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Arcane Magic, Divine Magic, Nature Magic and Psionics are too much alike.
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<blockquote data-quote="Voneth" data-source="post: 691835" data-attributes="member: 1016"><p>Yes, we have to consider why Mr. Gygax never seemed to translate that flavor to his rules, despite drawing his own writng style from Mr. Vance. If anything, G.G.'s "Vancian" magic has turned me off from wanting to read any Dying Earth book, an affect I am sure he didn't intend.</p><p></p><p>Quite frankly, I think Mr. Gygax's motivations were two fold, the first is the most obvious - but least important, it was an homage. The second and probably more important, the basic concept was easy to translate into a rules system for supernatural artillery ... after the fact. </p><p></p><p>I mean, come on, this is the same guy who added different dice beyond 6 siders and d20s to the game because it was too much of a pain to seperate out the d10, d4s and d8s. Practicality is G.G.'s top priority.</p><p></p><p>He's said time and time again, "it's only a game and its only rules." For his criteria, the rules work first, and if they "sorta, kinda" match something that he enjoyed reading, then it was a bonus, but in no way could he care beyond that. For him, the idea of "recreating" a fantasy world is sort lame, its all about the dungeon crawl, baby, because it's only a funky wargame. </p><p></p><p>Most games try to give you a feel for the their gameworld magic through their rules. If magic is fast and loose, so are the rules (Mage: the Ascension, Unknown Armies.) If the magic is structured, so is the magic (Ars Magica, Palladium.) Through out DnD's history, the rules have never given me any insight to why Vancian magic would be intriguing and the reason is clear when you look at his design philosophy, which is he could care less. </p><p></p><p>I am not slaming his style of gaming. But if you think about why he really made the decisions he did, it becomes obvious that adding "flavor" to the magic has never been a real focus in the game.</p><p></p><p>It is also ironic that the "Dying Earth" rpg is played in a much looser, faster style than DnD. Hmmmm.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Voneth, post: 691835, member: 1016"] Yes, we have to consider why Mr. Gygax never seemed to translate that flavor to his rules, despite drawing his own writng style from Mr. Vance. If anything, G.G.'s "Vancian" magic has turned me off from wanting to read any Dying Earth book, an affect I am sure he didn't intend. Quite frankly, I think Mr. Gygax's motivations were two fold, the first is the most obvious - but least important, it was an homage. The second and probably more important, the basic concept was easy to translate into a rules system for supernatural artillery ... after the fact. I mean, come on, this is the same guy who added different dice beyond 6 siders and d20s to the game because it was too much of a pain to seperate out the d10, d4s and d8s. Practicality is G.G.'s top priority. He's said time and time again, "it's only a game and its only rules." For his criteria, the rules work first, and if they "sorta, kinda" match something that he enjoyed reading, then it was a bonus, but in no way could he care beyond that. For him, the idea of "recreating" a fantasy world is sort lame, its all about the dungeon crawl, baby, because it's only a funky wargame. Most games try to give you a feel for the their gameworld magic through their rules. If magic is fast and loose, so are the rules (Mage: the Ascension, Unknown Armies.) If the magic is structured, so is the magic (Ars Magica, Palladium.) Through out DnD's history, the rules have never given me any insight to why Vancian magic would be intriguing and the reason is clear when you look at his design philosophy, which is he could care less. I am not slaming his style of gaming. But if you think about why he really made the decisions he did, it becomes obvious that adding "flavor" to the magic has never been a real focus in the game. It is also ironic that the "Dying Earth" rpg is played in a much looser, faster style than DnD. Hmmmm. [/QUOTE]
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Arcane Magic, Divine Magic, Nature Magic and Psionics are too much alike.
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