#explosive familiar

One Hundred Wizards, 60th Level Orc, 2024

What might sound like a dime-a-dozen D&D5e supplement is actually an OSR game with a unique concept. All your characters are wizards, but each of you has a very specific and flavorful spell list.

The system is more or less basic D&D with some modern improvements. It's the usual six stats, AC and saves that go upward, BAB instead of THAC0, Fort/Ref/Will saves as per 4e, "got 'em or you don't" skills that give a +4 bonus, but a stripped-down combat system that's very "theater of the mind". Nothing particularly special here.

The interesting part is the classes. There are 30 different spellcaster classes. That's it. No fighter or thief. Well, some of the casters are very beefy or particularly sneaky, but everyone's casting spells.

So how about them spells? If your game is all wizards, you better have good spells.

No one gets less than three or more than a dozen. I think there's a strict word count limit on the lists, with two exceptions (the Diabolist and the Stargazer, who apparently need more guardrails).

A few of the spells match up with standard D&D stuff, especially the weirder ones. There's a Horse-Mage who effectively has Mount, Find Familiar, Animal Friendship, etc. There's a Mage of the Broken Mind with spells that line up with Hideous Laughter, Confusion, and Hypnotic Pattern (among others).

All spells are unique. No two classes share a spell.

A lot of them have names attached, like Radiment's Unyielding Windstorm or Endeleshe's Sacred Communion.

There are a small number I recognize from the List of Spells Not Worth Memorizing.

Most classes are not actually focused on a specific set of effects. They're more focused on specific ways to cast magic, like sound, gestures, rituals, or alchemy. Others seem to have a list of "This is what our ancestors found useful for the place we live." The Cliffside Magi, the Sorcerers of Sail, Those Who Climb To The Moon, the Mage (singular) of the Moving Island, and several others fall into that category. If you live on a cliffside, then spells that let you climb quickly, move things up and down, ignore wind, and speak with birds of prey become a pretty sensible set.

Ways to detect magic are likewise unique. I haven't seen a game before where one mage class has to watch patterns of carefully gathered colored sand in order to see magic, and another always sees magic even with their eyes closed. Some of them don't have any "Detect Magic" equivalent at all, and just have to guess.

Intentionally-written side effects are rare, but unfortunate implications are common. See also "you see magic with your eyes closed", which probably makes it hard to get to sleep.

There's a 5e-style concentration mechanic, but otherwise no limit on how many spells you can cast per day or have active at once.

The art is the weak point. It's sparse and generic. I think I recognize a few from stock art packs on DriveThru and Itch. Layout is mediocre. Honestly, attempting to provide character-specific art for each of 30 wizard classes would be kind of a challenge.