Heel turns happen from time to time in video games, but Magus' transformation from evil overlord to the savior of time and space might be the most famous. The scythe-wielding shadow mage of Chrono Trigger has earned a lot of fans since the '90s, and it's possible to bring him back for more adventures as a Dungeons & Dragons character.
Magus started out as a major villain in Chrono Trigger, but it's possible for the player to convince him to join the party and go on a time-traveling adventure to stop the greater threat of Lavos. Magus has one of the most memorable boss battles in history, before becoming a potential ally, both of which led to him becoming one of the most popular characters in the game. A character who starts 🌠out as a villain, before seeing the error of his ways has been done many times in fiction and it has a lot of potential as a D&D character.
The version of Magus we have created uses material from the Player's Handbook and Xanathar's Guide to Everything. Magus hails from the Kingdom of Zeal, who all appear to be humans with magical potential, but when he grows into adulthood, his appearance changes and becomes move elf-like. As such, we'll take the middle-ground and refer to him as a half-elf (or a human who was mutated by the magic in his environment). Therefore, Magus is a half-elf sorcerer of the Shadow Magic origin. Using the basic stat spread listed on page 13 of the Player's Handbook and taking his race into account, Magus' starting stats would be STR 8, DEX, 15, CON 14, INT 12, WIS 10, CHA 17. Magus fights with a scythe in Chrono Trigger but he served the party b𝓰est as an offensive spellcaster.
Magus grew up as 🍌a member of roy💛alty in the Kingdom of Zeal, before being sent through time and being found by Ozzie. This means that Magus falls into the Noble background. Taking everything into account, his starting skills would be History, Persuasion, Arcana, Intimidation, Investigation, and Deception. If the variant Feat rules are used, then Magus would benefit from Lightly Armored, Keen Mind, Spell Sniper, or War Caster.
Magus' alignment would depend on t🗹he point from the story he was being used. As the overlord of an army of monsters, Magus is would fall into the Lawful Evil category, but there is more to his story than meets the eye. It's revealed that Magus has a goal beyond world domination, as he intends to summon Lavos and slay it, which would have resulted in the world being saved. A post-heel turn Magus would fall into the Lawful Neutral category at best, as his attitude does change, but he never fully embraces his allies, nor does his goal of sl💮aughtering Lavos change until the deed is done.
In Chrono Trigger, Magus proves to be far more adept at fire, ice, and lightning magic than Lucca, Marle, and Crono. He is also a master of shadow magic, as well as spells that can snuff the life force out of an enemy straight away. Magus can also create magical barriers, as well as draining the defenses and life force of others. These spell effects can be replicated using the sorcerer spell list. As such, Magus' spell list would benefit from blade ware, chill touch, fire bolt, ray of frost, shocking grasp, burning hands, mage armor, ray of sickness, thunderwave, witch bolt, shadow blade, blindness/deafness, darkness, misty step, scorching ray, fireball, fear, dispel magic, lightning bolt, protection from energy, sleet storm, blight, ice storm, wall of fire, cone of cold, chain lightning, circle of death, disintegrate, globe of invulnerability, delayed blast fireball, finger of death, fire storm, incendiary cloud, meteor storm, and power word kill. 🦄Magus will have access to four Metamagic abilities over his run, and he would choose Empowered Spell and Quickened Spell, followed by Heigh💜tened Spell, then Extended Spell.
Establishing Magus' personality in a Dungeons & Dragons game is tricky. He's introduced as the established leader of an army of monsters, who already has a castle and is making inroads into taking over the world. The evil version of Magus could be starting to create his own kingdom of monsters, which could make for an interesting setup for an evil campaign (assuming that the DM wants to run that type of game). A Dungeon Keeper style approach, where t🍸he enemies are good-aligned adventurers would make for an interesting campaign.
The redeemed version of Magus could also make for an interesting character and would be one that's easier to fit in with conventional parties. A formerly evil sorcerer who learns of a far bigger threat to the world and elects to change their ways would be an interesting character, especially if they are struggling to leave their former methods behind. There are many different opportunities to bring Magus into a Dungeons & Dragons campaign, so long as the player and DM are able to work out a wa𝓰y that isn't disruptiv♌e to the game.