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[Aklyon]

Or,

We need a new thread for magic pondering.

Previous topic is in this part of the WTF thread, and goes until the above quote. Parts are also below:

I just kinda realised something
The vast majority of wizards in fiction are noncombatants who learn combat spells, the vast majority of their spells will be for killing people.

Why!?!

It is like me going to school to learn how to use a gun when I never want to own or shoot one.

But why would you go through all that effort just to fry people if you arn't planning to fry anyone?

I mean magic can do other things... Why is the Fireball and Lightning and Make their eyes pop out and explode their brains spells so attractive but the "Improve soil quality" spell so despised?

Because then they can pontificate about having power and not using it, and how conflict breeds only conflict. You can't get away with that shit if you're not capable of blowing a guy up with your left nostril.

Not so much required as still useful. It's more' like learning quantum physics by mastering artillery triangulation. Could still learn quantum physics by just studying quantum physics. But you can learn it by dropping shells on people, too. Or a combination of the two.

So you could get to grandmaster soil growth just learning soil growth, but you could also get there via learning how to demolish the countryside. And being able to the do latter also means that when the Jubjub bird comes calling you can set it on fire and not get eaten. So the magi pick up some muderskill because, well, why not? You still reach point B but something's less likely to be able to eat you on the path there.

[Devling]

PTWATPLP

[Hanslanda]

Ready set go!

[Lagslayer]

A functional magic thread? Let me get my soapbox.

Magic, at least in most systems, seems to be the natural manipulation of energy and matter uncommon to the "normal" ways. For example, one could build a radio. It can send and receive transmissions withing a certain a certain frequency band of the electromagnetic spectrum. If a creature were able to produce these electromagnetic waves intrinsically, it would be magic. However, in fiction, it sometimes extends to anything that does not require "technological" devices. One may not be able to cast a fireball from birth, but can learn how it is done. Then there's more shades of gray, such as runes and material focuses. Some systems have special magical devices. Some systems have magic and technology nearly identical in mechanics, but somehow treated as entirely separate entities.

The definition of magic varies from source to source too much to really talk about it in general. Either pick a system or make/refine a new definition to apply it to the real world.

[Max White]

One does not simply arrange a meeting of magi. You will find that even those that choose to partake in a linear chronography can be troublesome to arrange a itinerary with.
I believe the last great meeting of spell casters was in 1766 of the common age when the retail outset Gibbs and Vesten was having a sale on pointed hats with especially wide brims. This event, by chance, happened to draw mages from all over in search of quality, fashionable head gear. The outlet in question quickly sold out of stock, not expecting interplanar sales, until one of the sales gnomes had the brilliant idea to bring in more stock in from the past before it had been sold, thus leading to the great hat paradox of '66. Many questioned if they had any claim of ownership to their hats time clones, as they were essentially the same item, until the Great Spire of The Chosen Few of the Lesser Deity Seponigrud of Vey ruled that only ones own time clone may claim ownership of time clone property.

This has led to the black market dealings of time clone apparatus that we see today, but we are assured this is all part of Seponigruds great agenda.

[Aklyon]

One does not simply arrange a meeting of magi. You will find that even those that choose to partake in a linear chronography can be troublesome to arrange a itinerary with.

True, but what about They Who Ponder On The Arts Arcane, the Pondificationus? How hard would it be to arrange a meeting of them?

[Max White]

Depends... Do you have any hats?

[Aklyon]

Depends... Do you have any hats?

I have a normal hat and a nearby fedora.

[Max White]

It will have to suffice!
Quickly, place the normal hat on your head, then the fedora upon the hat! If you have anything staff like, wave it around now, it may be our best bet.

[Korbac]

I remember I wrote a creation story once. There were three types of magical essence :

'Pure' Essence : This was the sort of essence gods used to make other gods and galaxies and somesuch. No mage has been able to harness this.

'Greater' Essence : This sort of stuff was used by the gods to make the first races and shape worlds, etc. This is the stuff powerful mages, or mages worth the title use.

'Lesser' Essence : This was the inherent energy inherited by the lesser races as they grew further from their origins of god. All humans have this and can, with effort, use it. Parlour magicians and amateur magi use this to fuel their magic.

There was also different types of magic : Willpower magic, which relied upon willpower and conjured typical magical effects : bolts of lightning, fireballs, storms, cold snaps, etc. Meta-Philosophy magic, that used knowledge and small puffs of magic here and there to make things happen, like create a wave made of wood. (Think of Full Metal Alchemist.) There was also Conventional Magic, which was somewhere between the two, and an 'Ultimate' magic, that was basically the mastery of the first two schools to the point that you could use them to their maximum potential.

[Lightningfalcon]

PTW.
Great things will come out of this thread.  Great things I tell ya!   

[Xantalos]

PTW. I will eventually flood this thread with rambling.

[Karnewarrior]

It makes me sad I will only see about a week of this thread.

But then I'll be back two months later to catch up! so there's that.

[Kadzar]

I kind of feel, for proper discussion to occur in this thread, the OP needs to include the post that started the discussion in the past thread.

I just kinda realised something

The vast majority of wizards in fiction are noncombatants who learn combat spells, the vast majority of their spells will be for killing people.

Why!?!

It is like me going to school to learn how to use a gun when I never want to own or shoot one.

And I suppose it was somewhat covered in the previous thread, but the metaphor is flawed. Magic is the gun, and, if you want to cure cancer, you need cancer-curing bullets. But you still have a gun, so you could still use regular bullets. Though you probably won't be that good at shooting them at an attacker, since you need to practice to get good aim with a handgun, whereas you really wouldn't need to aim well to hit someone with magic-curing bullets if you're treating them.

So I don't know, maybe doctors figure, since they already have guns, they might as well practice using them, just in case a situation comes up where they need to heal someone from long range?

[Aklyon]

OP has been updatificationed.