Making sense of Vancian arcane magic

[Nerdynick]

Like many others throughout the years, I've been plagued by Vancian magic (that is, spell slots) and constantly struggling to make sense of it. Recently thought of a way that does so for me while incorporating the cult classic that is pact magic from Tome of Magic.

For those unfamiliar with pact magic, a brief introduction. There exist entities called vestiges that lie outside the bounds of normal reality in what I call the void. Vestiges are largely mysterious entities and their origin is unknown. Some of them appear to be dead gods that can't stay that way, some claim to have once been mortal. All lie outside the influence of the cosmos, though. No god can touch them, but the lowliest mortal can summon them by invoking their seal. Vestiges cannot affect reality, but long to experience it again. Though some might be trying to continue inscrutable agendas, the machinations of vestiges are truly beyond mortal ken. They exert influence on reality, or simply experience it once more, by making pacts with mortals and binding to their souls to "ride along" if you will. This "solution" to Vancian magic modifies the original writing of vestiges so that there are two types of vestiges: the named greater vestiges in the Tome of Magic, and a seemingly infinite number of lesser vestiges who have inferior power but similar desires. All credit where it is due, this element was inspired by one of SilverClawShift's excellent campaign journals that was floating around a while back.

A now for the proposed solution:

Binders (as a core class) function as written, binding greater vestiges into their souls temporarily in order to gain supernatural powers.

Wizards, on the other hand, bind a much larger number of lesser vestiges, who are too weak to exert influence or manifestations upon the wizard. In fact, they get to experience the wizard's reality, but their end of the bargain requires them to expend nearly all of their energy on a single, one-shot magical effect otherwise known as a spell, after which they must recover their energy. Each spell is really the wizard calling upon a pact he made with a lesser vestige, with spell components being tools to help tear holes in reality through which vestiges can draw energy from the void. A wizard's spell book is really a collection of seals for these lesser vestiges and when he "prepares spells", he is making these pacts. Spell levels account for differences in power among lesser vestiges.

Warlocks are on the opposite end of the spectrum. They are mortals who have made a permanent pact with a vestige to bind it to their soul. The closer connection between vestige and soul means that the vestige can draw upon void energy more easily, accounting for at-will invocations. I envision this looking a lot like the characters from WW's Geist: the Sin-Eaters.

Sorcerers are sort of a sticking point in my proposed headcanon here. The best I have been able to think up is that sorcerers were born with a soul that had touched the void for some reason, and they were able to trace their metaphysical steps back to the void, where they can coerce (hence charisma castings stat) lesser vestiges to do their bidding on the fly. This doesn't do much for bloodlines though, unless all magical creatures are connected to the void somehow, and that's not terribly setting neutral.

Naturally, magic items are simply vestiges bound into items. Though this raises strange questions for creatures such as golems and warforged.

Anyways, just wanted to share that with the forums and get some feedback. Hopefully you found this idea useful in making sense of why arcane magic utilizes a Vancian magic system. Has the added benefit of carrying over the religious connotations of binding and giving divine magic users a decent reason for hating arcane magic that is lacking in most settings.

P.S. I suppose this could be extended to divine magic too if you use some of the suggested alternate stylings of pact magic in ToM and say that divine casters simply bind outsiders instead of vestiges.

[Snowbluff]

You're trying to make sense of Vancian casting, which is pretty straight forward, with the Tome of Magic, the notoriously messy book?

I need another drink.

[Grod_The_Giant]

It's interesting. Kind of reminds me of how magic seems to work in (early) Diskworld novels-- the spells have a sort of existence in and of themselves. If you're strong you control the spell; if you're not then, like Rincewind, the spell kind of sits in your head and controls you. Applying that idea to your idea... maybe Sorcerers are sort of natural vessels for vestiges? They're born with the blood of magical creatures, so the vestige-remains of said creatures tend to graft themselves onto their mind. The Charisma-based casting, then, represents the force of personality to organize and persuade their unwanted guests to help.

[johnbragg]

You're trying to make sense of Vancian casting, which is pretty straight forward, with the Tome of Magic, the notoriously messy book?

I need another drink.

He's trying to make sense of Vancian casting, whose mechanics are pretty straightforward but whose fluff is pretty lacking, with vestiges, which have great fluff.

AS for Sorcerers, we can explain that as an enduring connection to certain vestiges.

[Hecuba]

That certainly world well enough, though it drastically changes the implied fluff of Arcane casters: rather than interacting with natural (if Arcane) natural forces in the tradition of hermetical mysticism, they are interacting with spirits in a manner more reminiscent of anamistic traditions.

If you are finding Vancian magic (or more specifically D&D's version thereof, which differs from the actual writings of Jack Vance) hard to understand, it can be helpful to look at earlier versions and examine the spell components of the more iconic spells.

Keep in mind that, though it is often called "memorizing spells," the character is actually making specific preparations. This, combined with the components, heavily implies that wizard are ringing along the lines of "battle chemists."

Consider Fireball as an example: the components are a highly abbreviated ingredient list for early fireworks. The wizard may need to wiggle his fingers a certain way and speak funny to detonate it, but the materials heavily that the spell preparation time goes into making a bomb from known explosive materials (in oddly small qualities).

[Nifft]

Keep in mind that, though it is often called "memorizing spells," the character is actually making specific preparations. This, combined with the components, heavily implies that wizard are ringing along the lines of "battle chemists."

Consider Fireball as an example: the components are a highly abbreviated ingredient list for early fireworks. The wizard may need to wiggle his fingers a certain way and speak funny to detonate it, but the materials heavily that the spell preparation time goes into making a bomb from known explosive materials (in oddly small qualities).

In 1e, "preparing spells" was sometimes described as performing all of the spell -- except the last syllable. Thus, you began to perform some Arcane ritual, and then at the last second you stopped, and you walked away with the ritual still in progress. This is a "spell-slot".

Makes me think that Wizards are a bit like restaurant chefs.

[Extra Anchovies]

In 1e, "preparing spells" was sometimes described as performing all of the spell -- except the last syllable. Thus, you began to perform some Arcane ritual, and then at the last second you stopped, and you walked away with the ritual still in progress. This is a "spell-slot".

Makes me think that Wizards are a bit like restaurant chefs.

This approach can be taken with sorcerers, too. Wizards train their minds until they can pre-cast all but the last component of each of their spells, carry the almost-finished rituals around in their head, and then loose their spells over the course of the day by completing each of the rituals they started when they prepared spells in the morning. Sorcerers don't need to prepare any rituals - they are the rituals, thanks to their innate link to a source of magical power (a draconic ancestor, a pact with Far Realms entities, a childhood spent in the Fey-Wild, etc).

[johnbragg]

I like this idea a lot, that when your wizard is casting, he's invoking the shades of Melf and Zagyg and Mordenkainen and Elminster and Bargle and Burne etc etc.

[Nerdynick]

I like this idea a lot, that when your wizard is casting, he's invoking the shades of Melf and Zagyg and Mordenkainen and Elminster and Bargle and Burne etc etc.

Since the origins of vestiges are vague, you could even say that those who are excessively exposed to te energy of the void become vestiges upon death. Thus, all wizards are damned, and their only respite is to nigh-literally live on through their signature spells.

[Mr.Sandman]

Since the origins of vestiges are vague, you could even say that those who are excessively exposed to te energy of the void become vestiges upon death. Thus, all wizards are damned, and their only respite is to nigh-literally live on through their signature spells.

Gives me a decent idea for a campaign. Maybe the more their spell is used, the vestige closer the vestige gets to the Material. 0 lv spells are some of the most basic things, things that would come about from those first discovering and experimenting with magic. That's why you can cast 0s as much as you want in Pathfinder, they are practically touching the Material Plane. And then one comes through, one of the most ancient Wizards in existence, and he can still cast. Make it Prestedigitation just for fun.

[Nerdynick]

Long late-night rambling to follow:

Some additional thoughts on sorcerers: Perhaps they are normal mortals that are born without souls, which gives attentive vestiges the chance to inhabit the vessel. The bloodline of the sorcerer is determined by the vestige, so the vestige of a dragon would grant the draconic bloodline and the vestige of a necromancer might grant the undead bloodline. They are born with no memory of the void, but are often afflicted by terrible nightmares of the place. As they gain power, they regain memory of the void as well, and can call in favors, make deals, etc with vestiges they were associated with.

Some thoughts on applying this to divine magic:

Divine magic is imparted by minor outsiders being bound to the faithful. Good deities send angels and archons, evil deities send devils and demons. Regardless, these are (like lesser vestiges) possessed of very little power, and when they expend their energy, they return to their god/outer plane. Most divine casters don't have spell books. That's because they usually don't know how to bind the outsiders themselves, and rely on their god to send them the outsider in response to their prayers. Outsiders can be summoned and bound by means of a seal, just like vestiges, except they are inscribed within squares (for good outsiders) and triangles (for evil outsiders). Other outsiders have different seals as well, based on alignments. These seals appear on scrolls and magic items, but most priests aren't literate in divine binding (archivists being a notable exception) and when they scribe seals for scrolls/magic times it's similar to automatic writing.

Clerics and Paladins pray to their gods and receive outsiders carrying spells to bind to their souls.

Favored Souls/Oracles are the divine equivalent of sorcerers. Maybe they're born with the soul of an outsider?

Druids and rangers draw power from nature, so what would they be binding? My initial thought was fey creatures, but those exist primarily on the material plane. Maybe more generic animistic spirits?

Archivists actually carry around a bunch of seal diagrams in their "prayer books" and bind outsiders the exact same way a wizard binds vestiges. The difference is that vestiges want to experience a slice of reality, while outsiders seek moral goals, and refuse to bind to someone who opposes their viewpoint.

[Âmesang]

I like this idea a lot, that when your wizard is casting, he's invoking the shades of Melf and Zagyg and Mordenkainen and Elminster and Bargle and Burne etc etc.
Wouldn't that infer that they're… dead? :smallconfused:

I mean I can understand Karsus becoming a vestige because not only has he been dead for millennia but he died in a fairly unique and unusual way; plus (if I remember correctly) his spirit hung around 'cause he retained his unquenchable thirst for knowledge and arcane power.

[johnbragg]

Wouldn't that infer that they're… dead? :smallconfused:

I mean I can understand Karsus becoming a vestige because not only has he been dead for millennia but he died in a fairly unique and unusual way; plus (if I remember correctly) his spirit hung around 'cause he retained his unquenchable thirst for knowledge and arcane power.

I don't see that as a problem unless your campaign is set directly during their lifetimes, and/or you plan for your PCs to meet them. If you're running in Greyhawk, sure, Elminster is dead, who cares? IF you really need to go to Sigil and meet him, you can explain it all away with a big dollop of wibbly-wobbly timey-wimey stuff so that you're invoking Elminster-of-the-future-after-he's-dead.

If, as a wizard, you research a spell that continues in use after your death, your phone is going to be ringing in the afterlife. Is that bad?

[Bohandas]

I've gotta say this is a pretty cool interpretation

[Spore]

Vancian arcane magic is pretty simple. I am mostly thinking about (alch)chemical formulas when I think about arcane spells (and specifically scrolls). A magic spell contains both energy (the spell level) and a formula on how to work this energy into matter, different energy or how it changes existing matter or energy.

It's basically how out universe works with the exception that (magical) energy can be converted (back) into other forms of existence (energy, matter, and in some cases of quite exotic or standard spells antimatter).

[Nerdynick]

Vancian arcane magic is pretty simple. I am mostly thinking about (alch)chemical formulas when I think about arcane spells (and specifically scrolls). A magic spell contains both energy (the spell level) and a formula on how to work this energy into matter, different energy or how it changes existing matter or energy.

It's basically how out universe works with the exception that (magical) energy can be converted (back) into other forms of existence (energy, matter, and in some cases of quite exotic or standard spells antimatter).

The problem with this view, in my mind, is that we can't use magical energy freely. Instead, it gets confined to spell slots. Even how you describe it, magical energy should work more like psionic power points.

[ATHATH]

This also happens to explain why spells with alignment descriptors can change your alignment.

[Bohandas]

The problem with this view, in my mind, is that we can't use magical energy freely. Instead, it gets confined to spell slots. Even how you describe it, magical energy should work more like psionic power points.

Maybe the spell levels work analogously to electron shells/orbitals in an atom

[Arbane]

Maybe the spell levels work analogously to electron shells/orbitals in an atom

In one really good campaign writeup I've read ("Tales of Wyre"), wizards do indeed refer to spell levels as 'Valences'. (Epic-level spells are 'Transvalent'.)

The best explanation for Vancian magic I've heard comes from Roger Zelazny's Amber series. Spells are pre-cast except for a few key bits, then 'hung' around the magician's aura for fast-casting later. (I suspect he got the idea from D&D, and D&D 3's writers got it right back from him.)

[Nerdynick]

Maybe the spell levels work analogously to electron shells/orbitals in an atom

By this, do you mean that when you transfer magical energy from one thing to another, it tries to fill that thing's valence layer to a certain capacity, which sort of inherently imposes a pre-set amount of energy on the transfer? Under that model, do you think that the spells would be the medium of energy transfer or the "object" receiving energy? I think that the latter is probably more accurate, but I haven't done chemistry since freshman year of college.