not an easy one and it was filled with a few different subtle attempts to kill off the rest of the party (my favorite was in order to improve my position at the negotiation table with a Great Wyrm Blue Dragon). Eventually there were some wishes made by other party member after numerous quests and my mage was brought back into the light.
The question now begs to be asked: what drove my magic-user to evil? Was it a curse? Demonic influence? Greed? I tell you now it was none of these things. It was revenge, a pursuit many gamers can understand. The twist is that it wasn’t revenge against some foe or dastardly creature that turned my mage evil, it was a desire for revenge against my own party members!
As anyone out there who has ever played a low level mage can attest, the rest of the party usually blows you off after you cast your one magic missile. It’s sad, but the smartest member of the party is often ignored and abused early on because their ability to do damage is so limited. The fighters, priests and thieves of the party usually end up making the decisions, and all that they are concerned about is what they get to kill next! Inevitably the party trudges onward with the mage being abused regularly until about 5th level which is when the wizard starts to gain some spells that can do some serious damage. But even then the abuse continues. The power levels are starting to even up a little, but the party’s wizard is still greatly outnumbered and will be constantly voted down. It is at this point that the magic-user starts to crack and the first glimmer of darkness starts to shine through.
As the levels continue to increase the mage develops a greater level of destructive ability through magic and has more than likely acquired a number of magic items that enhance or supplement his existing power. At this point the party should be giving the mage more respect, but it is often too little too late. The mage has tasted some power, likes it, wants more of it and is usually willing to do anything to get it. Often the most powerful spells and magic items are considered evil and if a mage wishes to truly be powerful they must be willing to forgo such petty notions as good and evil so that they can achieve their maximum potential.
As you can see, the road to evil is a long one, but one that is all too frequently traveled. I have played D&D for nineteen years now and I’ve seen it happen time and time again. Mages would be powerful agents for good if not for the constant abuse they receive at the hands of their companions.
That being said there is an exception to this rule. The exception comes in the form of NPC’s. NPC mages seem to be able to retain their GOODness no matter how long they live. Personally I think that the game designers and DM’s do this in order to maintain some semblance of balance in the world because I’m sure that if those NPC’s had started out as PC’s every world would be populated with nothing but power hungry evil wizards!
So, the next time you are playing a non-mage and you decide to abuse your party wizard, stop what you’re doing and consider the possibilities. There is a much better chance that your kicking-boy the mage could turn out to be a Raistlin rather than an Elminster.