D&D General What is a "spell"? What isn't?

[Reynard]

I don't want to detail the Mordenkainen let's read any more than I have, but something interesting came up I that thread:

What is a spell in the fiction of the game, and what isn't?

This specifically came up in context of spellcasting NPCs having not-spell spell attacks and how to square that in the fiction. But it extends beyond that, to spell like abilities and psionics and magical talents and so on.

So -- remembering we are talking about the fiction, not the rules -- what is a spell in D&D, and what isn't?

 

[Hussar]

This is a really, really sticky question IMO. At the core, it's an easy question to address. It's a spell if it appears as a discrete "spell" that some caster can cast. It has a School of Magic, spell components (V,S,M) and appears within a particular level of the spell list of a class. That's the easy answer.

But, then it gets a lot more murky as soon as we move away from that. Is using a Robe of Scintillating Colors a spell or not? Why is Ball Lightning from a Ring of Shooting Stars not a spell but Faerie Fire is? Why is a Censer of Controlling Air Elementals considered a spell but a Ring of Djinni summoning not? They do pretty much exactly the same thing - just one summons an Air Elemental and the other summons a Djinni.

This is a very knotty question that I don't think there is a standard answer to.

 

[aco175]

I kind of view 'spells' as something normal people cannot do. This may leave a wide path of what it is, but I find that better than splitting hair. I must also say that I have not read Mords, so I do not have a full opinion yet.

Wizards must study and read to cast a spell while a warlock or sorcerer doe not, but they are still spells. I would also extend this to monsters with spell-like abilities in determining if it can be countered. I also have problems with the amount of countering around, so they may cancel each other out. Psionics, I do not use, but consider them spells like sorcerers and not exempt.

I'm not sure on items. Most say that it the power is 'as spell', but some allow you to do things all the time and not have to activate them.

 

[Krachek]

from my fiction point of view spells don’t exist, as most game mechanics.

 

[Reynard]

from my fiction point of view spells don’t exist, as most game mechanics.

So what do wizards and such do with all those gobs of bat guano, waving their hands around and mumbling?

 

[Minigiant]

Spells follow a formula or recipe based on the magical programming language of the setting.
A lot of non-spells are just magic with a strong enough signature to cause an effect but not enough backed by an interactive formula.

 

[Tonguez]

I kind of view 'spells' as something normal people cannot do.

see I’d actually think that the opposite - Spells are learnable formula, vibrations and ritual actions that can manipulate the ‘natural’ arcane energies of the world.

whereas not-spells (spell-like abilities) are inherent powers which creatures possess due to living in a magical environment.

 

[jmartkdr2]

In fiction, I think of spells as being feats of skill plus magic power from somewhere to produce a specific* effect. They have spell components, which are known things within the fiction: magic words, magic gestures, and either foci or consumed** components.

Other magical effects that 'just happen' are not spells, though they are still magic. Psionics, natural magic, etc. are all non-spell magic.

For magic items, if it requires the ability to cast spells to use, the effect is casting a spell. Otherwise, it's just a magical effect.

*well, as specific as spells are in the game, so variable

** I assume the uncosted ones are used up, but only in such small amounts that tracking is irrelevant - every time you cast fireball, you use a drop of guano. You get more when you get back to town.

 

[Leatherhead]

Well, here is fiction of the game:

THE WEAVE OF MAGIC

The worlds within the D&D multiverse are magical places. All existence is suffused with magical power, and potential energy lies untapped in every rock, stream, and living creature, and even in the air itself. Raw magic is the stuff of creation, the mute and mindless will of existence, permeating every bit of matter and present in every manifestation of energy throughout the multiverse.

Mortals can’t directly shape this raw magic. Instead, they make use of a fabric of magic, a kind of interface between the will of a spellcaster and the stuff of raw magic. The spellcasters of the Forgotten Realms call it the Weave and recognize its essence as the goddess Mystra, but casters have varied ways of naming and visualizing this interface. By any name, without the Weave, raw magic is locked away and inaccessible; the most powerful archmage can’t light a candle with magic in an area where the Weave has been torn. But surrounded by the Weave, a spellcaster can shape lightning to blast foes, transport hundreds of miles in the blink of an eye, or even reverse death itself.

All magic depends on the Weave, though different kinds of magic access it in a variety of ways. The spells of wizards, warlocks, sorcerers, and bards are commonly called arcane magic. These spells rely on an understanding—learned or intuitive—of the workings of the Weave. The caster plucks directly at the strands of the Weave to create the desired effect. Eldritch knights and arcane tricksters also use arcane magic. The spells of clerics, druids, paladins, and rangers are called divine magic. These spellcasters’ access to the Weave is mediated by divine power—gods, the divine forces of nature, or the sacred weight of a paladin’s oath.

Whenever a magic effect is created, the threads of the Weave intertwine, twist, and fold to make the effect possible. When characters use divination spells such as detect magic or identify, they glimpse the Weave. A spell such as dispel magic smooths the Weave. Spells such as antimagic field rearrange the Weave so that magic flows around, rather than through, the area affected by the spell. And in places where the Weave is damaged or torn, magic works in unpredictable ways—or not at all.

Basically: Spells are Apps, The Weave is a UI, and raw magic is the physics of the D&D world.

 

[FitzTheRuke]

Spells are long-established techniques that manipulate the forces of magic in order to create predictable results. Whether they are granted to you by a god (cleric), powerful entity (warlock), learned as a knack (bard, arcane trickster), or found in old books (wizard), or through practice (sorcerer, after you discover your connection to raw magic that is in your blood), you use these established techniques to create said predictable results.

Magic can potentially do ANYTHING, so you need somewhere to start.