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Ayrik
Great Reader
Canada
7989 Posts |
 Posted - 20 Nov 2010 : 00:34:28
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| Would you have still played an illusionist if you didn't get special game bonuses for choosing that class? Would you still play one if gnomes offered special advantages as invokers? |
[/Ayrik] |
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Dracons
Learned Scribe
USA
299 Posts |
Posted - 20 Nov 2010 : 01:58:58
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If it fit my character? Why not.
I had an elder barbarian before. Casted out from his tribe. Had the negatives to his strength/con/dex. (I think my strength was 8). Had alot of fun with him, as he tried to find something to restore his youth and vitiality so he can rejoin.
He did in sorts. You don't need to be young and strong if you can overcome any challenge, regardless of weakness. FOund the inner strength. |
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Alystra Illianniis
Great Reader
USA
3750 Posts |
Posted - 20 Nov 2010 : 02:21:36
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quote:
Originally posted by Arik
I'm not sure where this trope originated.
I'd suspect that wizards have historically been associated with black magic, necromancy, witchcraft, demon/devil pacts, and suchlike ... often used in folklore as a kind a monster and dire warning of what one might become after traffic with dark powers and forbidden lore. The Poe-inspired Necronomicon and Cthulhu concepts reinforce these notions quite a bit.
It probably started with the witch trials and some of the old Celtic legends of sorcerers who could blast entire armies with their magic. Incidentally, the Necrnomicon was "written" by Lovecraft, not Poe. Believe it or not, it was a practical joke, as people who had read his stories started looking for this mythical book. So he wrote it. After creating numerous "ghost copies" in the card catalogs of various libraries in cities he visited. All because of curiosity about Cthulu and the other "Elder Gods".... The guy was friggin genious.    |
The Goddess is alive, and magic is afoot.
"Where Science ends, Magic begins" -Spiral, Uncanny X-Men #491
"You idiots! You've captured their STUNT doubles!" -Spaceballs
Lothir's character background/stats: http://forum.candlekeep.com/pop_profile.asp?mode=display&id=5469
My stories:
http://z3.invisionfree.com/Mickeys_Comic_Tavern/index.php?showforum=188
Lothir, courtesy of Sylinde (Deviant Art)/Luaxena (Chosen of Eilistraee)
http://sylinde.deviantart.com/#/d2z6e4u |
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Ayrik
Great Reader
Canada
7989 Posts |
Posted - 20 Nov 2010 : 02:31:43
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| lol, I always get my Poe and Lovecraft, and my Caroll and Dickens, mixed up. My understanding is that part of the "inside joke" was the Necronomicon had in fact never been written. It was more a creation of Lovecraft's contemporaries than his own. |
[/Ayrik] |
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The Sage
Procrastinator Most High
Australia
31772 Posts |
Posted - 20 Nov 2010 : 05:05:11
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quote:
Originally posted by Alystra Illianniis
quote:
Originally posted by Arik
I'm not sure where this trope originated.
I'd suspect that wizards have historically been associated with black magic, necromancy, witchcraft, demon/devil pacts, and suchlike ... often used in folklore as a kind a monster and dire warning of what one might become after traffic with dark powers and forbidden lore. The Poe-inspired Necronomicon and Cthulhu concepts reinforce these notions quite a bit.
It probably started with the witch trials and some of the old Celtic legends of sorcerers who could blast entire armies with their magic. Incidentally, the Necrnomicon was "written" by Lovecraft, not Poe. Believe it or not, it was a practical joke, as people who had read his stories started looking for this mythical book. So he wrote it. After creating numerous "ghost copies" in the card catalogs of various libraries in cities he visited. All because of curiosity about Cthulu and the other "Elder Gods".... The guy was friggin genious.
And for those interested in a thoroughly brilliant analysis of the "myth" and "history" of the Necronomicon, I'd recommend The Necronomicon Files -- a collaborative work written by Daniel Harms and John Wisdom Gonce III. |
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Candlekeep - The Library of Forgotten Realms Lore
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Scribe for the Candlekeep Compendium -- Volume IX now available (Oct 2007)
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Zhoth'ilam Folio -- The Electronic Misadventures of a Rambling Sage |
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Alystra Illianniis
Great Reader
USA
3750 Posts |
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Gavinfoxx
Learned Scribe
USA
132 Posts |
Posted - 20 Nov 2010 : 08:19:59
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| Here's the thing... I've always thought that a character who often has genius / supergenius intelligence (especially when wearing items that increase it, which are among his first purchases), who has all the monster-specific knowledges as class skills, who has spent years studying how to bend reality to his whim, who actually takes the risk and goes out and risks his life adventuring, rather than doing some of the safer / slower ways of getting power... wouldn't people like that be really natural fits for being Wizards, and wouldn't they throw themselves into figuring out the precise spells that are most versatile and best solve any problem, and gravitate to these spells that immediately stop threats to their person, and start looking at 'just get a spell for it' as a way to solve any given problem? I mean, shouldn't some of these more thoughtful, cautious, use-spells-to-quickly-solve-anything wizards be the main ones that SURVIVE adventuring at low levels? To me, the class is the natural fit for the Xanatos Gambit / Batman / Always Prepared / I alter reality and let other people do the hard work (ie "God" wizards) types, which is why the idea of a "Batman Wizard" or "God Wizard" is so common on the optimization boards... To me, it seems that the optimization stuff, the basic class flavor, and the type of people who would follow that path seem to be pretty much the same. |
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Ayrik
Great Reader
Canada
7989 Posts |
Posted - 20 Nov 2010 : 16:16:14
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Your argument has merit, Gavin. I agree, just-make-a-spell-for-it can solve any problem, often with less effort than other approaches.
But I think in terms of the spellsoftware I run on my gnomish computing machinery here. I sometimes encounter a problem which drives me to research relentlessly through vast libraries until I find a spell (or the means to fashion a new spell) which serves to correct my problem. I look at many of my existing spells and find that they are sometimes older, slightly tarnished, perhaps not as versatile as their newer counterparts - but I am generally disinclined towards constantly tinkering and upgrading them with newly researched lore until something appears to be broken. A seasoned supragenius wizard might behave in similar manner, continuing to use any number of spell formula which are "not as good" simply because he is disinclined to change what already works when his efforts would be better spent elsewhere. I try to avoid letting wondrous magical powers evolve into "mundane" tools, though it is much harder in the more streamlined recent versions of the game. |
[/Ayrik] |
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Rarity of non core spells
