Menu
News
All News
Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
Pathfinder
Starfinder
Warhammer
2d20 System
Year Zero Engine
Industry News
Reviews
Dragon Reflections
White Dwarf 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 Nest
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, OSR, & D&D Variants
*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!
EN Publishing
Twitter
BlueSky
Facebook
Instagram
EN World
BlueSky
YouTube
Facebook
Twitter
Twitch
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, OSR, & D&D Variants
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Menu
Log in
Register
Install the app
Install
Upgrade your account to a Community Supporter account and remove most of the site ads.
Rocket your D&D 5E and Level Up: Advanced 5E games into space! Alpha Star Magazine Is Launching... Right Now!
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*TTRPGs General
Spell Lists: Really Necessary?
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="pawsplay" data-source="post: 4598655" data-attributes="member: 15538"><p>The main reason the distinction exists is flavor. Someone felt a need to sharply distinginuish between arcane and divine magic. That isn't true in all games. In GURPS Banestorm, all magic is is essentially arcane, with miracles being a different and less predictable phenomenon. Clerical casters are essentially priests who also happen to study magic. In Warhammer, the distinction is less than in D&D; each type of caster has their own list, but there are Lesser spells they have in common, too, and each wizard order is different from th others, as well. Runequest divides things up by casting style (rune, spirit, or sorcery), not by arcane versus divine. 1st and 2nd edition Talislanta had all casters, clerical or arcane, using te same spell lists, while 3rd edition and later gave each Order of magic its own spells. So it really has a lot to do with campaign design.</p><p></p><p>As pointed out, if you took away arcane casters' unique access to the most powerful spells, you have to give something in return. The easiest thing to do would be to eliminate clerics, such that traditional clerics are essentially fighter/wizard types. Druid would become a PrC that granted spellcasting progression and offered wildshape and their special immunites. You also have to sort out what level spells become available at. The easiest thing to do would be to say that for spells not appearing on other lists, they are available at the same level if the classes have the same number of spell levels. If one class has 4th level spells, adjust the spell level up once (for five, six or seven level classes) or twice (for eight or nine spell level classes).</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="pawsplay, post: 4598655, member: 15538"] The main reason the distinction exists is flavor. Someone felt a need to sharply distinginuish between arcane and divine magic. That isn't true in all games. In GURPS Banestorm, all magic is is essentially arcane, with miracles being a different and less predictable phenomenon. Clerical casters are essentially priests who also happen to study magic. In Warhammer, the distinction is less than in D&D; each type of caster has their own list, but there are Lesser spells they have in common, too, and each wizard order is different from th others, as well. Runequest divides things up by casting style (rune, spirit, or sorcery), not by arcane versus divine. 1st and 2nd edition Talislanta had all casters, clerical or arcane, using te same spell lists, while 3rd edition and later gave each Order of magic its own spells. So it really has a lot to do with campaign design. As pointed out, if you took away arcane casters' unique access to the most powerful spells, you have to give something in return. The easiest thing to do would be to eliminate clerics, such that traditional clerics are essentially fighter/wizard types. Druid would become a PrC that granted spellcasting progression and offered wildshape and their special immunites. You also have to sort out what level spells become available at. The easiest thing to do would be to say that for spells not appearing on other lists, they are available at the same level if the classes have the same number of spell levels. If one class has 4th level spells, adjust the spell level up once (for five, six or seven level classes) or twice (for eight or nine spell level classes). [/QUOTE]
Insert quotes…
Verification
Post reply
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*TTRPGs General
Spell Lists: Really Necessary?
Top