Hello everybody Jorphdan here the PH is silent.
Let’s talk about magic.
I made a video on the Weave a while back which kind of just turned into talking about the
Netherese.
So let’s make a focused video on magic in Dungeons & Dragons.
Magic comes in two flavors, well three if you count Psionics.
But Arcane magic commonly referred to as the Art in the Forgotten Realms, and divine magic
also known as the Power.
The birth of magic or rather Arcane magic coincides with the birth of Mystral, the goddess
of magic.
She was formed during a conflict with Selune and Shar.
When Mystral came into being so did the Weave.
Raw magic existed throughout Toril, but in it’s raw form it was too dangerous for mortals
to use.
The Weave that was created was like a fabric with intricate designs that aided spellcasters.
They could pull threads and reweave them to create desired effects or even magic items.
Raw magic exists everywhere, and in everything.
Even in some dead magic zones raw magic is still pervasive.
However mortals cannot directly use or shape raw magic, and thus access it through the
Weave.
Now this is from “Magic in Faerun” and summaries that thought nicely.
“The Weave acts as both a barrier and a gate between raw magic and the world.
With the Weave in place, mortals can access magic and are protected from the harmful effects
of contacting raw magic while still able to tap its refined energy.”
The Weave is like a great base fabric upon which the substance of the world is embroidered,
a web upon which mortals walk like spiders, a great ocean upon which all objects float.
The Weave can be damaged and in those places we get Wild Magic Zones or Dead Magic Zones.
In Wild Magic Zones spells could backfire upon the caster.
Increase or decrease in power or target the wrong location.
Dead Magic Zones are the absence of magic.
No spells can be cast in them, and magic effects or items cease to function.
They’re suppressed while within the zone.
They are found where the Weave has been torn, a hole seemingly left in it.
Divine magic is also affected by dead Magic Zones, despite its power coming directly from
a deity.
Divine magic spells are planted within the minds of the faithful directly from their
deity.
Clerics, druids, paladins, and rangers all practice divine magic.
Although druids and rangers might not worship a specific deity they would then get their
magic from nature itself.
Any magic that doesn’t originate from a deity, or in some instances nature, is considered
Arcane magic.
Wizards, Warlocks, Sorcerers, and Bards practice arcane magic.
You can tackle this power in different ways.
Wizards do it through intense study and understanding.
Warlocks trade for mastery over the arcane arts.
Sorcerers seem to have an innate mastery of the Weave.
And bards...
Well bards are weird in that they kind of have a mixture of both arcane and divine magic,
but are considered arcane spellcasters.
Their mastery of music affects the weave and allows them to focus and cast spells.
Magic is divided up into 8 schools.
Abjuration, Conjuration, Divination, Enchantment, Evocation, Illusion, Necromancy, and Transmutation.
Abjuration are spells of a protective nature.
Spells like Shield, Resistance,and Mage Armor make up Abjuration spells.
Conjuration is the magic of summoning something from nothing.
Call Lightning, Cloud of Daggers, Conjure Animals and Find Familiar are all conjuration
magic.
Divination is magic that peeks into the future or finds hidden things.
Reading a creatures thoughts, or scrying on the enemy, these would be associated with
divination magic.
Enchantment alters yourself and others, but not in a physical sense.
You might charm someone with enchantment magic, or hold them with a spell, you might put them
to sleep or create a Zone of Truth where no lies can be uttered.
Evocation is next and it’s a powerhouse.
Magic that alters its surroundings with force usually doing damage.
Spells like Fireball, or Burning hands are considered evocation magic.
Magic Missile and Melf’s Acid Arrow, you get the idea.
Illusion is trickery magic.
Convincing someone of a lie, usually visually but auditory as well.
Disguise Self, Illusory Script, invisibility and Hallucinatory Terrain are all Illusion
spells.
Necromancy is the magic of death and thus undeath.
Animating the dead, bestowing curses, but also less evil-ish spells such as Raising
the Dead back to life.
Necromancy isn’t inherently evil despite most necromancers being on the shady side
of magic.
Finally Transmutation which is the act of changing one thing into another.
Polymorph is a great example of transmutation magic, but also spells like Darkvision, Heat
Metal, and Alter Self (such as giving yourself gills for breathing underwater).
There are also different types of magic.
There is a type of magic that utilizes the Shadow Weave which is the Weave that Shar
created.
It’s a dark source of magic.
Most spellcasters of the Shadow Weave use necromancy, illusion, and enchantment spells.
Other schools like evocation and transmutation appeared to be weakened when attempting to
cast them utilizing the Shadow Weave.
Not to be confused with Shadow Magic which was an arcane based magic that channeled power
from the Plane of Shadow.
However practitioners of Shadow Magic found it much easier to interface with the Shadow
Weave which might be why we get confused about the two.
Also there’s Psionics, the power of the mind.
I’ll briefly go into psionics here but in reality it should get it’s own video.
Psionics are fueled by the internal magic of one’s own mind and life-force.
It does not draw power from the Weave but instead from the caster itself.
Psionic power can create spell like effects, and do not require spell components.
But one must have extreme mental discipline in order to use their psionic powers.
Mind Flayers, Aboleths, the gray dwarves, and some drow practice psionics.
And that’s it for today.
We’ll have to see if Wizards of the Coast introduces Psonics or even Shadow Magic into
D&D 5e.
One can hope.
Thanks for watching everyone, please give a thumbs up if you enjoyed this video and
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I release new Lore videos every Wednesday.
Until then Take care.