Ed Stark
10-22-1997, 04:09 PM
I've been thinking about the issue of planewalking wizards visiting Cerilia
(look out! He's thinking again! DUCK!) and I've got my take ready ...
Okay, all wizardly magic cast on Cerilia is powered by the force known as
mebhaighl--not just realm spells, but conventional magic (and battle magic,
if you touch the stuff) as well. That's a fact of Cerilian life. It's
probably a fact of Aebrynian life as a whole, but let's not open that can
of worms until we have too, okay?
There's no definite reason for it--that's still in the theoretical stage.
It might be "something in the land and air," like the Red Curse of the
Savage Coast (RED STEEL), or it could be similar to the situation they have
on Athas (all that corrupting and such). It's not like Toril or Oerth,
however, where anybody with a high enough intelligence can become a wizard
of any school they want (social constraints notwithstanding). If you don't
have the right connection to the mebhaighl of the land, you just can't cast
most wizard spells. The best you can be is a magician--an illusionist/diviner.
I would say then, that wizards who visit from other planes do NOT have the
connection to the land--they aren't blooded and, even if they are elves,
they aren't CERILIAN (or Aebrynian) elves. They're different. They look
different, have different special abilities, and, while they're certainly
more closely related to Cerilian elves than humans, dwarves, or halflings,
they just aren't the same.
In my campaign, I'd allow visiting wizards to cast whatever spells they had
memorized when they arrived normally but, when they tried to relearn the
spells (if they weren't spells castable by magicians), they'd find
themselves unable to draw upon the necessary magic they may never have
really known was there. Cerilia (Aebrynis) isn't a magic-poor land,
however--it's just a place where you need an extra key for the lock and,
being from another plane, those unfortunately planewalkers just don't have
the right key.
Now, fiendish and divine creatures have visited Cerilia. Have they had all
their spellcasting abilities? My answer is ... probably. The more
"connected" a fiend or divine creature is to its source of power (the deity
that provides it with its spellcasting ability), the stronger the
connection. Since most of these creatures appear to be direct creations of
some Power or other, most of them will have the divine "key" that fits in
the Cerilian spellcasting "lock." Even though their Powers may not be
worshiped or even known on Cerilia, they are still Powers and the godstuff
works.
This would go for wizards of other lands who have been "touched by the
gods" as well. There are several FR and DL wizards, I understand, who have
god-essence flowing through them. They'd be okay. Your average PC, though
... fzzt.
That's my take on the situation. Do with it what you will (not in the face!
Not in the face!)
-- ->-- ->-- ->--@
Ed Stark
Game Designer, Wizards of the Coast/TSR Division
Asst. Brand Manager, BIRTHRIGHT/GREYHAWK/MARVEL Group
TSR Website: http://www.tsrinc.com
(look out! He's thinking again! DUCK!) and I've got my take ready ...
Okay, all wizardly magic cast on Cerilia is powered by the force known as
mebhaighl--not just realm spells, but conventional magic (and battle magic,
if you touch the stuff) as well. That's a fact of Cerilian life. It's
probably a fact of Aebrynian life as a whole, but let's not open that can
of worms until we have too, okay?
There's no definite reason for it--that's still in the theoretical stage.
It might be "something in the land and air," like the Red Curse of the
Savage Coast (RED STEEL), or it could be similar to the situation they have
on Athas (all that corrupting and such). It's not like Toril or Oerth,
however, where anybody with a high enough intelligence can become a wizard
of any school they want (social constraints notwithstanding). If you don't
have the right connection to the mebhaighl of the land, you just can't cast
most wizard spells. The best you can be is a magician--an illusionist/diviner.
I would say then, that wizards who visit from other planes do NOT have the
connection to the land--they aren't blooded and, even if they are elves,
they aren't CERILIAN (or Aebrynian) elves. They're different. They look
different, have different special abilities, and, while they're certainly
more closely related to Cerilian elves than humans, dwarves, or halflings,
they just aren't the same.
In my campaign, I'd allow visiting wizards to cast whatever spells they had
memorized when they arrived normally but, when they tried to relearn the
spells (if they weren't spells castable by magicians), they'd find
themselves unable to draw upon the necessary magic they may never have
really known was there. Cerilia (Aebrynis) isn't a magic-poor land,
however--it's just a place where you need an extra key for the lock and,
being from another plane, those unfortunately planewalkers just don't have
the right key.
Now, fiendish and divine creatures have visited Cerilia. Have they had all
their spellcasting abilities? My answer is ... probably. The more
"connected" a fiend or divine creature is to its source of power (the deity
that provides it with its spellcasting ability), the stronger the
connection. Since most of these creatures appear to be direct creations of
some Power or other, most of them will have the divine "key" that fits in
the Cerilian spellcasting "lock." Even though their Powers may not be
worshiped or even known on Cerilia, they are still Powers and the godstuff
works.
This would go for wizards of other lands who have been "touched by the
gods" as well. There are several FR and DL wizards, I understand, who have
god-essence flowing through them. They'd be okay. Your average PC, though
... fzzt.
That's my take on the situation. Do with it what you will (not in the face!
Not in the face!)
-- ->-- ->-- ->--@
Ed Stark
Game Designer, Wizards of the Coast/TSR Division
Asst. Brand Manager, BIRTHRIGHT/GREYHAWK/MARVEL Group
TSR Website: http://www.tsrinc.com