About schools of magic

Li Shenron

Legend

• Jul 18, 2007

• #1

How many of you actually interpret the specialization schools of magic (like Divination) as actual schools, meaning that they are teached to wizards belonging to a particular group?

I have to say I've never played them like that. But it's the only way I can reasonably explain why there are forbidden schools implied by a wizard's specialization: "we don't teach that awful kind of magic here!".

Anubody knows what was the origin of the term "school"?

 

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Kae'Yoss

First Post

• Jul 18, 2007

• #2

I'd guess it's because magic is quite academic - especially for the old-school magic-users/wizard types, who can't just make a deal with the devil to do magic all day long at the low, low price of their soul. They study magic. They go to wizard schools or academies (if they aren't taught by a master). The term "school" fits right in there. Also, you could equal it to "schools of thought" - some like to peek in on you, others blow stuff up, and for some, the solution to everything is to mess with everyone's head till the things are just as they want them...

I'd say that from this concept stems the idea of banned schools (though actual colleges where only necromancers, or enchanters, or whetever is trained, and where the school decides not to bother with this or that kind of crude/awful/useless magic): When you focus on one kind of magic, you'll have to neglect another kind.


If you want a definite answer to the question why it's called "school", your best bet is probably asking Gary on his questions thread (unless he sees this and comes here on its own to answer).

 

P

Particle_Man

Explorer

• Jul 18, 2007

• #3

Note that if you go the "we don't teach that magic around here!" route you will either need to tailor schools in advance to player choices, or limit player options (if they want a different specialization and banned school combo than the school offers, too bad), or have a LOT of schools (one for every possible specialization and banned school combo).

Although it might be interesting if Necromancy is universally banned (except for Necromancy specialists, of course, but that could be a hidden illegal school). Pick one other school that could be universally banned (Enchantment?) and you have some flavour, at the expense of player choice.

 

Li Shenron

Legend

• Jul 18, 2007

• #4

Kae'Yoss said:

When you focus on one kind of magic, you'll have to neglect another kind.

Click to expand...

Yeah, but there's hell of a stretch between "neglect" and "banned"

 

howandwhy99

Adventurer

• Jul 20, 2007

• #5

Don't ask me. It's some liberal college thing. Get a "major", "minor", and some electives. But in the end you never take a single course in most disciplines.

 

Slife

First Post

• Jul 20, 2007

• #6

IMC it's a school of thought. Specialists approach spellcasting in such a way that some spells come more naturally to them. Unfortunately, this leads to some forms of magic being almost incomprehensible.

 

Kae'Yoss

First Post

• Jul 20, 2007

• #7

Li Shenron said:

Yeah, but there's hell of a stretch between "neglect" and "banned"

Click to expand...

I think there was an elder god, Gaim Ballens, who decreed that they had to give up those schools for good. (In other words: It might just have been a pure game balance thing, without being explained beyond "that's how majik works")

 

Whizbang Dustyboots

Gnometown Hero

• Jul 20, 2007

• #8

I go with the idea that it's a collegiate sort of structure. I took courses from the College of Arts & Science at Virginia Tech, and never took anything from the College of Engineering or the College of Architecture. And after my freshman year, I would be surprised to have seen students from either of those colleges in any of my classes.

There doesn't have to be an enmity between the schools for students to have to make choices as to what they can learn if they're choosing to concentrate on what it is, effectively, a college major.

That said, if you want to have magical schools that concentrate on a single school of magic, they're out there. St. John's College of Abjuration (PDF) was meant to be the first of a series like that, but they were never finished. But I know other publishers did the same, and the awesome Redhurst Academy of Magic is structured like a university with the schools of magic being different departments.