Menu
News
All News
Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
Pathfinder
Starfinder
Warhammer
2d20 System
Year Zero Engine
Industry News
Reviews
Dragon Reflections
Columns
Weekly Digests
Weekly News Digest
Freebies, Sales & Bundles
RPG Print News
RPG Crowdfunding News
Game Content
ENterplanetary DimENsions
Mythological Figures
Opinion
Worlds of Design
Peregrine's Next
RPG Evolution
Other Columns
From the Freelancing Frontline
Monster ENcyclopedia
WotC/TSR Alumni Look Back
4 Hours w/RSD (Ryan Dancey)
The Road to 3E (Jonathan Tweet)
Greenwood's Realms (Ed Greenwood)
Drawmij's TSR (Jim Ward)
Community
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Resources
Wiki
Pages
Latest activity
Media
New media
New comments
Search media
Downloads
Latest reviews
Search resources
EN Publishing
Store
EN5ider
Adventures in ZEITGEIST
Awfully Cheerful Engine
What's OLD is NEW
Judge Dredd & The Worlds Of 2000AD
War of the Burning Sky
Level Up: Advanced 5E
Events & Releases
Upcoming Events
Private Events
Featured Events
Socials!
Twitch
YouTube
Facebook (EN Publishing)
Facebook (EN World)
Twitter
Instagram
TikTok
Podcast
Features
Top 5 RPGs Compiled Charts 2004-Present
Adventure Game Industry Market Research Summary (RPGs) V1.0
Ryan Dancey: Acquiring TSR
Q&A With Gary Gygax
D&D Rules FAQs
TSR, WotC, & Paizo: A Comparative History
D&D Pronunciation Guide
Million Dollar TTRPG Kickstarters
Tabletop RPG Podcast Hall of Fame
Eric Noah's Unofficial D&D 3rd Edition News
D&D in the Mainstream
D&D & RPG History
About Morrus
Log in
Register
What's new
Search
Search
Search titles only
By:
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Menu
Log in
Register
Install the app
Install
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
D&D Older Editions
Mike Mearls on how D&D 4E could have looked
JavaScript is disabled. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding.
You are using an out of date browser. It may not display this or other websites correctly.
You should upgrade or use an
alternative browser
.
Reply to thread
Message
<blockquote data-quote="Ratskinner" data-source="post: 7764552" data-attributes="member: 6688937"><p>OTTOMH: Harry Potter, Star Wars, Willow, Discworld, Earthsea, Conan (at least the movies), the Sorcerer's Apprentice tale, there are others I read back in the day whose titles I have forgotten. Any source where magic is the result of demon/outsider compact. </p><p></p><p>Mythologically, magic is usually an act of a God, not a wizard. When it is a wizard, its usually not combat magic, but either complicated ritual, artifice, or slow. Consider Merlin (mythology? probably close enough) all deception, divination, artifice, and compacts (depending on the source you're looking at). D&D wizards more resemble some strange superhero with a really oddly-specific set of powers than they do the typical wizards of myth and legend. (Although source material varies widely, some wizard-y culture heroes do some pretty wild stuff.) </p><p></p><p>Turn it around. How many non- and pre- D&D sources have wizards regularly casting multiple varied complex spells on a given day, particularly combat magic? I see a lot of shapeshifting in myth and legend, a bunch of divination, some artifice, loads of deception/illusion, conjuration even, but not a lot of fireballs and lightning bolts. (Of course, there is also the problem of prophets etc bringing massive events like plagues and the like that are un-balanced or nonsensical for dungeon-crawling.) Generally speaking, the wizarding business doesn't seem to be about fighting. I'm not honestly sure about the timing, but I've seen others argue that this wizard-as-artillery thing is a modern (for a very broad use of modern) invention that coincides with the advent of gunpowder in warfare, particularly artillery.</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>Dunno why. I mean, if magic has to be reliable...what the heck are saving throws?</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Ratskinner, post: 7764552, member: 6688937"] OTTOMH: Harry Potter, Star Wars, Willow, Discworld, Earthsea, Conan (at least the movies), the Sorcerer's Apprentice tale, there are others I read back in the day whose titles I have forgotten. Any source where magic is the result of demon/outsider compact. Mythologically, magic is usually an act of a God, not a wizard. When it is a wizard, its usually not combat magic, but either complicated ritual, artifice, or slow. Consider Merlin (mythology? probably close enough) all deception, divination, artifice, and compacts (depending on the source you're looking at). D&D wizards more resemble some strange superhero with a really oddly-specific set of powers than they do the typical wizards of myth and legend. (Although source material varies widely, some wizard-y culture heroes do some pretty wild stuff.) Turn it around. How many non- and pre- D&D sources have wizards regularly casting multiple varied complex spells on a given day, particularly combat magic? I see a lot of shapeshifting in myth and legend, a bunch of divination, some artifice, loads of deception/illusion, conjuration even, but not a lot of fireballs and lightning bolts. (Of course, there is also the problem of prophets etc bringing massive events like plagues and the like that are un-balanced or nonsensical for dungeon-crawling.) Generally speaking, the wizarding business doesn't seem to be about fighting. I'm not honestly sure about the timing, but I've seen others argue that this wizard-as-artillery thing is a modern (for a very broad use of modern) invention that coincides with the advent of gunpowder in warfare, particularly artillery. Dunno why. I mean, if magic has to be reliable...what the heck are saving throws? [/QUOTE]
Insert quotes…
Verification
Post reply
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
D&D Older Editions
Mike Mearls on how D&D 4E could have looked
Top