ToME WikiNo spoilers here, please. NO SPOILERS HERE!
A Mage must live by his wits. He cannot hope to simply hack his way through the dungeon, and so must therefore use his magic to defeat, deceive, confuse, and escape. A mage is not really complete without an assortment of magical devices to use in addition to his spells. He can master the higher level magical devices easily and has good saving throws.
There is no reason a mage cannot become a good fighter, but spells are his true realm. For more information on magic, schools and spell effects see the help on Magic.
Starting stat modifiers, starting Skills, innate abilities and starting equipment: Please see the in-game help.