Wizard Rework (WIP)

src/en/space-station-14/round-flow/proposals/wizard rework.md

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+# Wizard Rework
+
+| Designers | Coders | Implemented | GitHub Links |
+|---|---|---|---|
+| TrixxedHeart | TrixxedHeart | :x: No | None |
+
+## Overview
+
+The Wizard antagonist role is a one-size-fits-all antagonist: a force of magic that on particularly on lower populations, can be impossible to have any counterplay against. At its worst, Wizards resort to "murderbone" strategies that end rounds quickly and unceremoniously in a way thats not very fun for anyone, leaving a trail of pissed off ghost players.
+A common example of this is Wizards who steal the Captain's hardsuit, eliminating anyone who could be a threat (such as Security), and animating objects that swarm and near instantaneously kill anyone they come across. This design leaves little room for fun or meaningful counterplay and often leads to Wizards who immediately get murked, leaving a hole for an antagonist in the round, or Wizards who cheese and leave little ability for the crew to potentially fight back, even during Nukie rounds crew often has a chance to fight back effectively.
+
+This rework aims to make the Wizard role more or less of a threat depending on the crew's ability by splitting it into three distinct types with their own objectives: the **Gallivanter**, the **Chaos Mage**, and the **Lich**. Each represents a different level of threat designed to reasonably scale with server population and provide an interesting and fun experience for either side of the playing field. The goal is to make Wizards more engaging to play as and against, ensuring that they are a fun round-driving presence on low pop while becoming a station destroying, if not an apocolyptic threat on high pop.
+
+### Breakdown
+
+Currently, Wizards function as a one-size-fits-all threat regardless of server population or round conditions. This creates three major problems assuming the Wizard plays as intended:
+- On **low pop**, a Wizard can easily wipe out the station with no meaningful resistance.
+- On **mid pop**, Wizards frequently devolve into threats without direction, often frustrating players without *really* driving the round forward.
+- On **high pop**, Wizards may often struggle to hold their own against a coordinated station, and the role risks being underwhelming when it should feel climactic.
+
+My proposed system aims to address this by making the Wizard a proportioanl threat to the crew.
+
+## Features to be added
+
+- **Armor Restrictions:** Wizards should be unable to cast spells while wearing hardsuits. EVA softsuits remain usable, but hardsuits undermine the intended glass cannon identity by making Wizards much bulkier than they should be able to be.
+- **Spawn Rules:**
+  - Gallivanter and Chaos Mage may appear as round-start or mid-round minor antagonists.
+  - The Lich may *only* appear as a round-start major antagonist.
+
+TODO: ADD MORE SHIT HERE
+
+## Wizard Rework Goals
+
+- Wizards should feel **varied**: each archetype represents a distinct fantasy and mechanical challenge.
+- Wizards should **scale with population**: a Gallivanter at 10 pop should be just as engaging as a Lich at 60.
+- Wizards should **encourage interaction**: their goals should create conflict without defaulting to round removal.
+- Wizards should remain **powerful but fragile**: their glass cannon identity should not be undermined by access to hardsuits as unintended protection, making them frustrating to fight against when they're intended to be powerful glass-cannons.
+
+## New Wizard Archetypes
+
+### The Gallivanter
+
+The Gallivanter represents the "young graduate" of the Wizard Federation: freshly certified, eager to make a name for themselves, and dangerously overconfident. Mechanically, the Gallivanter serves as the low-pop Wizard archetype, intended to be threatening without being impossible to resist.
+
+Their primary goal is fame: to demonstrate their magical prowess to as many witnesses as possible. This design naturally discourages murderbone, since a Gallivanter who wipes out the entire crew has no one left to spread their legend. They are incentivized to show off, cause mischief, and dispatch direct threats to their safety while leaving survivors to tell the tale.
+
+The Gallivanter’s toolkit would be drawn from the current Wizard spell set, but tuned slightly downward in lethality. They remain a fragile, dangerous opponent but should feel “manageable” to a small crew while still being exciting and disruptive.
+
+TODO: ADD WHAT ARE WE DOING WITH THE SPELLS TO MAKE THEM LESS LETHAL. WHAT ARE THEIR DISTINCT GOALS AND END CONDITIONS?
+
+---
+
+### The Chaos Mage
+
+The Chaos Mage is closest to the Wizard as it exists in it's current form, but with a more focused design philosophy: to sow distrust, paranoia, and instability within the crew. The Chaos Mage is the mid-pop archetype, ideal for 25–40 players where interpersonal tension is the highlight of the round.
+
+Where the Gallivanter thrives on spectacle, the Chaos Mage thrives on disruption. Their abilities emphasize subterfuge and chaos over outright lethality. A good Chaos Mage leaves the crew disorganized, unsure who to trust, and fighting one another as much as the mage.
+
+This archetype is less about wiping the station clean and more about destabilizing it, making every interaction tense. While the Gallivanter is the showoff, the Chaos Mage is the saboteur pulling strings from the shadows until they are confronted.
+
+TODO: WHAT ARE THEIR END GOALS, SPELLS, YOU KNOW!!!!
+
+---
+
+### The Lich
+
+The Lich is the ultimate form of the Wizard and is designed exclusively for high population rounds. A Lich is not another spellcasting nerd in a robe they are a station ending threat on the level of nuclear operatives.
+
+Lore-wise, the Lich is an disavowed Wizard Federation Magistrate, exiled for their unscrupulous experiments. Their goal is to achieve lich-hood and raise an undead army, converting the station into a derelict crypt. Mechanically, this means killing crew members and reanimating them as skeleton thralls, slowly transforming the station into hostile territory. This approach allows players to still remain in the round as the Lich's thralls.
+
+The process of becoming a Lich should be a major escalation point in the round. Upon their ascension (achieved by raising the dead, which steals their lifeforce), the Lich generates a graveyard "den" within the station where they conduct their dark ritual. At this point, external forces intervene to stop them:
+- **Option A:** Nanotrasen deploys an "anti-magic" ERT squad equipped with specialized countermeasures. 
+- **Option B:** The Wizard Federation itself dispatches Magistrates to destroy the rogue Lich, allying temporarily with the crew to eliminate the existential threat.
+
+Victory conditions become clear: the round ends when the Lich is defeated (Crew Major Victory) or when the crew and their reinforcements are wiped out (Lich Major Victory).
+
+The Lich represents the highest stakes possible for a Wizard round and should feel like an apocalyptic climax that tests the entire crew.
+
+## Conclusion
+
+This rework splits the Wizard role into three archetypes tailored to different player counts: the **Gallivanter** for low pop, the **Chaos Mage** for mid pop, and the **Lich** for high pop. Together they should provide a scalable challenge that keep rounds exciting while giving the crew meaningful counterplay.
+
+By reducing reliance on murderbone and cheese tactics, while also enforcing the Wizard’s identity as a powerful but fragile opponent, this creates a more fair, and measured antagonist that aligns with Space Station 14's design philospies.
+
+# Technical Considerations
+TODO: WRITE HERE