Menu
News
All News
Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
Pathfinder
Starfinder
Warhammer
2d20 System
Year Zero Engine
Industry News
Reviews
Dragon Reflections
White Dwarf Reflections
Columns
Weekly Digests
Weekly News Digest
Freebies, Sales & Bundles
RPG Print News
RPG Crowdfunding News
Game Content
ENterplanetary DimENsions
Mythological Figures
Opinion
Worlds of Design
Peregrine's Nest
RPG Evolution
Other Columns
From the Freelancing Frontline
Monster ENcyclopedia
WotC/TSR Alumni Look Back
4 Hours w/RSD (Ryan Dancey)
The Road to 3E (Jonathan Tweet)
Greenwood's Realms (Ed Greenwood)
Drawmij's TSR (Jim Ward)
Community
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Resources
Wiki
Pages
Latest activity
Media
New media
New comments
Search media
Downloads
Latest reviews
Search resources
EN Publishing
Store
EN5ider
Adventures in ZEITGEIST
Awfully Cheerful Engine
What's OLD is NEW
Judge Dredd & The Worlds Of 2000AD
War of the Burning Sky
Level Up: Advanced 5E
Events & Releases
Upcoming Events
Private Events
Featured Events
Socials!
EN Publishing
Twitter
BlueSky
Facebook
Instagram
EN World
BlueSky
YouTube
Facebook
Twitter
Twitch
Podcast
Features
Top 5 RPGs Compiled Charts 2004-Present
Adventure Game Industry Market Research Summary (RPGs) V1.0
Ryan Dancey: Acquiring TSR
Q&A With Gary Gygax
D&D Rules FAQs
TSR, WotC, & Paizo: A Comparative History
D&D Pronunciation Guide
Million Dollar TTRPG Kickstarters
Tabletop RPG Podcast Hall of Fame
Eric Noah's Unofficial D&D 3rd Edition News
D&D in the Mainstream
D&D & RPG History
About Morrus
Log in
Register
What's new
Search
Search
Search titles only
By:
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Menu
Log in
Register
Install the app
Install
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*Dungeons & Dragons
5e witches, your preferred implementation?
JavaScript is disabled. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding.
You are using an out of date browser. It may not display this or other websites correctly.
You should upgrade or use an
alternative browser
.
Reply to thread
Message
<blockquote data-quote="RealAlHazred" data-source="post: 8553091" data-attributes="member: 25818"><p>As a thought experiment, I decided to see if I could come up with historical personages who fit these archetypes. Keeping in mind that real people never fit archetypes or stereotypes perfectly, nevertheless I think these are pretty close to how people perceive these characters in games:</p><ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul"><strong>Shaman:</strong> My favorite example is <a href="http://defendgaia.org/bobk/evenkiv.html" target="_blank">Magankan</a>, who caused the Tunguska Event of 1908.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul"><strong>Priest:</strong> I like to use as an example <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roger_Bacon" target="_blank">Roger Bacon</a>. Nowadays people like to call him a prototype wizard, but he was a friar and it seems likely if he ever "cast a spell" in D&D form, he would have been classified as a cleric.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul"><strong>Healer:</strong> I remember reading something about <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gwen_ferch_Ellis" target="_blank">Gwen ferch Ellis</a>. The traditional Welsh healing methods involved salves and poppets, which led to her being hanged as a witch, sadly. See also, "Witch" below.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul"><strong>Medium: </strong>Probably the most famous historical medium was <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edgar_Cayce" target="_blank">Edgar Cayce</a>. Frankly, he belongs in every period RPG, IMO.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul"><strong>Witch: </strong>One famous witch trial was the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Witches_of_Belvoir" target="_blank">Witches of Belvoir</a>: Joan, Margaret, and Philippa Flowers. Frankly, there's a lot of bleedover in European folklore between "healers" and "witches".</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul"><strong>Scholarly Wizard:</strong> John Dee has already been mentioned and is a pretty good example, but to an extent the same archetype fits <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isaac_Newton" target="_blank">Sir Isaac Newton</a>. He codified the laws of gravity and formulated a theory of the color spectrum, sure, but he also was a practicing alchemist and did a bit of occultism.</li> </ul><p>EDIT: I see Newton was already mentioned, and is regarded as "too late in the period." What about <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Francis_Bacon" target="_blank"><strong>Sir Francis Bacon</strong></a> (1561-1626)? He wrote a bit about the occult and yet was also the "father of the scientific method" without being a scientist.</p><p></p><p>EDIT 2: If we're being restricted to the Medieval Period (the Middle Ages, CE 476-1453 when the Turks sacked Constantinople), then I'm going to have to do more research for figures. Roger Bacon (1220-1292) is the only one who fits. Even Gwen ferch Ellis dates to just after this period.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="RealAlHazred, post: 8553091, member: 25818"] As a thought experiment, I decided to see if I could come up with historical personages who fit these archetypes. Keeping in mind that real people never fit archetypes or stereotypes perfectly, nevertheless I think these are pretty close to how people perceive these characters in games: [LIST] [*][B]Shaman:[/B] My favorite example is [URL='http://defendgaia.org/bobk/evenkiv.html']Magankan[/URL], who caused the Tunguska Event of 1908. [*][B]Priest:[/B] I like to use as an example [URL='https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roger_Bacon']Roger Bacon[/URL]. Nowadays people like to call him a prototype wizard, but he was a friar and it seems likely if he ever "cast a spell" in D&D form, he would have been classified as a cleric. [*][B]Healer:[/B] I remember reading something about [URL='https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gwen_ferch_Ellis']Gwen ferch Ellis[/URL]. The traditional Welsh healing methods involved salves and poppets, which led to her being hanged as a witch, sadly. See also, "Witch" below. [*][B]Medium: [/B]Probably the most famous historical medium was [URL='https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edgar_Cayce']Edgar Cayce[/URL]. Frankly, he belongs in every period RPG, IMO. [*][B]Witch: [/B]One famous witch trial was the [URL='https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Witches_of_Belvoir']Witches of Belvoir[/URL]: Joan, Margaret, and Philippa Flowers. Frankly, there's a lot of bleedover in European folklore between "healers" and "witches". [*][B]Scholarly Wizard:[/B] John Dee has already been mentioned and is a pretty good example, but to an extent the same archetype fits [URL='https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isaac_Newton']Sir Isaac Newton[/URL]. He codified the laws of gravity and formulated a theory of the color spectrum, sure, but he also was a practicing alchemist and did a bit of occultism. [/LIST] EDIT: I see Newton was already mentioned, and is regarded as "too late in the period." What about [URL='https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Francis_Bacon'][B]Sir Francis Bacon[/B][/URL] (1561-1626)? He wrote a bit about the occult and yet was also the "father of the scientific method" without being a scientist. EDIT 2: If we're being restricted to the Medieval Period (the Middle Ages, CE 476-1453 when the Turks sacked Constantinople), then I'm going to have to do more research for figures. Roger Bacon (1220-1292) is the only one who fits. Even Gwen ferch Ellis dates to just after this period. [/QUOTE]
Insert quotes…
Verification
Post reply
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*Dungeons & Dragons
5e witches, your preferred implementation?
Top
