Faolyn
(she/her)
Well, maybe have wizards who aren't seeking power but rather, an easier, more useful, or more beautiful life.Now imagine he started down that road seeking that power.
Well, maybe have wizards who aren't seeking power but rather, an easier, more useful, or more beautiful life.Now imagine he started down that road seeking that power.
Or the ability to keep watch over those not able to defend themselves.Well, maybe have wizards who aren't seeking power but rather, an easier, more useful, or more beautiful life.
Those are really simplistic good intentions, and I can imagine that there are wizard/philosophers aplenty in a magical world.Perhaps the road to hell is truly paved with good intentions. "If people's loved ones die, I can replace them with Simulacrums!" eventually turns into "a nation of Simulacrums with me as their ruler would know no strife, no crime, no famine, no war, only peace!"
Because for a wizard, the path is a constant quest for more and more power (spells). All wizards choose to be wizards, which isn't an easy path. They then adventure for more spells, which come in the form of treasure (and this is true only for wizards), and their end path is even more spells. And if they keep adventuring, they will keep getting more and more spells. So the character chooses to become a wizard in order to have spells, which they need to constantly refresh to keep at hand, so they can adventure for even more spells, rise, repeat.Is there a reason the pursuit of magic as a tool is different for a wizard? There is nothing I see in the way magic is used that would indicate evil predisposition, any more than using a washing machine to clean your clothes is more evil than scrubbing them in the river.
A wizard is just as likely to see magic as a tool usable for good ends as any other class. Sorcerers, warlocks, bards etc still need to practice to acquire power. There is a good argument to say with the 5e development of automatically acquired spells at each level, a wizard acquired their magic similarly though practice and experimentation. In the same way that a phd student reasons out new thinking.
Wizards don’t steal, or consume other people’s knowledge to develop their own. Wizardly magic can actually be replicated and copied. It’s actually a very sociable form of development. Wizards improve through interaction with other wizards and their legacies. It’s why there are wizard guilds and the apprentice structure. Compared to the loners that are sorcerers and the enequal power dynamic of a warlock.
For a fighter the path is a constant quest for more and more power (weapons/strength/speed/toughness). All fighters choose to be fighters which isn’t an easy path… etc etc.Because for a wizard, the path is a constant quest for more and more power (spells). All wizards choose to be wizards, which isn't an easy path. They then adventure for more spells, which come in the form of treasure (and this is true only for wizards), and their end path is even more spells. And if they keep adventuring, they will keep getting more and more spells. So the character chooses to become a wizard in order to have spells, which they need to constantly refresh to keep at hand, so they can adventure for even more spells, rise, repeat.
Contrast with other casters which reach a hard limit at the end. And divine characters and warlocks have another hard limit in the form of the deity/patron. Bards receive power to keep a tradition alive, clerics receive power to defend their deity's interests in the world, paladins so they can protect the weak, druids to protect nature... and so on. Sorcerers, sorcerers are different in that their power is the question and the adventuring is the answer. More a reality that starts the path than the goal of the road. Fighters and rogues are more approachable and down to earth by their very nature. Only monk comes close in having the quest for power built-in into the class.
Ok, I neglected to include a disclaimer. Absent character motivation, wizards are the only class that works in feedback loop that rewards power with more power and which is unchecked by either lore (warlock and divine classes) or inherent limitations (bard, sorcerer, and martials).The idea that any, every and all wizards will fall down this slippery slope the moment they get a little bit of power is dumb and implies they’re all weak willed chumps with no sense of morals or empathy for anyone else only interested in their own gain.
While you found something to note about your own post from mine I’d just like to say mine was in no way written as any direct response to yours, just this thread topic itself.Ok, I neglected to include a disclaimer. Absent character motivation, wizards are the only class that works in feedback loop that rewards power with more power and which is unchecked by either lore (warlock and divine classes) or inherent limitations (bard, sorcerer, and martials).