Making Fighters That Much Scarier

One of the biggest problems in fantasy is that fighters can be easily overpowered by mages. While the fighter usually just has to outlast the mage, that can be hazardous to the fighter; the mage is still summoning nasty creatures and throwing fireballs, and that assumes that the mage doesn't have a small spectrum of powerful items to potentially bring to bear (which they usually do). However, with a little planning, the fighter can put the odds in his favor.

[While this article is geared toward TTRPGs, the basic logic applies to fantasy writing; after all, those mages are sneaky in any genre and deserve what they get.]

The Obligatory Basics

Most mages have four weaknesses that you can take advantage of: They need to speak, they need to gesture, they need to concentrate, and there are things that stop magic. If you can load up on things that stop magic (amulets that give magic resistance, armor made of magic-immune materials, or weapons that are unaffected by magic) then, by all means, do so. Most grapples will take out the gestures issue, while a hand over the mouth removes the ability to speak; follow it up with manacles or cuffs and a gag and you're good.

You'd be surprised how effective a suit of armor with its helmet's visor welded into place is against a mage if you can get the mage inside one.

It's the concentration issue that's difficult. Too many mages have iron-hard will so it takes something spectacular to get their attention good enough that it affects the ability to cast spells or use their staffs. Explosions are the obvious go-to but tear gas works as well. You'd also be surprised how effective the roar of a monster is and there are plenty of ways to record or simulate that; obviously, don't be afraid to use magic against a mage (fire works very effectively against fire). For that matter, slapping a pair of headphones that emit a high-pitched whine or loud music can work pretty well.

Start with the basics, but don't be afraid to mix things up a bit.

The Mid-Combat Ambush

Not too surprisingly, surprise is the biggest ally of the fighter looking to kill a mage. However, as with all sorts of other dealings with mages, nothing is that simple: They have all sorts of defensive spells to foil surprise attacks and some even have magical contingencies should those defenses fail. This means that if you're going to surprise them, it needs to be after combat has started; you need to play chess on multiple levels when dealing with magicians.

The most effective way is to distract them and then have your thief friend stab them in the back. This means that you need to get all of the focus on you, even to engaging the mage in hand-to-hand combat, and being such a problem that the mage has to expend a lot of concentration on you. Once the mage is so distracted, the thief rudely says "hello" with a knife. You can also take advantage of the fact that most mages are drama queens so don't move much from where they start; just drop a timed explosive, throw in one more attack to grab their attention from the dropped item, and then run.

Just remember that most mages think tactically not strategically and you should do okay: Keep them occupied by apparently easy-to-attain goals and you should do okay. Just pray you can handle their contingency.

Victory Through Superior Firepower

Sure, you can bring a sword that shatters magical shields, but sometimes you need something less specific, something…bigger. If you can bring in a more powerful spellcaster, do so; there's always someone bigger, after all, and now's the time to bring that person in. Bringing in a powerful monster works as well, such as a dinosaur, a demon, or even a dragon. Sometimes you need to think small: Flocks of birds, a swarm of rats, or a plague of locusts not only provide cover for you but can easily disrupt concentration while providing their own threat. If worse comes to worse, you can always invite a mage-hunter to the party.

While summoning magic works pretty well for any of these options, there are plenty of non-magical options as well. A lot of crumbled bread or bird seed will summon a flock of birds in the city while loud noises will cause curious but hungry predators to investigate in the wild. If nothing else, attacking a dragon or stealing from its hoard will cause it to give chase; provided you can stay ahead of it, you can draw it to the mage, where hopefully the mage will attack, either on purpose to eliminate a rival or on accident. Either way, inviting a dragon to a mage fight makes things easier for you, provided you can talk the dragon down afterward.

Mages are a sneaky lot. If you want to defeat them you need to be sneakier. Think strategic, accept some losses, and bring in some friends and you should do pretty well every time.