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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Tav_Behemoth" data-source="post: 2039236" data-attributes="member: 18017">The great part of Vancian magic is the foreshadowing. In the most Vancian-magic of Vance's stories, "Turjan of Miir," we're told on page 9: "What dangers he might meet he could not know, so he selected three spells of general application: the Excellent Prismatic Spreay, Phandaal's Mantle of Stealth, and the Spell of the Slow Hour". (Other magicians in the Dying Earth books get their powers by commanding extradimensional entities, so not even Vance uses Vancian magic throughout.)Because this is fiction, in the course of the story each of these spells gets used in an appropriate and inventive fashion. It creates a delicious anticpation in the reader, as you're waiting for each shoe to drop: how will the one remaining spell get him out of the next jam?The closest approximation is pre-made characters for a one-shot game, where the DM has crafted the spells with the adventure in mind and you can look at the sheet and think "Hmm, wonder why I'll need all these neutralize poisons" or come to a puzzle and have the flash of insight that *this* is why you have the anti-gravity spell prepared.In regular campaign play, it's more strategic in nature; trying to predict what spells you'll need is like packing your clothes for a trip in uncertain weather. This is, of course, what Turjan does as he prepares for his advanture in the story - but since games are not stories, the actual outcome is different. (I was going to say that it violates the laws of good drama to have a story in which the party encounters a monster, then runs away to rest overnight while their wizard prepares a new assortment of spells, but come to think of it that's something I'd like to see happen more often in fiction.)I like that strategic aspect, but it creates a different feel than you find in most fantasy universes.</blockquote>

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