MobWizardry - Mobs using Magics!

MobWizardry attaches Iron's Spellbooks spellcasting AI to existing mobs — fully config-driven. No new mobs are added: any vanilla or modded mob becomes a spellcaster when it carries a configured tag.

• Target: Minecraft Forge 1.20.1 (47.4.10)

What's new in 1.0.2

• Smarter AI behavior: defense spells now only fire while the caster is actually being attacked; movement spells fire when the target is far / out of spell range; support spells fire when the caster is hurt or below half health. The wizard AI also runs at a higher goal priority, so tagged mobs cast spells instead of falling back to vanilla melee.
• New admin commands: /mobwizardry wizardify <preset> [radius] [pos] and /mobwizardry unwizardify <preset> [radius] [pos] turn whole groups of mobs into wizards (or back) at once.
• Command improvements: tab-completion for presets/mobs/pages, colored paginated /mobwizardry list, safer summon (validates the mob can cast, warns on mismatched equipment, never spawns inside a block).
• Config simplification: presets no longer define targetMobs (the mob is chosen per command) and no longer need a mana field — mobs cast for free.
• Cleaner config load: effective values are logged per preset, and bad entries are removed with clear messages.

How it works

1. Each preset in config/mobwizardry/presets.json defines:
   • the entity tag that activates it (requiredTag)
   • movement speed and cast cadence
   • equipment, attribute overrides and a full mana pool
   • attack / defense / movement / support spell kits
2. When a mob joins the world carrying the required tag, MobWizardry:
   • equips the configured gear and sets attributes/mana,
   • attaches a real Iron's Spellbooks WizardAttackGoal (wrapped behind a live tag check),
   • lets the mob cast its kit under the appropriate conditions.
3. Adding or removing the tag at runtime enables/disables the AI immediately — no restart needed.

Installation

1. Make sure the required mods are installed on the server:

   Required:

   • Forge 1.20.1 (47.4.10)
   • Iron's Spells 'n Spellbooks 1.20.1-3.16.2
   • Iron's Spellbooks' own required libraries (installed automatically with it): geckolib, curios, playeranimator, irons_lib

2. Drop mobwizardry-1.20.1-1.0.2.jar into the server's mods/ folder (the same folder all your other mods live in):

   <server>\mods\mobwizardry-1.20.1-1.0.2.jar
   

3. Start the server. On first launch the mod writes a default config.

This mod is server-side logic; clients do not need it installed.

Optional but supported addons

The following spell addons are not required, but when installed their spells can be used in presets — just reference their spell IDs in the config. If an addon is missing, its spells are skipped automatically (logged and removed at load), no crash. Each addon's own extra dependencies are the player's responsibility.

Addon	Tested version	Notes
T.O Magic 'n Extras	6.3.0	spells, weapons, bosses (its addons also work)
BielGG's Spells Addon	1.3-hotfix	also fixes T.O / Cataclysm compatibility
Cataclysm: Spellbooks	1.2.9
GTBC's Geomancy Plus	2.0.0	needs Mowzie's Mobs + GTBC's SpellLib
Hazen 'N Stuff	1.1.2 (watered-down-edition)
Ice and Fire: Spellbooks	2.3.2	needs Ice and Fire: Dragons
Legendary Spellbooks	0.3.2-hotfix	needs Legendary Monsters
Magic From The East	1.0.0b
Somake Spells	1.0.8
Wind's Spellbooks	1.0.3
Apprentice's Codex	0.9.6

Configuration

File: config/mobwizardry/presets.json

Beginner's guide to the settings

Think of the config as a list of "wizard job applications". Each block is one preset — a set of instructions for turning a creature into a wizard. You can have as many presets as you want; each one has a different tag so it never interferes with the others.

Here is a plain-English explanation of every setting:

• requiredTag — the magic word that turns the creature on. A mob only gets its wizard AI while it carries this tag (you apply the tag with the commands below). Each preset needs a unique tag. The mob type is chosen at summon time — the preset itself is not limited to any creature type.

• speed — how fast the mob moves while casting. 1.0 is normal walking speed; bigger = faster.

• castInterval — the minimum number of ticks between cast attempts (20 ticks = 1 second). Smaller = casts more often.

• equipment — what gear the mob wears. A slot name maps to an item ID; the mob puts the item on and it never drops. All six equipment slots are supported:

  • mainhand — the weapon/staff hand (e.g. irons_spellbooks:blood_staff)
  • offhand — the other hand (e.g. a shield)
  • head / helmet — e.g. minecraft:diamond_helmet
  • chest / chestplate — e.g. minecraft:diamond_chestplate
  • legs / leggings — e.g. minecraft:diamond_leggings
  • feet / boots — e.g. minecraft:diamond_boots

  Example — a fully-geared wizard:

  "equipment": {
    "mainhand": "irons_spellbooks:blood_staff",
    "offhand": "minecraft:shield",
    "head": "minecraft:diamond_helmet",
    "chest": "minecraft:diamond_chestplate",
    "legs": "minecraft:diamond_leggings",
    "feet": "minecraft:diamond_boots"
  }

  (Slot synonyms: hand/main_hand = mainhand, off_hand = offhand, chestplate = chest, leggings = legs, helmet = head, boots = feet.)

• attributes — the mob's magic stats. Examples: irons_spellbooks:max_mana (mana pool size), irons_spellbooks:mana_regen (mana per second), irons_spellbooks:spell_power (spell damage multiplier).

• spells — its spell kit, split into four categories (see below). Each spell is written as { "id": "mod:spell_id", "level": 1 }.

Spell categories:

• attack — cast in combat against the target.
• defense — cast only while the caster is actually being attacked (recently hurt). Tip: any spell works here — put irons_spellbooks:shield for a classic barrier, or put an offensive spell like irons_spellbooks:fireball to make the caster retaliate when it gets hit.
• movement — cast when the target is far away / out of spell range to close the gap (e.g. irons_spellbooks:blood_step, irons_spellbooks:teleport).
• support — self-aid spells, cast when the caster is hurt or below half health. Good options: irons_spellbooks:heal, irons_spellbooks:greater_heal (health), irons_spellbooks:fortify (armor), irons_spellbooks:charge (speed), irons_spellbooks:heartstop. Note: there is no "mana regen" spell in Iron's Spells 'n Spellbooks — mana recovery is the irons_spellbooks:mana_regen attribute, so give a support caster that attribute as well. Balance: support casts are chance-gated (up to ~55% per cast attempt, scaling with missing health) and cooldown-limited (at most once every 7 seconds), so a dying caster can't heal-spam itself to immortality.

Mana explained

Mobs don't spend mana to cast. MobWizardry casts with Iron's Spellbooks' CastSource.MOB, which bypasses mana costs and cooldowns entirely — a wizard can keep casting regardless of its mana bar, and there is no mana config field for presets (it was removed).

The irons_spellbooks:max_mana and irons_spellbooks:mana_regen attributes are still accepted under attributes — they control the mana pool size and regeneration for anything that does read mana, but they never gate casting.

Example config (two presets)

This is exactly the default config the mod writes on first launch — copy it and change the values to taste.

{
  "wizard": {
    "requiredTag": "wizard",
    "speed": 1.15,
    "castInterval": 60,
    "equipment": {
      "mainhand": "irons_spellbooks:blood_staff",
      "head": "irons_spellbooks:wandering_magician_helmet",
      "chest": "irons_spellbooks:wandering_magician_chestplate",
      "legs": "irons_spellbooks:wandering_magician_leggings",
      "feet": "irons_spellbooks:wandering_magician_boots"
    },
    "attributes": {
      "irons_spellbooks:max_mana": 100,
      "irons_spellbooks:mana_regen": 3,
      "irons_spellbooks:spell_power": 1.5
    },
    "spells": {
      "attack": [
        { "id": "irons_spellbooks:magic_missile", "level": 1 },
        { "id": "irons_spellbooks:fireball", "level": 1 }
      ],
      "defense": [
        { "id": "irons_spellbooks:shield", "level": 1 }
      ],
      "movement": [
        { "id": "irons_spellbooks:blood_step", "level": 1 }
      ],
      "support": [
        { "id": "irons_spellbooks:heal", "level": 1 }
      ]
    }
  },
  "wizard_lite": {
    "requiredTag": "wizard_lite",
    "speed": 1.1,
    "castInterval": 80,
    "equipment": {
      "mainhand": "irons_spellbooks:blood_staff",
      "head": "irons_spellbooks:wandering_magician_helmet",
      "chest": "irons_spellbooks:wandering_magician_chestplate",
      "legs": "irons_spellbooks:wandering_magician_leggings",
      "feet": "irons_spellbooks:wandering_magician_boots"
    },
    "attributes": {
      "irons_spellbooks:max_mana": 60,
      "irons_spellbooks:mana_regen": 2,
      "irons_spellbooks:spell_power": 1.0
    },
    "spells": {
      "attack": [
        { "id": "irons_spellbooks:magic_arrow", "level": 1 }
      ],
      "defense": [],
      "movement": [],
      "support": []
    }
  }
}

Using spells from addon mods

Any installed addon's spells can be used just like Iron's Spellbooks spells — the mod looks them up in the same shared spell list at load time. For example, if you have T.O Magic 'n Extras installed:

"spells": {
  "attack": [
    { "id": "traveloptics:halberd_horizon", "level": 1 }
  ]
}

If the addon isn't installed, that spell is logged as "not found in Iron's Spellbooks registry - removed" and simply skipped — no crash, no error screen.

Validation on load

At server start (and on /mobwizardry reload) every entry is validated against the real registries:

• unknown spell IDs, item IDs or attribute IDs are logged and removed,
• spell levels are clamped to the spell's max level,
• a warning is logged when a spell's intrinsic cooldown exceeds castInterval.

Invalid presets fail loudly in the log instead of silently doing nothing.

Admin commands

Requires permission level 2.

Command	Description
/mobwizardry summon <preset> <mobType> [pos]	Spawns a mob of <mobType> with the preset applied (tag, equipment, attributes, wizard AI) immediately. The mob type is not restricted by the preset.
/mobwizardry tag <preset> <targets>	Adds the preset's required tag to existing entities and fully initializes matching mobs.
/mobwizardry untag <preset> <targets>	Removes the tag — the wizard AI deactivates on the next tick.
/mobwizardry wizardify <preset> [radius] [pos]	Turns every mob within radius (1–64, default 16) of you (or of pos) into wizards — tag, equipment, attributes and wizard AI. Non-mob entities in range are skipped and reported.
/mobwizardry unwizardify <preset> [radius] [pos]	Removes the tag from all wizards in range — their AI deactivates on the next tick.
/mobwizardry reload	Re-reads and re-validates presets.json without restarting.
/mobwizardry list [page]	Lists loaded presets in a readable, colored format — 5 per page, with clickable previous/next arrows.

Examples

/mobwizardry summon wizard minecraft:zombie
/mobwizardry summon wizard minecraft:zombie 100 64 100
/mobwizardry tag wizard @e[type=minecraft:zombie]
/mobwizardry untag wizard @e[type=minecraft:zombie]
/mobwizardry wizardify wizard 10
/mobwizardry wizardify wizard 20 100 64 100
/mobwizardry unwizardify wizard 10
/mobwizardry reload
/mobwizardry list
/mobwizardry list 2

Testing your preset in-game

1. Start the server with the mod installed.
2. Run /mobwizardry list — confirm your preset shows up (if not, check the log for validation errors).
3. Spawn one: /mobwizardry summon <preset> minecraft:zombie
4. Observe the mob:
   • attack spells cast while it has a target in range,
   • defense spells cast while it is being attacked,
   • movement spells cast when the target is far / out of range,
   • support spells cast when it is hurt or below half health,
   • cooldowns match the spell's own configured values.
5. Tweak presets.json and run /mobwizardry reload — no server restart needed. Code changes (if any) require rebuilding the jar and restarting.

Notes

• CastSource.MOB in Iron's Spellbooks does not consume mana or enforce its player cooldown system, so the goal's castInterval is the effective cast cadence; per-spell cooldowns are still respected as the source of truth.
• The wizard and wizard_lite presets in the default config are examples — copy them and change requiredTag and spell IDs to taste.