This would help explain why there are so few spells compared to the infinite possibilities of magic. Many problems are solved. There are only so many ways to sort a list and many of them are either entirely unuseful or only good for specific situations. Turns out there's only one way to make a fireball. Every other way doesn't work as good.
This is probably true in the game world as well as in the game development world. WotC and Paizo could create more variations on Fireball, sure, but does it really change the game in a meaningful way?
Like a electricity Wizard who casts lightningball instead.
They could just add rules that allow you to tweak the spells, just like how they allow for increasing damage with a higher spell slot. But also changing AoE size, changing damage type, range, changing needing to see the target, and other properties, ... All which you will have to chose when preparing the spell for the first time, not to overshadow metamagic and keep the game flowing.
But does it change the game in a meaningful way, enough to offset the complexity that's being added? Enough that house rules for an individual group about flavoring spells and changing damage types wouldn't be enough?
In Pathfinder at least, they do have rules for spell research, and it's easier if it's pretty similar to a spell you already know, so "fireball but it's 10 ft wider and does d4s" is something you could get.
Or you could use metamagic feats. Widen Spell for AoE, Elemental Spell for damage type, and other properties. Though that can get expensive.
There is one standard way to cast fireball - it works, it's cheap, it very rarely backfires, it's in all the textbooks, everyone knows how it behaves - but sometimes you sit down in a tavern next to another wizard and you just know before they even open their mouth that they are going to spend the next twenty five minutes telling you about how they learnt this alternative way to cast it and it's taken a bit of practice but they can just about cast it as fast as they could before and how it's so much more ergonomic or whatever
That's it, I'm deleting my account on ArcaneOverflow, everyone acts all high and mighty and is always saying "search the Wizardly World Weave properly, foolish simpleton". I'm going back to my pa's farm!
Write us a sketch comedy episode of Gandalf contacting up Tech support because this particular spell isn't working. Patrick will troubleshoot the problem. In the end it's Darth Vader who figures out the solution.
Gandalf, looking frustrated, is on a magical crystal call with PATRICK, a tech support agent.
GANDALF:
Yes, hello. I seem to be having trouble with the spell "Aqua Eructo." It's not producing water as it should.
PATRICK:
Okay, sir. I apologize for the inconvenience. Let's try a few troubleshooting steps. Have you checked your magical energy levels?
GANDALF: sighs
Yes, yes, they're perfectly fine.
PATRICK:
Alright. Have you tried using the spell in a different location? Sometimes environmental factors can affect spell performance.
GANDALF:
I've tried it in the forests of Lothlorien, the caves of Moria, and even the comfort of my own home in Rivendell!
PATRICK:
Hmm, that is unusual. Let me check the spell's database for any known issues or updates.
Patrick puts Gandalf on hold. A few minutes later, he returns.
PATRICK:
I'm sorry for the wait. I couldn't find any issues with the spell. However, I did notice that it's been a while since your last system update. That could be the problem.
GANDALF: rolls his eyes
Fine, fine. I'll update my system and give it another go.
Gandalf ends the call and proceeds to update his magical system. After a few minutes, he tries the spell again, but it still doesn't work.
INT. TECH SUPPORT CENTER - DAY
Patrick is still at his desk, looking stumped. Suddenly, DARTH VADER, a dark lord with tech expertise, walks in.
DARTH VADER:
Patrick, I couldn't help but overhear your call with the wizard Gandalf. I believe I know the solution to his problem.
PATRICK: surprised
Really? What is it?
DARTH VADER:
The spell "Aqua Eructo" is a bit outdated. The new version is "Aqua Fluxus." It's a more efficient and reliable spell for water production.
PATRICK: impressed
Thank you, Lord Vader. I'll let Gandalf know right away.
Patrick quickly contacts Gandalf and shares the solution. Gandalf, although a bit annoyed, is grateful for the help.
GANDALF:
Well, I suppose I should keep up with the times. Thank you for your assistance.
Gandalf ends the call, and Patrick and Darth Vader share a chuckle.
Scene 1:
Gandalf is in his study, trying to cast a spell, but it's not working. He's getting frustrated and decides to call tech support.
Gandalf: (on the phone) "Yes, hello. I'm having trouble with a spell, it's not working as it should."
Patrick: (a cranky, burned-out wizard on the other end of the phone) "Okay, sir, can you please tell me the name of the spell and the incantation you're using?"
Scene 2:
Gandalf and Patrick are on the phone, with Patrick trying to troubleshoot the problem.
Gandalf: "The spell is called 'Flame of Anor' and the incantation is 'Ignis exortus Anor'."
Patrick: "Hmm, that should be working. Have you tried using a different wand? Sometimes the wand can be the problem."
Gandalf: "I've been using the same wand for centuries, it's not the problem."
Patrick: "Well, I'm not sure what to tell you, sir. Have you tried turning it off and on again?"
Gandalf: (sarcastically) "Yes, I've tried turning the spell off and on again. That's not the problem."
Scene 3:
Gandalf is still on the phone with Patrick, but they're not making any progress.
Patrick: "I'm sorry, sir, but I'm not sure what else to try. I'll have to transfer you to one of our senior tech support wizards."
Gandalf: (frustrated) "Fine, transfer me."
Scene 4:
Gandalf is now on the phone with Darth Vader, who's working as a senior tech support wizard.
Darth Vader: (in his iconic, deep voice) "Lord Gandalf, I sense a disturbance in your spell. The problem is not with your wand, but with the ingredients you're using. You're using dragon's fire, but the spell requires phoenix feathers."
Gandalf: (surprised) "Phoenix feathers? I didn't know that. Thank you, Darth Vader, you've been most helpful."
Darth Vader: "It's my job, Lord Gandalf. May the force be with you."
Scene 5:
Gandalf is back in his study, with the correct ingredients. He casts the spell and it works perfectly.
Gandalf: (to himself) "I'll have to remember to use phoenix feathers next time. And maybe not call tech support."
End of Episode.
r/RPGMemes, I hope you enjoy this sketch comedy episode of Gandalf contacting tech support for a spell that's not working. Special thanks to trolololol for the fantastic concept.
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Star Trek example. It would be really funny to me if Scotty refused to personally use the transporter. Everyone else beams down and he shows up on the shuttle a few hours later.
"What the fuck? why is this spell trying to access your Patron directly? Theres no reason it cant run off your local mana reserves"
"Wow I made the pact with the creature from the abyss to get my powers, and now it wants a monthly sacrifice in order to keep use them?"
"How does a simple "create water" spell have a 15 second cast time? Is it doing something else in the background or were the glyphs written by a first year apprentice?"
"Ah fuck how do I change the incantation for my spell again? Let me search the the orb real quick...."
"How does a simple "create water" spell have a 15 second cast time? Is it doing something else in the background or were the glyphs written by a first year apprentice?"
And that's how the backdoor (literal) in the xzutils material component was discovered.
Charles Stross' Laundry series is basically this concept set in the present day: magic is a branch of mathematics, which means it can be computed and programmed.
It is perhaps worth noting at this point the series genre is cosmic horror.
You know fun fact I learned recently from a let's play: tentacles only refer to the appendages which end in suckers, but along the rest of their length, have no suckers. The other appendages are called arms. So, octopuses actually have no tentacles, they have arms. Squids have 8 arms, and 2 extra tentacles, which are the long ones that have little spade shaped sucker hands on them. So, probably when you pictured tentacles, you were actually picturing cephalopod arms.
This series seems to check more boxes than I thought I had...
i'm adding it to the top of the list. Except i don't have a list, so I'm creating a list and adding it to that and therefore it automatically finds itself at the top of it.
So that explains the apparent undead working for them...I only read the first book or three and it's been a minute. This is the sign for me to go back and finish the series.
Have you tried closing and re-opening your spell book?
What's the uptime on your portal?
Apple-wood makes really good wands for illusions.
Oh, the staff? Built it myself. Hexacore silicon based crystal lattice CPU (Casting Power Unit), 4 billion RAM (Refined Arcane Modules) with an upgraded SSD (Swift Spell Deck) that can hold 2 trillion sigils. Yeah, of course it has RGB aura effects.
I lost a run the other day to a series of events, one of which included me (in-game) finding and eating enough psychedelic fungus to trigger a shift in reality, which transmuted all smoke in the universe and any created thereafter, into acid. Like carbolic acid, not the fun drugsy kind.
Acid, naturally, eats through all creatures and materials in the game world, including many things you'd consider otherwise invulnerable, until it evaporates - into flammable gas.
Therefore any time an object or material caught fire (which is often, with or without player interference), it would quickly consume anything below it for several meters while feeding itself with flammable gas and spreading to any new flammable materials it uncovered.
Also, as someone who didn't understand this, most of the crazy stuff you get right away. I think because it sort of looks like Terraria I thought a lot of stuff is crazy high level items but it's not.
That's just the beauty of its spell system, found yourself a trigger spell, double cast, and chainsaw? Well now you have a gattling wand. Want to impose 4 billion damage onto your archenemy? One simple spell may do the trick
Which is probably why I have a soft spot both for the "lost technologies" scifi trope, and fantasy universes where magic is studied just like any other science
Debugging spells is just as much a dark art as spell crafting itself. When I was a young apprentice we didn't have as sophisticated tools as you do now; you had to make sure you noted down your intermediate runes correctly and use those symbols to divine some meaning from the ashes of your failed spell. One time I mixed up my notes with the symbols of a different spell and when I sprinkled the ashes on the stack I was stuck speaking in tounges for a week.
These days of course you can summon a lesser demon to freeze your spell and ask it about the state, but the demons can be tricky and it's easy for novices to make a mistake and allow the demon to run amok - makes a real mess of the lab.
Debugging spells isn't like the fancy debuggers in your modern IDE. You gotta compile the spell with debugging symbols and run it through the spell equivalent of gdb direct in the command line.
But most wizards just go with the ol' "add print statements everywhere" method of debugging.
"Glorfinx's Globular Glassblower" still shouts "HERE!" at max volume when it walks past a wet dog because he never removed the printf rune after he fixed a bug relating to dripping fur.
Oh but the fireworks of Ericas "broader detect magic" became so popular that she actually added back all the spark colors for all the moral edge cases!
We now have novice wizards playing around with exactly how angry they need to be and how gaudy their robes need to be to get the different signals triggered...
