Magic-User Houserule Grab Bag

I'm planning on running an AD&D game where the only allowed character classes are ones with wizard spells (MU, elves, illusionists, shugenja, muscle wizards, etc). Here are some house rules I've been tinkering with, I hope you enjoy them.For values of D&D that taste like AD&D:

Counter-Spell Mechanics
Someone casts a spell and you're like "Nuh uh". Lose your next round of actions (if you have already acted this round, you don't get an action next round) and cross off any MU spell that has/is

• a similar effect (affect normal fires to counter burning hands) 
• an opposed effect (burning hands to counter cone of cold) 
• a defensive spell (shield to counter lightning bolt) 

Players have to have an explanation for how their spell counters the other one, although, it being wizard magic, it doesn't need to make any sense in the real world.

If both your spell and the spell you are targeting deal damage, both people roll damage. Defender wins means the spell is stopped. Attacker wins they deal damage as normal.

If neither or only one spell deals damage, each caster rolls 2d6 and adds their level and the level of the spell. High roll wins. GMs can give bonuses on the counter-spell role based on spell choice (shield to counter magic missile) but penalties are boring so don't use them.

New Equipment
All Magic-Users are proficient with wands, rods, staves, bayonet-staves, knives, orbs and tomes.


WAND
Wands take many forms: a simple, carved wooden stick; a mummified dragon penis; a petrified lizard; an unthawing and bloody icicle. Regardless, they can be held in one hand and alloq their bearer to launch magical attacks hundreds of feet away. All wands deal 1-4 damage, but the damage type is based on the spirit whose power has created it. It can be any type of damage: fire, lightning, cold, despair, laser, cancer etc. The more common the damage type, the more likely it is that enemies will have a weakness to it, but at the same time, the more likely they are prepared to counter it. Wands have limited charges - after each fight, roll a d10. On a 1 it stops working. They're pretty fragile, so they might break sometimes as well if you insist on falling into pits or getting fire breath'd.

BATTLE RODS
A rod is typically about 18 inches in length, and made of a solid, heavy material such as metal, crystal or wood. While originally rods were extremely ornate and used for magical displays of power, many modern magic-users have realized the utility of a two foot long iron club. Battle rods deal 1-6 bashing damage. It's not uncommon to see rods with nails in them, which chance the damage type to piercing.

STAVES
A staff is a two handed melee weapon that deals 1-6 bashing damage. Due to their ability to keep foes at bay, staves grant their bearer +2AC on rounds when the character keeps a firm grip with both hands for the entire round (And its hard to cast spells or drink potions or whatever without letting go with at least one hand). Staves are often fitted with bayonet lugs, which increases the damage to 2-7 piercing. Bayonet-staves can be set to receive a charge, automatically striking first and dealing double damage.

KNIVES
Thin knives, daggers and blades, especially ones with wavy blades and snake pommels, are often used by magicians in their rituals, but can be pressed into combat when necessary. They are one handed melee weapons which deal 1-3 slashing damage. Due to their speed and small size, a knife wielding character can give up his move action to make a second attack. Knives can be held in the off-hand, but unless you're ambidextrous or from a species with a ton of arms, you can't make a second attack this way.

ORBS
Orbs are big crystal balls or polished orbs of petrified wood or crystilized cyclops eyeballs. They help wizards fortify their naturally occurring force fields. Holding an orb in either the main hand or off-hand grants +1 AC, +2 vs spells and wands. In addition, orbs are especially attuned to one element type chosen at its creation: Reducing damage from all attacks of this element by 2 points per level of the bearer.

TOMES
Many wizards carry tomes of arcane knowledge with them, which contain handy reference charts and useful diagrams to assist in spellcasting. As its much easier to hold a spell in your mind when you've got detailed instructions, magic-users carrying a tome can cast a spell and move on the same turn, although they are still reading a book while walking so they won't get far or jump over a crevice or anything. Adventuring wizards have had to dodge enough sword blows and claw swipes to also know to make their book covers out of metal plates, granting +1AC while held in the main or off-hand. Note that tomes are not spellbooks, they are simply reference manuals of common mystical procedures and definitions, and so stealing a tome won't net you any spells.

SPECIALIST WIZARDS
Magic-users who can use any sort of magic are boring. I much prefer wizards with some sort of theme. I would suggest that all magic-users in D&D be forced to build a specialist wizard - players, at character creation, must define their characters style of magic, and from that point on can only learn and use magic in that style.

They can learn alternative versions of spells related to their style (shocking grasp can be rewritten to be a burning touch spell, and there's no reason your player can't have an attack that deals vomit damage), or simply come up with clever way of explaining how that spell is related to their style of magic (a pyromancer using blink is bamf-ing around and leaving clouds of sulfurous smoke behind). Players can define their own styles however they want, and there should be a certain level of laissez-faire on the part of the DM; specialization not meant to make the game less fun for the player.

The schools of magic from AD&D2e is a good example, and you can find the D&D3e spell lists divided up by school of magic here at d20srd.org. Warhammer Fantasy's eight Colleges of Magic are another great example of specialized mages. A particular element would make a good style, as do animals or locations (swamp magic, ghetto magic).

Magic-users can chose any old style they want, even if its weird. Here are some fucking rad ones that Scrap Princess wrote for me.

• Beard Wizards: At a distance they appear to have waist length beards. Any closer and the viewer will realize the beard is a thick churning mat of root like tendrils. These are actually extensions of the brains neurons. The initiation of a beard wizard involves the top of the skull being removed , the cranial fluid being drained and replaced with a fungal broth. The skull cap is then replaced, and after a week long feverish coma, the fungus and the brain combine with the neurons now extending in a root like web out through the ears , ears , and nose into a "beard". They need to be able to touch a target with the beard or spore cloud. Spore clouds are invisible and travel about the speed of an arrow, but don't travel against a strong wind. Their muscle wizards can animate their beard like prehensile arm. They specialize in detection spells , disease, poisons, infections , confusions and disabling magics
• Skin Walker: Skin walkers wear layer and layers of tattered skins, like a lazy mummy. Initiation is done by flaying , drying and replaced the apprentices own skin. They specialize in shapechanging, personal enhancements (enlarge, featherfall , jump, mirror image) and touch attacks. They are not so great on the ranged attacks, but have natural armour (or damage reduction) via the layers and layers of magical skin they have. 
• Blackbloods: Blackbloods gain their power by poisoning themselves so much that they come out the other side. This is done by raising poisonous insects on a diet of other poisonous insects, who in turn have lived off other poisonous insects. The final insect is then drowned in radioactive mercury and drunk. If the would-be blackblood survives, their blood is turned black, and the skin turns a variety of dark bruise yellows, blacks, purples and reds. They have powers of acid, regeneration, poison spitting, can cast fire magics by exposing their blood to air. They are somewhat frail , despite their ability to heal quickly, and lack range in their attacks 
• Stormcrows: Stormcrows commands powers of lightning , electricity, weather , various druid magics and wind, like a confused norse god. TO prevent their eyes exploding from the vast amounts of power they store , they have each eyeball removed and carried around by a crow. THis makes sense to them, and not really anyone else. If you destroy the bird , you blind them. You might wanna do that fast because most of their magics have a line of sight range. They lack range or any other tactics other than get their eyecrows within sight of you and call lightning down on you until you die. If the target is immune to lightning , they instead blast the environment around them , damaging the target with shrapnel and collapsing buildings, a task which they are spookily good at 
• Bookers: Bookers cast their spells by reading out loud from a book, what they describe their comes true. This gives them a surprising range of spells , but this is determined by where they are up to in the book, ie random. In addition they can't cast the same spell 2 days in a row. Someone other than them has to be able to hear them talk the spell outloud for the magic to work, and they are dependent on the books. Finding the book that they read their life from is the initiation for the bookers. The apprentice is lead blind folded into a vast library maze and left there with a lantern and a limited amount of oil , and they have to find their biography in order to leave (by reading aloud "and then the apprentice found the exit") dangers include appearing careless with the lantern (thus evoking the Snuffers to swoop down with their great grey wings) , reading the wrong book (the ones that read you back), running out of oil and forced to try and read in the dark by the feel of ink on paper (a process which which unless you get amazingly lucky, will drive you mad , and turn you into a "Blind Reader" , a kinda of wight that drains the life from you by "reading" you by running it's hands along you), or running into a Blind reader (which I just mentioned)