A game mode that makes you play a Wizard and guarantees you start with a “polyrunner” kit - wand and ring of polymorph and ring of polymorph control. (Maybe also potions of polymorph). This can be startscummed for, but of course takes many games to get this exact kit, so the game mode circumvents this. To balance it out, random objects don’t generate, or generate at a very reduced rate.

A spellcasting buff system for Wizards, in which learning a new spell grants you a point on a metamagic skill tree. Most options available on this tree provide incremental buffs to spells you cast with each point invested, with a maximum of 5 points. There are also capstone buffs that are binary.

The exact shape of the tree is not determined, but a list of potential incremental buffs is:

• More damage.
• More explosions.
• Increased ray or beam range.
• Reduced Pw cost of casting.
• Bonus movement points when you cast any spell.
• Temporary bonus to AC when you cast any spell.
• Temporary to-hit or weapon damage bonus when you cast any spell.
• Suffocating magic; shut down dissimilar magic to the spell that you just cast for a few turns.

Possible capstone buffs include:

• You can smite-target spells without needing to see the space.
• Elemental casting that substitutes the damage types of certain ray and explosion spells.

Wizards should never forget spells over time. Amnesia would still reduce their spell retention, but nothing would otherwise do that.

Wizards should have be restricted in all weapons. To compensate, Magicbane should have its base type changed to a wand, and its specialty should be that it has a random wand effect when zapped, with infinite charges.

Wizards can talk to the apprentices in their Quest home level to pay them for learning (possibly only low-level) spells. These are provisionally priced at 50 times the spell level times the player’s level, and is intended to serve as a dilemma for whether to buy spells or protection. (However, a single point of protection would cost the same as 8 total levels of spells, so the cost may need to be raised.)

Wizards receive a spellbook of magic missile as their first sacrifice gift if they don’t already have the spell in their spellbook (even if it’s completely forgotten). In this case, they get Magicbane as their second gift.

Wizards shouldn’t have a Skilled skill cap in polearms; they’re not supposed to be great with martial weapons like that.

Remove Wizards’ exclusive access to reduced-hunger and hungerless casting. Instead, tie spell hunger to how experienced you are with the spell; this could either track how many times you’ve cast that specific spell, or use your skill in the spell’s school as a proxy for that, or both. Intelligence could remain a factor, but the important thing is that non-wizard casters can also enjoy the benefits. (Note that Wizards, what with casting spells a lot more than other roles and having high spell skill caps, will still reap a larger benefit from this.)

Wizards start the game knowing the appearances of several random scrolls, rings, potions, and wands, but don’t actually have them in starting inventory.

Don’t maybe give Wizards a scroll of punishment in their initial inventory.

Psuedodragons that are tiny D-class monsters. They may be the starting pet of Wizards, but don’t grow up. Instead, they have some kind of telepathic/psychic/magic-enhancing passive ability that scales with their level.

Wizards who can’t cast spells while crowned (permablind?) receive something other than a spellbook of finger of death.

The scroll of detect magic should show magic fountains on the level as well as magical items. Fountains discovered this way are then displayed as “magic fountain” when near or farlooked. Wizards can see them as magic fountains already without needing to detect magic.