I meant to do this one earlier, but I got busy writing something else. Honestly, I am a little surprised I haven't done this before now.
Larina Nix
I first rolled Larina up in July of 1986. At first, she was a "magic-user," and I would play her like a witch. She had a few adventures that year, but that was also when my then DM was heading out of town, and I was getting ready for my senior year at high school.
Then Dragon Magazine #114 came out in October.
I read it all over and wondered how I should convert her. The answer became obvious to me right away. She was a witch, only pretending to be a wizard so she could go to Glantri's School of Magic. I kept her magic-user levels and then went on to advance her as a Dragon #114 witch. In the game, I said she ran out of money to keep going, so instead, she got a job at the library in hopes of paying her tuition.
I updated her sheet and declared her birthday was October 25, but she tells everyone it is October 31st.
As the game progressed, she became less the magical powerhouse I envisioned and became more the group's sage, occult expert, and polyglot. So when it came time to level her up, I took the spells that gave her more social and mental power/aspects. If the choice was to take a power/spell/magic item that gave a blasty power OR say, learn a new language, then I always took the language. This was also the origin of the "From the Journals of Larina Nix."
I kept playing her over the years. In college, I kept notes on her and how she played, including her witch spells and powers vs. her magic-user/wizard ones. I combined these notes with notes I had started back in 1983 on a witch class, and eventually, they became my first Witch class. Since she was so focal in those experiments, I also re-did her as one of my new witches and featured her in a bit of fiction when she was six years old and discovering that she was a witch.
But in the meantime, here is Larina circa 1987-88.
Larina NixLarina by Gabe Fua
10th level witch / 1st level Magic-user (Dual classed)
Dexterity: 12
Constitution: 12
Intelligence: 18
Wisdom: 18
Charisma: 18
Comeliness: 21
Hit Points:
Alignment: Lawful Neutral
AC: 2 (Bracers of Protection AC 2)
Powers
1st level: none
2nd level: none
3rd level: Brew poisons & narcotics
4th level: Brew truth drug
5th level: Brew love potion
6th level: Manufacture potions & scrolls
7th level: Candle magic
Spells
First: (5+3+1) Charm Man I, Cure Wounds, Darkness, Give Wounds, Light, Magic Disk, Mending, Read Languages, Sleep (MU)
Second: (5+1) Bless, ESP, Identify, Locate Object, Seduction II, Speak with Animals
Magic Items
Dagger +2, Staff of Enchantment, Broom of Flying, Crystal ball w/ ESP.
Interesting.
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