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<blockquote data-quote="Mustrum_Ridcully" data-source="post: 5794049" data-attributes="member: 710">What about Merlin? Any examples about him throwing fireballs or disintegrates?What about the kind of Wizards Conan fought? Did they disintegrate people much, teleport, fly? And was he unable to survive against one of them without protective spells cast by friendly mages?The mages in Harry Potter's world seem to be very different from D&amp;D in some ways, though they may seem closest. Yet, the whole way how potions and spells work seems different. And truely deadly spells are disallowed and used basically only by the evil spellcasters. What other mages are there? I am not much of a fantasy book reader, my perception seems to be mostly colored by more mythological figures than literature.The Discworld mages seem to have similar powers, but they also seem to be inspired partially by D&amp;D influenced examples (which may be a general issue, distingiusihing D&amp;D inspired material from the rest). And even there, no reason to assume that there fireballs deal more than 3d6 in a world of 1d8 swords, or that they can cast disintegrate. (They can turn people into frogs, though).Stylistically, Gandalf does look nothing like a Angel, though. Angels are these beings with feathery wings. Or, if you talk in D&amp;D terms, they cast, say Holy Word and several other Clerical spells. Which also looks not like anything Gandalf ever did. Stylistically, he's a mage. If someone that hasn't read all the background material to the LotR, they will certainly call Gandalf a mage, and if someone would discuss how he imagines a mage to be, he will cite Gandalf. So, I think, he essentially _is_ a mage in how people envision mages. But you're certanily right that he doesn't use arcane magic by D&amp;D standards - he doesn't cast fly, disintegrate, fireball or Teleport. But is it that the vision of a mage doesn't match D&amp;D, or that many people simply have false visions of what mages are.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Mustrum_Ridcully, post: 5794049, member: 710"] What about Merlin? Any examples about him throwing fireballs or disintegrates? What about the kind of Wizards Conan fought? Did they disintegrate people much, teleport, fly? And was he unable to survive against one of them without protective spells cast by friendly mages? The mages in Harry Potter's world seem to be very different from D&D in some ways, though they may seem closest. Yet, the whole way how potions and spells work seems different. And truely deadly spells are disallowed and used basically only by the evil spellcasters. What other mages are there? I am not much of a fantasy book reader, my perception seems to be mostly colored by more mythological figures than literature. The Discworld mages seem to have similar powers, but they also seem to be inspired partially by D&D influenced examples (which may be a general issue, distingiusihing D&D inspired material from the rest). And even there, no reason to assume that there fireballs deal more than 3d6 in a world of 1d8 swords, or that they can cast disintegrate. (They can turn people into frogs, though). Stylistically, Gandalf does look nothing like a Angel, though. Angels are these beings with feathery wings. Or, if you talk in D&D terms, they cast, say Holy Word and several other Clerical spells. Which also looks not like anything Gandalf ever did. Stylistically, he's a mage. If someone that hasn't read all the background material to the LotR, they will certainly call Gandalf a mage, and if someone would discuss how he imagines a mage to be, he will cite Gandalf. So, I think, he essentially _is_ a mage in how people envision mages. But you're certanily right that he doesn't use arcane magic by D&D standards - he doesn't cast fly, disintegrate, fireball or Teleport. But is it that the vision of a mage doesn't match D&D, or that many people simply have false visions of what mages are. [/QUOTE]

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