Confused about Vancien magic

[Pinkie Pyro]

The Vancien magic system has made little sense to me in the past, having grown up with final fantasy and mana pools, but recently a player brought up a problem: a wizard prepares spells by partially casting them, and leaving only the final step or so, so he can complete it at a moment's notice. however, it always takes them 1 hour to prepare all the spells that they are able to for the day (and 8 hours of sleep, which is oddly specific, instead of just being "well rested" or something), so wouldn't this mean that a wizard could cast any spell from his spellbook, unprepared, it would just take him longer?

It's mostly a problem with fluff, but I'm quite confused as to how they intended it to work like this at all.

[Eldan]

If you're willing to invest 15 minutes, then yes, you can just cast any spell from your spellbook. Up to your slots per day limit, of course.

[OldTrees1]

Wizards spend 8hrs to segment their minds so they can slot in vancian spells.
During a 1hr ritual Wizards can weave vancian spells into these slots.

Wizards do not know how to cast their spells without using segments of their mind.

If they have slots available then it only takes prep time to partially cast spells to the point that they can complete spells in the next few rounds.

If they do not have slots available then it takes 8 hours to reformat their minds and some further prep time to partially cast those spell to the point that they can complete spells in the next few rounds.

[sideswipe]

The Vancien magic system has made little sense to me in the past, having grown up with final fantasy and mana pools, but recently a player brought up a problem: a wizard prepares spells by partially casting them, and leaving only the final step or so, so he can complete it at a moment's notice. however, it always takes them 1 hour to prepare all the spells that they are able to for the day (and 8 hours of sleep, which is oddly specific, instead of just being "well rested" or something), so wouldn't this mean that a wizard could cast any spell from his spellbook, unprepared, it would just take him longer?

It's mostly a problem with fluff, but I'm quite confused as to how they intended it to work like this at all.

well think of it like this. get an a5 page of paper (for each level of spell for each spell). write down an entire page of university level physics including equations. and now add that you have to have the ability to control a certain amount of magical energy and no more.

at the beginning of the day you study things that you would probably forget at least part of unless you refresh.
on top of that as you read them you need to weave a spell and store 95% of its magical energy within your self. remembering the few trigger words to set it off.

you can only do so much of this each day (spell slots) and you need to be completely refreshed to have the ability to handle that much mental punishment.

so you fill all of your ability to cast in the morning so none of it goes to waste. and you are prepared for the day. you can prepare less spells but it takes minimum 15 mins to get the right mental state.

later in the day you would be too tired from constantly remembering the 20 or so trigger words and movements so you don't forget them. so you could not prepare.

[Zrak]

I'm not sure I understand the question. Basically, a wizard can cast any spell from her spellbook "unprepared" if she takes longer, provided she has enough magical energy remaining to do so. A wizard doesn't have to prepare all of her spell slots at the beginning of the day, and she can fill slots she left open later on. In other words, "taking longer" to cast an unprepared spell is mechanically identical to spending fifteen minutes to prepare spells in the slots she left open, then casting one immediately afterwards.

I think the oddly-specific 8 hours of rest is to prevent the That Guys of the world from saying "My character only needs four hours of sleep to be well-rested, for roleplaying reasons."

[Pinkie Pyro]

I'm not sure I understand the question. Basically, a wizard can cast any spell from her spellbook "unprepared" if she takes longer, provided she has enough magical energy remaining to do so. A wizard doesn't have to prepare all of her spell slots at the beginning of the day, and she can fill slots she left open later on. In other words, "taking longer" to cast an unprepared spell is mechanically identical to spending fifteen minutes to prepare spells in the slots she left open, then casting one immediately afterwards.

I think the oddly-specific 8 hours of rest is to prevent the That Guys of the world from saying "My character only needs four hours of sleep to be well-rested, for roleplaying reasons."

thanks guys, I get the fluff a little better now, and this is really what I needed. I guess my player will just keep a spell slot or so open every day instead of scribing endless scrolls then.

[Thrudd]

thanks guys, I get the fluff a little better now, and this is really what I needed. I guess my player will just keep a spell slot or so open every day instead of scribing endless scrolls then.

If you want the fluff, read Jack Vance's "Dying Earth". That's why it's called "Vancian". It is a great read and one of the primary influences for D&D.

[Keldrin]

For my part, I liked Zelazney's second Amber series with Merlin preparing spells as a way to visualize the fluff aspect.

But then I liked Roger's prose more than Vance's.