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I’m curious how other DMs storytell reading and writing magic in their games, as the concept has always been a bit mystifying to me. Magical notation is described as simultaneously standardized and highly personalized. It’s one “language” for all wizards but with infinite permutations. Two wizards educated at the same school, under the same teacher, cannot read each other’s spellbook without Read Magic or deciphering with a Spellcraft check.
- Is it actually a language? Can you communicate anything else with it beside how to cast a spell? Could wizards use a stripped down version to write mundane letters?
- Is magical notation self encrypting? Perhaps it exaggerates the personal flourishes of the writer, so that if I write ‘Gotcha’ in magic script and my friend does the same, they look like two different symbols?
- If magic writing is magically encrypted, how does a Spellcraft check decipher it? What basis would the reader use for decryption if every spellbook looked completely different?
- Deciphering by Spellcraft indicates systematic decryption, but it doesn’t give bonuses for familiarity. The last spell you decipher in another wizard’s spellbook is as difficult as the first.
- If I were to teach someone how to write and read magic, how would this be done if my own writing is indecipherable to them?
- If one wizard were to take magical dictation for another wizard, who would be able to read the finished product?
I’m not sure what magical writing actually is besides, “It’s magic writing, roll”. What is it in your games?
It's brainfsck* sourcecode. Everyone develops his own dialect.
*I'm quite sure the real name of this esoteric programming language is blocked by the filters.
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Here's what I wrote to my players after they got confused by scrolls written in Thassilonian:
Before there even was a world, there was the primal language of Creation. These words are the key to tapping into vast amounts of energy which can be used to shape the world around you. Arcane spellcasters attune themselves to this reservoir of power, and use careful gestures and a few words from the primal language to control the power and tell it what to do.
This language of power was expanded upon and made into a full language by the Dragons. This langugage is called Draconic, well, because the Dragons say so. Arguing the point is a really good way to get yourself eaten.
All mortal (and many immortal) beings, from the mighty Dragons in the sky, to the terrible Aboleth beneath the sea, to the dark and ancient beings of the Far Realm, cast arcane magic using the same syllables of power. Unless the magic of Thassilon was something completely different from the magic you know, they can be presumed to have done the same. Having recited a spell from a Thassilonian scroll, you are in a fairly unique position to confirm that as true.
However, spell formulae, the instructions that wizards use to attune themselves to that power, can be written in any language. Most will be written in the Common tongue, but a spellbook can be kept in any language that you know. Even if you know the language of the spellbook (or scroll), each wizard approaches things slightly differently--hence the spellcraft roll to "learn" the spell, as you wrap your head around the way that particular mage does their work. If you do not speak the language the research is written in, a Read Magic spell will still allow understanding, even without use of Comprehend Languages.
It is not necessary to speak Draconic as a language in order to cast arcane magic. The words of power necessary to fuel a given spell can be learned by rote, and need not be understood in order to be effective. The Universe knows what you're saying, even if you don't. Many wizards will learn Draconic because they claim that it gives them a better understanding of their Art, but it's arrogance more than anything else--the same attitude that leads many wizards to look down on "natural" spellcasters like Sorcerers.
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Aldair scratched his head vigorously, before pounding his fist on the old, wooden table, nearly upsetting his cup. Reaching out quickly, he righted the cup before it could spill on the book laid out before him. Sighing, he took off his glasses, and pinched the bridge of his nose. "This is not going well at all. His talam looks nearly the same as mine, but the placement is different. His faerzdrix is used in the same manner as mine, but I had to use 12 separate volumes from Otto's All-Encompassing to figure out that it was that in the first place. I haven't even found his noccis yet, and Sarenrae's light will shine out my ass before I even begin to understand how he's used cuors in this!" Sighing heavily, Aldair slumped in the chair. "I'll never finish this book at this rate."
This isn't far off from my perception. Essentially, all wizards spell books are written in the wizards native (or preferred) language (things such as lists of components, somatic positioning of hands and/or body) though this list can be written in short-hand and usually is. Symbols and runes for tapping into the power of the cosmos are typically the same across the board (Draconic generally). However different races have developed their own symbols over time to power new spells unique to that race or culture, and it's because of this there are things that are considered dwarven magics or elven magics. (Though the magics of the common races are, well, common enough that most wizards don't distinguish between them anymore). This is why certain magics can be considered lost, or rare, aboleths for instance used their own annotation, and tapped into to the power of the cosmos in a different way, which is why their spells are alien. Drow use runes, abyssal and demonic runes, which grants them access to evil and corrupt spells.
Now it isn't necessary for a specific rune or symbol to be used to power a spell in the annotation, symbols can be substituted but it takes work on the spell caster to get the annotation just right in their own language, using symbols and runes they are used to. If a wizard doesn't understand a symbol (and chances are there will be at least one or two symbols in every spell book they come across they won't understand) they must cast read magic to understand it. While notating to their own spell book it's particularly important so they might be able to find the right symbols to replace the ones they don't understand. It's also important to cast read magic, or make a spellcraft check to discern the shorthand the other spell caster used in their text.
Many spell books will look similar. Most spells having similar symbols and annotation for the components, movements. To the untrained eye, one magic missile spell will look pretty well the same as another. But an gnomish wizard might use a dwarven rune to represent a particular point of power, while an elven wizard would use an elven rune and a drow wizard a demonic rune. Small variations such as this is what makes magic so difficult to study for the ungifted (sorcerers, bards, and other spontaneous casters)
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RPG Superstar 2010 Top 16
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If that's the case, it should be possible to determine a wizard's lineage (who taught her magic, and who taught her teacher, and so on, ...) from her spell book.
So when you capture the extraplanar outsider who looks and acts like a gnome illusionist, the spellbook could give him away.
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We go one step further and allow spell-casters to very slightly customize spells (which we've done with Magic Missile, in particular, since 1st level). If your Wizard apprenticed under the Venom-Queen Alberithe, your magic missiles might resemble green serpents of force that hiss and coil through the air as they move to bite their targets. As you increase in level, and develop an affinity for fire magics, your magic missiles might instead resemble smouldering coal-stones that trail smoke behind them before they smite their targets with a sulpherous crack. The effect is identical (they weren't doing poison damage before, they aren't doing fire damage now), but the appearance would be dependent upon where you learned the spells, and with minimal work (re-copying them and 'translating them' into 'your style') you can adapt spells you've seized or purchased from others to your own specific signature style.
Some wizards can't be bothered, and sometimes use Read Magic to study spells from stolen spellbooks, not bothering to adapt them, and startling allies by using spells that have the distinctive signatures of foes they've faced in the past...
If that's the case, it should be possible to determine a wizard's lineage (who taught her magic, and who taught her teacher, and so on, ...) from her spell book.
So when you capture the extraplanar outsider who looks and acts like a gnome illusionist, the spellbook could give him away.
Well, I don't see why this couldn't be a factor with spell books. You might not be able to discern racial lineage, maybe, but perhaps a spellcraft check, or a knowledge (arcane) check could reveal with whom, or where you studied magic. The more populous races have been lending and borrowing their symbols and annotations for centuries (though it's not unreasonable for them to have kept some of the secrets to themselves). Beings like aboleths, or drow would throw the PC making the check into a conundrum, as their magics and magical writing are rare and unknown, and things like Sin Magic in Golarion would be known of, but not fully understood or exploited. As for extraplanar outsiders, I suppose it would be possible, though many outsiders have innate spellcasting abilities, and those that have studied the arcane may be able to fabricate a mortal (or at least a prime material plane) spellbook for deception reasons. (Though it stands to reason, something fishy would stand out about their spellbooks).
Another idea i had, is that certain symbols and annotation would improve the spellcasters casting of the spell. Essentially, as spellcasters level up, their research and discovery of other written forms of the spells are what help them become more powerful. It's why a 15th level wizard has a more powerful fireball spell than say a 7th level wizard. They've come across runes and symbols that help their understanding of the arcane power and give the spells more oomph. Through research, and adventuring, wizards will come across new spells (which they typically need to interpret in a way that they already understand) and the spells they've already written down. These spells will be slightly different, some perhaps more powerful, and as they study them, they can make the annotations, and substitutions in their own spell books.
This is essentially one way to explain how a wizard becomes more and more powerful as they gain in levels, and also help explain the way some meta-magic works. I'm not thought of mechanical applications (though I could think of some) just as a flavor for the game itself.
We go one step further and allow spell-casters to very slightly customize spells (which we've done with Magic Missile, in particular, since 1st level). If your Wizard apprenticed under the Venom-Queen Alberithe, your magic missiles might resemble green serpents of force that hiss and coil through the air as they move to bite their targets. As you increase in level, and develop an affinity for fire magics, your magic missiles might instead resemble smouldering coal-stones that trail smoke behind them before they smite their targets with a sulpherous crack. The effect is identical (they weren't doing poison damage before, they aren't doing fire damage now), but the appearance would be dependent upon where you learned the spells, and with minimal work (re-copying them and 'translating them' into 'your style') you can adapt spells you've seized or purchased from others to your own specific signature style.
Some wizards can't be bothered, and sometimes use Read Magic to study spells from stolen spellbooks, not bothering to adapt them, and startling allies by using spells that have the distinctive signatures of foes they've faced in the past...
Actually that's a very good idea too. Considered this yoinked.
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Another idea i had, is that certain symbols and annotation would improve the spellcasters casting of the spell. Essentially, as spellcasters level up, their research and discovery of other written forms of the spells are what help them become more powerful. It's why a 15th level wizard has a more powerful fireball spell than say a 7th level wizard. They've come across runes and symbols that help their understanding of the arcane power and give the spells more oomph.
They might even streamline the 'code' of the spell, making it more 'elegant.' As they develop in their understanding of magic, they aren't just learning new spells, but they are also enhancing their understanding of their old spells, such as fireball, enhancing them and enhancing them until they reach the 'theoretical maximum' for each respective spell (some, like burning hands, cap out pretty quickly, others, like cone of cold, have a lot of room for enhancement).
It's obvious that spellbooks are more than just ordinary writing, because you have to pay for every page you write. So, I figured that spellbooks look like a bunch of squiggly lines to a non-wizard, but a wizard's mind is trained to see the patterns as something like a 3-dimensional circuit trace. If you just used ordinary ink, the 3D effect would not be possible. When a wizard prepares spells, he mentally traces the patterns, shaping the potential energy in his mind according to those patterns. That's why all wizards can prepare read magic without a book and have Scribe Scroll as a bonus feat -- all of their magic is based on magical writing.
But why does it take read magic or a Spellcraft check to read another wizard's book? Because, while the spell itself may be the same, the spell patterns in the book are optimized for that wizard's neural pathways. Read magic allows a wizard to quickly "translate" those patterns to fit his own mind, while Spellcraft checks mean the wizard has to do it mentally.
They might even streamline the 'code' of the spell, making it more 'elegant.' As they develop in their understanding of magic, they aren't just learning new spells, but they are also enhancing their understanding of their old spells, such as fireball, enhancing them and enhancing them until they reach the 'theoretical maximum' for each respective spell (some, like burning hands, cap out pretty quickly, others, like cone of cold, have a lot of room for enhancement).
This is putting it much better than I could have. Exactly my line of reasoning and thought.
It's obvious that spellbooks are more than just ordinary writing, because you have to pay for every page you write. So, I figured that spellbooks look like a bunch of squiggly lines to a non-wizard, but a wizard's mind is trained to see the patterns as something like a 3-dimensional circuit trace. If you just used ordinary ink, the 3D effect would not be possible. When a wizard prepares spells, he mentally traces the patterns, shaping the potential energy in his mind according to those patterns. That's why all wizards can prepare read magic without a book and have Scribe Scroll as a bonus feat -- all of their magic is based on magical writing.
But why does it take read magic or a Spellcraft check to read another wizard's book? Because, while the spell itself may be the same, the spell patterns in the book are optimized for that wizard's neural pathways. Read magic allows a wizard to quickly "translate" those patterns to fit his own mind, while Spellcraft checks mean the wizard has to do it mentally.
This is something that could actually be integrated with the other stuff that's been written. The sigils/symbols/runes do form a pattern like this, though there are standard notes and annotation in "normal" writing or shorthand (think lab note). There is, however, an optimal pattern for each spell out there, and as wizards progress and discover something closer to that pattern, well, their mastery and understanding of the magic of the spell does too. Integrating special inks as well as components into this theory is probably the next step. Perhaps certain inks aide certain spells to become more optimized, just as certain symbols and runes do. Perhaps certain gestures work better than others. Perhaps the bat guano of a certain bat optimizes the power of the 'Fireball' spell. Wizards seem (usually) to be interested in power and finding the most optimized, and perfect version of each spell (and more powerful spell in general) is definitely one way to gain such power.
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I imagine there's a wizard out there whose magic missiles resemble angry, flaming kittens.
As a matter of fact, one of my brother's first wizards years ago used this. He's also had one where they looked like the missiles from pretty much any anime, complete with smoke trail that disappeared on impact, flying smilie faces and a hand that just flew up and smacked the opponant in the head.
coming up with spell descriptions is one of the best parts of magic. right up there with screwing with the laws of reality.
Edit: is this thread getting a Care Bear vibe to anyone else?
Well...
...it is now.