For all their vaunted powers, sorcerers are, in the end, merely normal humans. As such, when rolling up ability scores for a mage, use table A to generate his Ftg., Agy., Str., and End. scores. After this, use table D to determine his Rsn., Int., and Psc. ranks. Table B may be used to determine the nascent wizard's initial Res. These tables (and all of the other tables mentioned hereafter) are in the Sorcerous Character Generation Insert - SoCGI - situated at the end of this Book of Magic.

Once all of his primary ability ranks are known, go ahead and gamble on two of them; just make sure that your new mage's ability scores remain within the traditional human limits. The gambling tables are (of course) found right after the rank rolling tables. To finish, split up your ability scores as is desired, and determine your mage's Hpts, NH, MH, Kpts, and (if the character will belong to one) his Karma pool total.

Magic Schooling

Once all of a new mage's vital statistics have been generated, a magical school of study must be chosen for him. While tables 1 and 2 exist for the generation of a random school (mostly for Judges to use), a player may choose which of the 13 schools he wishes his character to follow (if the three optional schools are, in fact, available in his game world; if not, there are only ten options, then). This is a very important choice, for a mage character is stuck with the school he starts out with for a very long time.

Choosing Initial Spells

Once a character's magical school has been chosen, he can determine which spells he will begin play with. Start by rolling on table 3 to find out how many spells the sorcerous character wields at first. Then, the player may utilize the tables that list the personal, universal, dimensional, and group spells, as well as the table devoted to his own magical school, to see what he comes up with.

This brings up one sticky point where character generation is concerned. A major point of contention is the random roll vs. character choice conundrum. Many players choose to simply pick the spells they will utilize, without random rolls entering the equation. Similarly, many game Judges want players to roll up spells randomly, in order to keep them from 'repeating' a character idea over and over. As you can guess, this can be somewhat tricky.

While it is ultimately up to the game Judge, I have to personally recommend a mixture of both methods of spell generation be used, choosing half and rolling up half. This helps a player get the spells he really wants for his mage, and makes new characters refreshingly different each time. However, a couple schools require a character to take on specific spells at certain points (such as the elemental / geomancy school, where elemental / nature control spells are involved), so this can still be tricky.

Choosing a Magic Item

In addition to the magical spells at his disposal, a new wizard should begin a game with at least one magical item. This helps to bolster him as he gets his feet wet in an adventuring career, as it often comes in handy to have access to at least one magic power that does not require incantations or the like to be activated. Generate a magical spell as you did before, but make it inherent to a device - any device - as long as it makes sense. You know, a wand for a magic blast, a carpet to fly, etc...

Determining Spell Ranks

Once you have figured out what spells your new mage wields, and choose the nature of your magical item, it is time to determine just how potent these magic powers are. In order to do this, simply roll once on table D for each magical power the character possesses. Once you have done this, you may 'gamble' on one spell rank of your choosing (or the rank of your magic item's special power) if he have three or less magic spells, or twice if he has more than three spells.

Character / Spell Limitations

Often, a player may not be happy with the ranks he's come up with for his new mage. Even after he adjusts his spell ranks for any bonuses granted by his school or from gambling attempts, he's just not satisfied with what he's come up with. This isn't necessarily a bad thing, as sometimes one has a specific vision in mind for their character; this is where limitations come in. A player may subject his sorcerer to additional limitations (above and beyond the ones offered by his school) in order to make him more powerful.

Limitations come in two distinct flavors: spell and character limitations. A spell limitation is just that, an altering of how said spell works to the detriment of the player (as compared to others who can use this spell). A spell so limited may not affect certain objects or beings, can take longer to cast (initiative penalties), may require a mage to provide extra materials that are expended upon the spell's casting, etc...

Character limitations, however, change the nature of every spell a mage uses, not just one. Such limitations include the inability to use one type of magical energy (universal, dimensional, etc...), a required focus necessary for all of a mage's spells (which may or may not be replaceable), or possibly a temporal restraint on spell use (can't cast spells at night, on Thursdays, etc...).

At any rate, the severity of the limitation determines just how much of a power boost the character may receive. For example, a relatively minor crimp in the use of a spell is worth +1 CS, while a particularly severe limitation may offer a +2 CS or even a +3 CS. Alternately, a mage can take a limitation on a spell to replace one that is already built in to it; some spells, like those involving luck or time, have several such constraints already worked into them...

Talents

The talents your sparkling new mage will start out with can be determined as per any other character type, beginning by rolling up his number of initial talents on table **. Then, roll for the category each talent will belong to on table **. To finish up, roll for individual talents using tables ** through **, one table for each applicable category of talents.

However, the actual talents a character has really should be determined by his origin. Keeping this in mind, the Judge may very well opt to let a player choose the talents his mage will have, allowing him a lot more creativity in the following three sections.

Contacts

Also presented in the SoCGI for your convenience is that table used to detail the initial number of contacts a new character will have; it is present as table ** here. Also, table ** lists the types of contacts a sorcerer may have upon the start his career, if the player needs any ideas - he need not roll up contact types if he doesn't want to.

Quirks

Again, for your convenience, the tables for determining quirks for a character are provided. Quirk type is shown on table **, and the individual quirk tables run from **-**. Again, though, quirks are something that shouldn't be rolled up randomly; the charts just make for a convenient form of list.

Filling in the blanks

Once all the basic details concerning a mage have been determined, it is time to 'fill in the blanks', or to detail all of his personal and background information. Who is he? What does he look like? Where is he from? What is he like? Why has he spent time to learn the arts arcane? Who trained him how to wield these potent abilities? Why?

With the sole exception of your mystic mentor (who the Judge must generate, with maybe the exception of a name), all other character information must be determined by the player in order to make it truly his character, and to really 'flesh him out'. This is often the most difficult part of the character generation process, the part where many will fail.

However, with a little effort and some serious consideration, the answers to these questions can make that simple little piece of paper with all the funny words on it really come alive!