ESSAY - the nature of adnd magic
Denakhan
In article <4tt29f$4...@everest.vol.it>, elf...@mbox.vol.it says...
>
>From the viewpoint of a mage
>
>-- What is memorization
>memorization is the ability to give magical energy a shape and to lock
>such energy to our aura arcana
A little nebulous, but I like it.
>-- What happen when you cast a spell
>when you go trought the right ritual of casting (V,S,M) you release
>such energy which make the spell happen
Again, a little nebulous. Perhapts when a mage is 'gesturing wildly' he
is 'grabbing' parts of his arcane aura out of the air and shaping it into a
3D-symbol that represents the spell...or when he is speaking he is 'resonating'
the particular arcane aura(s) into shattering (ie, releasing the spell...)?
>-- Why we need spellbooks
>unfortunately, the ability to shape energy was not meant for mortal to
>fully understand so we must resort to our book which we write after
>long hour of study, trough such study we understand how to make
>symbols that when reviwed start in our inner self a chain reaction
>which shape the magical energy and lock it to our aura arcana.
>to make thing worse such symbols are different for each mage, indeed I
>must still find the book of another mage which I can read w/out 'read
>magic'. I think that this is due to different emotional and
>intellectual response to different symbols, so each one of us have a
>different way to reach the same result.
>(( In brief for each spell each mage write his personal symbolism that
>when studied in the morning, activate his uncoscious ability to
>understand and shape magical energy and to lock to his arcane aura,
>sort of a machine language for the brain ))
I like this. Cool.
>-- Why we can memorize more spell when we grow in power
>This is because we became more intimate with our aura arcana which
>seem to get larger in response to our delving deeper in the secrets of
>magic
Or, perhapts, the mage gets better at substituting 'smaller' symbols
for larger, more complex ones (sort of like pkzipping a file, or condensing
a hard drive).
>-- Why we must rest before being able to memorize again
>This is because when we cast a spell our aura arcana get disturbed and
>till it go back to undisturbed you cannot lock any more spell, as
>proved from experience the aura arcana get back to undisturbed state
>after 8 hours from your last casting, but only if you sleeped (indeed
>it seem you must dream to get rid of the final disturbance created by
>casting)
This I like. Never thougt of it this way. Thanks!
>
>
>hope this was of some use to you, incidentally all this teory is just
>to give a rationale to the rules about magic as are in PHB and DMG.
>So what do you think, how you rationalize this, (and if you don't care
>ok fine for me)
>have fun
>fabio
>
This is the first time I have seen anything posted from you. (Maybe I'm
just not paying attention). But now that I have seen what you post, I will
keep my eye out for you. Keep up the great work!
Denakhan the Arch-Mage.
a.k.a. Paul L. Ming
pm...@mail.klondike.com
fabio milito pagliara
From the viewpoint of a mage
-- What is memorization
memorization is the ability to give magical energy a shape and to lock
such energy to our aura arcana
-- What happen when you cast a spell
when you go trought the right ritual of casting (V,S,M) you release
such energy which make the spell happen
-- Why we need spellbooks
unfortunately, the ability to shape energy was not meant for mortal to
fully understand so we must resort to our book which we write after
long hour of study, trough such study we understand how to make
symbols that when reviwed start in our inner self a chain reaction
which shape the magical energy and lock it to our aura arcana.
to make thing worse such symbols are different for each mage, indeed I
must still find the book of another mage which I can read w/out 'read
magic'. I think that this is due to different emotional and
intellectual response to different symbols, so each one of us have a
different way to reach the same result.
(( In brief for each spell each mage write his personal symbolism that
when studied in the morning, activate his uncoscious ability to
understand and shape magical energy and to lock to his arcane aura,
sort of a machine language for the brain ))
-- Why we can memorize more spell when we grow in power
This is because we became more intimate with our aura arcana which
seem to get larger in response to our delving deeper in the secrets of
magic
-- Why we must rest before being able to memorize again
This is because when we cast a spell our aura arcana get disturbed and
till it go back to undisturbed you cannot lock any more spell, as
proved from experience the aura arcana get back to undisturbed state
after 8 hours from your last casting, but only if you sleeped (indeed
it seem you must dream to get rid of the final disturbance created by
casting)
Aardy R. DeVarque
elf...@mbox.vol.it (fabio milito pagliara) wrote:
>From the viewpoint of a mage
--Why can't we effectively cast while wearing armor?
Various *contact other plane* spells have given us information that leads us
to believe that there is an intelligent force behind the magic of the
worlds, though whether it is god, demon, elemental force, or something
totally uncomprehendable is unknown; we here at the Mage's College assume
the latter, but there are a large number of priest/mages who seem to be
having some success with the "god" hypothesis. This intelligent force seems
to /know/ when a mage is trying to cast in armor, and prevents the spell
from being successfully cast. This is apparently the same force that
allows spells and magic items to recognize and affect only specific races,
occupations (such as ancient devices & librams which may only be used by
mages, or just warriors, etc.), locations, and so forth. However, due to
the relative sanity after the spells in question of the mages who did this
research, we are uncertain of how much of this is correct, and how much is
the talk of the mad. This shall be the working hypothesis, though, until
more reliable information can be discovered.
Henning Blackstone
Master of Illuuuuusions
Dean of the College of Magic
Dunhurst, Archduchy of Riada
Eric Putnam
On Sun, 4 Aug 1996, Aardy R. DeVarque wrote:
> --Why can't we effectively cast while wearing armor?
[SNIP *good* in-character essay]
> Henning Blackstone
> Master of Illuuuuusions
> Dean of the College of Magic
> Dunhurst, Archduchy of Riada
Ooh, my turn!! This is a little something I dreamed up one day a couple
weeks ago while bored. A little OOC, then IC, then OOC again.
WIZARDS, MAGIC, AND ARMOR
In the AD&D rules, wizards are prohibited from wearing armor. But what
does this restriction really mean? Are wizards somehow incapable of
donning a suit of armor? Does becoming a wizard make one allergic to
physical protection? What prevents a wizard from climbing into a suit of
plate mail and taking the consequences? Why can clerics wear whatever
sort of armor they please with no ill effects? And what's so different
about elven steel that a multi-classed wizard, or a bard, can wear a suit
of elven steel and suffer no restriction? What follows is one hypothesis.
The one thing that wizards do that sets them apart from other classes is
cast wizard spells. Bards can also cast wizard spells, but even the bard
must obey the wizard's spell restriction when casting. So the next
logical question is, what about armor makes wizard spells impossible?
The prevailing AD&D rationale is that armor prevents proper movement by a
caster. But even spells with no somatic components are prohibited to a
bard in armor (and, one would assume, a wizard that chooses to wear
armor). One other rationale offered is that large masses of metal next to
the caster's skin somehow disrupts the flow of magic from the universe to
the caster. This is incomplete, because even leather, padded, and hide
armors are prohibited.
In my campaign, the answer goes something like this:
Lecture Notes of a Student
Academy of Thaumaturgy
Mithril City, Empire of the Montevarche
o What happens when a wizard casts a spell?
The wizard must begin spell-casting by siphoning energy from the universe
around him. He then shapes the energy according to a pattern he
remembers, the spell in question. The shaping process is reflected in the
casting time. For instance, /find familiar/, with a prolonged casting
time, has a complex pattern of low power, a subtle request and binding of
one normal animal to the wizard. A spell with a "simple" pattern like
/power word, stun/, on the other hand, requires little shaping; in this
case, the sheer power of the spell does most of the job the wizard had in
mind.
o What is different about priest spells?
The priest, in casting a spell, doesn't require energy from the physical
universe around him. He calls upon the Power he serves to create a
magical effect according to the priest's request. The priest is able to
direct the energy, which is shaped and applied by other beings, and the
spell effect is created. The complexity and length of the request
determines the casting time. Note that most priest spells have a longer
casting time than comparable wizard spells; this reflects the priest's
having to work magic through an intermediary.
o What about armor?
Even normal or boiled leather interferes with the purity of the energy
the wizard must collect. The armor, like everything else in the physical
universe, has a metaphysical component, or "aura." This aura, while only
theoretically detectable, has a profound effect on ambient universal
energy; it spoils it, much like air browns an apple core. A wizard
wearing armor cannot hope to power a spell with spoiled universal energy;
like a browned apple, it is unfit for use. There are other objects that
spoil universal energy....
Elven steel is quite different. This fantastic metal is a substance whose
metaphysical aura is transparent to universal energy. Sadly, elven steel
is both tremendously rare and prohibitively hard to work. Elven steel
worked by normal methods is spoiled by the aura of the tools used to work
it. The elves, alas, have not shared their methods.
Armor made of elven steel is unnaturally light and easy to move in; elven
chain is supposed to be comparable to studded leather in overall
encumbrance, and elven plate mail, it is said, compares favorably with
banded mail. We can only theorize the effect of such armor on a wizard
casting a spell, but from what the elves do tell us, once a wizard has
trained in its characteristics, the armor is not a hindrance to
spell-casting....
OPTIONAL RULES
A wizard or bard can cast spells while wearing armor, but subject to the
following considerations.
1. For the wizard, the armor's encumbrance is twice its weight, unless
the wizard spends a weapon proficiency on "Armor Use." For the bard, any
armor heavier than chain mail has the same effect. (This rule may be
used for any character wearing armor which is "prohibited" to his class.
Other restrictions might apply, however, regardless of whether the
character has the proficiency; thieving-ability penalties, for instance.)
2. The presence of armor increases the casting time of every spell.
3. The presence of armor creates the chance that the spell will fail
catastrophically.
In effect, armor adds an extra round to the casting time of a spell. For
spells whose casting time is measured in turns or hours, this is usually
not a concern, but in combat this could cause serious problems. The extra
round is spent drawing energy carefully through the armor (or rather,
despite it). If the caster attempts to speed up the process, the spell
will fail. If the caster is struck in combat, the energy is lost and the
caster must start all over again next round (if he still wishes to cast a
spell).
In addition, the wearing of armor presents the chance that the energy
gathered will be "contaminated" despite the wizard's round-long effort
to prevent it. The chance that armor will spoil a spell is 5% per spell
level + 5% per AC point the armor provides - 1% per caster level
(including magical bonuses; enchanted armor has a larger metaphysical
"footprint"). Thus, ordinary chain mail presents a 29% chance of
spoiling a first-level mage's spell, while field plate makes it
60% likely that a 25th-level mage will botch his 9th-level spell.
(Subtract a further 5% if the caster is a specialist and the spell is
within the caster's specialty.)
A spoiled spell has a chance equal to the spoilage chance of becoming a
wild surge; otherwise, it causes no effect at all. Note that there is a
slight chance the wild surge will result in the spell succeeding anyway.
Submitted for your consideration. :)
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Eric C. Putnam | "Everything you know is wrong;
epu...@osf1.gmu.edu | Just forget the words and sing along!"
One Guy's Opinion...| --"Weird Al" Yankovic
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