D&D General D&D magic inspired by...

[Reynard]

it would be cool if it was inspired by lovecraft. that would be interesting

What would Lovecraft magic look like? I am not especially familiar with his fantasy/dream lands stuff.

 

[Tonguez]

it would be cool if it was inspired by lovecraft. that would be interesting

The magic of Conans Hyborea is essentially inspired by Lovecraft. Its all dark ritual invoking ancient powers, a bit of illusion, mind control and sleep spells, summoning creatures, swarms and demons, touch of deaths, cloud kills and cataclysmic earthquakes and flash floods. Magic is corruption and will destroy mind and body unless the Scorcerer has access to powerful artifacts, complex rituals and blood sacrifices. Even then most powerful Scorcerers end up as Liches who regularly sacrifice their acolytes while been stalked by unnamable antidiluvian horrors.


I cant remember the titles but theres a series where magic involves taking the traits of others - so the powerful take the strength, beauty, intelligence etc of the less fortunate and make it their own. They become stronger and more powerful while the victim is drained.

 

[Deset Gled]

I think Gygax specifically picked Vance because it didn't match any real-world magic system.

Um... such as?

On topic, shield and magic missile were directly inspired by The Raven (Vincent Price, Jack Nicholson, Peter Lorre).

 

[EzekielRaiden]

While it's physically impossible for it to have been the inspiration, since it wasn't published until 1995, I think it would have been AWESOME to have a D&D with magic based on Sabriel. The whole "charter marks" thing is fascinating, especially since they explicitly manifest in many forms (written, spoken, musical notes, gestures with the bells, etc.), and presents a world where magic and mundane are a lot more blended together than they are in D&D proper.

 

[Dioltach]

beating an owl at a riddle contest.

Owl: "Who?"
PC: "Who what? I need more information than that."
Owl: "Who who?"
PC: "Nope, still not getting it."
Owl: "Who?"
PC: "Never mind, I give up" [Leaves]
Owl: "Dumbass."

 

[Blue Orange]

Holy cats, someone else who has read Nephilim! Whenever I bring up the game, most people look at me like I'm insane!

Using a little too much Moon Ka?

 

[James Gasik]

Using a little too much Moon Ka?

It goes more like this:

Me: "So there was this game I bought in the 90's where you play an immortal being that has magical powers."

Them: "Like...Vampire?"

Me: "No, actually..."

Them: "Oh! You mean Mummy!"

Me: "No, no, this game's magic system is steeped in Hermetic symbolism..."

Them: "Like Mage?"

Me: "No, not like Mage. Anyways, your character is constantly reincarnated into new lives, and as part of character creation, you develop who your past incarnations were!"

Them: "Still sounding like Mage. Or maybe Werewolf."

Me: "Argh! No, it's not a White Wolf game!"

Them: "Uh huh. And do you still have this so-called book?"

Me: "Well, no, it was destroyed when my basement flooded."

Them: "This is another one of those made-up games you insist are real, like Witchcraft or Marauder 2017, isn't it?"

Me: "They were real! Look, I found articles on the internet! And pictures!"

Them: "Don't engage with the crazy person; he might start talking about Torg again."

 

[Ralif Redhammer]

The magic of Conans Hyborea is essentially inspired by Lovecraft. Its all dark ritual invoking ancient powers, a bit of illusion, mind control and sleep spells, summoning creatures, swarms and demons, touch of deaths, cloud kills and cataclysmic earthquakes and flash floods. Magic is corruption and will destroy mind and body unless the Scorcerer has access to powerful artifacts, complex rituals and blood sacrifices. Even then most powerful Scorcerers end up as Liches who regularly sacrifice their acolytes while been stalked by unnamable antidiluvian horrors.

I think that if we remove Vance from the equation, there's a strong chance that Conan's magic system could take its place. Which means a lot of rituals and slow casting, with a few exceptions.

Other options, looking at Appendix N, would be de Camp and Fletcher Pratt's the Compleat Enchanter, which would probably see casters learning verses to cast spells. There are a lot of spells there that could have been cribbed to form the core of D&D magic system. Moorcock's spells, which also involve a lot of summoning and binding, make me think that summoning would've played an even greater role in D&D magic.

I also think we'd see spellcasters spending HP, spell points, or even Con to cast spells, as a lot of the remaining books show casters being drained and exhausted by working magic.

 

[Blue Orange]

Gasik: Point 'em to the link.

DriveThruRPG

www.drivethrurpg.com

The game is real. And so are you.

TORG recently got a rerelease, I think. Also a neat game--I like multi-genre. You can do medieval fantasy (Aysle), horror (Orrorsh), cyberpunk (Cyberpapacy), pulp (Nile Empire), post-apocalyptic cyberpunk (Tharkold), and I forget what else all in the same setting.

 

[Voadam]

For this thought experiment there would still be the Chainmail origins of OD&D magic where wizards were basically fantasy artillery with lightning bolts, fireballs, and cloudkill being basically reskinned howitzers and mustard gas.

Vance prepare and forget one shot magic paradigm came in as the basis for mechanics for individual special unit figures (hero and magic user) exploring a dungeon for OD&D. Vancian magic was an adaptation of Chainmail magic to OD&D.

Vance had a couple powerful attack spells from the stories I have read, but I don't recall straight on lightning bolt type of stuff.

So while Conan rituals, Lovecraft summonings, Earthsea true names, Dr. Strange comic eldritch blasts and evocations, might do different mechanics and influence a lot of the flavor and development of new spells, I think they would all accommodate battlefield magical artillery one way or another and we would still have fireballs as a classic wizard battlefield spell.