Atrius smiled, and twirled his fingers through the air, speaking the single whisper of power before slapping the steer on the side. When he took his hand away, his personal sigil was clearly marked on the animal's flank, though there was no wound, and no discomfort. The beast grunted, and Atrius snickered as he urged his horse forward. Within the next few hours, the herd was properly marked, all of them calm and grazing.
The drive wasn't as bad as it might otherwise be. From atop his saddle, he could easily direct the herd where he wanted them to go with no more than a few flicks of his wrist, and an occasional eldritch incantation. He kept them calm and moving forward, resisting the temptation to ever enchant them to cut the drive time. He'd seen where that could go, if a man wasn't careful.
Snow Tips watched during the night, the gray barn owl keeping a sharper eye out than he ever could. Still, Atrius kept his wands close, and his field grimoire well-thumbed. There were worse dangers than the threat of a stampede out in the wild lands, and if he wanted his herd to make it to Tracker's Ford in one piece he'd have to keep himself ready for any sort of trouble.
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| He still had student loans to pay, and univeralist wizards weren't in-demand. |
The Cattle Rancher Wizard
When most of us look at a wizard's spell list, we think of the application in terms of dungeon crawls, combats, and adventures. However, there are a lot of spells that could really make the grueling work of a cattle drive so much easier on someone. Whether it's casting a spell on your horse to enhance its speed and endurance, using arcane mark so you can always find your cows, or just turning your lasso into a rope trick so you can camp comfortably in the most inhospitable conditions, a little bit of magic goes a long way when it comes to completing tasks that would otherwise take an entire team of workers.
This concept isn't just about being a cowboy who happens to be a wizard, though.
The idea is, more broadly, to stop thinking of a wizard as a profession instead of a skill set. Rather, this character uses their knowledge of magic to accomplish some other task. Why not a transmuter who's a farmer, turning arid soil into potable land that grows amazing crops? Or a diviner who acts as a bounty hunter, always one step ahead of whoever is trying to get away from her? An abjurer who works as a bodyguard, perhaps? An enchanter who's a diplomat? An illusionist who works for the circus, who operates as a spy, or perhaps both? An evoker who works as a forest ranger, using their spells to conduct controlled burns, stop forest fires, and occasionally to deal with bandits?
The idea here is to take a profession that is typically mundane in some way, shape, or form, and to ask yourself how a wizard would use their skills and powers to do the job. From traveling merchants, to sewer cleaners, to medical examiners, to archaeologists, there's a plethora of possibilities out there... and if all else fails, you can always fall back on roping steers and driving cows!
For more thought-provoking ideas on this class, check out my 5 Tips For Playing Better Wizards, which is part of my ongoing 5 Tips series!
Here's the thing. You have to sacrifice a lot to be a wizard, years of grueling apprenticeship, poring over books, doing tons of scrubwork for a master. When you're finally done with all that, it's generally with a greater ambition than herding cows or making horseshoes. Especially since the former doesn't pay that much. This sort of thing is for those who didn't quite make the cut. Who failed at their apprenticeships but retain enough knowledge to put to use.
ReplyDeleteIt's more than the how.... it's the why that matters.
Which book is this from?
ReplyDeleteIt's not in a book, as far as I know. It's just a potential use/interpretation for how one might use magic in game.
DeleteAs a cowboy yogi I love it. Might I recommend Mad Amos, a series of short stories about a mountain man wizard? You'd probably also appreciate my own blog, Slap Bookleather.
ReplyDelete