(the final addition to a trio of mage characters I had in mind. story/RP idea is to head them into a confrontation with the Witch Sisters over a stolen shipment of magical tomes)
Description:
Blue mages are best described by the aphorism "what doesn't kill you, makes you stronger". Other disciplines of magecraft add "and what doesn't kill you, mustn't have been that strong to begin with" to it as a riff. If your trade involves learning the properties of monsters' attacks by getting hit by them, you better be build like a brick house. Not to mention the fact that there's no guide to what magical abilities your instincts can copy: there's little incentive to pester a dragon if you're not even sure you can imitate his fiery breath.
By now, there's of course guilds of the bastards. Veteran blue mages simply cast the abilities they've learned on new students under controlled circumstances, medical care never far away. It comes with usual guild rules of no teaching to outsiders, a percentage of one's income disappearing into its coffers and the clause that if one is hit by an undiscovered ability during the course of one's travels, the person must spend the rest of their days as a teacher repetitively casting it on others.
Those who value their freedom or simply aren't remotely qualified enough to enter a guild make do in other ways. There's blue mages who simply use their craft as a complement to another skillset, learning only the safe and well-known abilities from wild monsters. Others opt to only struggle with monsters who have abilities that are less likely to be fatal: enduring a slow poison long enough to run back to town and suffer in bed for a week is a hefty but worthwhile price to some.
The arrival of the midara made all this a lot easier: primo mind control magic in exchange for an orgasm and a few days lost as a thrall? Blue mages rushed to 'study' with these creatures, some guilds even losing members to this rush on the seductresses.
Donatello is one such mage. Unlike his counterparts, he is wary of these temptresses. Enduring a few encounters has made him realize how powerful they actually are, and that one can fall permanently for their charms. Still, there's always more spells to learn, but the bedding part is entirely unneeded. Thus begins the journey of our junior blueball mage.
Abilities:
Learning (passive)-Whenever Donatello is hit by a midara ability he can grasp, his mind instantly works out the how, and can use the ability on the next turn. What ability triggers learning is unique per midara and is determined before the start of a battle.
Blue Magic, Smoke Cloud (action)-1 Willpower-Donatello blows a cloud of smoke out of his mouth, reducing visibility on the battlefield. Disadvantage on all attacks for everyone in battle for the next two turns.
Blue Magic, Bouncy Block (action)-0.5 Willpower-Donatello blocks a direct attack with his staff and sends half the damage done (rounded down to the nearest half) back at his opponent as Stamina damage.
Blue Magic, Illusory Copy (action)-1 Willpower-Donatello creates an illusory copy that has 1 Stamina, 1 Willpower and can only do Stamina attacks for 0.5 damage, defend or act as a shield for the real Donatello (all enemy abilities directed at Donatello target the Copy instead). It disappears if either its Stamina or Willpower is reduced to 0. The copy also has Learning active: if a learnable ability hits the copy, it automatically transfers the knowledge to Donatello upon demise.
Blue Magic, Soothing Song (action)-1 Willpower-Donatello sings a calming, wordless song that reduces the Stamina and Willpower damage done everyone on the battlefield who fails their roll by half (rounded down to the nearest half) for the next two turns.
Blue Magic, Floating Heart (action)-1 Willpower-Donatello sends a floating heart at the opponent. If it hits, the opponent is temporarily charmed and Donatello can decide what action they take the next turn. If Donatello wants them to use an ability, it must be one he has seen used before.
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