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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Umbran" data-source="post: 7844457" data-attributes="member: 177">In one sense, the game rules tell us - the flavor text in the class descriptions lay out what is mundane, and what is magical.  In another sense, you're asking a question that sits outside the rules.  What you are asking is, ultimately, "What are the metaphysics of the game world?"You could imagine two worlds:World 1 - "Magic" is merely "any process with fundamental principles not known or understood by the viewer".  The slight-of-hand card trick is not magic, because, while I may not know the details, I know the fundamental principles behind careful physical manipulation and misdirection.  If I am an alchemist with knowledge of chemisty, I can have a bottle of stuff that, when exposed to air, becomes a thick, visually impenetrable smoke.  To the commoner, this is magic, because they don't understand the principles of chemistry.  To the alchemist, it is not magic, as they have understanding.You could have another alchemist, for whom the cloud is still magic - they have memorized a recipe by heart, and can reproduce it, but htey don't know the principles by which it functions.World 2 - There is an element to magic that is ineffable, and cannot be described in words.  While many arcane details may be written down, at some point in the process of producing magical effects there is a thing that cannot be learned merely by taking in inforamtion.  Maybe it is a connection to a deity.  Maybe it is a metaphysical connection to the Weave, or whatever.  No amount of reading books can develop this connection - there is something in and about the individual person that allows energies to be wielded.Both are entirely acceptable approaches.  Or, you can have a world in which the approach is not specified.  Magic works as it says in the PHB.  How or why, is a matter of argument in the game world, but with no resolution.Unless the nature of magic is going to be a plot point in the game that the PCs are going to interact with, you don't actually need to decide.</blockquote>

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