The Gift of Magic
I was flipping through channels to see what was on recently and caught a scene from a movie I'd seen before. I can't even say it was a good movie. Still, it got me thinking of how characters become casters, and a slightly different angle I don't think I've seen before...
I think I most frequently magic in fantasy settings as either an inborn talent (only certain people have it) or result of specialized training (theoretically, anyone can learn). Sometimes there's a mix of the two, or there's the "chosen of the gods" approach. More rarely I'll see magic that's only available by pact, or something like that.
What if magic were finite and bestowed?
Imagine a world that is... gifted by the gods, or blessed by chance, or whatever, but you end up with X amount of people who can work real magic. A hundred. A thousand. Whatever. Probably no one knows exactly why anyone can cast at all. If a wizard dies, his magical gift flits off to a new host. But... a wizard can bestow his gift to someone else willingly.
Tangential thoughts: The gift finding a new "random/fated" host is actually a lot like Exalted essences. I'd also consider that the gift is destroyed by death, but that would lead to a waning number of mages over the years rather than a static number - perfectly suitable in some settings, but not what I'm thinking about at the moment.
So the primary method of someone becoming a mage is by being literally gifted with a previous wizard's powers. Aging wizards would be likely to take a pupil under their wing. Such an apprentice, however, would be taught magical theory and a wizard's beliefs, most likely. Since the apprentice cannot actually practice magic until gifted, that's really all you can pass on in advance. And a wizard is probably going to want to pass his power on to someone who shares his basic beliefs in how that power is to be used. Wizards become a very exclusive club, but anyone can potentially become one.
Your average wizard probably wouldn't live all that much longer, though there might be exceptions and some would certainly try to find immortality rather than give up their gift. Some people, wizard or otherwise, would likely even try to expand their own powers by forcing other wizards to bestow power to them, or by capturing the fleeing power of a dying mage. Whether those approaches work could be fiddled with by whoever's running the setting, but those are some pretty obvious plot threads even if they wouldn't work - the power-hungry still try.
And while sometimes power might be transferred in moments of crisis, many mages would have the cherished memory of that moment when their mentor showed such trust and faith in them as to pass along one of the rarest gifts in creation...
I think I most frequently magic in fantasy settings as either an inborn talent (only certain people have it) or result of specialized training (theoretically, anyone can learn). Sometimes there's a mix of the two, or there's the "chosen of the gods" approach. More rarely I'll see magic that's only available by pact, or something like that.
What if magic were finite and bestowed?
Imagine a world that is... gifted by the gods, or blessed by chance, or whatever, but you end up with X amount of people who can work real magic. A hundred. A thousand. Whatever. Probably no one knows exactly why anyone can cast at all. If a wizard dies, his magical gift flits off to a new host. But... a wizard can bestow his gift to someone else willingly.
Tangential thoughts: The gift finding a new "random/fated" host is actually a lot like Exalted essences. I'd also consider that the gift is destroyed by death, but that would lead to a waning number of mages over the years rather than a static number - perfectly suitable in some settings, but not what I'm thinking about at the moment.
So the primary method of someone becoming a mage is by being literally gifted with a previous wizard's powers. Aging wizards would be likely to take a pupil under their wing. Such an apprentice, however, would be taught magical theory and a wizard's beliefs, most likely. Since the apprentice cannot actually practice magic until gifted, that's really all you can pass on in advance. And a wizard is probably going to want to pass his power on to someone who shares his basic beliefs in how that power is to be used. Wizards become a very exclusive club, but anyone can potentially become one.
Your average wizard probably wouldn't live all that much longer, though there might be exceptions and some would certainly try to find immortality rather than give up their gift. Some people, wizard or otherwise, would likely even try to expand their own powers by forcing other wizards to bestow power to them, or by capturing the fleeing power of a dying mage. Whether those approaches work could be fiddled with by whoever's running the setting, but those are some pretty obvious plot threads even if they wouldn't work - the power-hungry still try.
And while sometimes power might be transferred in moments of crisis, many mages would have the cherished memory of that moment when their mentor showed such trust and faith in them as to pass along one of the rarest gifts in creation...
To me this would beg the question, "Why does a wizard voluntarily give up his gift?" Is it death by old age? Something about being a magic user is draining or taxing? The idea and setting is not without merit.
ReplyDeleteWell, in this line of thinking, old age is probably the primary motivator. Whether the magic itself is taxing or not, failing physique becomes a burden eventually. Maybe you can teleport and fly, but do you cling to that to your dying breath, or pass on a legacy to the next generation? I think there's enough compulsion in "human nature" that most would try to pass their powers on to someone "worthy" of it while they can rather than simply casting it to fate. Of course, if that's not convincing enough, you could push the thought that the gift may actually die with the wizard. It would have to be an exceedingly selfish person to take that from the world with them willingly - such people certainly exist, but likely wouldn't have been gifted in the first place.
ReplyDeleteNow this is interesting. Would other sorcerers try to help keep each other alive so the magic could pass on? Would some consider removing rivals? Death-by-accident would probably be a cause of grief. The politics for such a set-up would be interesting...
ReplyDelete