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<blockquote data-quote="EzekielRaiden" data-source="post: 9493697" data-attributes="member: 6790260">In my DW game, &quot;arcane&quot; magic doesn't strictly exist--but wizard aka &quot;Waziri&quot; magic does, and their way of doing things really is quite different from anyone else. In brief, their magic works by reverse-engineering other forms of magic, developing new first principles, and then re-applying those principles in a rigorous, controlled fashion. This has a significant perk: almost any other magical effect is at least theoretically possible for them to copy! It also has a significant detriment: it is extremely risky to do it wrong.This leads to a terribly quixotic, even schizophrenic attitude among most Waziri mages. On the one hand, they need examples of other magic traditions in order to expand the frontiers of theirs, but on the other, they can be extremely prideful and look down on everyone else as using magic without understanding it, sabotaging their very efforts to learn more. Likewise, on the one hand, they need to be experimentalists in order to develop new magic...but they need to be extremely risk-averse in order to survive learning how to use Waziri magic in the first place, because wrong incantations have disastrous results, ranging from &quot;blowing up the room you're in&quot; to &quot;liquefying your own organs&quot; to &quot;successfully animating your own skeleton&quot; etc., etc. Many who pursue the career drop out, and of those who stick with it, a reckless few still get themselves killed every now and then, cementing the need for caution.So that's what &quot;arcane&quot; magic is in this world: phenomenal cosmic power, but limited by mortal failings; infinite potential, hemmed in by potential for disaster; being an incredibly powerful tradition....and letting it get to your head.In other words, pretty much exactly what being a &quot;wizard&quot; is parsed as in most D&amp;D fantasy universes, but there's a reason for it, instead of just expecting folks to roll with it.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="EzekielRaiden, post: 9493697, member: 6790260"] In my DW game, "arcane" magic doesn't strictly exist--but wizard aka "Waziri" magic does, and their way of doing things really is quite different from anyone else. In brief, their magic works by reverse-engineering [I]other[/I] forms of magic, developing new first principles, and then re-applying those principles in a rigorous, controlled fashion. This has a significant perk: almost any other magical effect is at least [I]theoretically[/I] possible for them to copy! It also has a significant detriment: [I]it is extremely risky to do it wrong[/I]. This leads to a terribly quixotic, even schizophrenic attitude among most Waziri mages. On the one hand, they [I]need[/I] examples of other magic traditions in order to expand the frontiers of theirs, but on the other, they can be [I]extremely[/I] prideful and look down on everyone else as using magic without [I]understanding[/I] it, sabotaging their very efforts to learn more. Likewise, on the one hand, they need to be experimentalists in order to develop new magic...but they need to be extremely risk-averse in order to [I]survive[/I] learning how to use Waziri magic in the first place, because wrong incantations have disastrous results, ranging from "blowing up the room you're in" to "liquefying your own organs" to "successfully animating your own skeleton" etc., etc. Many who pursue the career drop out, and of those who stick with it, a reckless few still get themselves killed every now and then, cementing the need for caution. So that's what "arcane" magic is in this world: phenomenal cosmic power, but limited by mortal failings; infinite potential, hemmed in by potential for [I]disaster[/I]; being an incredibly powerful tradition....and letting it get to your head. In other words, pretty much exactly what being a "wizard" is parsed as in most D&D fantasy universes, but there's a [I]reason[/I] for it, instead of just expecting folks to roll with it. [/QUOTE]

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