D&D 4.0 - What the?

[William Ronald]

Not official rules, but have you seen S&SS's Ritual Magic system?

Not yet. I will have to check it out.

Deadguy: Interesting suggestions. I think encouraging more of a sense of the fantastic might add to a sense of wonder. Perhaps also a little more roleplaying might help. In Marvel Comics, Dr. Strange is always calling a spell by an interesting name that he invariably mentions.

Any suggestions on authors for a new edition?

 

[diaglo]

Any suggestions on authors for a new edition?

EGG and Dave Arneson writing together.

 

[Deadguy]

Deadguy: Interesting suggestions. I think encouraging more of a sense of the fantastic might add to a sense of wonder. Perhaps also a little more roleplaying might help. In Marvel Comics, Dr. Strange is always calling a spell by an interesting name that he invariably mentions.

If you've never looked at it, take a look at the Ars Magica RPG from Atlas Games (the 4th edition rulebook can be downloaded for free!). Though set in a version of the Middle Ages, its key premise is that the world is actually like the peasantry imagined it, filled with demons and faeries, changelings and witches. This 'mediaeval paradigm' rejects modern scientific perspective for a magical-thinking one. So demons and spirits, not bacteria and viruses, really do cause disease, for example. When you think like this, and extrapolate from it, magic becomes more fantastical byt its very nature, since you don't apply modern thinking to the rationale behind the magic.

And yes, interesting names can make spells more impressive (cf. the original inspiration from the Dying Earth series by Jack Vance). 'Calling Forth the Fires of the Abyss' has a ring that Fireball somehow lacks!