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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Greenfield" data-source="post: 6225875" data-attributes="member: 6669384">Pretend for a moment that you were a Wizard or Cleric or some other spell caster from D&D, in the real world.Now, how woud you explain (or how do you envision) the Vancian magic system working?I'm going to post my own thoughts under a Spoiler tag (if I can get it to work) so my take won't influence anyone elses.[SPOILER]Man is a tool using creature, and the same is true in our approach to magic.  A spell caster has trained themselves to create, as mental images, the "tools" (for lack of a better term) to perform specific functions.  These mental constructs are things that couldn't exist in real time and space, and typically involve elements of all the senses, as well as an emotional component.  That is, it's a mental experience with sound and color, texture and taste, and is driven by a mood or emotional feeling.We form these best when our minds are fresh and we are able to charge them with power, and with practice we can "build" more of these mental tools, and more complex tools as well.  When we cast a spell we bring the specific tool into focus in our minds, then supply the act of will needed to direct and trigger the mental construct.  This discharges the energy we invested in it.  We have to prepare one construct foe each magical act we plan to perform.We tend to use magic words and gestures, and occasionally some bit of material to help us bring the magic into focus.  These are in fact mental crutches, mnumonic tricks to help us.  We can do this without any of those things, but it's harder, and we need to put more care into the preparation when we want to do that.When I write a spell down, I'm trying to describe a thing that can't actually exist, at least not in normal three dimensional space.  It doesn't have to be a perfect description, since it's more a reminder than it is a technical schematic.  It's a reference work for someone who already knows what's it's describing.  That's one reason why one spell caster might have a problem working with someone elses notes.  The description has to invoke the mood, the emotional component, and words that invoke that feeling in me might not give you the same feeling at all.Some caster's notes will involve mathematics or geometric designs, while others may involve poetry or music or even rhythmic dance moves.  No two will be exactly the same, and yet all will be "right".That's one of the reasons that magic spells, when you listen to them being cast, may often rhyme, no matter what language is being used. It's one of the oddities that ancient magics, passed down from mage to mage over the centuries, will still rhyme in modern tongues.[/SPOILER]</blockquote>

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