A wizshade's vortex appears as an undulating, rushing snake of force in the air that slows and widens into a swirling, many-colored vortex about 8 feet in diameter. Out of this vortex rises a typical fantasy wizard (long beard, conical hat, flowing robes, etc) that is whimsical and may aid or harm those he encounters. Wizshades speak many languages, but their utterances make little or no sense.
Combat: Wizshades exclusively use spells in combat (and do not attack physically). The only known way to cause damage to a wizshade is to physically attack it with magical weapons.
Incorporeal: The misty bodies of wizshades offer little resistance to weapons, which pass through them without seemingly doing harm, but can be harmed by other incorporeal creatures. Magic weapons have only 50% chance to damage from a corporeal source, even then, no special weapon effects (such as vorpal or life-draining properties) function against a wizshade. They can pass through solid objects at will, and always move silently.
Random Spells (Su): Wizshades are the ultimate wildmage, casting spells at random each and every round of combat. To determine which spells they can cast roll a D10, the result is the level of spell they cast (treat a result of '0' as cantrips). They use only wizard/sorcerer spells, cannot cast spells on themselves. Regardless of how inappropriate the spell may be for the situation, the wizshade casts it. Spells that boost a caster's hit points or energy by taking it from a subject creature do benefit a wizshade.
The DM can use whatever random method he want to devise to determine what spell the wizshade cast. One such method is to use Table 8–24: Arcane Spell Scrolls from pages 200 and 201 of the
Dungeon Master's Guide. Spells cast by the wizshade have a DC of 10 + level of spell + wizshade's charisma modifier.
Magic Fluctuation (Su): Any spell or magical attack successfully cast on a wizshade does no physical damage to the wizshade, but eliminates the equivalent spell level from its use for that combat. In other words, if a
cloudkill is successfully cast on a wizshade, it cannot cast 5th level spells for the rest of that combat. If this spell level is rolled for wizshade use in a later combat round, the wizshade casts no spell that round. A wizshade make as Wisdom check at each loss of a spell level, DC 15, success means the wizshade vanishes back into its vortex and departs.
If a wizshade's magic resistance succeeds against any magical attack, it captures the attack's energy, and suffers no spell level loss. Instead, roll ld10. If the result is a spell level previously closed to the wizshade, it regains the use of that spell level in future rounds.
Vortex (Su): Wizshades seldom leave their vortices, and while within they can fly at rate 60 feet (average). The vortex (and the wizshade) are composed of mists akin to the phlogiston, and the vortex is connected to the phlogiston via a nearly imperceptible umbilical cord. Those daring enough to enter can traverse the vortex; the vortex leads to the swirling phlogiston. A wizshade can sink back into its vortex and depart at will.
A vortex collapses if its wizshade is destroyed. If the vortex is struck by spells that deal it more than 65 points of damage, it retreats from the Prime Material plane, taking the wizshade with it. The vortex is incorporeal, AC 20 and SR 15.
In the Spheres The strange entities known as wizshades are most common in the phlogiston between the crystal spheres that contain worlds, but they can also be encountered anywhere else. They seem attracted to artifacts, magical items of great power (or collections of such items), wild magic areas, or places where great magical energies have been released.
Wizshades never carry anything tangible; their garments are part of them.
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Wizshade, © 1990 Wizards of the Coast, Inc.
d20™ System, Conversion of Wizshade ©2002,
Mark Doolan
Image by
Ron Pollard
Original Source: Monstrous Compendium #7
Wizshade