WayneLigon
Adventurer
Griffith Dragonlake said:Where is this reflected in the RAW? There are certainly some fantasy settings where magic is dangerous but I don't think it's a universal conceit and it's certainly not part of D&D.
There is virtually no information about the actual training times and methods for the various classes, probably because we're talking broad archetypes here and such information would be a closer step towards making the basic game more concretely tied to a specific world - a bad idea for a game that can be used to represent a startlingly broad range of fantasy.
You can, however, look at scroll mishaps and the possible negative effects one can suffer as a result of a failed Use Magic Item check to see that someone who is fooling with magic beyond their capacity to use, or beyond their normal capability to use, can suffer severe negative effects if they fail to do everything exactly correct. They can even die from it.
Later on, you point up some stuff from d20 Modern. If we want to consider ideas from it as well, I'll submit that the d20 Modern system of Incantations (you can see those in the d20M SRD) is much closer to the way magic works in most works of fiction and tales than D&D's stock method. There are many hazards that a failed Incantation can cause, and those are with a trained and ready spellcaster, much less a green apprentice.
Griffith Dragonlake said:And yet a 1st level fighter or rogue is not a 'lesser man'?
It depends on which 'philosophy' of D&D you subscribe to. I generally subscribe to the one that the various PC classes are a far cut above the common run of humanity, even at 1st level.