Warmage

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Among every class there are individuals who care only for battle. Warmages are arcane spellcasters who live for the din of combat, clashing blades, screams of pain, and, especially, the epic destruction wrought by war. The more utilitarian spells of wizards, sorcerers, and bards have little importance to a warmage; they favor function over form and are drilled only in spells most useful for smiting foes, sowing confusion, and screening allies. A warmage cares only for success in battle, often as part of an army, or in the smaller series of campaigns favored by adventuring companies.

Background
The vast majority of warmages are graduates of special arcane war colleges. These academies are not for the faint of heart; they follow a grueling course of study more akin to boot camp than a wizardly apprenticeship. Throughout the training, they are taught to wear armor while casting spells that are regularly of a far-higher level than the warmage can actually cast. The training drills the spells of war into a warmage's memory, thereby allowing him to prepare and cast spells from his entire list without needing a spellbook or other implements. Warmages have fewer available spells than sorcerers, but what spells they do know are enhanced. Each day a warmage prepares his spells by calling them from memory to the forefront of his mind. The training also gives the warmage proficiency in basic weaponry and armors.

Warmages are mainly humans or half-elves, but the spiritual strength needed to survive, let alone graduate from, an arcane war college can manifest itself among in any individual. Savage humanoid warmages aren't uncommon, and some of the more organized societies even set up their own colleges.

Warmage Adventurers
For adventuring companies, a warmage provides one thing: brute firepower. Warmages hone their skills through action, not study, so without prolonged use of their powers they cannot become truly deadly. Good-aligned warmages are concerned with fighting warlike and/or evil groups, for who better to blast into oblivion than those who deserve blasting? Evil warmages have little to no constraint on their actions, and adventure solely to gain power.

Because people of every alignment must be prepared to fight for their causes, warmages of all alignments exist. Any army that uses spellcasters as artillery is a home for a good warmage.

Warmages and Other Classes
Warmages have little in common with the other arcane spellcasting classes, who learn magic without the rigorous discipline and grueling training of an arcane war college. Warmages are much more comfortable with the more warrior-like classes - paladins, monks, and fighters.

Because of the warmage's limited spell selection, a group with a warmage should strongly consider acquiring a second spellcaster to complement his offensive powers with defensive and utilitarian spells.