Given my group’s theme about players masquerading as something/someone they are not, and the apparent entire class’s love of this theme, I turned to a game of the same topic for this review. “Definitely Wizards” is an indie TTRPG by Elliot HT. The game is set in a world where magic is considered dangerous, so only the best-trained and certified wizards can legally practice magic or sell magical items. However, there’s plenty more types of magic than just the kind taught by wizards… and you happen to practice one of those types. Additionally, the wizard exam MUST be taken in teams, and you’re not sure you know any real wizards. Your goal is to pass the annual wizard certification exam without letting it slip that you or anyone on your team has unofficial (“wild”) magic, lest you be arrested, or worse, expelled!
Quick note, I purchased this game through the “TTRPGs for Trans Rights” bundle on itch.io last year, meaning I got it almost for free comparatively. That said, I went back to donate more to this creator after playing the game. Without the bundle, the game is only $3 and is well worth the price for the delightfully charming art and the surprisingly thorough rulebook. Check it out here: https://elliothtart.itch.io/definitely-wizards
This game can be played with any number of people, but I held a game where I was the GM and had 5 other people acting as players. Each of my players chose one of the many classes, including Muscle Magic (wild magic that is expressed mostly in feats of supernatural strength) and 2d6 Familiars in a Trenchcoat (a group of magic animals that don’t want to be tamed). The latter class was especially funny to me given what I’ve been working on.
Similar to the Lasers & Feelings system, every roll is a d6, and you succeed when you roll under the number assigned to your stat. Additionally, characters in this game have two opposing stats: Wizard and Wild. Wizard refers to the legal magic that these characters have learned. Wild refers to their innate forms of magic that are considered illegal. Unlike Lasers & Feelings, both stats start at 3, and your character’s stats change as you use magic. When you successfully cast a Wizard spell, your Wizard stat goes up by 1, making it easier to succeed at Wizard spells in the future. However, if your Wizard stat reaches 6, you can’t use any more Wizard spells until your Wild magic has been released. Similarly, using too much Wild magic means you will need to reign yourself in with Wizard magic. If either of your stats go above 6, then your character fails the exam! This system makes for a very tense and engaging balancing act where the players struggle to help each other out, so that none of them seem too suspicious, since all of them pass or fail as a group.
As a GM, my role was to play any NPCs and enemies that the players encountered. The wizard exam consisted of three rooms, each with their own puzzles and combat scenarios. The tables provided made constructing these rooms on the fly incredibly easy and fun, and I had a great time trying to trip the players up at every turn based on what kind of wild magic they were tempted to use. In traditional TTRPGs, the GM often has to prepare a lot ahead of time, but this system was loose and fluid enough that I was able to improv just as much as my players.
Overall, it was a great time and I highly recommend this TTRPG for anyone who loves weird magic systems and pretending to be something you’re not.
— Jude Denning
