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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Celebrim" data-source="post: 6226071" data-attributes="member: 4937">The central way I explain Vancian magic is that 'memorization' is a misnomer in the sense that memorization is only a very small part of what a wizard does to prepare a spell.  'Preparation' is a fuller and more accurate description of the system.The central tenets of Vancian magic are:1) Everything in reality is connected to everything else.  In particular, the human mind is connected to the fabric of reality.2) There is an infinite amount of untapped power ready to burst into the world.  It is held outside the world by a relatively thin veil.  Everything in the world that 'does something' fundamentally taps into this outside energy.  After the energy is spent it is consumed.  Note this world violates conservation of energy!  Energy isn't merely transformed, it is extinguished.  Fortunately, the amount of available energy is infinite.   The human mind and body are already tapped into this outside energy - it's how we are alive and mobile.  3) By careful practice, a Wizard can learn to manipulate the fabric of reality directly, moving it with his mind by carefully controlling his mind.   The simplest way to do this is to direct the mind by directing the body.  The wizard controls his thoughts by reciting words and performing motions that create the very thoughts needed to perform the manipulations he desires.4) The human connection to reality through the mind is exceptionally weak.  A pureblooded human is not able to manipulate reality by brute force.  However, just as machines can be constructed in order to amplify small forces into larger effects, by causing a small force but large motion over a longer time to translate to a small and powerful motion with greater force, so to can a wizard create machines in his mind that use the small force of the mind to create surprisingly large effects.  5) Creating these magical machines out of reality stuff is extremely elaborate and time consuming, on a scale of minutes or days or even years.  Most such magical machine creating rituals are completed unsuited to day to day use and impractical for ordinary tasks, and as such are rarely or never codified but instead invented on a by need basis for the specific job a wizard would want to do.   However, a small subset of these rituals have a very particular and important property - they can be brought to the point of almost being completed and then left in this 'waiting' state indefinitely.   When the desired effect is needed, a short trigger is all that must be performed in order to direct the machine and set it in motion.  These rituals are called 'spells'.  Casting a spell is therefore a three step process.  First, a lengthy preparation phase involving several minutes where the spell-caster does all the work to set up the complex mental machine in his mind.  Secondly, a shorter memorization phase where the caster commits to memory the very short ritual needed to finish the machine.  And thirdly, a casting phase where the wizard draws the machine from his mind and body and sets it in motion using the previously memorized trigger/targeting ritual.6) The process of preparing and casting a spell is extremely taxing.  In effect, the Wizard is exercising 'muscles' that most people don't even know that they have.  It requires training to develop the strength and endurance of these mystical 'muscles', just as it does to develop the strength of the limbs and body.  Initially, even quite weak rituals drain the Wizards mystical strength to the point that he cannot safely attempt any additional spells during a day.  Wizards that attempt to cast spells beyond their ability typically fail, just as a weakling would fail to move a heavy stone from its resting place.  However, occasionally far worse happens to those with almost enough strength - you get crushed by the stone.   In my world, this is called 'spell burn', and its extremely dangerous.   For this reason, Wizards are quite careful to never attempt any spell until they are quite certain that they've mastered it.  Indeed, there are established guidelines for what a wizard should and should not attempt.   In this way, Wizards know somewhat how hard rituals are - at the metagame level we'd say 'what level is the spell' - and which combination of rituals are approved for him to try once he's ready - at the metagame level we'd say 'what spell slots do you have'.  Interestingly, this means wizards are the only class in my game that knows its own level, though they wouldn't put it in those terms exactly.It's conceivable within this framework that there are alternative approaches to Wizardry, but because of the world's backstory renegade approaches to magic tend to get one accused of witchcraft and brutally executed.</blockquote>

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