Why You Shouldn’t Wait To Create a Wizard in D&D

If you ask most people what class you should play for your first Dungeons & Dragons character, many will tell you to play a fighter or another mainly martial character. The reasons behind this choice are pretty easy to understand. You don’t have to keep track of spells, and your character will be tough enough that they’re less likely to die easily. This is good advice, especially if you’re new to TTRPGs in general or D&D in particular, but it is the exact opposite of what I did for my first character: I created a wizard.

And now I’m here to tell you to go ahead and ignore the advice of more experienced and wiser players and go ahead and create that wizard.

Why Wait To Use Magic?

One of the coolest things about D&D is that things like magic, dragons, elves, and orcs exist. So why would you limit yourself to stabbing when you could be doing magic instead? Of course, if you prefer stabbing to casting spells, then a fighter (or a barbarian or a rogue) is a better fit for you. But if your deepest desire is to wield ultimate cosmic power and light things on fire from afar, why wait to do that? I’ve played mages or whatever the equivalent was of a wizard in every video game I’ve played, so it was only natural for me to gravitate toward playing a wizard in D&D. I wouldn’t have been as happy with something else as my first character.

A Wizard May Be Easier To Play

Depending on your usual choice of class in other games, you may find the strategy of playing as a wizard easier. This is certainly the case for me since I usually choose spellcasters in other games (i.e., my mage in World of Warcraft). I’d have to spend more time learning the strategy for a fighter or a cleric than I would for a wizard. This applies only if you’ve got experience with other TTRPGs or video games, though. If you’re new to gaming in general, then there may be a bit more of a learning curve.

There Are Plenty of Tutorials Online

One of the main benefits of learning to play now, as opposed to decades ago, is that if you want to learn any of the mechanics of any TTRPG, there will be YouTube tutorial videos explaining exactly how everything works. This doesn’t replace learning from a more experienced player but can help you understand a bit better how everything works, so it seems less daunting before you start rolling that first wizard.

Playing a Wizard May Be Easier To Roleplay

I actually find it easier to roleplay a wizard than I think I would any other class. When your main combat action is ‘stab it,’ then it means you yourself have to get creative in how you do that to keep things interesting. As a wizard, I don’t have to worry about that because if I want to do something other than light it on fire, I can just pick a different spell - I can throw a rock at it or lift it high enough that if I drop it, the fall will kill it or electrocute it or any number of other things. It’s just a matter of choosing another spell in your list of prepared spells, with less pressure to roleplay anything special. For a new player unaccustomed or nervous about roleplaying, creating a wizard may actually be the easier route.

Managing Spells Isn’t That Complicated

One of the reasons I hear people give when they warn new players against playing a magic-wielding class is that managing spells can be complicated. While wizards aren’t alone in requiring strategy to play, it’s different in that you have to figure out which spells you will use ahead of time, not just in terms of which ones to put into your spellbook but also which ones to prepare for a day. If you choose wrong, you’ll be limited in what you can do in certain situations.

But really, that’s part of the fun. I chose a lot more utility spells at level 1 than I ended up actually using. So when I leveled up, I got rid of them and replaced them with more combat spells. I changed my strategy based on the experience I gained in the game. But that’s no different from any other class, including fighter. You don’t know what will happen next, and there’s only so much you can do to anticipate that. As a new player, you’ll need to learn how to adapt your strategy to new situations, no matter which class you end up choosing.

You Won’t Get Bored Playing a Wizard

Not that any part of D&D is boring, but playing a wizard does mean a lot of variety in what you can do. Yes, you can solve all of your problems by just lighting things on fire. This happens often enough that there’s a meme of it: “I didn’t ask how big the room was. I said I cast fireball.” But you also have spells like Knock, which unlocks doors, and Levitation. There’s Cloud of Daggers, which I once used to great effect against a young dragon that was on the roof of the building I was in (it was my only spell that didn’t require line of sight), and I ended up slicing its wings to bits so it couldn’t fly away and the rest of my party could finish it off. At higher levels, you can even fly, teleport, or create a mansion in an alternate dimension.

You Get Unlimited Spells

The best thing about playing as a wizard instead of playing as another kind of magic user is that you get unlimited spells. There are no restrictions on the number of spells that you can have in your spell book. Of course, you’ll still be limited in the number of spells you can have prepared each day and how many you can use before you need a rest, but your wizard could technically collect every single arcane spell (no nature magic or divine spells for wizards, unless you have a feat that lets you learn these or you multiclass) in the game if you wanted.

Level 1 Exists for a Reason

At level 1, wizards are very simple. This means just a few spells and only a few spell slots. There’s not much that you have to learn, and you only have to choose a couple of spells to start. It does get more complicated, but your own skills and experience as a player will improve at the same time, so it doesn’t feel overwhelming. To be fair, any class may feel intimidating at first if you’ve never played before. But honestly, for me, playing as a fighter or a rogue seems a bit intimidating because they involve rules I don’t know that well. I’m used to the spellcasting rules that I learned playing my wizard.

No Matter What You Choose, Just Have Fun

If you prefer magic to stabbing, then don’t let other people tell you to play a martial class because playing a wizard is too complicated. The entire point of playing D&D is to have fun, and if you’d prefer to play as a spellcaster, then go ahead and do it. It’s not like there isn’t a learning curve for any other class either; you’d have to learn the rules and strategy for your chosen class, no matter which one you choose.

Wizards aren’t so difficult that only advanced players should create them - I started with a wizard and then made a bard. Clearly, I like my spellcasters. That’s what I find most fun. And Arcadia Deschane, who was my first DM, knew that; I didn’t find out that the standard advice for new players is to start with a martial class until months after I’d been playing my wizard. She didn’t try to discourage me from playing a wizard. Or a warlock. As I sat there in our Session Zero trying to decide between the two because my heart was with the wizard, but I thought it would be really interesting to play a good-aligned character bound to an evil patron, she suggested that I multiclass. Thus, my wizlock, Elen, was born. Arcadia helped me figure out what spells I wanted and put together my character sheet. And then, when we started to play, she struck the right balance of offering advice and letting me make my own mistakes so I’d learn.

If you’ve found your table with the right group of people, you can start with anything, and they’ll support you as you learn to play, just like my friends did for me.