Why Fighter/Mage?

[Spinachcat]

Fighter Mages are the most common build with point based games. Why? Because good magic is usually pretty cheap to buy to augment the character better than spending those points in skills. Whenever I have played GURPS Fantasy, Fantasy HERO, True20 or other point build games, the majority of the players do F/M characters but usually not a 50 / 50 split, but just enough to give the character a magical tweak.

Back in AD&D, my fav class combo was Illusionist / Thief though. When the Shadow power source comes out for 4e, I hope there is a cool Shadow Striker or Shadow Controller that let me do the I/T thing. With a Gnome!

 

[Aus_Snow]

Whenever I have played GURPS Fantasy, Fantasy HERO, True20 or other point build games (. . .)

True20 ain't point build. Did you mean M&M, perhaps?

/nitpick

 

[moritheil]

As Mishihari Lord pointed out it is not a rules thing it is an archtype thing. It goes deeper than jedi. It is the "Hero of one thousand faces" archtype that was used by Lucas to create the jedi.

It is an archtype that D&D struggles with. The Hero with both sword and spell.
a staple of fantasy literature, Anime, Video games, and roleplaying games from day one.
Elric of Melniboné is the oldest I can think of as the greek myths, and aurthrian legends seem to lack the archtype.

I think you're omitting the old Asian myths, which are positively ancient (and which I would suggest form the immediate basis for the Anime archetypes.) The ideal of someone "skilled in both brush and sword" dates from a time when literary acumen implied arcane knowledge as well (though in all fairness, in such legends it was often subtle and not overt.)

In terms of progenitors of DnD archetypes, just look at Gandalf! He uses a sword or staff far more often than he is seen using spells.

 

[Clavis]

Thanks Clavis, picked up a copy of the legends of Charlemagne - its just lovely.
so far Malagigi has had his book stolen by a woman with an invisibility ring, and been sealed in a rock under the sea by his own stolen spells.
Charlemagne's Peers included a archbishop, a barbarian (dane) and this knight/enchanter.
but 12 is a little large for an adventuring party.

You're welcome! My work is done!

 

[Evilhalfling]

Im not as well versed in asian myths but I think magic is distinct from being able to write.
I never noticed any of them actually using magic. It was mostly had dragon kings and their daughters doing magic, with the occasional monk or Fakir.

Gandalf I always saw a a wizard (or druid) who took had a great magic sword. He is far to much the archtype of wizard/wise councilor to count as a fighter/mage.

 

[moritheil]

Im not as well versed in asian myths but I think magic is distinct from being able to write.
I never noticed any of them actually using magic. It was mostly had dragon kings and their daughters doing magic, with the occasional monk or Fakir.

Gandalf I always saw a a wizard (or druid) who took had a great magic sword. He is far to much the archtype of wizard/wise councilor to count as a fighter/mage.

Hmm, I'm not sure you should assume the ability to perform magical spells is the fundamental and essential part of the interaction of heroes (even magical heroes) with magic in myth. My statement about arcane knowledge is not that literacy = sorcery, but rather that learning is powerful in that it gives a character the ability to move legitimately in the magical world, with or without personal magical ability. This is more the case in stories involving spirits that use trickery, where magic is not obvious (even to the spirits themselves.) Learning has a transcendental quality.

Sometimes what is most important is knowledge, and sometimes the line between knowledge and magic is not even drawn clearly. Why is Gandalf powerful and impressive? Because he's able to shoot lightning from his fingertips? No, it's because he knows things no mortal man knows. Yes, he's able to influence the world through supernatural means, but that's not seen as his essential role in the story. He doesn't serve as a walking artillery piece that cuts people down in a hail of fireballs and magic missiles; he tells people what is likely to happen and what can and can't happen. And in the movie, he enters close combat an awful lot - there is no reason why he can't be seen as an elderly version of the warrior/mage archetype, taking an advisory role (because he's not to take the ring . . . not because he's actually elderly, of course. He's not human. But if you were to extrapolate the fighter/mage archetype into an elderly version, it's not hard to see the result as an advisor who acts a little like Gandalf.)

Regarding Asian myths, it might be a little hard to classify some of the more epic heroes in strict DnD terms. In the Mahabarata, two opposing warriors both invoke the same spiritual weapon at each other, and the gods advise them to recant, because the conflict could destroy the world. Flavor-wise, the warriors were an archer and (I think) a swordsman - not really spellcasters - but there is a long tradition in Indian myth that heroes can call upon powerful supernatural forces as a reflection of their individual merit. Is that best modeled as warrior mages clashing? Perhaps.