I was trying to think of a new game to play, and am considering trying this class. Are they a lot of fun? Are they dangerous (to themselves or enemies)?

Also, in P&P D&D, the Wild Mage had much better chances for good results with the Wand of Wonder. Was this implemented in Baldur's Gate II?

They're bloody good fun. And yes they're dangerous. In my experience I've been dangerous to my own party about 5 times for every time it's been dangerous to the enemy. But it's just great fun because it's so unpredictable. I've never actually had a wild surge that has proved fatal...

I completely agree with shamrock, wild mage was my first time thru, and it was a hoot. However I never did anything seriously bad to my party when the magic backfired, though it can be deuced inconvienent! Just cast that wild surge protection spell and, while it doesn't STOP wild surges, it certainly seems to dumb them down.

I'll third it--wild mages are a blast. In my current Tutu game I'm playing a wild mage dualled to a fighter (thanks to Tweaks) and I forgot the fun, horror, and anxiety of casting spells with her.

And to the second question: no, Wand of Wonder has no effect on wild mages in BG2.

Oooo, I had a load of fun with one.

Just be sure to keep a nice archive save incase you do something disastrous with a surge (like.... destroying your party's gold before you manage to pay off Gaelan)

Oh, and do play around with Nahal's Reckless Dweomer, that spell is fun on a bun :D (Especially since you can use it to cast spells that you aren't leveled high enough to cast :D )

Wild mages are hard to get off the ground in the beginning. Through Chateau Irenicus, expect to surge every third spell or so, and the surges won't be great. (Don't bother memorizing Chaos Shield--it's not much of a help in the dungeon because your level is so low.) You'll hit your stride around level 15--you'll still surge on a regular basis, but you'll be better equipped to handle a bad surge. But once you leave Athkatla, you won't surge as often. Even though there's always a chance you'll surge, that chance decreases after level 25 or so unless you're using Nahal's Reckless Dweomer.

There's a near-game-breaking perk to being a wild mage, and it's found in Irenicus' dungeon. There's a place in the dungeon, and I think it's the mephit room, where there's a random scroll in a box. (It might be earlier in the game, not sure.) Most of the time, this random scroll is a piddly level 1 scroll. But sometimes it's a high level scroll, and I've only found it when soloing or with one other NPC, usually Yoshimo. (Just tell Immy off and go pick up Minsc and Jaheira later if you wish.) I've found everything from Improved Mantle to Abi-Dalzim's Horrid Wilting in that box. Here's where being a wild mage comes into play: NRD lets you cast any spell you know as long as it's in your spellbook, no memorization necessary! Imagine being able to cast ADHW straight out of Chateau Irenicus. :evil: Granted, it'll force a wild surge, which could summon a demon or turn you into a purple sparkley woman or something, but for the chance to cast ADHW without error or even with benefits on the Beastmaster or the Trademeet druids, it's totally worth it to play a wild mage.

Pirengle, you may be forgetting that caster level fluctuates every time you cast a spell. (So Chaos Shield will be of fluctuating help, at times good, at times bad)

With that little nifty... I had sword spiders off of a summon spiders while in C.I. XD

Surges happen 5% of the time regardless of caster level. When casting NRD, your caster level is added to the surge well. It isn't added to the surge roll of a random surge. (If for some reason this isn't the case, then the kit description lies.)

But imagine this. When I was in the Underdark (I had rushed there, so no 7th level spells for me), I used NRD to cast Limited Wish, in the hopes of getting something helpful. Wild surge made the spell cast twice! 2 wishes for the price of one! Of course, that didn't have any effect on the battle where I was, but it is a cool side effect, and one of the better surge effects.

My personal quote for the Wild Mage:

"Unpredictable, as mighty as Elminster one minute, as pitiful as an apprentice the next." :D

That's only a major booster or major bummer during the early game, where caster level makes a lot of difference. Improved summons are nice (like a level 10 wild mage casting the armored skeletons instead of the piddly skeletons from Animate Dead) and only getting three of the full five magic missiles sucks, but when experience rains from the sky and levels become plentiful, caster level isn't a real hindrance anymore, but it isn't much of a help either.

My favourite will always be casting MMM, getting an 'affects all party members' and thus obtaining MMM-Spitting Spiders...

It is a bummer when you play with Spell-50. ;) (I'm a mage-aholic, I had to play with that :D )