All right, I admit it. For some strange reason this girl has a thing for wizards. Believe me, it’s not the pointy hats or robes that sends my heart aflutter, but rather the variety of magic spells that a wizard is capable of casting during the course of a role playing game. It makes no difference if I’m playing Dungeons and Dragons or Castles and Crusades, the wizard is my absolute favorite character class to play. True, wizards are rather weak and vulnerable to all sorts of mishaps in the early stages of the game, and at lower levels a wizard’s spells are lacking in both variety and effect. It’s only when a wizard gains experience and levels up that the real magic begins (pun intended).

In most fantasy role playing games, a wizard really starts cooking at around level 5. At this level, an adventuring wizard typically has a nice variety of spells at hand. One of my favorite spells is Teleport. Not only is this spell incredibly useful, it’s lots of fun declaring “Beam me up, Scotty” right before the spell is cast. With Teleport, a wizard can instantly transport from “point A” to “point B” on the same plane of existence, along with a certain amount of weight (gear, objects and even another person or creature). As a wizard increases in level, more additional weight can be teleported. Teleport is the ultimate method of fast travel, and can be used in an untold number of ways. Personally, I’ve used Teleport to hastily escape from dangerous situations (powerful monsters, traps, etc.), aide in sneak attacks on an enemy’s blind side, and zip back to a familiar inn for a hot meal and cold ale while my companions were left to camp in the wilderness during a thunderstorm (hey, I brought back some ale once the rain stopped!).

As fun and useful as Teleport is, some very real dangers exist with the spell’s use. Basically, some nasty stuff can happen every time a wizard uses Teleport. RPG dice can be tricky things. The chance of mishap may be slim, but the possibility of teleporting into a different location than desired exists. This isn’t a problem if your wizard accidentally teleports somewhere nice — say an all-you-can-eat banquet feast loaded with roast beef and all the trimmings. It is a problem however if your wizard teleports directly into the roast beef itself. Believe me, even if your wizard likes roast beef she isn’t going to happy. She isn’t going to be happy, because quite frankly she’s going to be dead.

A wizard can increase the chance of Teleport success by simply being familiar with the place she is teleporting to. The more familiar the location, the better the chance of success. Sometimes first hand knowledge of a location isn’t possible. Perhaps she needs to Teleport to a castle’s dungeon that she has never seen before to retrieve a special key. Blindly using Teleport is a chancy maneuver, but the risk of something going awry can be mitigated through the careful study of maps, or even by talking with someone who has been to the dungeon and can describe the location in as much detail as possible. In these blind instances, the more information received the better.

In the end, the risks associated with Teleport help to balance the spell’s power, for a wizard must be careful with its use. Without inherent risks, a wizard could consistently use the spell to her complete advantage. No one wants to Teleport directly into a wall or 30 feet off the ground though, so the spell must be used wisely an in situations that warrant its use. Beam me up, Scotty!