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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Wofano Wotanto" data-source="post: 9358758" data-attributes="member: 7044704">The answer is "none" if magic works through sheer force of will pushing around the fabric of reality, which is the primary system in Eddings' Belgariad novels to name just one example.  That system didn't have spells, and what you could do with it was more a matter of experimentation and practice (with some tutoring) than anything else.  Certainly none of the gimcracks described in the original post, nor do you need gestures or incantations (and Polgara gets criticized by her dad/teacher for waving her hands around at one point - a bad habit she got into early that she never broke).  It's closer to the Force out of Star Wars than D&D.  The setting has some other magical systems (eg the demon-summoning thing practiced by shamanic type up North) but they're all seriously inferior by comparison and are arguably misunderstandings of or disguises for what the user is really doing - exerting their will on the universe.Or "a few, but they're less important than general arcane vocabulary" if you go by Ars Magica, where there are some fairly narrow-purpose "rote" spells but most real wizardry relies on a language of broad verbs and nouns.  You want to make a wall of fire, there's a rote for it, but anyone with decent skills in (IIRC) "Creo Ignem" can do it as well or better as well as every other thing you could think of with "create fire" as a basis.  Rotes are quicker and easier, but they lack versatility and can't really be modified without rewriting the whole formula from scratch.  Again, there are many, many other systems and even different schools of wizardry approach the art differently, but that's the core mechanics.  You'll have grimoires and reference books - probably a whole library of them, which stays at home - but they're research aids for improving your "vocabulary" skills and copying down rotes for others to use, not the source of your power.  Same goes for most components and  wands and whatnot - they're tools to make casting easier, and some might have power unto themselves waiting to be drawn forth, but a wizard should be able to do without them for most effects - and improvise around a need for the rest.And then there's Vancian magic.  Not the D&D nonsense, the stuff from the actual Dying Earth books.  Yeah, you have spells that do one specific thing that you have to memorize again each time you use one, but those are petty magic.  Even a chump like that dabbler Cugel might be able to jam one of them into his head, although he'd probably botch the casting, which usually does require gestures and incantations.  There are supposedly about a thousand such spells, some of which are lost or very rare.  All of them function the same way - casting one contacts and gives specialized instructions to otherworldly entities that enact the actual effect - but dabblers and ill-trained magicians may never even realize that.  This sort of spell is usually written down, so sure, spellbooks galore, but even if you collected hundreds of different spells the human mind can only carry a few of them at once and memorizing one takes hours of effort.A dedicated, mid-tier magician like Mazirian might be able to carry somewhere between 5-7 of those one-shot spells at once and have a library with dozens of them, but by the time they're that skillful they'll have started delving into other interests.  The limitations of memorization put a real plateau on how powerful you can be if you rely purely on them, and true magicians don't.  Instead they collect or create all manner of handy magical artifacts (some of which are probably Clarke-level technology), build strongholds full of magical/technological amenities, and spend a lot of time on specialties like creating custom lifeforms in their labs, creating automata, figuring out how that cryptic gadget they found in an ancient ruin works, and occasionally creating marvels for wealthy or powerful patrons in exchange for filthy lucre, favors and recognition.  But most their energy goes toward spying on, stealing from and bickering with their peers and rivals, because magicians don't get along well.And then there's the archmages, who pretty much stop bothering with memorized spells altogether because they aren't worth their effort.  They still hoard artifacts and trinkets and works of art, have small armies of servants (often artifical and self-made) and live in enchanted palaces the way they did when they were mere magicians, but they've accomplished the greatest feat of magic by binding a sandestin to their service.  These are extradimensional entities that function pretty much like genies (pettifogging, legalistic, sarcastic genies, but still impressive) and can grant most of an archmage's wishes with ease unless opposed by another archmage or entity of similar power.  Or the writer, because their powers mostly work when the plot says they can.  Archmages pretty much have a wish-granting servant on tap and look down on other magic as hardly worth the time.  They spend their time on weird hobbies, collecting rarities, and one-upping their peers whenever possible.  Their "spell books" matter more because they're something rare enough to interest a collector (especially a rival collector) than out of actual utility, and most archmages who've been at that tier for any extended period of time would probably need a refresher course to actually memorize any of the spells within them.That's "real" Vancian magic, Dying Earth style.  What most of the RPG hobby calls Vancian magic only reflects the bottom tier of a baroque magic system, something so limited and irritating to use the master practitioners don't even bother with anymore.  And it's not even his only magic system - Lyonesse is its own entirely different kettle of fish.</blockquote>

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