My theory about how magic works

[Sailor Vulcan]

Why can a mage only cast a certain number of copies of spells? If the spells in the spellbook represent the mage's knowledge, then do they just "forget" a spell after casting it a certain number of times? Why do spells disappear from the spellbook after casting them?

I have a theory about how magic works in Mage Wars that might explain this. The theory is about the power of words. In order to cast a spell, a mage would have to use "words of power" or casting words. They would have casting words and phrases written in the spellbook, different ones for different spells. But those words would have no power by themselves. What gives these words their power is the mage's own mana. The reason this is possible is that the spellbook would be infused with a small part of the mage's power--their channeling, creating a pathway for the mana to flow from the mage into the casting words in their spellbook, before being released in the form of a spell.

After the casting words are said or read enough times, they lose their power; they become disconnected from the mage's channeling, so can no longer receive mana. A mage that has more knowledge and experience with certain spells will have a stronger tie between their channeling and the casting words for those spells. The reason why mages can only have 4 copies of each lv 2+ spell in their spellbook would be because if they concentrate too much of their channeling in a particular spell's casting words, those words will be unstable and won't be able to contain that bit of channeling, let alone receive mana.

I think this would also fall in line quite nicely with the "too much magic in a certain amount of space causes problems" thing, due to a concept I would probably call "channeling density" or how much mana is being channeled in any given space. If there's too much mana in a certain amount of space, that space won't be able to contain it, and the mana will expode, devouring the space and warping it, as well as dealing a ton of damage to anything unfortunate enough to be within its range. The following passage (which I just wrote) is how I imagine an experienced wizard would explain it to a student.

A book with no words is empty. Words with no power are meaningless, and disappear like wisps of smoke. On the other hand, a book with too many words is messy and incomprehensible. If those words contain a little power, that power will be trapped in the page by its small and cramped containers. But if that power grows too big, it will burst from those tiny words in a dangerous, formless release of energy.



And of course, resting strengthens the connection between the mage's channeling and all the words in their spellbook.



What do you think? Thoughts about this theory? Your own theories? It will be difficult to continue writing my Mage Wars fanfiction without the knowledge of how magic actually works in story.


On another note, I still haven't figured out why mages can't enchant themselves with wings. Maybe spells that can't target mages can't target them because those spells are influenced by summoning? Like say, it uses tiny bits of leftover mana from a summoning that a mage can't use (<1 mana) to make the spell workable. Like say how eagle wings would not only give a creature wings, but make them light enough to actually use them. I'm not sure if there are any other major differences between the mage and other creatures that could plausibly be used to explain this.

[Moonglow]

You could probably draw on some of the AD&D mythos/lore around spell casting/learning that had some similar concepts like one off spells (if I've learnt it why can't I remember it once I cast it etc). 

An AD&D mage had to learn each spell, and could only learn/memorise so many in a period, so it works similarly. 

I'm not so sure about the explanation of words...

a spell book can contain lots of small spells, or fewer large, higher level spells.  I don't know it this is well captured in the discussion of words.

You could also just have some thing like 'that's the rule for the arena'.  It doesn't have to be that the rules of the arena are the rules for the world/universe.  Its an orchestrated combat.  It might just be that the arena judges decided that 6 or less of each spell type is the appropriate balance to test whatever a fight in the arena tests...

 

[Stormmaster]

It could also be something like there "book" is really a collection of "scrolls".  Think of each card/spell as a tiny little scroll.  Typically with scrolls they are read and disappear upon use.  Think of the spell book as a modern type 3 ring binder where the mage puts these scrolls for later use, once used they are gone.

[Sailor Vulcan]

From the Online Etymology Dictionary:

spell (n.)
"incantation, charm," Old English spell "story, speech," from Proto-Germanic *spellan (cf. Old Norse spjall, Old High German spel, Gothic spill "report, discourse, tale;" German Beispiel "example;" see spell (v.1)). Meaning "set of words with magical powers, incantation, charm" first recorded 1570s.
The term 'spell' is generally used for magical procedures which cause harm, or force people to do something against their will -- unlike charms for healing, protection, etc. ["Oxford Dictionary of English Folklore"]

http://etymonline.com/?term=spell

While the "power of words" concept might sound too fantastical at first, its very fantastical nature could be the reason that too much magic use in a given area could be so dangerous. Too much channeling density in a given space perhaps could warp reality a bit within that space. I think this also explains why magic would almost always work exactly as you'd expect it to, because the casting words that one uses precisely convey their meaning, the spell that one is trying to cast. I would say a lot of things in real life don't conform to expectations and conventional wisdom as neatly as magic in Etheria does.

One could make the argument that since magic comes from the plane of Voltari and mana has to be channeled from there, rather than already existing in the world of Etheria, channeling is--to an extent, bringing something from a foreign plane into ones own--from a plane where the rules that govern reality are different, assuming there are rules. One possiblility I thought of is that Etheria (not just the world, but the very reality) was formed from the plane of Voltari. Etheria sounds like "aether", and Voltari sounds like "volt" the physics unit for power, or energy transfer. If Etheria was formed from the aether of Voltari, then I imagine that Voltari would be a chaotic place from which reality itself forms--basically order from chaos. Channeling mana from Voltari might be bringing some of that chaos from Voltari into Etheria, allowing a mage to influence things on Etheria in certain ways, like giving a creature working wings that normally would not have the body type for it, or creating objects out of thin air, or throwing fireballs with ones bare hands, or disappearing from one spot and reappearing somewhere else in an instant without having to move through the space between the two points.

The scroll idea is interesting. Perhaps the theory I just described is the reason scrolls would work like that. Perhaps instead of the scroll itself disappearing, the spell would disappear, rendering the inked-up parchment it was written on completely useless and without text. The scroll would then be discarded--this being before the invention of spellbooks, of course.

[sIKE]

Like most magic, my guess is "spellbook prep" aka when we build the mage's book, also includes preparing (in Etheria) Eye of Newt, Blood of Virgin, Velvet of Elk Horn. Along with some chanting writing of said spell into proper format. When combined with the Mages Mana the spell is cast and the spell ingredients are consumed. The higher the level the spell the more and more expensive the needed ingredients and therefore the limited availability of the spell. Epic/Legen(wait for it)dary/Unique are more a function of the arena.

[Sailor Vulcan]

Except having ingredients like that sounds an awful lot like potions. And I really doubt that would fit with all schools. Nature mages for instance are (so far) not the type to mix and match ingredients to create different kinds of spells. I'm pretty sure they would prefer that nature run its course, and they would just help to facilitate the process. Mixing potions (or if you want something a bit more nature school) Genetic engineering just doesn't suit a beastmaster or, I think, a Druid. Maybe if there were an arcane/nature mage, they'd be more likely to do something like that.

[sIKE]

Except having ingredients like that sounds an awful lot like potions. And I really doubt that would fit with all schools. Nature mages for instance are (so far) not the type to mix and match ingredients to create different kinds of spells. I'm pretty sure they would prefer that nature run its course, and they would just help to facilitate the process. Mixing potions (or if you want something a bit more nature school) Genetic engineering just doesn't suit a beastmaster or, I think, a Druid. Maybe if there were an arcane/nature mage, they'd be more likely to do something like that.

Not quite so literal, and no not positions, as an example from above, the ingredients are needed to make the ink to write the spell on the scroll. But the point being consumables are a part of the magic and you can only buy so much / carry so much at a given time add this in with Mana and you have a well rounded explanation for how magic works.

Each school would be different on the needs for the spells....

[Sailor Vulcan]

So then it wouldn't always be tangible ingredients or ingredients that go directly into the ink. Like say, a beastmaster would use different magical hairs and feathers and bones to write his spells with, and a priestess would bless her ink in an Asyran temple, while a forcemaster would use a symbolic/sentimental object to charge the spells she writes with power.

I guess that makes more sense. And this way anyone who claims that the wild beastmaster is unschooled can say he learned a rudimentary form of writing thorough a combination of instinct and interaction with other humans.

I mean, different animals often have different forms of communication, like dancing, or making lights or sounds. The beastmaster could see writing as originating from the wild, rather than civilization.

[Fenix86]

Kind of late to the party, but if you really want to explain why a mage can only have so many copies of spell in their spell book there are plenty of creative, not quite so literal, and easily hand waved ways to do it. If your heart is set on the rather impractical notion that all mages walk into the arena with a massive tome that they need to stop and read from (in the middle of a life or death fight, might I add) then you can go with the same reason we're only allowed to have so many copies of a spell in our books: The rules say so. Simply put, the arena has its rules regarding what you can and cannot have prepared in your book.

If you want something similar to the AD&D school of thought, you can write it in such a way that makes memorizing spells a mental chore. The words/runes/incantations are so mysterious and difficult to understand that any sane mind can literally only handle remembering a spell for so long. Once cast, the incantation is exponentially harder to recall, hence only being able to use the spell so many times.

Orrr you can go the route I prefer, which is that casting spells is not just mentally exhausting, but physically taxing as well. It's not that the Forcermaster, with her freakish mind, can't remember how to cast a Force Hammer, it's that she's exhausted, her legs feel like jelly and she either can't mold the mana properly, or just doesn't have it in her to cast the spell again.

Food for thought.

[Sailor Vulcan]

None of those sound easily hand waved. No offense to the makers of DnD or any of those other games, but that sounds like they were running short on creativity, and I would be quite disappointed if any of them were used. If casting a force hammer exhausted a forcemaster like that, she would not have the strength to swing her galvitar for 8+ dice of damage multiple times after that.

Having Arena rules like that be the thematic explanation too for a life and death match just doesn't work. Priestess pays triple book points for dark spells. Do you really think that's just because the referee said so?

Having spell memorization be so difficult would actually justify bringing a spellbook into the arena. However, it would not justify having spells actually disappear from the book or become unreadable after a certain number of casts, nor does it thematically justify the spellbook not taking up the shield or weapon equipment slot.

I think a fully trained mage would know what spells they want to cast when they want to cast them and be able to fight on the fly like in Harry Potter and wouldn't keep having to reeducate themselves about the spells they know mid-battle by reading a book that they wrote themselves. Mage Wars is a very dynamic and often fast paced game, and the styles of the mages very greatly. I think having to read while you're fighting for your life only thematically works if you take a quick action to do it, since reading takes at least some time no matter how highly skilled one is in magic.

I don't think even the priest would take his holy spellbook into  battle with him. To tarnish a book of prayers like that with bloodstains would be sacrilege to Asyra who Malakai serves. If he reads from his spellbook, it would be before the fight.

Spellbooks should be for learning or relearning spells, or because they have some powerful magical properties that make them useful as an equipment.

For instance, I imagine that the first libro mortos belonged to a legendary Necromancer, perhaps the very first one, and all the other libro mortos cast spells that were in the original. That way, the reason the undead obey a Necromancer is because they mindlessly follow after the first Necromancer that controlled them and his descendants, and they don't see the difference between that Necromancer and the current ones because they're zombies and skeletons.

From what I understand, mages generally can only prepare two spells per round because they can't keep more than two spells in their working memory at a time, which is an idea strongly evidenced by the existence and function of mordok's spellbook. The only other explanation that I can imagine anyone giving for that would be that each mage has two hands and therefore can cast two spells in a round. However, that is debunked by the fact that the spells are not cast simultaneously and do not even temporarily take up any of the hand equipment slots, weapon, shield or gloves.

This suggests to me that a mages arsenal of spells are in their head, rather than in a book. Otherwise they'd probably be able to prepare as many level 1 spells as they wanted per round because they would be taking the time to read them in their spellbook and level 1 spells are simpler and easier to memorize and recall.

I think that the power of magically imbued words is the most logical intuitive explanation, since otherwise, why would mages use words when casting spells at all? Would incantations exist at all?

It might sound silly in real life, but considering that the major schools of magic, the six main kinds of magic that are studied in Etheria have human values inherent to them, I don't think it's that far off to say that words can have that kind of power too in Etheria.


Also, thank you for bringing the huge thematic inconsistency about spellbooks to my attention and to the attention of anyone else who reads this thread. However, for future reference, threads on this forum are killed after 60 days and it is against the rules to reanimate them. While I don't approve of your having necroed the thread since that's against the rules, I think what you said was valuable insight and needed to be shared. Since you have already reanimated the thread and gotten it bumped onto the unread thread/thread reply lists, I feel like it is too late to counter your spell so to speak. Though you probably shouldn't cast it again.

[Fenix86]

I'm sorry, I didn't know there was a time limit to respond to a thread. I don't remember reading anything about it in the guidelines, so you'll have to forgive me. I have not been very active on the boards so can you link me to the rules or wherever that sort of thing is posted? Perhaps I just missed something somewhere. I would hate to keep stepping on toes.

It sounds like you're pretty set in your words of power explanation for magic, so I won't waste anyone's time (and I guess continue breaking the rules?) by discussing the matter any further.

[Sailor Vulcan]

I'm sorry, I didn't know there was a time limit to respond to a thread. I don't remember reading anything about it in the guidelines, so you'll have to forgive me. I have not been very active on the boards so can you link me to the rules or wherever that sort of thing is posted? Perhaps I just missed something somewhere. I would hate to keep stepping on toes.

It sounds like you're pretty set in your words of power explanation for magic, so I won't waste anyone's time (and I guess continue breaking the rules?) by discussing the matter any further.

http://forum.arcanewonders.com/index.php?topic=13674

Forgive me, I just found out recently that I was completely wrong. Here's the link to prove it. Post away!

[Sailor Vulcan]

No seriously, I was wrong. I completely misunderstood when I've seen people get criticized for necroing threads, and I mistook that for being against the rules even though it's not.

And in any case, just because I have a really good well-backed argument for my opinion does not mean that my opinion is set in stone. There might be equally good arguments for alternative explanations for how magic works that I just haven't thought of yet. This is just the one that makes the most sense to me at the moment. If you or anyone else has any more input on this topic, don't be afraid to share it! I don't OWN the threads I make and so I don't decide if and when they stop.

Even if you don't have as good of an argument supporting your opinion, you should still share it, since someone else might be able to find something that strengthens your argument until it's possibly equal to or stronger than the arguments for my words theory.

Keep 'em coming!

[Shad0w]

Why can a mage only cast a certain number of copies of spells?
This is done for game balance.
When Bryan was first designing MW he wanted the any number of copies up to your point total. This was a problem with certain cards.

 If the spells in the spellbook represent the mage's knowledge, then do they just "forget" a spell after casting it a certain number of times?
Have not seen how it was worked into the story.

Why do spells disappear from the spellbook after casting them?
This is done for game balance.
Have not seen how it was worked into the story.

 I still haven't figured out why mages can't enchant themselves with wings. Maybe spells that can't target mages can't target them because those spells are influenced by summoning?
This is done for game balance.
Play with the Eagle Wings able to target mages. If you do it against the druid you stop a majority of  her tactics with 1 card.

[Shad0w]

Epic/Legen(wait for it)dary/Unique are more a function of the arena.

Correct fight between mages are like sporting events with specific rules in place. Yes we have a group have oversees these duals.