adembroski
First Post
... also, damn you for introducing me to Eclipse. There's no way I'm getting any sleep tonight now
Vancian Fluff (and clerics as a side topic)
- Thread starter adembroski
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... also, damn you for introducing me to Eclipse. There's no way I'm getting any sleep tonight now
Nikosandros
Golden Procrastinator
My Vancian fluff is that spells aren't actually memorized, but rather the magical energies are stored within the mind of the wizard, to be released at the time of the casting. Forgetting the words and the gestures, IMO, doesn't make much sense, especially when multiple instances of the same spell are "memorized".
Alzrius
The EN World kitten
... also, damn you for introducing me to Eclipse. There's no way I'm getting any sleep tonight now
Mwahaha! My plan, it is working!
Celebrim
Legend
My Vancian fluff is a bit nonstandard.
'Spells' are magical rituals which can be used in a reasonable amount of time with a minumum of fuss.
Magic consists of manipulating the fabric of reality using the connection your mind and body have to the rest of reality. If you look at magic through a filter that lets you percieve and understand it, it looks like little tiny spinning wheels, levers, and gears made of runes and so forth that tugs on reality. However, any spell more complicated than a Cantrip requires far more power than the human mind can manage at once. Your mind simply isn't so firmly attached to reality that any attempt to wrench reality to your will isn't likely to just rip our mind apart - killing or maiming you. So normally magic is done very slowly, a piece at a time, building up machinery which will eventually give you sufficient leverage to work the wonder you intend. For most enchantments you have to pretty much keep at the work until its complete, or it will unravel as soon as you turn your back on it.
Spells however have been especially designed by thier inventors so that they are stable in a very nearly complete state, requiring only a very small number of finishing touches to trigger and direct the spell according to the specifics of the environment and the spells intended target. This allows you to produce relatively large and powerful effects 'on demand'. When spell casters 'memorize' their spells, they are really memorizing only the trigger. The greater bulk of the work that they do is actually preparing the spell in their mind. This is exhausting. There are mental 'muscles' that must be excercised to build up stamina, as well as skills to slowly learn and master. It's much like say, learning to perform gymnastics, only all in your head. The physical motions made with the body, and the words said when the spell is triggered aren't really essential. Rather, they are mnemonic devices that help the caster direct the mind. The act of making certain motions or saying certain words causes the mind to have the thoughts, images, and movements which in turn manipulate the magic. This is why powerful and skillful casters can forgo these elements but achieve the same effect. They no longer have to wholly rely upon them, but can actually form a mental image of the magic they are doing in their head.
(Many casters will never in fact actually see the arcane engine that they build when studying a spell. Some less learned sorts may never even understand that this is what they are doing, but will simply learn magic by rote without full grasp of the theory. This contributes to the confusion about how Wizardly magic works.)
A caster cannot cast more than a certain number of spells in types and complexities because of the limits of their strength. When a spell is forgotten, it isn't necessarily forgotten - though that often happens too, after all, the whole spell and not merely the trigger portion is as complex to recall as a lengthy musical peice for several instruments that may lack any repetation or refrain - but because the spell caster's mind is simply tapped out. This is why for example, a spell can't be reprepared simply by studying a different spell prior to casting, or why after casting the caster can't immediately memorize a new one.
Unfinished or untriggered spells are normally invisible to human eyes, but certain high level magic can reveal them. Some wizards even undergo risky procedures which alter their eyes so as to be able to percieve the workings of spells, but madness often results as reality is in its raw state too complicated and bizarre for the frail human mind to grasp.
'Spells' are magical rituals which can be used in a reasonable amount of time with a minumum of fuss.
Magic consists of manipulating the fabric of reality using the connection your mind and body have to the rest of reality. If you look at magic through a filter that lets you percieve and understand it, it looks like little tiny spinning wheels, levers, and gears made of runes and so forth that tugs on reality. However, any spell more complicated than a Cantrip requires far more power than the human mind can manage at once. Your mind simply isn't so firmly attached to reality that any attempt to wrench reality to your will isn't likely to just rip our mind apart - killing or maiming you. So normally magic is done very slowly, a piece at a time, building up machinery which will eventually give you sufficient leverage to work the wonder you intend. For most enchantments you have to pretty much keep at the work until its complete, or it will unravel as soon as you turn your back on it.
Spells however have been especially designed by thier inventors so that they are stable in a very nearly complete state, requiring only a very small number of finishing touches to trigger and direct the spell according to the specifics of the environment and the spells intended target. This allows you to produce relatively large and powerful effects 'on demand'. When spell casters 'memorize' their spells, they are really memorizing only the trigger. The greater bulk of the work that they do is actually preparing the spell in their mind. This is exhausting. There are mental 'muscles' that must be excercised to build up stamina, as well as skills to slowly learn and master. It's much like say, learning to perform gymnastics, only all in your head. The physical motions made with the body, and the words said when the spell is triggered aren't really essential. Rather, they are mnemonic devices that help the caster direct the mind. The act of making certain motions or saying certain words causes the mind to have the thoughts, images, and movements which in turn manipulate the magic. This is why powerful and skillful casters can forgo these elements but achieve the same effect. They no longer have to wholly rely upon them, but can actually form a mental image of the magic they are doing in their head.
(Many casters will never in fact actually see the arcane engine that they build when studying a spell. Some less learned sorts may never even understand that this is what they are doing, but will simply learn magic by rote without full grasp of the theory. This contributes to the confusion about how Wizardly magic works.)
A caster cannot cast more than a certain number of spells in types and complexities because of the limits of their strength. When a spell is forgotten, it isn't necessarily forgotten - though that often happens too, after all, the whole spell and not merely the trigger portion is as complex to recall as a lengthy musical peice for several instruments that may lack any repetation or refrain - but because the spell caster's mind is simply tapped out. This is why for example, a spell can't be reprepared simply by studying a different spell prior to casting, or why after casting the caster can't immediately memorize a new one.
Unfinished or untriggered spells are normally invisible to human eyes, but certain high level magic can reveal them. Some wizards even undergo risky procedures which alter their eyes so as to be able to percieve the workings of spells, but madness often results as reality is in its raw state too complicated and bizarre for the frail human mind to grasp.
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