Sources of Spellcasting/Manifesting Capabilities

[Schattenbach]

For some worldbuilding related stuff, I'm currently looking into what types of casters (in terms of background fluff) get their spellcasting (or manifesting) from what kind of source ... so it would

a) Mostly through their heritage (like Sorcerers) or their genetics (i.e. inborn mutation/supernatural potential that might be singular or lead to them becoming the ancestors ofeven more spellcasters/manifesters) ...
b) due to being born with some magical potential and (successfully) studying really hard to try to understand how magic (or psionic power) works (like wizards)
c) due to being born with some magical potential while also obtaining outside help (like clerics)
d) mostly due through the help of some (like warlocks)

Putting all spontaneous casters into a) wouldn't really fit as, for example, Warmages have at least some fluff about them being wizards who specialice so much that they got their spellbooks hammered into their brains and can thus cast their entire list.

Can someone help me out when it comes to this issue?

Thanks in advance.

[JoshuaZ]

For some worldbuilding related stuff, I'm currently looking into what types of casters (in terms of background fluff) get their spellcasting (or manifesting) from what kind of source ... so it would

a) Mostly through their heritage (like Sorcerers) or their genetics (i.e. inborn mutation/supernatural potential that might be singular or lead to them becoming the ancestors ofeven more spellcasters/manifesters) ...
b) due to being born with some magical potential and (successfully) studying really hard to try to understand how magic (or psionic power) works (like wizards)
c) due to being born with some magical potential while also obtaining outside help (like clerics)
d) mostly due through the help of some (like warlocks)

Putting all spontaneous casters into a) wouldn't really fit as, for example, Warmages have at least some fluff about them being wizards who specialice so much that they got their spellbooks hammered into their brains and can thus cast their entire list.

Can someone help me out when it comes to this issue?

Thanks in advance.

So, this looks like a good general classification of most major ways people might get power (although some could I imagine argue with the classification a bit- in some settings wizardry comes simply from the right knowledge it seems). I don't see any reason that if one is making one's own setting that one can't either a) change the warmage fluff slightly or b) not worry too too much about the exact mechanics not always aligning with the exact same fluff directly. There are incidentally other examples of spontaneous spellcasters who learn how to do it; The Suel Arcanamach PrC for example learns magic from a specific book with strange ancient meditation techniques and rituals and then can cast spontaneously (although they'll generally have some spellcasting in another class before they take the PrC). I'm also not sure how one would classify the Ur Priest in your breakdown since they steal power from gods (although I really do want to at some point make a setting where they actually aren't stealing power and are siphoning off residual, excess divine energy that really needs to go somewhere otherwise bad things would happen). It might make sense to see all four of your categories as part of a broad continuum from completely internal power to completely external power.

[Schattenbach]

Thanks for the help.


I'm also not sure how one would classify the Ur Priest in your breakdown since they steal power from gods (although I really do want to at some point make a setting where they actually aren't stealing power and are siphoning off residual, excess divine energy that really needs to go somewhere otherwise bad things would happen).

Wouldn't Ur-Priests fit in as either case b) or c) or somewhere in between? Though they seem to be more like case b) to me, anyway.