Mearls talks about his inspiration for the 4e classes

[mlund]

And the inspiration for the Wizard in D&D was never a fantasy wizard - it was a person copied from the real world: the angry, book-loving nerd that really wished that he could kill you with his brain.

There is probably some very brutal truth to that, but there are some fantasy wizards that D&D could draw from just fine.

Sure, the D&D model for the Wizard was never anything like the way Gandalf or his fellow "wizards" rolled in The Lord of the Rings. Heck, they called them "Magic-users" back in the day - not Wizards. They drew much more from some romantic notions of Merlin the Magician, Rasputin, and even some implications from C.S. Lewis. The notion was of an Arcane Academic who, though years of study of arcane formula and forbidden secrets could manipulate the fabric of the universe for good or for ill. Thanks to Dragonlance, Raistlin Majere became the signature character for the Magic-user.

Invoker is much more along the lines of what Gandalf was. The comparisons to Old Testament prophets such as Elijah and Moses are apt. The similiarity is no coincidence considering the history, interviews, and notes pertaining to Tolkein's writings.

- Marty Lund

 

[mach1.9pants]

Yeah all the confusion with Gandalf and Wizard comes from the simple fact that the majority of the characters in Hobbit/LotR thought he was a Wizard. He was never a Wizard but, obviously, the way he appeared and used magic etc was very similar to what a real Wizard would be like in Middle Earth.... ipso facto Gandalf is a Wizard 'role model' without being a Wizard

But the book learning stuff has to come from good old Vance doesn't it.

 

[mlund]

Yeah all the confusion with Gandalf and Wizard comes from the simple fact that the majority of the characters in Hobbit/LotR thought he was a Wizard.

He was a Wizard, so much as that definition applied to Middle Earth. There were all of 5 Wizards in that world. They were all immortal servants of the divine - a race called Maia. Wizard was not a job or a character class in Middle Earth, but a Race. On top of that, pretty much all magic in the setting was Racial, not Professional - Elves, Angels, and Dunedain as opposed to Warlocks, Wizards, and Clerics.

Note how in Dungeons and Dragons characters we now call "Wizards" were originally called "Magic-users," as a class, not Wizards. Then they were called "Mages" - still not Wizards. It wasn't until 3rd Edition the class was finally called "Wizard."

He was never a Wizard but, obviously, the way he appeared and used magic etc was very similar to what a real Wizard would be like in Middle Earth....

His appearance, scholarship, wisdom, and equipment were a model for Wizards. His spells and background, however, were definitely not. They are also extremely contrary to the general identity of Wizards in fiction prior to The Lord of the Rings.

- Marty Lund

 

[Leatherhead]

could kill you with his brain.

I thought that was what psionics was for.

 

[Fifth Element]

I read that article too and agree.

Spells include: Pyrotechnics, knock, ventriloquism.

Also, defeating a balrog in single combat.

But let's not get into that.

 

[JeffB]

On a side note-

Mearls gets alot of flack at times (at least around here he has) but I really dig his perspective. He knows his oldschool themes/modules/tropes to a "T" (and I have seen him post occasionaly on some of the OSR blogs-so he follows them to some extent) and then puts his 4E interpretation on these old school ideas/themes/tropes. I've been enjoying his commentary on the various D&D podcasts that I've managed to listen to as well as his articles and such.

So props to Mike!

 

[Hjorimir]

I don't know the character that inspired the Avenger, but I get a strong "Solomon Kane" vibe from it.

I've never read any of the Solomon Kane books (and I'm sure you're probably spot on from what I know about the character), but when I think avenger I think of Pale Rider.

 

[The_Fan]

Though he's a two-weapon fighter instead of a great weapon fighter, I always think of Paladin Alexander Anderson when I think of an Avenger. He's fast, he teleports, he likes to fight opponents one on one and uses powers to isolate and cut them off from their allies and sources of magic. Also, he's Unaligned while working for an (ostensibly) Lawful Good organization.

 

[I'm A Banana]

Mike's a little to gamist at times for me, and I don't think I can forgive him after making the 4e Monster Manual 90% useless to me (), but he's always got interesting ideas.

As an aside, I like the idea of a Wizard as a "combat librarian."

The idea is that in a world where literacy is rare, those who can control words -- the written language -- shape reality. Runes in the Norse, or philosophers and scholars in the Greek, or Egyptian heiroglyphics, or Buddhist words of power, or even the "truename" motif...

This is the most appealing archetype of the D&D wizard to me.

The 4e wizard doesn't really fill this role, but if they ever pump out an archivist, chances are that it will.

 

[Dire Bare]

I think it's worth pointing out that the terms "wizard", "mage", "sorcerer", "invoker", etc are pretty much interchangeable outside of the D&D game. They have distinct meanings for us gamers, but do not in literature, myth, and in mainstream public opinion.

It's not like, within the story of Middle-Earth, there are some learned elves discussing what to call Gandalf.

Elf 1: Well, I know we all call him a wizard, but really, if you think about it, he's actually an invoker.

Elf 2: Really? Wizard works fine for me, although I've always thought of the old stormcrow as more of a sorcerer . . .

Gandalf IS a wizard, because that's what he is called in Tolkien's works. I've certainly used him as inspiration for PC and NPC characters, and I'm sure I'm not alone. But if you want to try and model his powers and abilities within the D&D game, you probably should choose the invoker class rather than the wizard class.