Lore wise where how does the Summoner get it's spells.
It is not from books and study (Wizard), the Blood (Sorcerer) or a patron (Witch)
Similar question for Bards. How do they get spells from a thematic sense? Is it provided from their link with their eidolon?
Thanks
Summoner: The outsider that lends an aspect of themselves to form the eidolon also provides casting ability. Similar to a witch patron, but with less emphasis on spells and more emphasis on other things. Alternately, the summoner could be a "binder," focused on using magic to control outsiders.
Bards: Bards study (i.e., Bardic Knowledge), but their study is more eclectic and less focused than a wizard. Which is why they cast without preparation (like a sorcerer) and have healing spells on their list (like a cleric).
I'd actually ask where wizard magic comes from.
Sorcerers draw from their own bloodline- they have it naturally. Witches adn clerics borrow it from some greater creature. Druids commune with nature, and draw from taht well.
But where does the power itself come from for wizards? Does reading the book generate 30 watts of magic juju?
My guess is that it is just like... windmills. Or water wheels. Their study, circles, and such are just devices to tap into the natural sources of power that are in the environment. It is likely cribbed from the processes used by other casters (since wizards love to study stuff like that), grabbing natural power and getting vials of semi important magical blood.
If we take that view, then you can also explain bards. Bards do a similar thing- tapping into natural power. It is just taht wizards are far more formalized, while bards are just people that get it naturally (in this case- they have 'good rhythm' that lets them get the pattern without the complicated processes of wizards).
They use the simplest and most intuitive methods (verbal components as a constant) in order to get the natural forces to resonate with them. Their means are relatively limited, which is why it is more buff and illusion stuff (they are more likely to have magic taht resonates between people, rather than stuff that affects the world). they get magic that tends toward touching minds and senses, since they use techniques that react the souls of others. And this also explains why they can use performance- their trigger techniques also tap into that kind of thing as well.
Wizards are the scientists of magic. Their use of magic is an analog for how we might use technology to manipulate things like heat and light.
Yes. But that doesn't answer the question- from where?
A hand tool is powered by hand. A steam engine uses steam. A motor uses gas. An electric motor uses electricity. If you treat magic as a science, then you need magic to answer the basic question of cause and effect- what caused this effect to take place.
The simplest solution is 'they harnessed some natural energies to get the spell to work'. But if we accept that answer, then it applies just as much to bards- the bards also found ways to manipulate that same ambient powers. It is just that bards are more limited in means and methods.
My guess is that it is just like... windmills. Or water wheels. Their study, circles, and such are just devices to tap into the natural sources of power that are in the environment.
Read Sherri Tepper's "True Game" books. You can add Treadmills Ovens and Bonfires to your power sources.
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Wizards are the scientists of magic. Their use of magic is an analog for how we might use technology to manipulate things like heat and light.Yes. But that doesn't answer the question- from where?
A hand tool is powered by hand. A steam engine uses steam. A motor uses gas. An electric motor uses electricity. If you treat magic as a science, then you need magic to answer the basic question of cause and effect- what caused this effect to take place.
The simplest solution is 'they harnessed some natural energies to get the spell to work'. But if we accept that answer, then it applies just as much to bards- the bards also found ways to manipulate that same ambient powers. It is just that bards are more limited in means and methods.
I've always viewed magic as just another fundamental force like gravity or electricity. The spell is just a way to interact with/manipulate that force. Wizards and other prepared arcane casters had to learn how to do it. Sorcerers and other spontaneous arcane casters, even though the spells and forces are the same, can do it instinctively, thanks to their bloodline/whatever (similar to how say, a professional athlete can instinctively hit a baseball, but couldn't do the physics calculations required to plot its trajectory, whereas a physics major could do the calculations to figure it out, but would require a bit more work to actually hit the ball).
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| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
I've always viewed magic as just another fundamental force like gravity or electricity. The spell is just a way to interact with/manipulate that force. Wizards and other prepared arcane casters had to learn how to do it. Sorcerers and other spontaneous arcane casters, even though the spells and forces are the same, can do it instinctively, thanks to their bloodline/whatever (similar to how say, a professional athlete can instinctively hit a baseball, but couldn't do the physics calculations required to plot its trajectory, whereas a physics major could do the calculations to figure it out, but would require a bit more work to actually hit the ball).Wizards are the scientists of magic. Their use of magic is an analog for how we might use technology to manipulate things like heat and light.Yes. But that doesn't answer the question- from where?
A hand tool is powered by hand. A steam engine uses steam. A motor uses gas. An electric motor uses electricity. If you treat magic as a science, then you need magic to answer the basic question of cause and effect- what caused this effect to take place.
The simplest solution is 'they harnessed some natural energies to get the spell to work'. But if we accept that answer, then it applies just as much to bards- the bards also found ways to manipulate that same ambient powers. It is just that bards are more limited in means and methods.
Just so, and I quite like that example. I've said it before and I'll say it again. Magic isn't science any more than light is science. Wizardry is science.
For my campaign I made up some fluff text for the different magic using classes.
For Summoners it all comes down to ritual binding of different spirits. The Eidolon is the big one but every "Spell Known" is actually a minor spirit the summoner has bound to himself. When he needs to cast a spell he calls that spirit to cast it for him.
The only magic the summoner actually knows is the long rituals he uses when he levels up to bind new spirits to him. Everything else is done for him by his Spirits.
I do also know a guy who's summoner did magic by manifesting his dreams into reality. His Eidolon was his greatest nightmare made flesh and bound into his service. Fun guy to play with.