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Rearranging the Schools of Magic
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<blockquote data-quote="Gradine" data-source="post: 5224226" data-attributes="member: 57112"><p>I like what you're doing with this, though I personally see several of these schools differently than you, and have often given idle thought to how I would reconstruct the spell school "wheel", as it were, and this thread was as good an excuse as any.</p><p></p><p>The one opposing pair you and I share are Divination and Illusion, and it is probably the most obvious out of the eight. One deals primarily with what is true, the other with what is not. It is this pairing, too, that I think defies your Subtlety-Brutality axis. Illusionists are many things; they are almost always subtle, and very rarely brutal.</p><p></p><p>Two schools I have never understood as anything but contradictory were Evocation and Abjuration. Evocation is the harnessing of energy for destruction; Abjuration for protection. Can there be two more diametrically opposed schools of thought? Just as Divination magic stymies Illusions, so too do Abjurations stymie Invokers. </p><p></p><p>The third pairing became obvious to me as well. Necromancy is more than just a hodge-podge of death & undead related spells; it is the manipulation of the energies of living things. There is a reason it is called energy drain, and it is a hallmark of Necromancy. A Diviner might be able to pull an answer of the great beyond, but a Necromancer wrests the spirit of the recently slain to do their bidding and answer their questions. Note that the key word is the <em>manipulation </em>of such energies; there's a reason that curative magic is also by-and-large considered a part of Necromancy. That this school represents a manipulation of spirit and energy means that its opposite must be the manipulation of matter; Alteration.</p><p></p><p>This leaves Conjuration and Enchantment, which don't seem to have much in common (or opposed, for that matter) at all. But remember that the diametrically opposed schools are all a matter of perspective, and in this case the perspective is planar. The school of Enchantment's focus is on manipulation and controlling the creatures and matter that inhabit the Prime Material; Conjuration's focus is on all those planes external.</p><p></p><p>In this framework, a "wheel" is unnecessary, because there are no natural predilections between schools. They represent the wizard's studies and talents along four very different and unrelated perspectives:</p><p></p><p><strong>Manipulation:</strong> Do you manipulate spirit energy, or physical matter?</p><p><strong>Purpose:</strong> Is your aim the destruction of your enemies, or the protection of those you hold dear?</p><p><strong>Reality:</strong> Do you seek the truths behind reality, or do seek to bend it your will?</p><p><strong>Focus:</strong> Are you focused on this realm, or the planes beyond it?</p><p></p><p>With this mindset, there's no need to have a "wheel", as your answer to one of those questions will not naturally guarantee your answer to another. Of the above perspectives, only Reality and Focus seem to share some overlap; Enchantments and Illusions go so great together WotC specifically made a dual-specialist class out of it, splashed in with some Rogue for good measure (the absolutely wonderful Beguiler). And Conjuration and Divination, as you've noted, seem to go together well also.</p><p></p><p>With this particular framework, even a generalist mage or sorcerer is going to have to answer most if not all of those questions, which will help give the character (especially the mage, with it's massive spellbook) a good deal of focus.</p><p></p><p><strong>Necromancers</strong> and <strong>Transmuters</strong> become naturally quite egotistical; their mastery of the manipulation of the very fabric of existence can lead both specialists to aspirations of divinity. <strong>Necromancers</strong>, with their devotion to the manipulation of the very spirit energy that drives living creatures, naturally tend to towards evil, and their magic is seen as unnatural. <strong>Transmuters</strong> tend to be more grounded, but only slightly so; they are well aware of their ability to unmake and remake creation at their will, and they are not shy creatures.</p><p></p><p><strong>Invokers </strong>and <strong>Abjurers</strong> are are much more focused and goal-oriented. They are very determined, and once set on a task will not rest until it is completed. <strong>Invokers</strong> tend to be rash and abrasive; they understand problems only as obstacles to be overcome. They are quite aware of the devastating power at their fingertips, and in spite of their impulsive nature they prefer to be prepared for any number of situations. <strong>Abjurers</strong> are more cautious and meticulous, and will always prepare a foolproof plan (usually several) to tackle any objective they set before themselves. For those TVTropes fans in the audience, <strong>Abjurers</strong> are masters of the Xanatos Gambit; <strong>Invokers</strong> feel most alive when playing Xanatos Speed Chess.</p><p></p><p><strong>Diviners</strong> and <strong>Illusionists</strong> are inquisitive by nature. The difference is in their motivation. <strong>Diviners</strong> seek knowledge for the sake of knowledge. They are lifelong learners, and as such tend be quite bookish, more at home amongst books than other people. <strong>Illusionists</strong> seek knowledge for the sake of power; the more they know of what is true, the more convincingly they can create that which is false. Both are also predisposed to madness; <strong>Diviners</strong> from learning that which mortals were not meant to know, and <strong>Illusionists</strong> from losing touch with which reality is true and which is false.</p><p></p><p><strong>Enchanters</strong> and <strong>Conjurers</strong> are as opposite as night and day. <strong>Enchanters </strong>are fiercely protective of the realm that is their home; they understand that the passion and spirit possessed by mortals <em>because</em> of their mortality is what makes them stronger than any being. They are not huge fans of the meddling of divinity or other outside agencies, and their pride in their own mortality means few if any ever actively seek immortality through undeath. <strong>Conjurers</strong> look around them and see nothing but weaklings, pitiful wretches unaware of and unimportant to the greater scheme that surrounds their world. They know that all true power comes from outside the Prime Material plane, and that strength lies in the manipulation of the planes and their power. <strong>Conjurers</strong> are also much more patients than <strong>Enchanters</strong>, whose focus on mortality <strong>Conjurers </strong>believe make them fatally shortsighted. After all, it takes more concentration and more power to harness the power of the planes and the creatures that inhabit them than it does to sling about the cheap tricks of lesser wizards.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Gradine, post: 5224226, member: 57112"] I like what you're doing with this, though I personally see several of these schools differently than you, and have often given idle thought to how I would reconstruct the spell school "wheel", as it were, and this thread was as good an excuse as any. The one opposing pair you and I share are Divination and Illusion, and it is probably the most obvious out of the eight. One deals primarily with what is true, the other with what is not. It is this pairing, too, that I think defies your Subtlety-Brutality axis. Illusionists are many things; they are almost always subtle, and very rarely brutal. Two schools I have never understood as anything but contradictory were Evocation and Abjuration. Evocation is the harnessing of energy for destruction; Abjuration for protection. Can there be two more diametrically opposed schools of thought? Just as Divination magic stymies Illusions, so too do Abjurations stymie Invokers. The third pairing became obvious to me as well. Necromancy is more than just a hodge-podge of death & undead related spells; it is the manipulation of the energies of living things. There is a reason it is called energy drain, and it is a hallmark of Necromancy. A Diviner might be able to pull an answer of the great beyond, but a Necromancer wrests the spirit of the recently slain to do their bidding and answer their questions. Note that the key word is the [I]manipulation [/I]of such energies; there's a reason that curative magic is also by-and-large considered a part of Necromancy. That this school represents a manipulation of spirit and energy means that its opposite must be the manipulation of matter; Alteration. This leaves Conjuration and Enchantment, which don't seem to have much in common (or opposed, for that matter) at all. But remember that the diametrically opposed schools are all a matter of perspective, and in this case the perspective is planar. The school of Enchantment's focus is on manipulation and controlling the creatures and matter that inhabit the Prime Material; Conjuration's focus is on all those planes external. In this framework, a "wheel" is unnecessary, because there are no natural predilections between schools. They represent the wizard's studies and talents along four very different and unrelated perspectives: [B]Manipulation:[/B] Do you manipulate spirit energy, or physical matter? [B]Purpose:[/B] Is your aim the destruction of your enemies, or the protection of those you hold dear? [B]Reality:[/B] Do you seek the truths behind reality, or do seek to bend it your will? [B]Focus:[/B] Are you focused on this realm, or the planes beyond it? With this mindset, there's no need to have a "wheel", as your answer to one of those questions will not naturally guarantee your answer to another. Of the above perspectives, only Reality and Focus seem to share some overlap; Enchantments and Illusions go so great together WotC specifically made a dual-specialist class out of it, splashed in with some Rogue for good measure (the absolutely wonderful Beguiler). And Conjuration and Divination, as you've noted, seem to go together well also. With this particular framework, even a generalist mage or sorcerer is going to have to answer most if not all of those questions, which will help give the character (especially the mage, with it's massive spellbook) a good deal of focus. [B]Necromancers[/B] and [B]Transmuters[/B] become naturally quite egotistical; their mastery of the manipulation of the very fabric of existence can lead both specialists to aspirations of divinity. [B]Necromancers[/B], with their devotion to the manipulation of the very spirit energy that drives living creatures, naturally tend to towards evil, and their magic is seen as unnatural. [B]Transmuters[/B] tend to be more grounded, but only slightly so; they are well aware of their ability to unmake and remake creation at their will, and they are not shy creatures. [B]Invokers [/B]and [B]Abjurers[/B] are are much more focused and goal-oriented. They are very determined, and once set on a task will not rest until it is completed. [B]Invokers[/B] tend to be rash and abrasive; they understand problems only as obstacles to be overcome. They are quite aware of the devastating power at their fingertips, and in spite of their impulsive nature they prefer to be prepared for any number of situations. [B]Abjurers[/B] are more cautious and meticulous, and will always prepare a foolproof plan (usually several) to tackle any objective they set before themselves. For those TVTropes fans in the audience, [B]Abjurers[/B] are masters of the Xanatos Gambit; [B]Invokers[/B] feel most alive when playing Xanatos Speed Chess. [B]Diviners[/B] and [B]Illusionists[/B] are inquisitive by nature. The difference is in their motivation. [B]Diviners[/B] seek knowledge for the sake of knowledge. They are lifelong learners, and as such tend be quite bookish, more at home amongst books than other people. [B]Illusionists[/B] seek knowledge for the sake of power; the more they know of what is true, the more convincingly they can create that which is false. Both are also predisposed to madness; [B]Diviners[/B] from learning that which mortals were not meant to know, and [B]Illusionists[/B] from losing touch with which reality is true and which is false. [B]Enchanters[/B] and [B]Conjurers[/B] are as opposite as night and day. [B]Enchanters [/B]are fiercely protective of the realm that is their home; they understand that the passion and spirit possessed by mortals [I]because[/I] of their mortality is what makes them stronger than any being. They are not huge fans of the meddling of divinity or other outside agencies, and their pride in their own mortality means few if any ever actively seek immortality through undeath. [B]Conjurers[/B] look around them and see nothing but weaklings, pitiful wretches unaware of and unimportant to the greater scheme that surrounds their world. They know that all true power comes from outside the Prime Material plane, and that strength lies in the manipulation of the planes and their power. [B]Conjurers[/B] are also much more patients than [B]Enchanters[/B], whose focus on mortality [B]Conjurers [/B]believe make them fatally shortsighted. After all, it takes more concentration and more power to harness the power of the planes and the creatures that inhabit them than it does to sling about the cheap tricks of lesser wizards. [/QUOTE]
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