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<blockquote data-quote="Dannyalcatraz" data-source="post: 4837111" data-attributes="member: 19675">To each his own.That list is but a start down a road that had many stopping points.&nbsp; Despite the mechanics of those classes being of variable quality, they were only a few of the various magic systems that could have popped up.(In fact, there are so many different magic systems in legend and fiction that it would be impossible to model them in anything but a &quot;toolkit system&quot; like HERO, M&amp;M or GURPS, but that's no excuse not to try...)For instance, D&amp;D- in any incarnation- does a poor job of mimicking animism- a very popular theory of magic that shows up in Finnish, Asian and Caribbean beliefs.&nbsp; Then there is Rune magic...which, given the way Dwarves are depicted should have been a natural.&nbsp; Ditto Gem magic.Others are put into the system piecemeal, like Tattoo magic.Personally, I say &quot;the more the merrier&quot;- as long as the designers take pains to make sure the various magic subsystems work well enough within the same overarching ruleset as to be considered at least nominally balanced...or at least, not having impenetrable language and awkward mechanics.All it is is describing the various ways in which people have found to tap into the same power source (kind of like how you could trace all RW sources of energy back to nuclear fusion).And for the spellshaper, well...he sees all of the various theories of arcane magic as but crutches.&nbsp; To him, the rules of a given theory of magic are actually an unnecessary hinderance to the caster- all casters should seek to channel the energy of magic directly because that is the way its supposed to be done.(In a sense, this is kind of like the idea of the Veil of Maya- that the distinction between consciousness and physical matter, between mind and body, and ultimately, distinction between the self and the Universe is a false dichotomy that is the result of an unenlightened perspective- which shows up in several Indian religions.)</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Dannyalcatraz, post: 4837111, member: 19675"] To each his own. That list is but a start down a road that had many stopping points. Despite the mechanics of those classes being of variable quality, they were only a few of the various magic systems that could have popped up. (In fact, there are so many different magic systems in legend and fiction that it would be impossible to model them in anything but a "toolkit system" like HERO, M&M or GURPS, but that's no excuse not to try...) For instance, D&D- in any incarnation- does a poor job of mimicking animism- a very popular theory of magic that shows up in Finnish, Asian and Caribbean beliefs. Then there is Rune magic...which, given the way Dwarves are depicted should have been a natural. Ditto Gem magic. Others are put into the system piecemeal, like Tattoo magic. Personally, I say "the more the merrier"- as long as the designers take pains to make sure the various magic subsystems work well enough within the same overarching ruleset as to be considered at least nominally balanced...or at least, not having impenetrable language and awkward mechanics. All it is is describing the various ways in which people have found to tap into the same power source (kind of like how you could trace all RW sources of energy back to nuclear fusion). And for the spellshaper, well...he sees all of the various theories of arcane magic as but crutches. To him, the rules of a given theory of magic are actually an unnecessary hinderance to the caster- all casters should seek to channel the energy of magic directly because that is the way its supposed to be done. (In a sense, this is kind of like the idea of the Veil of Maya- that the distinction between consciousness and physical matter, between mind and body, and ultimately, distinction between the self and the Universe is a false dichotomy that is the result of an unenlightened perspective- which shows up in several Indian religions.) [/QUOTE]

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