Wizard Wednesday: Mr. Bati, The Slow Wizard

This entry is totally late, so I have written a wizard who's power is being late.

When Mr. Bati's father was a young man, he wandered into the tower of a mighty sorcerer. Enraged by this trespass, the sorcerer flung upon a mighty curse: that his image forever will precede him. After his father died, Mr. Bati inherited his curse.

Divorced from his image, Mr. Bati is effectively invisible. Wherever he goes, his image arrives about 20 seconds first. It's a bit like a vision of the future: whatever his illusion is doing now is what Mr. Bati will do in two turns.

As one can imagine, this is terribly inconvenient. His image is intangible: people try to hand him things only for the item to fall straight through his hand, for his hand isn't actually there yet. When Mr. Bati's image takes an item, it also takes the thing's image. Which means that a sword, for example, will appear to be in his hand while ACTUALLY still remaining on the counter top. Two turns later, this now invisible sword will be picked up by Mr. Bati. It's all dreadfully confusing.

It is for this reason that Mr. Bati avoids any physical contact; it's too difficult to explain. His is a lonely life.

For the last five years Mr. Bati has been seeking a way to break his hateful curse. He cannot find the sorcerer who cast the spell, but revenge remains foremost on his mine. If he ever found him, he would probably say "Hello. My name is Rajul Bati. You cursed my father. Prepare to die." In the mean time he hunts for other wizards. Some he has polite chats with, others he blackmails, and a few he beats black and blue. He's found one lead: the sorcerer who cast this spell is named Xong the Inscrutable (read: whatever you want), and he resides in the city of Ramhknal (read: the biggest city in your campaign). He is heading there even now.

When not hunting for wizards, Mr. Bati moonlights as an assassin. In combat, put his figure on the matt, but remember where he was two turns ago. That's where he attacks and that is where he can get hit. His illusion is immaterial and cannot be harmed (or harm anyone), but if he is hit will reflect his wounds. Hopefully your players will catch on after stabbing him to no effect and getting hit by invisible swords.

Oh and did I mention he has a magical turban? He totally has a magical turban. It moves like a snake and shares his curse. For the most part, it trips people.

A final note: Mr. Bati isn't actually a wizard. People just assume he is, and the name has stuck.

Adventure hooks:

1. Mr. Bati wants to question the party's wizard. Depending on how the player takes it, the encounter may turn violent.
2. Mr. Bati has been hired to assassinate someone in the party. He will attack by night and pretend to be a ghost.
3. The man who cursed Mr. Bati's father is a good friend of the PCs. They may or may not know that said friend is a (former?) wizard.
4. Mr. Bati purchases something that the party NEEDS to have and refuses to hand it over. Taking it from him will prove difficult.
5. A sorcerer hires the party to find Mr. Bati and eliminate him.
6. The party wants to kill an evil wizard. Mr. Bati selflessly offers to help.