Back this video's sponsor, Tomb of Gyzaengaxx for access to an adventure I'm collaborating on!: www.kickstarter.com/projects/alphiniusgoo/the-tomb-of-gyzaengaxx-adventure-and-campaign-setting?ref=19b323 I hope this helps you develop a more complete narrative around your favorite spellcasting characters!
I remember Mr. Greenwood the old NPC class of "hedge wizard" were as they had access to a cross class of spells and a chance for other skills or crafting abilities. Yet they were quite under powered compared to the PC classes. I always wondered what could have been if that was taken more seriously or even used more.
As a kid in the seventies and eighties, my idea of magical mentoring was indelibly colored by the Star Wars trilogy. What if Luke had never met Yoda? He would have had his force sense awakened by Obi Wan, but could only rely on guidance in moments of extreme need. He would probably have been an old man before he was able to do the things he did in Return of the Jedi.
After dropping out in the 1990s I am getting back into D&D now (thank the GODS it is 5e now, and not Pathfinder or 4th Ed.!!!) and mainly live-play in tabletops. LOVE the Sorcerer Class, this is the kind of spell-caster I always wanted to play; liberated from the damned books! And yes, simpler, I can remember every aspect off-hand. However .... the class just does not seem to get any respect, especially among the old-timers and the rules-lawyers (NOT the same people, necessarily ) and I can't figure out why that is the case. The penalties are there for not being a by-the-book mage, so what's the beef?
This really makes me want to see an adventure where "level 0" characters learn to cast the spells they are assumed to have at level 1 (maybe with skill checks for each of the spell componenets). Also (especially for low-level wizards), I believe the most important schools of magic are illusion, conjuration, and transmutation (since they let you leverage your creativity to make them even more powerful). One of my favorite D&D stories involves two villagers of lizardfolks and humans that were attacking each other, and both asked the party to eliminate the threat. They combined Silent Image and Thaumaturgy to crete a image of Pelor (who the humans worshipped) that told the humans to leave the village and go work in the party's fortress, thus solving two problems at once.
Our new world setting "Khor The World of Many Portals" deals with psionics in an OSR way that will allow DMs to handle it in a generic way if they want to use it! Thanks Ed for this video!!
i play a loooot of wizards and read into dnd lore a lot its reached the point that i know how to endlessly trade gem dust with elementals, become a sentient ring of mind shielding that takes over the bodies of people who get too close, create new fiends, and make illusions real...ish as well as so much more. i know because ive done all of these things without homebrew. there are so many great lore bits in the forgotten realms that can impact the way you play the game and use your abilities in a meaningful way. as the necromancer marrencius cret would put it: "practice makes perfect but without research your perceptions of perfection are to others trivial..." sadly despite my efforts 5th editions heavy hand has prevented all this practice from making cret better at necromancing but hey, at least he figured out a new method of immortality and that was the thing that counted to him even if its less fun to me...
I find 5E to be far too restrictive on all the things that make D&D fun and interesting, especially when it comes to all the cool things you describe. Do you have a favored edition?
@@thekaxmax Dungeon Fantasy by Steve Jackson? I’m a huge fan of The Fantasy Trip & Melee/Wizard. I should check that one out! What are some significant ways it differs from TFT?
@@SanguivoreMood. 5E took away so many cool class options when it set a hard level cap, reduced feats, and ended prestige classes. It just feels like you can't be who you want to be anymore. It's become like a video game. Your options are limited to what they want you to have and you can't do things yet don't intend you to do. Really bland.
@@chrismanuel9768 I agree 100%. I’m playing in a 5E campaign right now, and after we passed 3rd-Level, I feel like I have no meaningful choices to progress my character and I can’t come close to building a character I’d envision with such granular detail like I could in 3E.
I was known for abuse of tensor's floating disk at my table. and it makes me quite happy that the man himself, Ed Greenwood used an example of one of my tricks with it. I would pile it with boulders and block areas with it and occasionally float it over people and release knives or rocks onto them. sadly it's not controllable in this edition :(
@@RavenCoyote I would run it as it is described in the PHB, but if a player expressed a desire for such trickery, I would allow them to have their character train to be able to do it. With enough training I would give them the option to use an action to make the disc insubstantial, or back to substantial. As it is magical force forming the disc, I think all the training does is alter the spell so that instead of affecting both the Prime Material Plane and the Border Ethereal, it would switch between them; when it is substantial on one, it would be insubstantial on the other. This, in effect, doesn't really change the spell, but merely how it is expressed. Just a thought.
This man doesn't need any advertisement but he probably wouldn't frown too much on me saying this if you want a good representation of Mages and their workings particularly in their training I highly recommend his Al Minster books making of a mage and Last Temptation Of
Several years ago, I created a PC who was a Wild Magic sorcerer. His backstory includes these elements: 1. He comes from a land where most magic is outlawed. If the wielder is not a member of the dominant church for the lands, just being able to cast spells is a death sentence. People don't even have to cast spells to run afoul of the law. They just have to have the ability. (This has created a black market for magical items and a lot of people caught are then enslaved and sold to interests in other nations. The Church especially is dominant in these dealings, as they are not on the more moral of paths.) The use of magic is so heavily vilified that he believes anyone using it is in league with demons and devils. 2. He got into a fight and bested the local prince because the prince wanted to do "ungentlemanly things" to the PC's love interest. And, no, his love interest was not willing to have those things done to her. Which led to: 3. His family selling him into slavery. His parents used the attack as an excuse, telling him this is the only way to save his life. But, they really did it to make a few coin. 4. He was sold to a minor noble, who, as it would turn out, does practice magic in secret. Turns out, most noble houses have at least one family member who studies the arcane in efforts to boost themselves and their houses in the kingdom's rankings. 5. He was exposed to magical energies through an accident in his master's lab. The noble was summoning something powerful, maybe something fae and ordering his slave to help with the ritual. Something happened to breech the protective circle, and energy blasted out towards his direction. It's not known what happened, but he seemed fine after the ordeal. 6. Things would happen around the boy without the boy casting spells or thinking of it. He was relatively ignorant of the happenings, but his master took notice. Fearing what would happen at the behest of rival houses, the noble decided to kill the slave, least he reveals to the world (and break the unspoken covenant about magic use amongst the nobility) his master's doings In the attack, the boy's powers kicked up Deus Ex Machina style to whisk him away somewhere remote and safe (all the while carrying off an artifact of his master's.) So my PC is this scared, lost slave who thinks all he needs to do is reunite with his master and all will be forgiven. He's fearful and detests his power, believing the lies his kingdom spreads about magic. And if he doesn't use his magic on a regular basis... "random things" happen. And yet, several groups are looking/hunting him. Outside of his master, none know the full truth, but there are groups who suspect things. And he's a runaway slave with a bounty on his head.
There is one spell that has always captured my fascination. The spell that Larloch uses to enslave liches and other beeings of great power. Never have i've seen it anywhere but it's obvious it exists. Probably some secret netherese magic.
It's just basically a really powerful geas and dominate monster spell in one. Larloch is one of the most powerful beings in existence so his save DCs would be stupid.
One question though. How does a Wizard spontaneous demonstrate the Gift? That sounds like something that would happen to a Sorcerer (or Psionicist with Psionic gifts) than a Wizard since Wizards use magic from studying books written for anyone with the Intelligence and training to use magic?
I would assume that if Sorcerer spontaneously bursts with power, then a future Wizard studies a lot, practices lots of spells without success - but one day a spell does succeed, does manifest fully. That is akin to physical training: you train, you fail, but one day you cross the border of success while exercising.
I think that Read Magic would be how that manifestation would occur. I don't know about the newer additions, but back in 3.5 all Wizards are capable of preparing Read Magic. I would imagine that a young, undiscovered wizard stumbling on a tome and being taken in and studying it or spontaneously realizing they understand it
Perception of the weave is the main way. Think of it like a 6th sense or enhanced perception. Wizard spell craft is just understanding how to mold the weave as you see fit. Sorcerers don't necessarily perceive the weave as wizards due and they have an inherent ability to shape the weave that doesn't require true understanding.
This may be a noob DM move, but... I let spellcasters imbue items with a spell by using a spell slot one level higher than the spell itself. I hope to one day see a wizard cheese the final boss by dumping a bag of holding full of small rings imbued with fireball onto his head. And of course, the spell weaving trait would be fully applicable.
This is a very, very good video. Ed Tells YOUR story in what i this is, or is sometimes, the 2nd person, and FORCES you to write a mini novel in your head about a new caster. in like 9 minutes.
YOOO! I love Gooey Cube, I lurk in their streams all the time! Alphinius is so fun, and I saw Luke was involved, but it's really exciting that you're attached to this now too! It sounds like an unbeatable trinity to me. I particularly love Mr. Goo's ethics, a silly-sounding statement but very serious, he really cares about his employee's wellbeing and it shows. I really hope you get along!
Wtf, i was recently searching about spell crafting, and currently making some sort of a system for spell crafting, and then this video just... pops? Thx algortihm god.
Such wonderful advice I wished that I'd learned sooner. My sister was taken whilst i was off adventuring. I'd have gone after her if I hadn't takenan arrow to the knee 😢
Ok I’m gonna ask my DM if there’s any scrolls of Tenser’s Floating Disc lying around next time. Last session my character had to cast Shield twice in order to narrowly escape getting crushed alongside his new mount (a ritually embiggened chicken) by boulders flung by an ornery golem that was awakened from some goblin explosives discovered by “flying” overhead with a little magical assistance. I felt like the main character that session. Being mounted was really fun, I wasn’t about to squander such a gift from the DM. Once I felt confident I was out of reach of the golem I loaded a chest that I’m 100% sure has a magic flute in it onto the bird’s back as a prize to open at my leisure once the damn golem is dealt with next session.
I've been wondering about Illusion Magic. When creating an illusionary construct say a bridge to cross a pit of death. Would you still be able to walk/run across it if you believed it to be real or would you fall right through it as it's just a trick of the mind?
You fall, depending on the spell used--there are illuaion spells that can make pseudo-real items. The acceptance of its reality only affects how surprised you are when you fall.
It sounds like my character in gamma world. He has two main abilities, a sonic scream attack, and a solar flare/beam attack. It's a solar discharge. I have found a way to turn that into an explosive blast that can turn people into cinder, I have managed to turn it into basically a Kamehameha wave, I have found a way to project a flashbang grenade, and I have learned how to get my character all the way up above the clouds to soak up the sunlight to power up an extremely powerful explosion so that I could dive bomb into the ground and just basically be a nuclear bomb. Two abilities worked to the extreme. My character eventually just starts getting to the point of where every time he unleashes this attack it looks like Ramiels attack from Evangelion.
NGL if I had telekinesis I know exactly what my two main means of practice would be, at least to start: playing with legos (yes, build random lego stuff with TK), and digging random ditches as fast as possible. This would train fine tuned control (including not overdoing it cause legos aren't unbreakable) and sheer raw power both.
I thought you did an excellent job of writing this in Spellfire, when you had Elimnster teaching Narm Tamaraith the Flaming Sphere spell while using it to burn the stalks in a harvested field to help out the farmer who owned the field.
Good video, definitely made me think about some things that I might attempt later. The side camera with really low frame rate was quite distracting though, made Ed Greenwood look like he was a stop motion doll. I would consider something else, if you're gonna put special effects on a side camera for variation.
I love psionics and it's lack of good game options is what keeps me from really liking 5th edition. Ironically Pathfinder has a third party ruleset that closed the loopholes that made it broken in the 3.5 edition. Love your stuff Ed.
Well, the original one. Then on the Wizards forums a fellow named Blainetog remade it with various weapons options, the mindblade becoming an omni-option weapon. A even bigger better version can be found on the Pathfinder SRD. @@Rupert3434
Weave the Disc plus Haste! There's a doubling force created in speed and one can shrink the disc by a quarter. You could clear a hectare of wheat in a flash! Or behead four Orcs. Your choice. Well, not often a choice. Right? (Something in Orc auras make the disc stop at the fifth one's neck on the skin. Don't bother with hitting the hips. You might get two or one and a half. But I can "de-feet" eight! I'm working on it as I battle Eastward, to Dwarven lands. A place, or rather "Mountain GreatHearth" called Plinth! I hear it's the gateway between the Hill Dwarves and the Mountain Dwarves. My guides say that Plinth is quite accommodating to us "talls". Says they forge magic rings for pay. Hoping that is true and worth wading through the remnants of war. I've also heard that some of the natives RIDE castrated Orcs on the High Roads there. But that's for another time.) Hroubair Sunbreather, Walking High Mage, Regenerist and Phallioalchemist.
Serious question as someone who has never played D&D. Does people during the normal playing this do this? Or is it assumed between getting together your person would do this? I mean is this lore or practical?
5e does away with all of this great info, whereas 1st and 2nd edition codified much of this through requiring a training period, based on the level obtained, every other level. My young player’s want to just get the new spells and abilities and move on. I blame video game logic.
Or the busy lives we have these days where we just want to get on with the meat of what we're doing. An hour or two once a week or month doesn't leave much time to begin with. But you can still have this in your game sessions. That's the beauty of D&D.
If they were alone and had that hard of time to grow with their talents, then I shudder to think how those with Spellfire and such learn how to use their powers.
The UA version is fun, interesting, and really hasn't "out shown" anything in my experience. Everyone got scared off by people who don't actually play the game theory crafting exploits and then DMs being unwilling to run them.
@@adamjones9180 UA version of "picnic" that I read a year ago have two strong options (those that change size) and all the rest much weaker than other spellcasters...🤔
@@whydidiwatchthis5174 They played more similarly to a warlock/sorcerer with all spells converted to sorcery points. They could fill a lot of roles pretty well but none were "optimal." But compared to previous editions (I am thinking 3.5 where you could have a character that was functionally useless by level 6) it's all pretty balanced. If you are looking for something new toor thematically different, give one a whirl. I played a Mystic:Order of the Soul Knife in a Dark Sun themed game, had a blast, and the DM didn't hate me :-)
This is some nice flavor to spellcasting... but now I'm REALLY curious about how those who don't have the Gift can interact with magic. How about those Giftless people whose lifelong dream is to become wizards (or psionics) and cast spells, and are ready to devote themselves entirely to this purpose?
@@thekaxmax According to Ed, the Gift is also necessary to be a proper Cleric or a Warlock. Giftless people who serve an otherwordly entity can only be used as dumb conduits by their patron to cast spells, but can't cast spells on their own (even if their patron gives them the necessary power).
They can always get their hands on items that can be used by non-casters to cast spells. If they can't do that, I guess they are stuck with their dream, unless they somewhat get the Gift. Willpower can only get you to a point.
@@ValeTheOwl which is exactly how clerics do it. They are casting spells, not having them cast through them. Unless Ed specifies otherwise, and even then it only counts for the settings that he specifies that for. Nothing wrong, too, with "I have a touch of the Gift, not enough to be a real mage--but I can warlock!"
@@thekaxmax Well, even then the 99% of the population of the Realms does not even have enough of a Gift to be a Warlock or a Cleric, so I'm curious about how they fare when they interact with magic.
So you need magical midichlorians to become a mage? Regardless of how high your mental stats are? Why, when we already have sorcerers who are the ones that inherit their magic from their bloodlines?
Never understood D$D obsession against half Elfs and multiply Class an elf and Half Elfs live 3 to 4 times longer then humans. They could easily have different classes and multi classes. when they could be a fighter for 100 years makes since they would pick up a very wide range of skills or want to try something different, ?
It can take months for a soul to regenerate it's "mana", so practice should be done to the point where you can do it on demand after months of not practicing.
way MORE powerful? Ed lol the only thing missing from 5e characters is a god to step down and grant them immortality which they almost have as it is. You were around when D&D was "normal" and realistic, have you forgotten sir? Yes I still love you man but I watch you guys with these type videos and wonder, have these people forgotten where they came from?
I just dislike the idea that it's hated. Like yeah i get it magic users as a whole are assholes, but it feels weird one dude using magic from 'god' is good, but a dude who just as a natural talent for magic is seen as devils.
@@honestkyn718 Clerics are allowed because thier magic is mostly healing people, and that god people like has them on a leash. They'll trust the incarnation of the concept of life to only let thier magic be used for life, and the person bound by a god to use it for good. But some random guy who decided they wanted to break reality for the hell of it and could destroy your entire town on a drunken whim? Absolutely not. And of course warlocks are often making power deals with creatures you know want you dead. And most sorcerers' origins are them accidentally causing massive damage to those around them. It's really just that clerics are tolerated because god said you should, they're theoretically just you but sworn to a lifetime of devotion to good. Everyone else is distrusted as a threat.
Ed said 'a lot of people' have negative responses to arcane spellcasters, but I think it would be a mistake to think that we're talking about a default attitude you can expect from most people in the Realms. Most people have probably at least heard tell that arcane magic is the embodiment of Mystra, so it's technically 'divine' too in a sense. And from what I understand it's ubiquitous enough in the realms that chances are every small village probably has at least 1 person who can cast a cantrip, and every decent-sized town has at least 1 leveled spellcaster. But especially if we imagine that only about a third of all spellcasters are arcane (or less), it's still rare enough that, especially away from the big cities, its nature is still prone to being misunderstood. For the average person, the wizard that lives just outside of town and mostly keeps to themselves is a curiosity at best. And yes, wizards, even goodly ones, tend to be fabulously rich since magic is basically a license to print money. So whatever resentment people might have for the rich, especially those who are perceived as having done nothing to earn it, are likely to get some ire toward them just for that. But it's also 'magic' that tends the wounded, cures the sick, and helps grow the crops in these peoples' daily lives in many cases, and many people won't necessarily be learned enough to immediately tell the difference between that kind of 'magic' and the arcane kind. So most people don't have a reason to automatically 'hate' an arcane caster. In any case, I think the best way to play it is to have the average person be initially cautious, and not necessarily resentful, toward arcane users. As mentioned, someone who isn't versed in magic won't necessarily know the difference between different sources of magic right away, so they are more likely to try to assess what someone is doing with the magic more so than its origins first. Meanwhile, someone who is versed enough to tell Arcane magic from the rest knows that it could be used for good or evil just as assuredly as 'divine' magic could be that which belongs to good gods or evil ones, so they will try to assess what the person is capable of first. It's only if you want to portray some folk as especially sheltered, close-minded, etc., that you'd probably make hatred and rejection their default response.
Back this video's sponsor, Tomb of Gyzaengaxx for access to an adventure I'm collaborating on!: www.kickstarter.com/projects/alphiniusgoo/the-tomb-of-gyzaengaxx-adventure-and-campaign-setting?ref=19b323
I hope this helps you develop a more complete narrative around your favorite spellcasting characters!
I remember Mr. Greenwood the old NPC class of "hedge wizard" were as they had access to a cross class of spells and a chance for other skills or crafting abilities. Yet they were quite under powered compared to the PC classes. I always wondered what could have been if that was taken more seriously or even used more.
As a kid in the seventies and eighties, my idea of magical mentoring was indelibly colored by the Star Wars trilogy. What if Luke had never met Yoda? He would have had his force sense awakened by Obi Wan, but could only rely on guidance in moments of extreme need. He would probably have been an old man before he was able to do the things he did in Return of the Jedi.
After dropping out in the 1990s I am getting back into D&D now (thank the GODS it is 5e now, and not Pathfinder or 4th Ed.!!!) and mainly live-play in tabletops.
LOVE the Sorcerer Class, this is the kind of spell-caster I always wanted to play; liberated from the damned books! And yes, simpler, I can remember every aspect off-hand.
However .... the class just does not seem to get any respect, especially among the old-timers and the rules-lawyers (NOT the same people, necessarily ) and I can't figure out why that is the case.
The penalties are there for not being a by-the-book mage, so what's the beef?
This is authentic magical advice, masquerading as fictional magical advice. You don’t fool me, silver-maned mage man.
totally. He thought he had us tricked
Elminster is a crafty one.
Let the master wizard speak...
"I like your funny words, Magic man"
@@Rensune DID YOU SEE THE POOL!?!?
First time visiting the legendary Ed Greenwood's channel. I'm not entirely convinced he isn't Elminster in disguise...
Right?
He just is
He is.
It's not that subtle of a disguise
My family could never afford a tutor, so this video is a real lifesaver.
This really makes me want to see an adventure where "level 0" characters learn to cast the spells they are assumed to have at level 1 (maybe with skill checks for each of the spell componenets). Also (especially for low-level wizards), I believe the most important schools of magic are illusion, conjuration, and transmutation (since they let you leverage your creativity to make them even more powerful).
One of my favorite D&D stories involves two villagers of lizardfolks and humans that were attacking each other, and both asked the party to eliminate the threat. They combined Silent Image and Thaumaturgy to crete a image of Pelor (who the humans worshipped) that told the humans to leave the village and go work in the party's fortress, thus solving two problems at once.
Divination. Information is power... also all those potential extra spell slots from a specialist caster lol.
Mold Earth is a cantrip that is a MUST on my spell list. I have used it to do SO MANY fun and crazy things
Our new world setting "Khor The World of Many Portals" deals with psionics in an OSR way that will allow DMs to handle it in a generic way if they want to use it!
Thanks Ed for this video!!
AD&D Darksun Psionics were my bag.
Everyone complained about how clunky it was but it worked and it was so fun. Psionics is a core part of AD&D as far as I’m concerned
There isn't D&D without Psionics, that's why i feel 5e is incomplete till this day @@russellharrell2747
It was the first tsr oc game I ever played then the pools of radiance box set. Fun times
Which were your favorite powers?
Are*
I ABSOLUTELY LOVE everything that Ed Greenwood does!
ok this sounds like when El was training Narm
I thought the same thing!! Great point!
Ed's Video are a MUST-WATCH for all D&D fans out there! Every single Video is great
i play a loooot of wizards and read into dnd lore a lot
its reached the point that i know how to endlessly trade gem dust with elementals, become a sentient ring of mind shielding that takes over the bodies of people who get too close, create new fiends, and make illusions real...ish as well as so much more. i know because ive done all of these things without homebrew.
there are so many great lore bits in the forgotten realms that can impact the way you play the game and use your abilities in a meaningful way.
as the necromancer marrencius cret would put it:
"practice makes perfect but without research your perceptions of perfection are to others trivial..."
sadly despite my efforts 5th editions heavy hand has prevented all this practice from making cret better at necromancing but hey, at least he figured out a new method of immortality and that was the thing that counted to him even if its less fun to me...
I find 5E to be far too restrictive on all the things that make D&D fun and interesting, especially when it comes to all the cool things you describe. Do you have a favored edition?
@Sanguivore I use Dungeon Fantasy, does D&D style better than D&D does.
@@thekaxmax Dungeon Fantasy by Steve Jackson? I’m a huge fan of The Fantasy Trip & Melee/Wizard. I should check that one out!
What are some significant ways it differs from TFT?
@@SanguivoreMood. 5E took away so many cool class options when it set a hard level cap, reduced feats, and ended prestige classes. It just feels like you can't be who you want to be anymore. It's become like a video game. Your options are limited to what they want you to have and you can't do things yet don't intend you to do. Really bland.
@@chrismanuel9768 I agree 100%. I’m playing in a 5E campaign right now, and after we passed 3rd-Level, I feel like I have no meaningful choices to progress my character and I can’t come close to building a character I’d envision with such granular detail like I could in 3E.
I was known for abuse of tensor's floating disk at my table. and it makes me quite happy that the man himself, Ed Greenwood used an example of one of my tricks with it. I would pile it with boulders and block areas with it and occasionally float it over people and release knives or rocks onto them. sadly it's not controllable in this edition :(
piff, talk to DM and get clearance to use it creatively. Just means your PC knows how to modify it
@@RavenCoyote I would run it as it is described in the PHB, but if a player expressed a desire for such trickery, I would allow them to have their character train to be able to do it.
With enough training I would give them the option to use an action to make the disc insubstantial, or back to substantial. As it is magical force forming the disc, I think all the training does is alter the spell so that instead of affecting both the Prime Material Plane and the Border Ethereal, it would switch between them; when it is substantial on one, it would be insubstantial on the other. This, in effect, doesn't really change the spell, but merely how it is expressed.
Just a thought.
This man doesn't need any advertisement but he probably wouldn't frown too much on me saying this if you want a good representation of Mages and their workings particularly in their training I highly recommend his Al Minster books making of a mage and Last Temptation Of
I just started reading them this month, and the way magic works is one of my favorite parts
@@potterfanz6780 yeah there something right?
Several years ago, I created a PC who was a Wild Magic sorcerer. His backstory includes these elements:
1. He comes from a land where most magic is outlawed. If the wielder is not a member of the dominant church for the lands, just being able to cast spells is a death sentence. People don't even have to cast spells to run afoul of the law. They just have to have the ability. (This has created a black market for magical items and a lot of people caught are then enslaved and sold to interests in other nations. The Church especially is dominant in these dealings, as they are not on the more moral of paths.) The use of magic is so heavily vilified that he believes anyone using it is in league with demons and devils.
2. He got into a fight and bested the local prince because the prince wanted to do "ungentlemanly things" to the PC's love interest. And, no, his love interest was not willing to have those things done to her. Which led to:
3. His family selling him into slavery. His parents used the attack as an excuse, telling him this is the only way to save his life. But, they really did it to make a few coin.
4. He was sold to a minor noble, who, as it would turn out, does practice magic in secret. Turns out, most noble houses have at least one family member who studies the arcane in efforts to boost themselves and their houses in the kingdom's rankings.
5. He was exposed to magical energies through an accident in his master's lab. The noble was summoning something powerful, maybe something fae and ordering his slave to help with the ritual. Something happened to breech the protective circle, and energy blasted out towards his direction. It's not known what happened, but he seemed fine after the ordeal.
6. Things would happen around the boy without the boy casting spells or thinking of it. He was relatively ignorant of the happenings, but his master took notice. Fearing what would happen at the behest of rival houses, the noble decided to kill the slave, least he reveals to the world (and break the unspoken covenant about magic use amongst the nobility) his master's doings In the attack, the boy's powers kicked up Deus Ex Machina style to whisk him away somewhere remote and safe (all the while carrying off an artifact of his master's.)
So my PC is this scared, lost slave who thinks all he needs to do is reunite with his master and all will be forgiven. He's fearful and detests his power, believing the lies his kingdom spreads about magic. And if he doesn't use his magic on a regular basis... "random things" happen. And yet, several groups are looking/hunting him. Outside of his master, none know the full truth, but there are groups who suspect things. And he's a runaway slave with a bounty on his head.
There is one spell that has always captured my fascination. The spell that Larloch uses to enslave liches and other beeings of great power. Never have i've seen it anywhere but it's obvious it exists. Probably some secret netherese magic.
original to Larloch, might be 10th level or higher
It's just basically a really powerful geas and dominate monster spell in one. Larloch is one of the most powerful beings in existence so his save DCs would be stupid.
One question though.
How does a Wizard spontaneous demonstrate the Gift? That sounds like something that would happen to a Sorcerer (or Psionicist with Psionic gifts) than a Wizard since Wizards use magic from studying books written for anyone with the Intelligence and training to use magic?
I would assume that if Sorcerer spontaneously bursts with power, then a future Wizard studies a lot, practices lots of spells without success - but one day a spell does succeed, does manifest fully. That is akin to physical training: you train, you fail, but one day you cross the border of success while exercising.
I think that Read Magic would be how that manifestation would occur. I don't know about the newer additions, but back in 3.5 all Wizards are capable of preparing Read Magic. I would imagine that a young, undiscovered wizard stumbling on a tome and being taken in and studying it or spontaneously realizing they understand it
Perception of the weave is the main way. Think of it like a 6th sense or enhanced perception. Wizard spell craft is just understanding how to mold the weave as you see fit. Sorcerers don't necessarily perceive the weave as wizards due and they have an inherent ability to shape the weave that doesn't require true understanding.
Thanks for that ED and company!!!
theres a reason theres a certain saying in Shadowrun - Geek the Mage - they know how dangerous magic is
This was such a wonderful episode, the type of strange flexible magics that first drew me in to these worlds
This video has me picking up my guitar and playing scales again
This may be a noob DM move, but...
I let spellcasters imbue items with a spell by using a spell slot one level higher than the spell itself. I hope to one day see a wizard cheese the final boss by dumping a bag of holding full of small rings imbued with fireball onto his head. And of course, the spell weaving trait would be fully applicable.
Sure I'll watch a video from a literal wizard about how to do spells or psionics
This is a very, very good video. Ed Tells YOUR story in what i this is, or is sometimes, the 2nd person, and FORCES you to write a mini novel in your head about a new caster.
in like 9 minutes.
YOOO! I love Gooey Cube, I lurk in their streams all the time! Alphinius is so fun, and I saw Luke was involved, but it's really exciting that you're attached to this now too! It sounds like an unbeatable trinity to me. I particularly love Mr. Goo's ethics, a silly-sounding statement but very serious, he really cares about his employee's wellbeing and it shows. I really hope you get along!
Jokes aside, you actually should practice breathing. Wim Hoff Breathing specifically. Look it up, you'll be glad you tried it.
Wtf, i was recently searching about spell crafting, and currently making some sort of a system for spell crafting, and then this video just... pops? Thx algortihm god.
Elminister himself😮
Bump! Has Ed ever seen "Delicious in Dungeon" on Netflix?
Such wonderful advice I wished that I'd learned sooner. My sister was taken whilst i was off adventuring. I'd have gone after her if I hadn't takenan arrow to the knee 😢
Awesome advice as always Mr. Greenwood, thank you for the insight into the weave 🤙
I feel like between all the classes in dnd, bard and wizard share the closest relationship, and bard really should have access to a spellbook feature
Ok I’m gonna ask my DM if there’s any scrolls of Tenser’s Floating Disc lying around next time. Last session my character had to cast Shield twice in order to narrowly escape getting crushed alongside his new mount (a ritually embiggened chicken) by boulders flung by an ornery golem that was awakened from some goblin explosives discovered by “flying” overhead with a little magical assistance. I felt like the main character that session. Being mounted was really fun, I wasn’t about to squander such a gift from the DM. Once I felt confident I was out of reach of the golem I loaded a chest that I’m 100% sure has a magic flute in it onto the bird’s back as a prize to open at my leisure once the damn golem is dealt with next session.
I enjoy all of Ed Greenwood videos
I've been wondering about Illusion Magic. When creating an illusionary construct say a bridge to cross a pit of death. Would you still be able to walk/run across it if you believed it to be real or would you fall right through it as it's just a trick of the mind?
You fall, depending on the spell used--there are illuaion spells that can make pseudo-real items. The acceptance of its reality only affects how surprised you are when you fall.
It sounds like my character in gamma world. He has two main abilities, a sonic scream attack, and a solar flare/beam attack. It's a solar discharge. I have found a way to turn that into an explosive blast that can turn people into cinder, I have managed to turn it into basically a Kamehameha wave, I have found a way to project a flashbang grenade, and I have learned how to get my character all the way up above the clouds to soak up the sunlight to power up an extremely powerful explosion so that I could dive bomb into the ground and just basically be a nuclear bomb. Two abilities worked to the extreme. My character eventually just starts getting to the point of where every time he unleashes this attack it looks like Ramiels attack from Evangelion.
NGL if I had telekinesis I know exactly what my two main means of practice would be, at least to start: playing with legos (yes, build random lego stuff with TK), and digging random ditches as fast as possible. This would train fine tuned control (including not overdoing it cause legos aren't unbreakable) and sheer raw power both.
Play around with your abilities and continue to experiment and be careful pretty good advice
Ed has mastered the arcane arts irl
Thank you Mr. Greenwood.
I thought you did an excellent job of writing this in Spellfire, when you had Elimnster teaching Narm Tamaraith the Flaming Sphere spell while using it to burn the stalks in a harvested field to help out the farmer who owned the field.
Good video, definitely made me think about some things that I might attempt later.
The side camera with really low frame rate was quite distracting though, made Ed Greenwood look like he was a stop motion doll.
I would consider something else, if you're gonna put special effects on a side camera for variation.
I honestly liked it. Reminds me of some of the 90s documentaries I used to watch.
I love psionics and it's lack of good game options is what keeps me from really liking 5th edition. Ironically Pathfinder has a third party ruleset that closed the loopholes that made it broken in the 3.5 edition. Love your stuff Ed.
How is that called as I do wanna check it out
PF2E has a psychic class
We NEED a psionic class so bad.
Ed! Save us!! Release a Psionic class for 5e!! I love you so much, thanks for everything!!
1st edition psionics works without a class requirement. It can be used in every edition.
Soulknives are underrated and I hate what 5E did with them.
Soulknives were a meme even in 3.5e.
Well, the original one. Then on the Wizards forums a fellow named Blainetog remade it with various weapons options, the mindblade becoming an omni-option weapon. A even bigger better version can be found on the Pathfinder SRD. @@Rupert3434
Weave the Disc plus Haste! There's a doubling force created in speed and one can shrink the disc by a quarter. You could clear a hectare of wheat in a flash! Or behead four Orcs. Your choice. Well, not often a choice. Right? (Something in Orc auras make the disc stop at the fifth one's neck on the skin. Don't bother with hitting the hips. You might get two or one and a half. But I can "de-feet" eight! I'm working on it as I battle Eastward, to Dwarven lands. A place, or rather "Mountain GreatHearth" called Plinth! I hear it's the gateway between the Hill Dwarves and the Mountain Dwarves. My guides say that Plinth is quite accommodating to us "talls". Says they forge magic rings for pay. Hoping that is true and worth wading through the remnants of war. I've also heard that some of the natives RIDE castrated Orcs on the High Roads there. But that's for another time.) Hroubair Sunbreather, Walking High Mage, Regenerist and Phallioalchemist.
If anyone is a wizard, I swear it is this man.
Thanks
Absolutely brilliant!
Serious question as someone who has never played D&D. Does people during the normal playing this do this? Or is it assumed between getting together your person would do this? I mean is this lore or practical?
Sadly, my local wizard said I lacked the gift.
the breastmilk post has gone viral on reddit and im sorry but ill never see you the same way xD
Gods bless the algorithm that bring me to actual magic advice... From Elminster himself
5e does away with all of this great info, whereas 1st and 2nd edition codified much of this through requiring a training period, based on the level obtained, every other level. My young player’s want to just get the new spells and abilities and move on. I blame video game logic.
Or the busy lives we have these days where we just want to get on with the meat of what we're doing. An hour or two once a week or month doesn't leave much time to begin with.
But you can still have this in your game sessions. That's the beauty of D&D.
great vid guys! 💪
If they were alone and had that hard of time to grow with their talents, then I shudder to think how those with Spellfire and such learn how to use their powers.
Wait, I thought being a wizard REQUIRED having learned it from a teacher, or at the very least a very in depth library.
I practice my magic by throwing knifes, it's not safe, and takes deadly focus.
By the way your an adopted uncle now.
So did you want that combo to be large ooooor.... -the guy at Wendy's
Is that Elminster O.O
What is star Magic?
So… in essence, get a magic sugar daddy or mommy to bank fuel your spells?
5e gave up too easily on picnics as a playable class
I enjoy 5e a lot. But I’ve always claimed that Wotc seems to stop right before a player can really have fun with something.
Ranger: Path of the Picnic
The UA version is fun, interesting, and really hasn't "out shown" anything in my experience. Everyone got scared off by people who don't actually play the game theory crafting exploits and then DMs being unwilling to run them.
@@adamjones9180 UA version of "picnic" that I read a year ago have two strong options (those that change size) and all the rest much weaker than other spellcasters...🤔
@@whydidiwatchthis5174 They played more similarly to a warlock/sorcerer with all spells converted to sorcery points. They could fill a lot of roles pretty well but none were "optimal." But compared to previous editions (I am thinking 3.5 where you could have a character that was functionally useless by level 6) it's all pretty balanced. If you are looking for something new toor thematically different, give one a whirl. I played a Mystic:Order of the Soul Knife in a Dark Sun themed game, had a blast, and the DM didn't hate me :-)
This is some nice flavor to spellcasting... but now I'm REALLY curious about how those who don't have the Gift can interact with magic.
How about those Giftless people whose lifelong dream is to become wizards (or psionics) and cast spells, and are ready to devote themselves entirely to this purpose?
Warlocks and magic-god clerics and bards.
@@thekaxmax According to Ed, the Gift is also necessary to be a proper Cleric or a Warlock. Giftless people who serve an otherwordly entity can only be used as dumb conduits by their patron to cast spells, but can't cast spells on their own (even if their patron gives them the necessary power).
They can always get their hands on items that can be used by non-casters to cast spells. If they can't do that, I guess they are stuck with their dream, unless they somewhat get the Gift. Willpower can only get you to a point.
@@ValeTheOwl which is exactly how clerics do it. They are casting spells, not having them cast through them. Unless Ed specifies otherwise, and even then it only counts for the settings that he specifies that for.
Nothing wrong, too, with "I have a touch of the Gift, not enough to be a real mage--but I can warlock!"
@@thekaxmax Well, even then the 99% of the population of the Realms does not even have enough of a Gift to be a Warlock or a Cleric, so I'm curious about how they fare when they interact with magic.
a comment for the numbers brother
❤
I love that this stuff has nothing to do with hasbro
Eat your good berry
4:43 @edgreenwoodoffical basically describing what every graduate student in one of the Physical Sciences is told Day One about their Lab Notebook.
I hear this is the hedge-wizard that Elminster gets his pipeleaf from.
So you need magical midichlorians to become a mage? Regardless of how high your mental stats are? Why, when we already have sorcerers who are the ones that inherit their magic from their bloodlines?
Never understood D$D obsession against half Elfs and multiply Class an elf and Half Elfs live 3 to 4 times longer then humans. They could easily have different classes and multi classes. when they could be a fighter for 100 years makes since they would pick up a very wide range of skills or want to try something different, ?
It can take months for a soul to regenerate it's "mana", so practice should be done to the point where you can do it on demand after months of not practicing.
way MORE powerful? Ed lol the only thing missing from 5e characters is a god to step down and grant them immortality which they almost have as it is. You were around when D&D was "normal" and realistic, have you forgotten sir? Yes I still love you man but I watch you guys with these type videos and wonder, have these people forgotten where they came from?
I tacitly ignore the crap out of the background hatred for arcane spellcasters tbh.
Everyone has their play style but your hand waving away a decent part of the setting doing that.
I just dislike the idea that it's hated.
Like yeah i get it magic users as a whole are assholes, but it feels weird one dude using magic from 'god' is good, but a dude who just as a natural talent for magic is seen as devils.
@@honestkyn718 Clerics are allowed because thier magic is mostly healing people, and that god people like has them on a leash. They'll trust the incarnation of the concept of life to only let thier magic be used for life, and the person bound by a god to use it for good. But some random guy who decided they wanted to break reality for the hell of it and could destroy your entire town on a drunken whim? Absolutely not. And of course warlocks are often making power deals with creatures you know want you dead. And most sorcerers' origins are them accidentally causing massive damage to those around them. It's really just that clerics are tolerated because god said you should, they're theoretically just you but sworn to a lifetime of devotion to good. Everyone else is distrusted as a threat.
It depends on where in the Realms you are. If you're in Amn, it's kind of key to the setting. If you're in Waterdeep, not so much.
Ed said 'a lot of people' have negative responses to arcane spellcasters, but I think it would be a mistake to think that we're talking about a default attitude you can expect from most people in the Realms.
Most people have probably at least heard tell that arcane magic is the embodiment of Mystra, so it's technically 'divine' too in a sense.
And from what I understand it's ubiquitous enough in the realms that chances are every small village probably has at least 1 person who can cast a cantrip, and every decent-sized town has at least 1 leveled spellcaster.
But especially if we imagine that only about a third of all spellcasters are arcane (or less), it's still rare enough that, especially away from the big cities, its nature is still prone to being misunderstood. For the average person, the wizard that lives just outside of town and mostly keeps to themselves is a curiosity at best.
And yes, wizards, even goodly ones, tend to be fabulously rich since magic is basically a license to print money. So whatever resentment people might have for the rich, especially those who are perceived as having done nothing to earn it, are likely to get some ire toward them just for that.
But it's also 'magic' that tends the wounded, cures the sick, and helps grow the crops in these peoples' daily lives in many cases, and many people won't necessarily be learned enough to immediately tell the difference between that kind of 'magic' and the arcane kind. So most people don't have a reason to automatically 'hate' an arcane caster.
In any case, I think the best way to play it is to have the average person be initially cautious, and not necessarily resentful, toward arcane users.
As mentioned, someone who isn't versed in magic won't necessarily know the difference between different sources of magic right away, so they are more likely to try to assess what someone is doing with the magic more so than its origins first.
Meanwhile, someone who is versed enough to tell Arcane magic from the rest knows that it could be used for good or evil just as assuredly as 'divine' magic could be that which belongs to good gods or evil ones, so they will try to assess what the person is capable of first.
It's only if you want to portray some folk as especially sheltered, close-minded, etc., that you'd probably make hatred and rejection their default response.
M
First
Nah Ed was first, you're second.
KanGaxx
can we chill on the ads and engagement begging
3 minutes out of a 13 minute video is beyond excessive