wizard

Message 90:

Date:     Sun Dec 10 14:38:58 2000 CST
From:     Ryken (#3343)
To:       *wizard (#1121)
Subject:  It's...mmaaggiicc....

Hmmm.magic discussion eh? ;)
The problem here is that everyone has a different definition of how something that doesn't exist in
 real life, works. Whether a kick butt force, a few simple tricks, or a card game everyone thinks
 of it differently. 
Well, for Lost Ages, here's my two cents.
Imagine it as the force, Star Wars'esq if you will. It's pretty much everywhere. As mages, what we
 do is draw upon that power and channel it through ourselves to focus it into the form that we
 want. To make a new spell, we just twist the magic in a new way, experimenting with it to do new
 things.  I suppose you could consider focus to be the amount of control one has over the force,
 the better you are at focusing the magic, the more you can do with it and the more you can bring
 to bear. Here we don't use material components, so no eye of newt or bat's wing is needed to cast
 something, but we do have somatic components, we have to be able to move our hands to actually
 cast, so a wizard would have a difficult time casting a fireball while fighting with a sword. (Ok,
 ok, so that's a run on sentence. ;) ) Also, verbal components are also usually needed, whether
 mumbling, singing, or praying to the 'gods', you have to be able to speak to cast.  So a caster
 bound and gagged would be in a lot of trouble. A third thing I consider is that no wizard can be
 good at all types of spells. While one may be good at conjuring, he would be a terrible enchanter
 or transmuter. Finally casting is draining.  Channeling such power through yourself to cast a
 spell inherently drains from your own stamina, the same way that channeling your energy to fight
 does.  I can imagine some minor exceptions to the ideas I've listed above, such as casting without
 moving your hands, or without speaking. These, however, would be incredibly draining to the
 caster, probably endangering his life depending on the power of the spell. Likewise an extremely
 powerful or complex spell would leave the caster weakened, perhaps killing him if he was not
 careful.
Anyway, now that I've filled a page or so of moo I think I'm done rambling. Happy casting. ;)
-Ryk