dave2008
Legend
Well it is subjective of course, I think the casting spells from the 9th circle sounds pretty cool. Maybe it reminds me of Dante.Numbered is definitely easier. I just thought named categories would sound cooler.
Well it is subjective of course, I think the casting spells from the 9th circle sounds pretty cool. Maybe it reminds me of Dante.Numbered is definitely easier. I just thought named categories would sound cooler.
I remember reading something by Gary Gygax where he laments the use of level for class, dungeons, spells and that they should have gone with something else but the damage was done. Something along those lines anyway. I sometimes use circle for spells. A master mage of the 5th circle is able to cast 5th level spells, for example.
Having read more of the thread, it seems using circle is fairly popular.
I think "circle" sounds less gamey than "tier." It represent discrete areas of power in a natural-language way IMO (like Dante did for the layers of hell). Though I like @Charlaquin 's suggestion of "order" too.Personally, I don't think characters should be discussing spell levels (by whatever name) any more than they should be discussing hit dice or armor class. That's probably why I don't like terms like "circle" - it does sound like something one is trying to make into an in-game term. I'm mildly surprised by the apparent number of folks who think this is a reasonable thing for characters to discuss.
If forced to choose a different term, I think I like "tier" best of all the suggestions so far.
Baron Opal II said:
If we split spells into 20 levels instead of 9, that would be less confusing. But, that's too much work for me at the moment.
1000x this.
Why do spells have "levels"? Why couldn't we have used ANY other term for them?
I have new players get confused about "I'm a 3rd level Wizard, why can't I cast 3rd level spells?"
Sure, this isn't really a big deal - but it would have been entirely avoidable.
Simple fix: Call them Spell Echelons (or just about any other term like "Rank", "Stratum", etc).
I've never understood this. SOMEONE would have figured out that the apprentice wizards all seem to grok magici missile before invisibility EVERY TIME. Someone would have noticed that copying a spell takes n * 50 gold worth of inks and papers where n depends on how complex the spell is and that this correlates to how apprentice wizards seem to grok the spells in a certain order.They would. However, I take the division of spells into discrete, well-identified "levels" as a convenience for game purposes, not an exact description of how magic works in the characters' world.
Do characters in your world(s) discuss the toughness of monsters using the term "Armor Class"?
Why even number them?
1st level spells -> Novice spells
2nd level spells -> Initiate spells
3rd level spells -> Adept spells
4th level spells -> Journeyman spells
5th level spells -> Expert spells
6th level spells -> Master spells
7th level spells -> Grandmaster spells
8th level spells -> Archmaster spells
9th level spells -> Legendary spells
Or something along those lines.
I've never understood this. SOMEONE would have figured out that the apprentice wizards all seem to grok magici missile before invisibility EVERY TIME. Someone would have noticed that copying a spell takes n * 50 gold worth of inks and papers where n depends on how complex the spell is and that this correlates to how apprentice wizards seem to grok the spells in a certain order.
As for AC, the chaos of a melee makes static analysis of something like AC, a number with a variable number of input, possible. But two wizards comparing spells, "It seem these days, Rumford, I can actually cast fireball twice a day. It happened only recently though." I would think if there are academies of magic, there are people collecting data about how wizards gain power.
(And then they meet a warlock and throw their data away. )
This was also the term used by Earthdawn.