How do you like your Wizards?

I prefer no wizards, but if they must be present, they are people who have gained control over their reality through rigorous conditioning, whether intentional or not. They control their emotions and beliefs through their innumerable layers of irony and contradiction, in particular, their self-hatred combined with confidence and pride, and their apathy and desire for nothingness combined with their grand ambitions and convictions. In the real world, you have wizards like Trump who are relatively normal people who don't fully grasp the meaning of their abilities but still utilize them, however I prefer to go with the more obscure version I described previously. Wizards bend the world to their will through seemingly mundane means, but their accomplishments are simply too absurd and coincidental to have been obtained without magic. They have no visible control of the physical world beyond that of any normal human, but their will seems to cause paranormal physical aberrations, such as conjuring natural disasters that play into their grand scheme.

I wouldn't stoop to having spellcasting or clear magic in any serious setting, if I were to do so then it would be bearded wizards in robes who shoot fireballs and magic missiles.

Whenever I play a wizard I play a savant with dementia, interested only in further advancing his knowledge.

Varied

Bathrobes or pajamas. Sometimes (anachronistic) shorts and a wife-beater. Very occasionally nude.
But they go out (or have a visitor) they cast an illusion to appear in stereotypical wizard garb.

The archetypal wizard taken up to eleven, with every aloof and mystical trait embraced.

Part priest, part scientist, part madman, and part philosopher, the sort of person who while walking will avoid a specific tree or make a gesture passing a certain field or old pile of rocks on a roadside because they're seeing and are aware of things that pass us by. An initiate aware and attuned to a greater intricate web of all things, who knows that magic isn't really separate from us or alien to us but is part of a totality of nature and the universe, it merely exists as a further set of laws and guidelines, permeated through different layers. A mystic above all else. The wizard should be seen as a lone traveler on a road off to seek some new answer or as a dweller in some lonely place asking questions. An eternal student always learning but secure and proud in the knowledge they uncover. Some train under other wizards, some don't, some form small cabals, some rule over elite societies. Some wizards are loners, some neutral, some desire company, but magic is a lifestyle, being a wizard isn't an occupation, you become a wizard. That is what you are.

Having wizards around is like having McGuyver in your party except instead of ducttape and PVC they use the various rules of the universe's setting to do their magic.

Young and inexperienced.
I like my wizards to actually seem like they're learning as they level, rather than just unlocking some hidden potential.

dead

Basically witchers. Low key red mages with a deep respect for knowledge

Looking like a hobo

nigga I don't know where you live but if the local hobos are half-naked manhives you should probably move

Like praedor sorcerer kings. Powerful, immortal, and unable to go to the wasteland because the wild magic would rip them apart.

Experimental scholars manipulating the basic fabric of the universe with only the barest glimpses of understanding, using elaborate and conflicting systems which are 95% superfluous superstitions and 5% inaccurate or incomplete but otherwise sound physics.

What the hell, MAGINA

SERIOUSLY

...

hobo wizards, best wizards

Noir and badass.
Recently started a Tremere character with most of his skills in investigation and detective work rather than occultism and majick. Other PC were quite suprtised at his "untremerish" looks abd behaviour (despite the fact rulebook flat out states there are lots of Tremere who don't go wizard at all, specializing in anything rom IT to security). Doule surprized (and !!panicking!!) when I started flinging fireballs from one hand, while firing a revolver from another after five sessions of no majick at all.

Depends on what they're doing, and if magic is formalised and/or relatively common, but I like the wizards of the Unseen University, the WHFB Empire's Colleges of magic and the similar-in-style academics of Sanctaphrax - where mystical knowledge meets scheming.

Tough-as-nails worldly semi-hermit wizards are pretty great as well - especially when their magic is more often subtle than shown.
This includes Ridcully, despite him belonging to UU

Perf

reddit

Ridcully is basically the male counterpart to a witch, right? Makes sense.

This, or wearing a conical hat. Robes are good, fancy robes with stars on are good, but you can be a wizard in blue jeans and a white vest if you've got the hat.

...

...

>JRPG party mage, 40 years later

So you don't like wizards at all. Instead you like generic D&D sorcerers.

Diverse
Or rather i like it then the stuff like nature, elemental, necromacy or wizardry magic are all their own thing working by their own rules.

Basically a ye olde NEET but he's good at magic

Putting their spells as npm modules

crazy old man with pointy hat, robe, no pants and a bag of fireworks

Not really - he's a counterpart to Granny Weatherwax, in being a very tough, practical leader of a magical community (and a few other things that are purely personal between them) - but he's very much a wizard in the way he acts and thinks

MAGIC SUUUUUUUUUCKS

Female and half naked.

Thematic. I like wizards that have a particular path they follow and not too much deviation. Like Gandalf had light and fire, with a lot if normal knowledge skills on the side. Thulsa Doom was an enchanter, Merlin had knowledge of the future and Tim throws fireballs like you'd never believe.

Dead

Eccentric, awesome, capable of making the impossible possible, and having varied degrees of irresponsibility and crazy.

Either the likes of those who live in a Wizard's Tower or those who are wanderers.

youtube.com/watch?v=3Oe7Q8OCm5I
With delusion of grandeur

The Discworld point-and-click adventure game has a really good description of wizards in a scene where Rincewind is questioning the more senior wizards at Unseen University.
>These -- these dresses we wear. Are they strictly necessary?
>The robes, lad, are symbolic of our dedication. You see, this is not so much a calling, a profession, as a condition of mind. By wearing long robes, we imply a somnambulistic state, an attitude in which we walk dreamily through this world with our minds occupied by higher things.
>Higher... like, say, as high as this hat?
>Well, the hat, too! Its height implies a loftiness of thoughts.
>Or it might imply that we should have let our mothers keep on dressing us.
>What's more, it keeps young whippersnappers like you from running off! Would you want to walk the streets looking like a refugee from a somewhat suspicious pencil factory?

All in all, I really like Discworld wizards. I'm a sucker for wizards as nutty professors.

I do like sorcerers, but sorcerers have innate magic potential that isn't tied to their understanding of the world around them. I like wizards who learn how to manipulate magical forces through accidental, unique experiences, which is how wizardry all started anyway. It isn't until someone had the idea to pool all of these experiences and the knowledge derived from these experiences together that formal wizard education began to exist- it's not like they've always been there.

I like taking it back to its roots

If it's an just an accidental experience without understanding then it's not really wizardry.
For example, imagine a cavemen idly rubbing a stick against another stick and then dropping it in some dry leaves which then ignite. He repeats this whenever he wants fire but does not understand the underlying concepts of friction or combustion. This caveman is like a sorcerer.
Now imagine a second caveman idly rubbing two sticks together, he touches a stick and burns himself. He later sees a neighboring tribes sacred flame (started by lighting or some shit IDK) and burns himself when he touches it. He makes the connection that rubbing and fire both make burning and then tries to make a fire using rubbing. This caveman is like a wizard.

In short if they don't understand their magic they're not a wizard they're a sorcerer or some other shit tier magic user.

Discworld wizards are pretty great, definitely bumbling professors, definitely still powerful people you didn't want to annoy.

Though after Sourcery I don't think there was ever a wizard villain, which was a minor shame (though the baddies from the first 3 books do a good job) - I'd love to see what Ridcully and Co. would be like if they faced a young, dynamic wizard who wanted to go back to the bad old days of wizardly rank-climbing via dead men's pointy shoes (with possible temptation of using magic offensively - even worse, possibly against another wizard).
Though I like to think the mid-levels of UU are still a bit more lively, just the senior faculty are so used to it from their younger days they're all quite close to Ridcully levels of hard to kill - they occasionally inform a wizard that there's a space in the faculty for him to move up when one of his erstwhile colleagues fails in a more terminal manner

Also one of the first games to have a VA say "fuck", iirc, courtesy of Eric Idle

>If it's an just an accidental experience without understanding then it's not really wizardry
Don't strawman me, I'm talking about accidental experiences that lead to unique understanding.

If you're a "wizard" who only repeats instructions that were written in books that other people wrote and wears pointy hats, you're the real caveman.

as strange old men that don't look like power masters of the arcane arts

> If you're a "wizard" who only repeats instructions that were written in books that other people wrote and wears pointy hats, you're the real caveman.
>In short if they don't understand their magic they're not a wizard they're a sorcerer or some other shit tier magic user.

Stop listening to /5eg/ and bump your INT to 9 to become literate.

superstitious with subtle magic and unnecessary rituals, basically made of bells and whistles. in addition, warlocks

That reminds me, I gotta get more of audiobooks.

How do audiobooks do footnotes?

With their feet

Yeah, so what the fuck are you arguing with me about if we're in agreement? Same goes for you, sassy low CHA scum.

Visually, full gandalf.

Personality, like

FUCKING YES

ARE THERE ANY MORE LIKE THIS

...

Looks like a loli, acts like the grumpy old coot he is

This is the perfect wizard recipe

REEEEEEE BADWRONGFUN

The wizards in DCC are pretty interesting in concept, but in play unfortunately I feel the Mercurial Magic slows down play.

kek

go back to the oWoD general, you autistic faggot

>CTRL+F earthsea
>CTRL+F le guin
>CTRL+F boat jedi wizard chronicles
baka desu senpai

This ought to be required reading

I like wizards best when they are supporting characters or at least third person and fully defined by external actions. When we are not in their head the magic and sorcery they wield is mysterious and otherworldly. When written or portrayed properly the wizard understands the depth and breadth of their powers while we don't. Wizards are best when they have that mystique.

Furthermore I like wizards who carry authority and gravitas. Wizards ought not be silly, incompetent buffoons.

Pic related: Best Merlin. A dream to some. A nightmare to others!

>Furthermore I like wizards who carry authority and gravitas. Wizards ought not be silly, incompetent buffoons.
I feel obligated to mention that gravitas, competency, and tomfoolery are not mutually exclusive traits.

>Wizards ought not be silly, incompetent buffoons.
>posts Merlin from Excalibur (1981)
>Merlin
>competent
>serious

>Helps an Idiot king have sex once
>Promotes Idiot kings idiot son's incest
>Gets frozen forever by Morgan La Fey

he looked serious WHILE being silly and incompetent

clearly he fooled you

Have ethernet connection and shitpost.

Is there a non-meme version of this picture?

I remember being told to read Earthsea in middle school, but I was thoroughly underwhelmed by it. Maybe I should give it another try...