In my campaign a player is becoming the apprentice of a wizard soon, because neither of us thought it made sense for him to go from rogue to wizard by killing enough bad guys to level up.
How would you have the wizard explain magic? So far I have some notes about spell casters wielding "the primal energies of the universe", and that the energy in question is present in all beings.
However, I am interested in how magic is explained in golarion (and other settings) because honestly I've gotta have this ready to go by monday and I'd rather spend my time thinking about other details.
Any input will be greatly appreciated :)
I'm a big fan of using the planes and planar cosmology as much as possible when describing magic. Usually I'll rely on the outer planes for conjurations, summons, etc.; and the inner planes for elemental spells, necromancy and healing.
I also use planetary alignments, horoscope-type symbols, etc to explain the per diem nature of magic in Pathfinder.
A good explanation ought to encompass most supernatural phenomena, not just spellcasting. A great place to start is by explaining why there is a difference between arcane and divine magic, even though they share spells which can be cross-identified with no penalty using Spellcraft. That heavily implies that the somatic and material components are the same or very similar, and it is just the sources of magical power that differ.
I love this topic, so I'll stick around for a bit and see what everyone else has to add.
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If you can explain it, it's technology.
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I'm guessing the explanation "it works like magic" is not a useful response?
All kidding aside [okay, some kidding aside], I always tend to use the whole explanation of The Force as the way magic works, unless a setting has a concrete explanation. So far, I haven't seen any Golarion-specific description of magic as a whole, probably because there are so many different flavors of magic.
How my Master Mage would explain it . . .
So, Magic is a primal force of the universe. It surrounds us and penetrates us, and binds all living things together. With training, you can learn to sense [detect magic], and eventually influence this universal force, just as it influences you. Some rely on pure instinct to exert their will on this energy; we call these Sorcerers. Some channel this through their faith in their various gods [clerics]. A few make pacts with unfathomable forces [witches], and some become unwitting or unwilling conduits for the power [oracles]. What we are, however, is much more; through training and discipline, we wizards learn to manipulate not only reality through our understanding of magic, but we also learn to influence how magic itself works [metamagic]. Other magic users are limited by the will of their deities or their own innate capacity to process magic. We wizards are limitless. You have chosen well, my pupil. You have chosen greatness.
Now, go sweep the laboratory, and stay out of the reagents!
In my campaign a player is becoming the apprentice of a wizard soon, because neither of us thought it made sense for him to go from rogue to wizard by killing enough bad guys to level up.
How would you have the wizard explain magic? So far I have some notes about spell casters wielding "the primal energies of the universe", and that the energy in question is present in all beings.
However, I am interested in how magic is explained in golarion (and other settings) because honestly I've gotta have this ready to go by monday and I'd rather spend my time thinking about other details.
Any input will be greatly appreciated :)
Wizards pretty much get their skills by sheer knowledge and research. Tapping into the magical ether. In that situation it would pretty much seem to be just a "he studies enough" kind of explanation.
Also, if you want, you can give him an extra trait of magical lineage, that gives him a cantrip no matter the class, he could be learning magic as he levels by being able to cast the cantrip before he gets an actual level up.
In my campaign a player is becoming the apprentice of a wizard soon, because neither of us thought it made sense for him to go from rogue to wizard by killing enough bad guys to level up.
How would you have the wizard explain magic? So far I have some notes about spell casters wielding "the primal energies of the universe", and that the energy in question is present in all beings.
However, I am interested in how magic is explained in golarion (and other settings) because honestly I've gotta have this ready to go by monday and I'd rather spend my time thinking about other details.
Any input will be greatly appreciated :)
Wizards pretty much get their skills by sheer knowledge and research. Tapping into the magical ether. In that situation it would pretty much seem to be just a "he studies enough" kind of explanation.
Also, if you want, you can give him an extra trait of magical lineage, that gives him a cantrip no matter the class, he could be learning magic as he levels by being able to cast the cantrip before he gets an actual level up.
The "magical ether" part is what I want him to explain. As far as learning as he levels up, that's exactly what I plan on having him do. I want the wizard (who by the way is basically a caterpillar-man, you know, a "book worm" hardy-har-har)to teach him the basics. What magic is, how to decipher magical writings, how to write them himself, and how to prepare spells, then shove him into the world on his own with cantrips to cast until he reaches his next level, which is when he'll become a full blown wizard with first level spells.
How my Master Mage would explain it . . .
So, Magic is a primal force of the universe. It surrounds us and penetrates us, and binds all living things together. With training, you can learn to sense [detect magic], and eventually influence this universal force, just as it influences you. Some rely on pure instinct to exert their will on this energy; we call these Sorcerers. Some channel this through their faith in their various gods [clerics]. A few make pacts with unfathomable forces [witches], and some become unwitting or unwilling conduits for the power [oracles]. What we are, however, is much more; through training and discipline, we wizards learn to manipulate not only reality through our understanding of magic, but we also learn to influence how magic itself works [metamagic]. Other magic users are limited by the will of their deities or their own innate capacity to process magic. We wizards are limitless. You have chosen well, my pupil. You have chosen greatness.
Now, go sweep the laboratory, and stay out of the reagents!
Absolutely beautiful. My personal opinion, use this as a template and modify as needed.
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"Why son, there is no explanation. Magic just is. We each much find our own reasoning for the why's and then the how just falls into place. I can show you mine and that will help you find your path. Not even the elder races can fully explain just what magic is. I have heard tell that dragons will sometimes giggle when asked but that is the nearest to a reason as I have ever heard."
- Whymount the Wizard of Fallcrest.
All this business about magic vs. technology or not needing to explain the metaphysics — it's a matter of opinion.
As a GM, you should go with the method that you think the player will enjoy most.
My players and I agree that extrapolating the metaphysics from Pathfinder magic and spells is great fun.
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Midichlorians.
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I would wiggle my fingers in the air and say
"Its MaaaaaaaaAAAaagiiiiiiiiic!"
Seriously though.
Magic is the power of creation left over from the making of worlds. It is like the steam rising from the pot or a fresh loaf of bread. Most people can't even feel the magic that covers all of creation. When we cast our spells we are waving our hands through the mist to make is swirl in just the right pattern for the right effect. When it is done right then our desires become reality.
The gods have left this power. Their priests need help from their gods to use it. Others go to beings of great nearly god like power for their help. A few tap into the power of others to call it up.
We force the magic to do our bidding through our own force of will and arcane knowledge. We beg no assistance. We make our job more difficult but we get more power. This extra difficulty requires a certain connection to the magical realm. We must feel it suffuse us to make it work. Armor impedes that. It is physical protection but also metaphysical protection. We know it will protect us and people see it protecting us. That creates a discontinuity with the magical realm and protects us from it too. It acts as a wall keeping it out. So we forgo armor so that we can stay in touch with the magic.
If you can explain it, it's technology.
Historically false. Magic was the attempt to explain workings of the universe surrounding early humans. It is based on cause-effect relations like since, but often lead to erroneous conclusions (like science) based upon too eager linking between cause and effect without throughly examining the cause-effect relation. Also it involved ascribing human-like intent to animals, things and forces of nature (I peed on a the same stone as last year and the drought happened again! I must have angered the spirit of the stone! no one may pee on the holy stone or the drought comes!).
If you can explain it, it's technology.Historically false. Magic was the attempt to explain workings of the universe surrounding early humans. It is based on cause-effect relations like since, but often lead to erroneous conclusions (like science) based upon too eager linking between cause and effect without throughly examining the cause-effect relation. Also it involved ascribing human-like intent to animals, things and forces of nature (I peed on a the same stone as last year and the drought happened again! I must have angered the spirit of the stone! no one may pee on the holy stone or the drought comes!).
I'll go one step further and argue that historicity matters not one whit to a good Pathfinder campaign.
Magic is a technique. It is a technology, in addition to being a trade, otherwise there would be no such thing as a magic academy. Those who see magic and technology as opposed in essence would do well to research the origin of the term "technology".
EDIT: I'm not saying you can't just leave it a mystery — I'm just defending my premise of backing it up with a little metaphysics in my own game, where I know the players are into that.
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If you can explain it, it's technology.
Explaining something is not technology. I can come up with crazy explanations for all kinds of things. Explanation is theory. Technology is usage.
Fire.
Before the first man figured out how to reliably create fire they probably had a whole bunch of theories about it. Came from the gods kinda crap. But even after they could make fire on demand they still did not understand why they could start a fire by rubbing sticks in a certain way.
The first people to figure out how to make bronze tools and weapons did not know why anything worked. They could tell you the steps to do it. Often extraneous steps were included because they did not know which ones were important.
Really that is how so much of technology advanced. Some guy would just try it another way and hey it works better. They did not know why. Today we can explain why.
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I really like the explanations offered by Stockvillain, FreelanceEvilGenius and karkon.
I think it's also important, though, to explain why wizards need to prepare daily spells:
Most naive observers think "casting a spell" means making some gestures and saying some words. Not so. These things are important, yes, but they are only meaningful when they reflect the inner state of the spell's caster. You gesture not merely with your hands and your mouth; you gesture with your emotions and your thoughts as well.
Sorcerers call upon their innate inner power to express these "inner gestures". We wizards have learned to instead prepare our minds and hearts each morning, aligning ourselves with the energies of magic.
But just as each spell is different in its external gestures and words, each one is also different in its requirements for inner preparation. Thus we much choose each time which particular spells we will prepare.
RPG Superstar 2009 Top 32, 2010 Top 8
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"Hey, it's a kind of magic."
Seriously, how does magic work in your world?
Semi-off topic
Paradigm 1
So studying under a wizard you'd learn little reality tweaks that take no effort (cantrips) except to keep the code in your head. As you grow in power you learn more complex code but using the code causes feedback that erases it.
Paradigm 2
Just a couple examples.
Magic is akin to the Matrix. Physical laws can be tweaked. Int casters can pull at the source code, Wis casters can channel power from an outside source (they're the USB port, the spell is an external ap focused through them) and Cha casters just beat the code in submission. (Think Int = dex, Wis = Con, Cha = Str)
Love it. That's more or less how I tend to think of it. I also tend to assume that there is some sort of power source, neither a particle nor a wave, but with properties of both, that is involved in some sort of way. This is emtied by some sort of mineral, or by certain types of creatures, or by the gods, what have you.
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There used to be this game system called Aria. Basically it was a meta system where part of the game was generating the world and the rules. The rules were too in depth because the game required too much work.
A cool concept from it though was locking down the source of magic in the world.
Was it a magic tree? A dead god? Lifeforce? etc. Then you used the source of magic to describe how magic works and extrapolate why magic users would use things like staves or potions.
For D&D I see magic as an inherent force like gravity.
If the source of magic was a dead god that might color it. Make it darker and more evil. Maybe necromancy would be easier and more powerful.
Magic is the quantum physics of the universe in which your campaign world exists. It's the underlying reality that creates the rest of what we see, we're just barely coming to understand, through a great deal of research and banging our heads against walls, how it works and how to use it. This also explains why there are levels of spells -- just like the valence shells of an atom, where an electron can be in orbital 1s or 2s but not 1.5s. :D (I didn't come up with this, I saw it on another message board a while ago.)
I wrote this up for a player's guide in a previous campaign, which I wrote in the format of a fragment of a tome on the subject, which their characters got in the beginning of the campaign - Hope you like it:
Magic is a consequence of the decay of the matter of one realm while present in another. Each of the realms is ordered in ways that differ from all others, making them distinct. When a particle of one realm is brought into another, and decays, the order of its essences escapes and pervades the order of the essences of the surrounding matter. It radiates forth like invisible light, and renders the order of a world mutable. Summoning and manipulating the appropriate essences to achieve a desired effect is the Arcanum Magica, the Secret of Magic. The four essences are the stuff of all realms of the world, but the order of each realm defines the nature of the four essences as expressed within it. Thus, the flames of the Plane of Fire are not the flames of the forge, though both are fire. The water of the Plane of Water is not the water of the well, though both are of the essence of water. The order of their realm defines the nature of the essence as of it. However, this is not the case of the Quinta Essentia, and it is this fact that allows the practice of the Art by any who carry the Quinta Essentia within them. To understand this it is instructive to consider death. Upon death, The Quinta Essentia leaves behind the body, which is a creature of the four essences, while the fifth essence crosses the veil of realms. This is so because the fifth essence is transcendent. It is this transcendence that can be used, through craft and force of will, to bridge the veil ever so slightly for the passage of the smallest of particles. Then further to guide the disintegration of this dust to release the desired changes in the local order, to produce the ultimate effect.
Thus, it is through the mind that the soul becomes the tool that sculpts magic from existence.