D&D 5E Wizard Energy

[Tony Vargas]

. But whatever sort of brain-bendingly complex magic the wizard rules are modeling, I would say that three things are true of it: (1) it treats spells as discrete units that (2) are limited primarily by the need to rest and (3) require preparation.

The slots require rest and are weirdly discrete ( you can find yourself, for instance with the ability to cast a 1st or a 9th level slot, but nothing inbetween ). Prep OTOH, is now a matter of swapping out what amount to known spells for other classes.

But,, in neither case are they necessarily qualities of the fiction being modeled rather than artifacts of the mechanics - because we're not really given a clear or thorough understanding of that fiction. So, we're free to fit whatever fiction appeals to those mechanics, to whatever degree we may be comfortable with.

For the relatively close coupling of mechanics & fiction you're talking about, spell points would be more appropriate, and similar variants have been common back to the early days of the classic game, in spite of their balance problems, for that very reason.

 

[Igwilly]

Honestly, I face the problem in a different way:
There is no such thing as "magical energy"; because magic doesn't obey any law of conservation. Moreover, magic is weird and has a lot of rules that no one quite understand their reasons, among others undiscovered.
I'm playing 2e now, so I use Vancian/Gygaxian magic. But the question remains: why so many spells at specific levels? Spells only exist in determined levels; much like electrons in Quantum Physics. However, no one quite knows why it works that way or what marks these limits. It simply is.
Despite magic itself being present almost everywhere, spellcasters have limits on how much magic they can manipulate, how many spells of specific levels, etc.

 

[MechaPilot]

I have always envisioned all of the magic-users to be limited by their body and skill.

For instance, a strong man can perform an infinite amount of work (moving a block uphill) if he has an unlimited amount of time, but he can only perform so much work in a given day. Your muscles tire and your stamina runs out. Wizards, clerics, druids are the same. Whatever part of them channels and controls magical energy can only channel so much in a given time. That is what (to me) what spell slots represent.

That's what I go with as well. I think of magic as being draining to use, so the caster can only do so much before needing to rest.

Of course, I'd also let a wizard who ran out of spell slots accrue a level of exhaustion to cast a spell in their highest level slot, or let a wizard cast a higher level spell than they normally can (assuming they can add up and spend enough slot levels to equal to spell's level) for the cost of a level of exhaustion.

 

[Oofta]

I explain it to new players as a twofold answer.

First, as others have stated, casters are like reservoirs for magical energy. They can only contain so much energy.

The other part is that when wizards prep spells, they are actually pre-casting spells. So they cast 99% of a fireball and then just have to trigger it for it to go off. The number of "potential" spells they can hold this way is limited.

Or, just "it works that way because it's simple and it works out reasonably well".

 

[Tony Vargas]

The other part is that when wizards prep spells, they are actually pre-casting spells. So they cast 99% of a fireball and then just have to trigger it for it to go off. The number of "potential" spells they can hold this way is limited.

That's a fair alternative to Vancian 'memorization' and it goes back pretty far, Delayed in Fantasy Hero worked that way, for instance, c1985. 3.0 made it official, maybe 2e used it, too?
But 5e made Wizards spontaneous casters, so it doesn't hold up anymore...

Or, just "it works that way because it's simple and it works out reasonably well".

I feel like Vancian is simpler than prep + slots = spontaneous neo-Vancian... But I could just be mistaking familiarity for simplicity.

 

[Oofta]

That's a fair alternative to Vancian 'memorization' and it goes back pretty far, Delayed in Fantasy Hero worked that way, for instance, c1985. 3.0 made it official, maybe 2e used it, too?
But 5e made Wizards spontaneous casters, so it doesn't hold up anymore...

It's not quite as "clean" as it was in 3, but I wasn't able to come up with a better alternative.

Think of it like wiring up magical circuit. Casting the spell, completing the magical circuit, doesn't mean you don't still have the circuit available for use later as long as you have enough juice in the reservoir to power the result you need.

Or just say: it works that way because "magic".

Part of the reason I like it is because magic is fairly common in my world. Most non-adventurer spell-casters could in theory cast a fireball (if they bothered learning it) it would just take them several minutes to do so and could not time it precisely. Non-adventurer's magic is more ritualistic and because of that isn't generally destructive or useful in battle. They also don't have the training to store up magical energy for the big boom spells like wizards.

 

[ExploderWizard]

FOOLISH MORTALS! Do you think the the power of a true wizard is finite or limited in any way? These are just stories told to keep children from being too frightened to ever leave their homes.

Think about it a bit. Any time there is anything that is inexplicable in the multi-verse what is the first thing that comes to mind?

............a wizard did it.


Think about that for a moment.

Not a cleric, not a druid, not a sorcerer , not THE GODS, heck, not not even THE DM! A wizard.

Thats right, the only reason that makes any sense for given set of unexplainable circumstances.

- how did this magical effect persist for hundreds of years? A wizard did it.

-why on earth would anyone build a dungeon like this? A wizard did it.

-who could be so screwed up as to put a giant bird head on a bear? A wizard did it.

-how in the hell do my socks keep disappearing in the dryer? A wizard did it.


So go ahead and keep yapping away about the limitations of wizards. It is the only way you can sleep at night.

 

[TheCosmicKid]

But,, in neither case are they necessarily qualities of the fiction being modeled rather than artifacts of the mechanics - because we're not really given a clear or thorough understanding of that fiction. So, we're free to fit whatever fiction appeals to those mechanics, to whatever degree we may be comfortable with.

Yes, and I'm saying that I personally am not comfortable (though that might be too strong a word) with a fiction where spells are not discrete but rather come from a liquid "energy" source; where wizards' power is not correlated with their restedness but rather with an environmental or some other factor; and/or where wizards do not have to conscientiously prepare their spells before use. It makes character and player knowledge diverge too much for my tastes.

For the relatively close coupling of mechanics & fiction you're talking about, spell points would be more appropriate, and similar variants have been common back to the early days of the classic game, in spite of their balance problems, for that very reason.

I think you've got me backwards. I'm interpreting the fact that we don't use spell points (when we very easily could) to mean that, whatever fiction underlies the system, spell points would be inappropriate for it -- that this weird discreteness of spells is somehow a property they have in the fiction rather than a mechanical artifact. The discreteness made perfect sense in 1E-3E where you were memorizing/preparing spells individually. It's a little fuzzier what's going on in 5E.

 

[TheCosmicKid]

I feel like Vancian is simpler than prep + slots = spontaneous neo-Vancian... But I could just be mistaking familiarity for simplicity.

I agree that old-school Vancian is conceptually simpler, but there is more bookkeeping, tracking what's going on with each individual slot rather than just having a list of things you can do. 5E places a high premium on ease of use at the table, so it makes sense they went the neo-Vancian route.

 

[gyor]

I don't think that the source of energy is finite - rather the wizard's capacity to channel it is limited...

More in general, a wizard's access to power is very "free" as in it is completely on his or her terms. She is not beholden to a deity, patron or lucky accident of birth/ancestry (like a sorcerer). It is all power wrested from the multiverse through study, logic and willpower.

The Wizard is the magical scientist, the Artificer is the magical enigeer, Bard is the magical Musician/Artist, Warlock is the magical merchant and the Sorceror is the magical noble/savant born gifted.