The BattleMage Players Handbook

Character Creation

Available Races

Only those that can "pass" for human are allowed. Players are allowed to have non-human traits but are expected to keep them covered or not noticeable from more than 10 feet away with a casual glance.

• Human (Bavarian, Iberian, Gallic, Seyrune)
• Human (Foreigner) -1 Social Standing Table Roll
• Half-Elf -2 Birth Order Table roll
• Half-Orc (Rare) -2 Birth Order Table roll
• Half-Ogre (Rare) -2 Birth Order Table roll
• Daemon-Touched (Very Rare) -3 Birth Order Table roll

Initial Age

The empire begins intense Battlemage training at a very young age. Depending on the season and the time of testing students will be either 13 or 14 when they start school. (12+d2)

Age Bracket	Human / Daemon	half orc/ogre	Half Elf	Starting Modifiers
Youth	10 -13	8-11	13-23	WIS -2, STR -1, DEX +1
Young Adult	14-20	12-15	24-40	WIS -1, CON +1
Mature	21+	16+	41+	STR +1

Half elves will remain Youths with childlike features for all the school years while Half Orcs and Half Ogres start off as young adult. Half Elves will be taunted constantly for being small and frail.

Social Standing Table

Roll (d20)	Status	Starting Gear	Silver
5 or less	Commoner	Dagger, Ringmail	2d6
6–10	Merchant / Tradesfolk	Sword, Chainmail	4d10
11–14	Military/Gentry	Sword, Chainmail	2d10
15–17	Minor Noble	Sword, low quality Cuirass	4d10
18	Landed Knight	Sword, Cuirass	5*4d10
19	High Noble	Fancy Sword,Silver Gilded Cuirass	10*4d10
20	Royal Blood	Artifact Sword, Magic Gold Gilded Cuirass	100*4d10

Descriptions

Commoner – Born of peasants, laborers, and the indentured. Most hail from farmland or the working districts of towns. Upon entry to the Academy, commoners are issued only a wooden sword for their first year, a humbling tradition meant to forge discipline before granting real steel.

Merchant / Tradesfolk Lineage – Children of skilled craftsmen, merchants, or respected guild members. They arrive with a proper sword and chainmail, representing the wealth of their household, though nobles may still dismiss them as “coin-born.”

Military / Gentry – Offspring of veteran officers, town captains, or landed gentry without titles. Trained from youth in swordplay, they begin with solid chainmail and a serviceable blade. Their families often expect military excellence.

Minor Noble – Descended from minor knightly lines, often holding a crest and small estate. Issued a low-quality cuirass in addition to their sword—sufficient for training, but hardly ornamental. Characters are referred to as Junker/ Jungfrau.

Landed Knight – Members of knightly families granted lands in exchange for service to the crown. Arrive at the Academy in a proper cuirass and fine sword, already regarded with respect by peers. Characters are referred to as Esquire

High Noble – Bearers of well-known family names and hereditary titles. Their estates are vast, their influence political and far-reaching. They wear silver-gilded cuirasses and carry finely wrought blades that draw envy from all but the Royals. Even as a child these characters are referred to as Lord / Lady.

Roll (1d0)	Rank	Description
1–4	Baron	Holds a fortified Estate or Castle in the territory of a Count or Margrave.
5-6	Viscount	Oversees a small territory or city district, often subordinate to a Count.
7-8	Count	Governs a county-sized territory; politically influential in regional matters.
9	Margrave	Military governor of a border province; commands troops and fortifications.
10	Duke	Ruler of a duchy; one of the most powerful lords in the Empire after the Emperor. A Duke can have their own Knight Order.

Royal Blood – Kin to the Imperial line itself of Bavaria or a direct descendant of one of the kings of the other countries in the Empire. Their armor is gold-gilded and enchanted, and their swords are artifacts of great power. Few ever walk the Academy halls, and their presence shifts the balance of politics wherever they go. They a referred to as Your Highness or His/Her Serene Highness [Name]. A side effect of being a royal is countless backstabbers and liars are always just around the corner attempting to gain something from you.

Birth Order & Intra-Family Status Table

Roll (2d4)	Status Title	Notes
2 or less	Stigma-Born	Rumored bastard or scandal-born; often sent to military or clergy. Not permitted to use family name.
3	Unacknowledged	Illegitimate; not permitted to use family name unless legitimized.
4	Fostered Ward	Raised by allies or vassals; uncertain standing within the house.
5-6	Youngest Born, or Overlooked	3rd or more in line by birth order or perceived competence. Destined for military.
7	Middle Born	Balanced opportunity. Often must prove worth through deeds.
8	First Born	First in line to inherit the Family.

Minimum Stats for BattleMage

• Strength: 14
• Intelligence: 16
• Dexterity: 13

**BattleMage Experience **

Level	Experience	d8	Proficiencies Weapons/Magic	Title
1	0	1	2/3	Initiate
2	4500	2	2/3	White Rose Apprentice
3	9000	3	2/4	Red Rose Apprentice
4	20,000	4	3/4	Silver Rose Apprentice
5	40,000	5	3/5	WhiteMagus
6	80,000	6	3/5	RedMagus
7	150,000	7	4/6	PurpleMagus
8	240,000	8	4/6	SilverMagus
9	400,000	9	4/7	GoldMagus
10	600,000	10	5/7	BattleMage
11	1,000,000	11	5/8	BattleMage
12	1,500,000	12	5/8	BattleMage
13	2,000,000	13	6/9	Arch Magus
14	2,500,000	13+2	6/9	Arch Magus
15	3,000,000	13+4	6/10	Arch Magus

+500,000 XP per level above 15

Elemental Alignment

A BattleMage’s deepest bond is to their attuned element. They may only master spells outside their chosen element if those spells are one level lower than their maximum spell tier. For example, a mage who can cast 4th-level spells may master a 4th-level spell of their element, but only 3rd-level or lower spells from other schools.

At the beginning of level 1 the BattleMage chooses their specialty of magic energy types.

Element Paths

• Air – Movement, lightning, sound, speed (A)
• Arcane – Pure magic, force, dispelling, mana (R)
• Earth – Defense, stone, gravity, iron (E)
• Fire – Burning, explosive, wrathful (F)
• Ice – Freezing, control, delay, piercing (I)
• Water – Healing, flowing, cold, mist (W)
• Void – Forbidden, entropy, shadow, mind (V)

Weapon Proficiencies:

BattleMages can use all fighter Weapon Proficiencies, but they have less of them. They start with 2 and gain an additional one every 3 levels (4th, 7th, 10th, etc)

It recommended to pick a type of sword (Broad, Bastard, two-hand) and players choice of a second.

Battle mages can chose to Specialize and even Double Specialize at later levels.

Magic Proficiencies:

Starting BattleMages get 3 magic Proficiencies and an additional every 2 levels (3rd, 5th, 7th etc)

It is recommended all battlemages pick either 1 hand spell casting

• 1 hand spell casting:

• Spell Focus (rod, staff, and wand): +1 Initiative when casting spell or using the magic item

• Spell focus (Weapon):

• Non Verbal Casting:

• Blind Targeting: (even when blind can shoot attacks like missiles with a to hit roll)

• Elemental Intensity: target receives -2 to saves against the casters spells of his/her element

• Elemental Strength: +1 per die Damage

• Elemental Range: increased Range - 1.5x

• Mana Training: +1 mana per level

• Magic Proficiencies: PER roll to understand how much mana a target has, can also sense and target when blind

• Hide Presence: At will the Caster can become just part of the background. If They are being stealthy, the Battlemage can be unnoticed by anyone lower level than them with a 3d6 DEX role. Also they can hide their Mana from those that would normally detect it or specific devices with a successful 4d6 INT Role. The BattleMage on a successful roll can reduce their visible mana to none, or a small amount of their choosing.

• Spell Mastering: Adds 1 spell to Master (the spell can be changed with 1 week practice)

• Detect Magic on touch: After touching a person or thing, the caster gets a free detect magic and with a 4d6 INT roll the BattleMage they will sense if there is a dangerous magic or curse on the person or Item.

• Decisive Speed: For a single round the player gains +3 to their initiative roll once per combat. Can be used after initiative roll is made.

• Counter: At the top of the round, the character can decide to defend - Casting defense spell gives +3 initiate if they are not surprised,

• Familiar Spell Casting: 1 1st level spell per day for each 4 levels of spell caster, minimum of 1 spell per day.

• Familiar Wizard Magic Item Use: The character's familiar can use a single magic item like a wand, ring, or necklace. The familiar must be able to physically hold/carry the item.

• Additional Familiar: Can be acquired multiple times up to 3 familiars. The second familiar give an addition to magic resistance of 1/2 and the 3rd will add another 1 /4th. 3 Quasits would gives 25+12+6 or a total of 43% magic resistance. The BattleMage Also receives the Additional HitPoints of Each.

• Resistance to your Element: (1/2 or 1/4 on save)

• Mastered Cantrip - Present Spell book to page

• Mastered Cantrip - Create/manipulate (elemental energy)

• Mastered Cantrip - Translate

• Mastered Cantrip - Calm animal

• Mastered Cantrip - Loud Voice: (can grab Agro, or attention of many)

• Mastered Cantrip - Speak Through Familiar

• Mastered Cantrip - Any from UA

Cantrips

A Mastered Cantrip is one that can be cast at anytime with no mana cost.

Additional cantrips - A Battlemage can have a memorized cantrips at the rate equal to double their number of mastered first level spells.

The Battlemage is able to cast 2x level for free per day of memorized cantrips or cantrips in his/her spell book. To cast more, the Caster can use 1pt of mana to get another 2x Level in cantrips to cast.

Language Arcanum

At level 1 Battlemages learn the language Arcanum. Read Magic and Write Magic can be done on a 3 or 4d6 INT roll for most tasks. No spell needed. This takes one of the available language slots of the character at creation.

Many highly Intelligent spell casting creatures from other planers are fluent in Arcanum.

Spells and Mana

Mastered Spells

level	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	5th	6th	7th	8th	9th	Mana
1	1	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	1
2	2	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	3
3	2	1	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	5
4	2	2	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	7
5	3	2	1	—	—	—	—	—	—	10
6	3	2	2	—	—	—	—	—	—	14
7	3	3	2	1	—	—	—	—	—	18
8	3	3	2	2	—	—	—	—	—	22
9	3	3	3	2	1	—	—	—	—	28
10	4	3	3	2	2	—	—	—	—	32
11	4	3	3	3	2	1	—	—	—	36
12	4	4	3	3	2	2	—	—	—	40
13	5	4	3	3	3	2	1	—	—	44
14	5	4	4	3	3	2	2	—	—	48
15	5	5	4	3	3	3	2	1	—	52
16	5	5	4	4	3	3	2	2	—	56
17	5	5	5	4	3	3	3	2	—	60
18	5	5	5	4	4	3	3	2	1	64
19	5	5	5	5	4	3	3	3	1	68

Spellcasting

While a traditional wizard prepares a vast array of spells in advance, the BattleMage embraces efficiency and instinct. Their magic is powered by a mana pool, not a rigid spell book. Each spell cast draws directly from their reserves—1st-level spells cost 1 mana, 7th-level spells cost 7, and so forth.

Spell Mastery and Learning

A BattleMage’s success in learning and mastering spells depends on intellect:

Intelligence	Elemental Mastery	General Mastery	Learn New Spell	Mana Bonus
16	85%	50%	65%	+1
17	90%	55%	75%	+2
18	95%	60%	85%	+3
19	99%	65%	95%	+4
20+	99%	70%	97%	+5

On Mastery

A spell once mastered becomes part of the BattleMage’s permanent arsenal. These cannot be swapped on a whim—a week of dedicated study is required to replace even one. If the chance to Master the spell fails, that are unable to try again until gaining a level or having a scroll from a different source making the learning a bit unique. But mastery has its rewards: mastered spells require no preparation and may be cast freely using mana. Mastered spells can't be interrupted by taking damage in that round.

Known spells but not mastered

The Battlemage will be able to learn other spells and keep them ready in their books. The Battlemage can open their book and cast a learned spell using the same mana cost. This generally causes the casters AC drops while doing so as rear AC while reading the spell. Spells cast in this manner can be interrupted by taking damage over the level of the spell caster in one round.

Putting a spell on the inside of a hand held Shield could give a benefit of only dropping the AC dex bonus from the front during the round. A single low level spell can be inscribed on other Items bracers to allow easier casting in the same way.

Recovering Mana

Mana Recovery Table

Method	Recovery Rate	Notes
Rest 1 hour	1 mana per level	Requires no activity,
Normal Activity 1 hour	1/4 level	minor tasks, no combat
Mana Potion	1d8+2 mana	Instant, single use, 100sp
Greater Mana Potion	2d8+4 mana	Instant, single use, 400sp
Rations	1 mana	Basic food, 2cp
Fresh Cooked Meal	1d4 mana	successful cooking, 1sp
Great Meal	1d4+2 mana	Requires fresh herbs, 5sp
Great Meal (Monster)	2d4+4 mana	Requires monster kill, 10sp
Meditation (Success)	1 mana/level per 15 min	Int check, max 4 successes/hour