How can we make Magic Users (Mages) better? To my mind there are three problems we can work on: hit points, armor and weapons, and magic.

Hit Points

I have never understood why magic users have such terrible HP is BX. I understand that they don’t spend their time buffing up like fighters, but 1D4/LV is just too squishy for me.

I had already decided to level out the HD to a D6 for all classes, and HP are capped at CON+LV. Given that most Mages won’t have a great CON, this was close to being enough for me, but in a nod to convention I reduced a couple of mage levels to +1HP instead of +1HD. This means the defining factor in a mage’s HP is their CON, and as one of my prime focuses in The McHack was increasing the relevance of primary abilities then I am happy with this change.

Armor and Weapons

It makes no sense that mages cannot wear any armor at all, and that they can only use a tiny number of weapons. While I like the idea that a mage cannot perform complex rituals in heavier armed, it seemed good to me that they would be able to do so in light armor. This beefs mages up physically a little, while still restricting them from using heavier armor (they can use it, but everything they do is at disadvantage and they can’t cast magic). This seems fair.

As for weapons, I wanted to help mages break out from the staff/dagger combo. By allowing them to use all improvised and light weapons it adds a bit of flavor without massively increasing their combat capabilities. Mage with a light flail, anyone? Now you can!

Magic

I tried to tackle magic from two directions. Firstly, I drastically reduced the number of magic user spells. I wanted magic to be something humans struggle to master. While there are other spells out there in the setting, the reduced pool of spells are the ones commonly known to mages. The McHack is a low magic setting, and so minimizing human-available magic really lends weight to that fact.

I also wanted the game to be simpler to suit my refereeing style (that is to say, I’m not very smart!) I find it hard memorizing all the BX mage spells, and I know some of my players do too, so simplifying seemed like a good plan. I tried to keep the most game-able spells, loose those I find hard to include in games, and add a few of my own.

Secondly, I wanted to make magic darker and more dangerous. Rather than add complicated mechanics around spell success or failure, I decided to employ a simple system where the advancement of mage levels has a negative effect on the physical primary ability scores of the mage. The idea here is that magic is alien to humans, and so the practice of it warps and corrupts that mage’s body, even as their intelligence and casting power improves.

In addition to the mechanical changes above, it is written into the lore of the game that magic is an abomination to the gods (literally a usurping of their power). Therefore mages are both sort after for what they can do, and shunned for their rejection of the divine order. The goal here is that I wanted to make mages suffer! I wanted them to have to sacrifice bodily health and social connection to their arcane art. I like the result, and I hope you do too.