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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Ahnehnois" data-source="post: 6225966" data-attributes="member: 17106">D&D magic to me has always been an aberration from how the rest of the game works mechanically.My rationale for it has always been that magic comes from some source external to the character. For that source, creating the spell effect is trivial (which is why there's no die roll to cast the spell). The source could probably disseminate these effects in any way that he/she/it chooses, but does so in the particular way under discussion largely as a means of exerting control over the spellcaster.Much like a rat in a cage being taught that he'll be fed every time he presses a lever, the wizard/cleric/etc. is taught that every time he makes a particular set of gestures and vocalizations, he'll be rewarded with a spell. The spellcaster is "hooked" becomes a pawn of sorts for whatever agenda the powerful magic-bearing entity is pushing. The spellcasting process has no significance in and of itself; it's simply a means of indicating to the deity/force/etc. granting the magic that you want a spell now. A deity with a sense of humor might have his priests recite "yo' mama" jokes in some ancient language just to screw with them.Like the rat, the spellcaster is completely dependent on an independent external actor to grant him the result he desires, and has no real control over what happens. There's absolutely no reason why his spells couldn't just stop working. Without his power, the spellcaster is little better than an ambitious commoner.The daily limitations and their ilk are essentially a form of bureaucracy, arbitrary rules that magical source entities enforce to keep their power from being drained to quickly and to keep spellcasters from getting delusions of grandeur. It's the equivalent of all that paperwork we have to go through to get anything done in the modern world.So, if I were explaining magic to someone in the real world, I would tell them that it looks cool, but they should stay away from it.</blockquote>

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