Greetings my fellow Nerdarchists. In the weeks and months to come I am going to highlight famous wizards of distinction by delving into the backgrounds and spells of magic users .

I have already completed articles on Leomund- the nerdy prepper, Tenser- the One Man Army for Goodness, Drawmij the Mysterious Traveler, and Otiluke- the Siege Alchemist.

I will continue focusing on famous wizards of distinction from RPGs but that does not mean I am excluding the backgrounds and spells of magic users from books, movies, and comics. Give me a compelling example of wizardry and I will write it up.

This week I am focusing my attention on the cautious yet force-full handy man himself, Bigby. Bigby was originally a character played by Gary Gygax. Bigby, like many an archmage, is on his way to being a sexagenarian.

No, not a sexy old guy but a sixty year old guy.

He is about 6 feet tall with a librarian tan and a gaunt physique to match his archmage status. Going along with his minimalist physical appearance is a quiet, introverted personality coupled with a puritanical anti-zest for all things pleasurable.

He always appears nervous and is overly cautious about everything. An inspiration for many of his spells was probably a desire to not dirty his own hands while being in the thick of battle. Unlike Tenser, the one man army, Bigby liked to lay the smack down from a distance.

He helped form the Circle of Eight with his former master, Mordenkainen. Before that he helped found and belonged to the now defunct, Citadel of Eight.

He is not a fan of the continued existence of the Scarlet Brotherhood, Rary the Betrayer, or the lich Xaene.

The Scarlet Brotherhood is on his smack down list because they currently occupy Scant, Bigby’s adopted home. Rary the Betrayer tried to kill him, that is enough motivation to add Rary to the list. Sadly, Rary did manage to kill both Tenser and Otiluke during that same epic archmage battle.

I am pretty sure that being the enemy of a lich is a prerequisite for becoming a goodly archmage so nothing out of the norm there. I have read about a lot of liches and Xaene is one terrible horror of a lich when compared to other liches. He makes them seem tame by comparison.

Famous Wizards of Distinction: Backgrounds and Spells of Magic Users – Bigby’s Spells

When I said Bigby was not the kind of guy to get his own hands dirty- I meant his physical hands. His spells created force hands on the other… er ?foot? they show a completely different side of Bigby. He likes to get scrappy with his force hands.

Bigby’s Battering Gauntlet

Bigby’s Clenched Fist

Bigby’s Crushing Hand

Bigby’s Fantastic Fencers

Bigby’s Forceful Hand

Bigby’s Grasping Hand

Bigby’s Interposing Hand

Bigby’s Pugnacious Pugilist

Bigby’s Silencing Hand

Bigby’s Slapping Hand

Bigby’s Strangling Grip

Bigby’s Striking Fist

Bigby’s Tripping Hand

Bigby’s Warding Hand

Surprisingly he managed to take time away from making beat down spells to design some for other uses.

Bigby’s Bookworm Bane(oops this is also a beat down spell but the force hand is a bookworm seeker and slayer)

Bigby’s Construction Crew(more force hands but they can build anything a skilled laborer can build)

Bigby’s Dextrous Digits

Bigby’s Feeling Fingers(helps when searching for differences in surfaces while looking for secret doors and corridors)

Bigby’s Helpful Hand

Bigby, like a Jedi Knight, has a clear understanding of The Force spells.

Bigby’s Besieging Bolt

Bigby’s Force Sculpture

Bigby’s Most Excellent Force Sculpture

Bigby’s Superior Force Sculpture

From force hands and ballista bolts to complex force engines of destruction, Bigby knows his way around forces.

Like all good fictional wizards he is credited with writing a book The Manual Powers Beyond Life.

What is it about? Who knows but he seems more believable as a person by having a creation attributed to him.

Famous Wizards of Distinction: Backgrounds and Spells of Magic Users – Bigby

Bigby has some fame outside of Dungeons and Dragons and more in line with pop culture. Jones Soda Company has released a limited edition D&D soda set; one of the sodas is Bigby’s Crushing Thirst Destroyer. Jones Soda Co. Dungeons & Dragons Limited Edition Soda

Weird Sigil, a cousin magazine to Weird New Jersey that I just made up, shows a large statue of Bigby that was constructed in the otherworldly city of Sigil. To this day no one knows where it came from or how it came to be there.

Are there some famous wizards you want to hear about next time? Then all that you must do is tell me which wizard you want to read about. If he or she is one of the famous wizards of distinction then please comment below and let me know who you want to read about next.

To read about some more famous wizards of distinction, their backgrounds, and spells of magic users then click here for Leomund- the nerdy prepper, Tenser- the One Man Army for Goodness, Drawmij the Mysterious Traveler, and Otiluke- the Siege Alchemist.