Sage Bloodline - learned or controlled by study?

[Spore]

Scholars of the arcane are always creating new means to use magic.

That's it. Do you think any student on a decent wizard academy could theoretically study "being a chosen one of the cosmos"? Is the Sage Bloodline a rather different approach to the (superior) learned magic of wizards?

Or is it simply a more calculated approach to the arcane bloodline. The title "wildblooded" suggests that some sorcerers have more problems controlling their powers (or maybe awaken and control them at all due to lacking Charisma?) and early 3.0 sources cite that some sorcerers learn their trade on schools and academies rather than discovering them and controlling them through willpower.

How would you yourself fluff your Sage Sorcerer? (How would you - on a tangent here - fluff your empyreal sorcerer?)

I realize there is no right or wrong answer. I merely want a picture of the general opinion on this matter.

[Geddy2112]

While a sage still has the innate power that all sorcerers have, it is driven by intellect and study. While most sorcerers stick out around wizards because they "just get" magic, a sage would probably study and understand the nature of their magic and powers. A sage could have gone to study wizardry, even though they were gifted with magic, they seek to understand it and not just become it.

Empyreal is a derivative of celestial, so its likely that you would be faithful to begin with, and it would be your belief and resolve that drives your magic.

[Psyren]

To fluff this, start with what a wildblooded sorcerer actually is:


A wildblooded sorcerer has a mutated version of a more common bloodline, with one arcana and at least one bloodline power that are different from those of an unmutated bloodline.


Sage

Associated bloodline: Arcane

So a sage bloodline is really just a mutated arcane bloodline - one that requires intellect and understanding to unlock instead of force of personality/sense of self. So then we look at the common sources for the arcane bloodline:


Your family has always been skilled in the eldritch art of magic. While many of your relatives were accomplished wizards, your powers developed without the need for study and practice.

Arcane sorcerers are therefore either related to or descend from wizard families (or perhaps just one powerful wizard, or even just a powerful spellcasting creature.) Sage sorcerers are no different - they got their magical gifts "by osmosis" as it were. Again, the only real difference is method of access.

This ties into their name - "Sage." The smarter they get, the more powerful they get, even if they aren't directly learning about their bloodline, because as their intellect grows they find new and deeper ways to tap into it. Thus, like a true sage, they're driven to learn everything they can. Unlike a wizard however, they don't have to translate that learning into new formulae or theories - all it really takes them is the lateral thinking that comes with it.

[Spore]

This ties into their name - "Sage." The smarter they get, the more powerful they get, even if they aren't directly learning about their bloodline, because as their intellect grows they find new and deeper ways to tap into it.

This seems as vague as it feels hamfisted. Intelligence works on logic, on followable "equations of the universe" that can be reproduced and logically understood. This feels very much like matter that you can and will study rather than "intellect growth equals power growth". It's not a direct connection in my eyes.

Growth in intelligence makes seemingly random items connected (and thusly gives an bonus on Knowledge saves). I feel this is the entire point of the "fight" between UMD and Spellcraft checks. With UMD you can force an item to do your bidding. With Spellcraft, you can recreate said item to suit your specific situation. You understand and learn about magic.

You do not wield magic like a tool or a sword, you understand it and how it interacts with the world on a deeper level. But I think that still requires a guided process of learning (after all your ancestor can be a dragon. If you have no chance to enter the sorcerer CLASS in and of itself, you can't tap into your inner powers, let alone your powers). I am willing to say (or at least to refluff) the Sage bloodline as a different approach to innate magical abilities.

And on a different note: Sage Sorcerers are a good way to portray most known "Wizards" of modern popular games and literature. Be it Jaina Proudmoore or Archmage Antonidas of the Warcraft Universe (whose array is rather limited compared to D&D wizards), the typical Elder Scrolls Wizard where magic is but a mixture of both studies and willpower. Over to Harry Potter's "Wizards" or Harry Dresden.

They all are rather limited and more often than not no spellbook is used. Yet knowledge about the arcane is still important and not knowing about the magical world limits "muggles" or "commoners".

[Psyren]

Sounds like you came up with something even better than I did :smallwink: enjoy.