''Wizard'' is a game system of medieval fantasy combat designed by Steve Jackson, later of

Steve Jackson Games Steve Jackson Games (SJGames) is a game company, founded in 1980 by Steve Jackson, that creates and publishes role-playing, board, and card games, and (until 2019) the gaming magazine ''Pyramid''. History Founded in 1980, six years after the cr ...

, and published by

Metagaming Metagame, Hypergame, or game about the game, is an approach to a game that transcends or operates outside of the prescribed rules of the game, uses external factors to affect the game, or goes beyond the supposed limits or environment set by th ...

in 1978. In 2019, ''Wizard'' was revived and re-released by

Development and publication history

''Wizard'' was published by Metagaming in 1978 as

MicroGame {{Short description, Wikimedia disambiguation page The term microgame can refer to several subjects including: *MicroGame, line of board games by Metagaming Concepts *Microgame (board games), type of board game or wargame *Microgame (company), Itali ...

#6, a magic-based pocket

board game Board games are tabletop games that typically use . These pieces are moved or placed on a pre-marked board (playing surface) and often include elements of table, card, role-playing, and miniatures games as well. Many board games feature a comp ...

of individual combat. ''Wizard'' added magical combat rules to the combat system introduced in Jackson's previous game, ''

Melee A melee ( or , French: mêlée ) or pell-mell is disorganized hand-to-hand combat in battles fought at abnormally close range with little central control once it starts. In military aviation, a melee has been defined as " air battle in which ...

'', also published by Metagaming. ''Melee'', ''Wizard'' and gamemaster supplement '' In the Labyrinth'' eventually formed Metagaming's ''

The Fantasy Trip ''The Fantasy Trip'' (''TFT'') is a tabletop role-playing game designed by Steve Jackson (American game designer), Steve Jackson and originally published by Metagaming Concepts. In 2019, ''TFT'' was republished by Steve Jackson Games as ''The F ...

'' fantasy role-playing system. Both ''Melee'' and ''Wizard'' were expanded and re-released as ''Advanced Wizard'' and ''Advanced Melee'', with many role-playing elements added to the basic fantasy combat system. When Steve Jackson released

GURPS The ''Generic Universal RolePlaying System'', or ''GURPS'', is a tabletop role-playing game system designed to allow for play in any game setting. It was created by Steve Jackson Games and first published in 1986 at a time when most such systems w ...

in 1986, some of the concepts used in ''Wizard'' were used in the GURPS fantasy supplements. In late 2017, Jackson used a provision of U.S. copyright law to reclaim the rights to ''

'', allowing

to re-release ''Wizard'' in 2019.

Gameplay

The previously published ''Melee'' had outlined the rules of melee combat using two physical ability scores, Strength (ST) and Dexterity (DT), to determine success. ''Wizard'' is an expansion of the ''Melee'' tactical system that adds magical combat. Like ''Melee'', it also uses Strength and Dexterity scores, but adds IQ as a third ability score to determine the number and type of spells that can be learned. At the time ''Wizard'' was published, most games that required character generation used random

dice Dice (singular die or dice) are small, throwable objects with marked sides that can rest in multiple positions. They are used for generating random values, commonly as part of tabletop games, including dice games, board games, role-playing g ...

rolls to generate ability scores. ''Wizard'' and ''Melee'' were some of the first games, if not the first, to use a point-buy system: each player was given a fixed number of points with which to buy their character's three abilities. *Strength governs how much fatigue the figure could endure while casting spells, with each spell having a fatigue cost associated with it. Casting a spell causes a temporary drain on one's strength score, limiting the number of spells one can cast in a given period of time before resting. *Dexterity is used to determine if a spell is successfully cast: the player casting the spell rolls three dice; if the sum is less than the spellcaster's Dexterity score, the spell works. *IQ determines the number and complexity of spells a figure can learn, with one spell per point of IQ. A high IQ score – up to 16 – allows the use of more varied and powerful spells. IQ also determines whether or not an Image or Illusion spell cast by an opponent can be disbelieved. The concept of armor is also introduced in ''Wizard''. Wearing armor reduces the number of hit points from opponents' successful attacks, but penalizes the character's Dexterity score. Game components of ''Wizard'' include a hex sheet for use as a map, a set of rules, and laminated counters to be used for characters and opponents.

Reception

In the January 1980 edition of ''

Dragon A dragon is a reptilian legendary creature that appears in the folklore of many cultures worldwide. Beliefs about dragons vary considerably through regions, but dragons in western cultures since the High Middle Ages have often been depicted as ...

'' (Issue 33), Brad McMillan liked the quality of the game components, as well as the advantages that the new point-buy system for abilities had over random determination by dice. McMillan recommended ''Wizard '' and its companion piece, ''Melee'', saying, "''Wizard'' is an excellent game and well worth the purchase price of $3.95. With the addition of ''Melee'', weapon combat can be added for a wider range of tactical possibilities. ''Wizard'' and ''Melee'' were designed to mesh, and they do so well. This game offers an innovative alternative to chance-determined characters."

Steve Perrin Stephen Herbert Perrin (January 22, 1946 – August 13, 2021) was an American game designer and technical writer/editor, best known for creating the tabletop role-playing game ''RuneQuest'' for Chaosium. Early life and education Perrin earned a ...

reviewed ''Advanced Wizard'' for ''

Different Worlds ''Different Worlds'' was an American role-playing games magazine published from 1979 to 1987. Scope ''Different Worlds'' published support articles, scenarios, and variants for various role-playing games including ''Dungeons & Dragons'', ''Ru ...

'' magazine and stated that "Like its partners, this is a well-done set of rules and well deserves purchase."

Reviews

*''

Pegasus Pegasus ( grc-gre, Πήγασος, Pḗgasos; la, Pegasus, Pegasos) is one of the best known creatures in Greek mythology. He is a winged divine stallion usually depicted as pure white in color. He was sired by Poseidon, in his role as hor ...

'' #10 (Oct. 1982) *''

Magia i Miecz ''Magia i Miecz'' (Polish language, Polish for: ''Magic and Sword'') was the first Role-playing game, RPG-oriented magazine in Poland. Started in 1993, it ceased publishing in 2002 after 103 issues. The publisher was Wydawnictwo MAG. Tomasz Kołod ...

'' (Issue 5 – 1993) (Polish) *''

The Complete Book of Wargames ''The Complete Book of Wargames'' by Jon Freeman and the editors of Consumer Guide was published in 1980 by Simon & Schuster under the Fireside imprint. Contents This book comes in both a 285-page hardcover edition and a paperback version. In ...

References

External links

The Museum of Role-Playing Games
* {{bgg, 3463, ''Wizard'' Board games introduced in 1978 Fantasy board games Steve Jackson (American game designer) games Metagaming Concepts games