Strengthening the Basic D&D Magic User.

Low level Magic Users have only a few spells. Once all the spells are cast, their contributions to the party can be very limited. Here are some options to increase Magic User proficiencies/fun in a campaign. Three are by-the-book, the last is a house rule.

By-The-Book:

1. Scroll creation at 1st level:

Holmes pg 13. “Magic users may make a scroll of a spell they already "know" (i.e. have in their magic book) at a cost of 100 gold pieces and 1 week's work for each spell of the first level, 200 gold pieces and 2 weeks for a second level spell.”

2. Move and Cast:

Gazetteer 3 pg 59. “Agility Training: This allows the magic-user to roll (d20) under his Dexterity to be able to cast spells while moving. This can only he done at a normal walking pace; riding a mount or dodging attacks imposes a severe penalty on the ability check (DM's discretion, a -1 to -10 to the Dex score. depending on circumstances). If the attempt fails, the spell is lost.”

3. Combining Spell Levels:

Gazetteer 3 pg. 59 “Spell Combination: This technique allows the student to mix his spell levels in any combination, so long as the total spell levels memorized do not exceed his capacity. For example: a level 4 magic-user normally casts two 1st level spells, and two 2nd levels (for a total of 6 spell levels).With this technique, he can choose to memorize six first level spells. Or three second levels, or any other appropriate combination.”

Casting House Rule by Finarvyn/Firebee:

Free cast-power point system. All types of spell casters are allowed to free cast. They don't need to choose spells beforehand. Magic Users/Elves are limited to the spells in their book.

Just total the spell slots you have available per level and that's your power pool. A first level spell is worth 1 point, a 2^nd level spell is worth 2 points and so on. Then any spell you cast, deducts that level from the power pool (i.e. a 3rd level spell uses 3 points). You are still limited to the maximum number of spells your character can cast. So a 4^th level MU would have 6 spell points and could cast a total of 4 spells.

To make the system a little more fun, give each player a plastic gem for every spell they can cast, and a plastic coin for every spell point. When they cast a spell, they simply give the DM a gem and the appropriate number of coins. It's a pretty easy way to keep track of spells and spell points.