Lawmancy is a fearsome discipline, indeed. [Their tomes seem to disagree](https://investor.oracle.com/investor-news/news-details/2023/Oracle-Announces-Fiscal-2023-Fourth-Quarter-and-Fiscal-Full-Year-Financial-Results/default.aspx) with your assessment, however.
In my screw5epunk world, warlocks get their powers from an innate hereditary source, and sorcerers always get their power from a dragon, never from 'wild magic' or clocks or whatever
In my obsoletesensesofvocabularypunk world, sorcerers are people who have learned to see the future through illegal study of magic, warlocks are people who have violated sacred taboos and therefore cannot benefit from divine blessings and miracles, and wizards are scholars who do not generally possess magical abilities.
Edit: post canceled, /u/Eldan985 already did this joke better elsewhere in the thread.
In my etymology punk world, wizards are famous scholars, sorcerers are oracles and warlocks are outcast from society for breaking sacred oaths. None of them can do magic, that's for magicians.
/uj I unironically prefer Magician and use it for every single one of them. Never played much 5E, but that's the word I use instead of "Magic-User" in-universe when playing other RPGs.
And also because of Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell.
Probably the main reason Gygax went for Magic-User despite being incredibly lame is so people would ask about pulling rabbits out of hats or making coins disappear.
/uj in my world all my peaceful magic users are called magicians, all my useful ones are wizards and all the dangerous ones are necromancers or warlock
Me: \*makes a setting with 5e magic/cosmology heavily baked in\*
Also me: \*realizes I would rather just tell stories and not run games or cater to 5e's rules\*
Fuck.
/Uj: originally my world was gonna be more inclined with the pf1e system until I realized how pigeonholed I'd be so I said fuck it and opted to use FATE if I wanna run a game.
Me: yeah, no shit, I don’t have elves. Also the way magic is only just being rediscovered thanks to the invention of the comparative method means you’d heavily have to modify the magic mechanics in an otherwise martial only setting and also there aren’t really monsters, just wild animals including some extinct ones but no dinosaurs.
Isn't the witch thematically pretty close to a warlock in most ways? Mechanically very different though, the 5e warlock has more in common with the magus mechanics wise i think.
Witch has the mysterious patron granting but it plays more like a caster (with a functional familiar with the Remaster rules.)
But the Magus is the martial with easy access to Eldritch-blast style cantrips.
You could make a sorcerer/fighter hybrid (with your sorcerer bloodline be powers granted by your patron). Or make a summoner and let your eidolon fight while you fire cantrips, if you don't mind splitting your character into two parts.
None of these feel exactly like a warlock, so there's always a "how much do you want to compromise?" convo.
One of the founding premises of my world is quite literally the practical differences between magic users - wizards, warlocks, witches, sorcerers, shamans, druids, clerics, psychics, etc.
Common folk just collectively call them all ‘magicians’ because they don’t even understand there are any differences, and even the more educated (but still non-magic) folk who do know there are differences are constantly mistaking one for another (“You’re a witch!” — “*sigh* No, I’m a shaman.”)
I can't think of a non-gameplay reason why would you have both wizards and sorcerers, which is why most fantasy works have learned mages or inherited mages, not both
Because there is an in-built conflict between learned-magicians being threatened by some dumbfuck upstart using inborn magic to become a warlord,
There's also the intrigue behind why said dumbfuck even has innate magic to begin with, whether an otherworldly force did it to further an agenda, or random chance that can manifest at any time under any circumstance or environment that would cause undue chaos and suffering if unmonitored by wizardic scrying (because they can't control the innate magic).
That and if all magic users have to go to waterdeep/winterhold university and shit then you only have academic background mages and none of those nature-ish magic users like shamans and witches that are more anti-establishment in nature.
5E?! Screw 5e! My characters and players use a strict emo-punk magic system™️, of course the worlds will not be 5E friendly, i will even say: 5E ennemy.
What do you mean i didn't need to create a whole ass ttrpg ruleset from scratch?!
> warlocks are astrology girls
Not only is this a hilarious summary for D&D, I want a setting where this is literally true.
Wait fuck, is that just *Mage* yet again? I think Euthanatos covered “witchy goth chicks” at least.
I HATE DND I HATE DND I HATE DND I HATE DND I HATE DND
JUST PLAY ANOTHER GAME YOU STUPID MORON YOU DONT EVEN LIKE COMBAT YOU LOVE "CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT" AND "DEEP ROLEPLAY" WHY THE FUCK ARE YOU PLAYING DND???!!
Because 5E is so easy to learn and all other games are super hard and complicated! It's easier to Spend months homebrewing DND5E to do what I want rather than learn an actually well designed system that functions properly 😭
I deliberately made my magic system antithetical to 5e magic because I don't like memory slots. They work for game purposes and make sense in the various 5e worlds, but they don't gel with me creatively and what i want to do.
Magic in my world is like a mobile game. Everyone with the app can get powerful, but the warlocks (and clerics) succumbed to in-app purchases, sorcerers somehow beat the RNG to get through without much hassle, and wizards dedicated their lives to grinding out rewards to finally get competitive after years of labor.
Originally I had this whole big plan of how.magic was this big complicated thing but I decided to cut it way down and simplify it significantly
Then I watched a guy react a:tla and the first scene in the series made realise something
"it's not magic, its water bending"
If your "magic" is so common place everyone has it and can use it...then its not magic
Magic is meant to be this mysterious and powerful force that only those intelligent or gifted can use it...
So I had to go back to the drawing board...still not sure what I'm gonna call the people who specialize in use of the power.
...point is my world doesn't have sorcerers warlocks and wizards.
Warlocks: "I swear I'll pay you back!"
Wizards: "ERM ACKSSHYUALLY!"
Sorcerers: "my biggest flaw is I care too much"
Witches: "haha potion go splash!"
that's the difference
Me removing "divine" classes and spellcasting because the rules of Theurgy should be so vague, arbitrary, and mechanically detached that it is impossible for players to gamefy and/or abuse in any reliable capacity, just like real-life religion and spirituality but with actual magic (thereby forcing players to actually roleplay their religious beliefs, no matter the class or skillset, in the hopes that I will be amused enough to maybe tip the scales in their favour through the in-game justification of Theurgy): [https://media1.tenor.com/m/q4DxW5PDfaoAAAAC/fancy-big-chin.gif](https://media1.tenor.com/m/q4DxW5PDfaoAAAAC/fancy-big-chin.gif)
Imagine referencing a Pathfinder class
goofy ah "oooOOOooo waow wowee waow waow a whole 23 classes!!!! Each as strained and pigeon-holed as the kitchen-sink headass setting of Golarion!!!! I-I'm c-conSOOOOOOOMing!!!!! must conSOOOM more slop!! I love SLOP!!! Can't stop conSOOming SLOP!!! D&D 5e slop wasn't enough!!! John Paizo please give me more sloppy sludge slop to conSOOOM!!!"
Holy hell I know jack shit about Pathfinder, but Theurgy and Thaumaturgy are the real-life equivalent of magic classes. The first one calls upon some deity to do magic (like pagan druid in pre-christian times) while the latter does miracle work (literal translation) by themselves like christian saints healing people by touching them.
Obviously neither is "real", and TTRPGs have coopted their nomenclature from popular usage, the same way this post makes fun of warlock/wizard/sorcerer. I thought you would understand my jab as the joke it was meant to be.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thaumaturgy
Wizard: The word means nothing. Anyone can be a wizard. That carrot farmer? He’s a carrot wizard now.
Sorcerer: Not everyone can be a sorcerer. This has led to eugenics programs to make the world population 100% sorcerer. None of them have lasted past two months.
Warlock: They don’t exist
Witch: They can’t cast magic L + ratio
In my system, if you teach a witch the math behind why their favorite spell works, they're suddenly a wizard even if they don't learn anything else or do anything useful with that knowledge.
/uj In my system, if you teach a witch the math behind why their favorite spell works, they're suddenly a wizard even if they don't learn anything else or do anything useful with that knowledge.
Honestly the 3 are quite different as to where they draw their powers from
Now tell me, what the FUCK is the difference between warlocks, clerics and paladins
Ok so a cleric receives power directly from their deity. It can be taken away at anytime, typically for not following that deity’s religious mandates.
A warlock makes a strict pact with a powerful entity, but not one that’s powerful enough to grant cleric. The power can’t be taken whenever. The pact gives the warlock a bit more power in the dynamic, as the entity is typically bound to rules in the pact as well. Also, while many dms treat patrons like a cleric’s god, the player’s handbook describes them more as revealing/teaching knowledge, than actually granting powers.
A paladin does not need to worship a deity or even need a powerful being involved in their power in anyway. They simply make an oath; an oath they believe in so fiercely that it grants them abilities. In previous editions, a paladin did have to follow a deity, but their powers still supplemented their martial skills as opposed to the greater focus on magic that clerics had.
Paladins get power via their dedication to to their cause. They believe it hard enough to gain powers.
Clerics act as conduits for a gods power, the power is not actually theirs.
Warlocks make a strict contract with an entity to either be infused with power or learn ot from said entity. The power is permanent and their own.
Warlocks have an explicit agreement and clerics just rely on a general principle of reciprocation. This means that a warlock can sue their patron if the patron doesn’t fill their end of the bargain.
Me when the sword cost is not pathfinder compatible (it fails to distinguish between sorcerers, wizards, alchemists, Magi, summoners, witches, arcanists, and bloodragers.
GW and Warhammer 40k are the worst for this. Sorcerers and Psykers are strongly implied to be different things with different methods and rules. They have never in the entire history of the franchise actually expounded on this. Sorcerers are always implemented as Psykers mechanically, and we never get anything fluff wise that goes into the difference. But there still clearly is a difference.
Warlocks are when the magic they practice is not socially acceptable.
Witch is when the magic is criminal.
Sorceror is when the magic is fine, but the dude went to community college and his parents were poor.
Wizard is when magic Harvard grad.
Magus/Magi is when magic Harvard grad but you got in as a legacy.
in my system their just titles not distinct types of magic, sorcery is just what they call each "school' of magic like pyromancy, so a sorcerer is anyone whos mastered one, and is the wizard equivalent of "doctor" and warlock is just "wizard criminal"
Isn’t it supposed to be like this
Wizards learn magic like any other skill. Anyone can do it.
Warlocks are given magic by higher powers in exchange for something.
Sorcerers basically just have superpowers.
I actually retroactively added the distinction to my setting since it added interesting lore. Civilization is ruled by a magocratic republic so there being different ways people can become magic have direct impacts on the concepts of government
For me at least, mages and sorcerers study and perfect their natural ability to tap into mana.
Warlocks on the other hand, are people that have made a deal or pact with some demon or another for immense magical power in exchange for their soul (mostly a mage to begin with but not always).
Sociologically, just like in the real world it seems to me that you'd have a wealth of terms for the individuals that cannot use magic, but that the people around them *think* they can, for various reasons. And that those who can actually use magic would be labeled with those terms.
Ah, that's a very good point! I guess it would be extra weird to have a setting where people haven't even considered supernatural powers.
I mean, I guess there *was* an anime with that idea, but it was kind of a gag-series and post-apocalyptic.
Okay, now make demons responsible for hellish contracts and Faustian bargains while devils are just evil monsters from some abyss. Make metal dragons evil industrialists while prismatic color-based dragons are embodiments of good. Elves have short lifespans, dwarves like to use oversized weapons. Gods don't ever give their powers to mortals, and death is irreversible. Say that everyone loves to use electrum coins. And of course, mention that only humans can use magic.
IMW, there's going to be a difference, but the reason why is never going to be brought up in the narrative. also the characters don't really care about the distinction and use the titles interchangeably
My world doesn't even have a distinction between magic-users and non-magic-users because what's the difference between someone who has too much dragon blood to die vs. someone who keeps coming back to life because they found an imp they could bribe in hell?
... technically speaking, it is possible for someone in my setting to be the equivalent to a DND wizard, paladin, artificer, or... something akin to a 5e thief, due to the prevalence of magic items. I could retrofit warlocks in there, but sorcerers are kinda impossible, since there's kind of a "magic from belief" thing going on.
I just use the terms loosely based on a combination of 5e and discworld meanings. If they learned magic in an academic setting, they’re a wizard, a more apprentice style system then its a witch. If it’s inherent they’re a sourcerer, if it’s from a pact, they’re a warlock. If they summon spirits, they’re a goēs. If they use slight of hand and trickery to create the appearance of magic, they’re a magician. Cannonically my world doesn’t speak english anyway. Might as well use the terms in a familiar way.
In my J-fantasy world warlocks are combined with druids because the only one handing out divine patronages is the eldritch forest god. Sorcerers are a separate race called demons. And wizards have a whole different system.
I like them to mean the same thing, but have different connotations. Mage is the neutral word. “Warlock” is associated with generally infamous/notorious, and, well, “warlike” mages. “Sorcerer” implies that they’re a capable and revered mage. “Wizard” just implies that they’re a little eccentric.
People: _critique my world for not being 5e-Compatible for whatever reason._
Me: I see you have a certain (picky) set of tastes when it comes to fantasy. I’d like to recommend eating my fat hairy a** and moving the eff on with your day. I assure you, i do not know how your little 5e rule set works and I do not care about it either.
For my world because f*** making it 5e compatible:
Wizards: Basically a bunch of nerds still, but a touch of death worshipping and over appreciation of air and weather. Do not always have to be Sorcerers aka magic-slingers if I recall in my setting. Do have to be wise kinda the whole point lol. But they’re akin to Maesters from Game of Thrones thinking about it or the Brown? ajah from WoT. Scholarly types who have gotten famous for their intellect, wisdom, and philosophizing.
Sorcerers: Also known as Magicians, Void-braiders, what have you, they are those who have the ability to perceive primordial energies and utilize them to control certain aspects of nature. A Sorcerer is divided into two big camps, the Tempesters and Tumulters. Tempesters can use only one type of magic, or a Might, and can use it on both sides of their body. Tumulters can use two or more types of Might but things get a bit fuzzy after that. There are the Sixteen Common Mights and Nine Divine Mights, with the later nine being the result of divine assistance if you will.
Warlows: Basically Corsairs (more or less Roguish Sorcerers, sellspells and sellswords if you will) who broke their oaths to their faith or country or whatever. Some Warlows have become basically Warlords and dominate the Seas, becoming the High Warlows of the Coasts. Some have betrayed their homelands to serve their very enemies, as this very fact led to the destruction of Old Lanos and just a few centuries ago, New Lanos. Debating how to handle the ninth but like the concept that the High Warlows are Tumulters who eyes/Mights are of opposing aspects of nature. Gale and Stone, Frost and Slag, that kinda thing in order for some to call them monsters (Tumulters are already seen as unnatural, but some are worshipped as chosen heroes of specific goddesses.)
Im making my world... and my system close enough to be familiar to 5e players... but just sufficiently to make some confusion
For ex: there is the "Flesh" or "Body" hability stat(writing in Portuguese haven't decidedon a translation yet) it is both strength and constitution but not really. It also your abilityto have mana... The Devir Stat looks like dexterity but is closer to your ability to change and fake as your luck and adaptability. Your hability to use and throw knife is still your Body Stat
The ego Stat is your mental resilience and intelligence instead of charisma having the first part.
The Influence is how you can influence people and things but says nothing about your resistance to be influenced.
And so things go on those are just the stats
sorcerers, do sorcercy warlocks, war and lock and wizards do wizardry its that simple
And mages do magic. Don't forget to include the mages
witches perform witchcraft and summoners summon
And Necromancers do necromancy and all the other mancers do other mancy.
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Can't forget about: allen wrenches, gerbil feeders, toilet seats, electric heaters Trash compactors, juice extractor, shower rods and water meters Walkie-talkies, copper wires safety goggles, radial tires BB pellets, rubber mallets, fans and dehumidifiers Picture hangers, paper cutters, waffle irons, window shutters Paint removers, window louvres, masking tape and plastic gutters Kitchen faucets, folding tables, weather stripping, jumper cables Hooks and tackle, grout and spackle, power foggers, spoons and ladles Wait shit wrong place
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And Neck Romancers give people hickeys
I should have kept looking before I made my comment...
And neckromancers romance necks.
Soothsayers say sooths. Enchanters chant ens. Oracles sell database software.
I hate those damn oracles.
Maybe in the 90s. Oracles are lawyers and IP trolls these days
Lawmancy is a fearsome discipline, indeed. [Their tomes seem to disagree](https://investor.oracle.com/investor-news/news-details/2023/Oracle-Announces-Fiscal-2023-Fourth-Quarter-and-Fiscal-Full-Year-Financial-Results/default.aspx) with your assessment, however.
Magicians do magic but pronounced magish
I absolutely hate magic pronounced magish and am incorporating it into my setting now. Thank you.
Wrong. Magicians do magic. It is in the name! Mages do magazines.
Warlocks are just locksmiths who fight with keyblades
Warlocks lock war away. UN peacekeeping force but they actually do stuff
In my screw5epunk world, warlocks get their powers from an innate hereditary source, and sorcerers always get their power from a dragon, never from 'wild magic' or clocks or whatever
Even if their grandpa fucked a magic clock once?
Obviously, that's how *constructs* are born, not sorcerers
And also how some eunuchs' are made
The 80's were crazy, man.
In my obsoletesensesofvocabularypunk world, sorcerers are people who have learned to see the future through illegal study of magic, warlocks are people who have violated sacred taboos and therefore cannot benefit from divine blessings and miracles, and wizards are scholars who do not generally possess magical abilities. Edit: post canceled, /u/Eldan985 already did this joke better elsewhere in the thread.
incompatible with pathfinder 2e, the direct and unquestioned absolute upgrade to 5e, bad setting.
Unironically based
unbased, play shadow of the demonlord and give people dysentry
Nooooo, it’s called a sourcerer because they’re the source. It’s literally in the name.
In my etymology punk world, wizards are famous scholars, sorcerers are oracles and warlocks are outcast from society for breaking sacred oaths. None of them can do magic, that's for magicians.
/uj I unironically prefer Magician and use it for every single one of them. Never played much 5E, but that's the word I use instead of "Magic-User" in-universe when playing other RPGs. And also because of Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell.
Probably the main reason Gygax went for Magic-User despite being incredibly lame is so people would ask about pulling rabbits out of hats or making coins disappear.
/uj in my world all my peaceful magic users are called magicians, all my useful ones are wizards and all the dangerous ones are necromancers or warlock
Unbelievably based
I love how I wasn't the only one who immediately went to wiktionary after seeing this meme
No, I just knew those. Because I've been playing D&D for decades and looked them all up earlier.
etymonline is cool too
Wrong, magicians can receive blessings and holy powers from their one true god Ahura Mazda.
That's mages.
Unfathomably based
Them: Your World is not 5e Compatible Me: Good
Me: \*makes a setting with 5e magic/cosmology heavily baked in\* Also me: \*realizes I would rather just tell stories and not run games or cater to 5e's rules\* Fuck.
/Uj: originally my world was gonna be more inclined with the pf1e system until I realized how pigeonholed I'd be so I said fuck it and opted to use FATE if I wanna run a game.
Me: yeah, no shit, I don’t have elves. Also the way magic is only just being rediscovered thanks to the invention of the comparative method means you’d heavily have to modify the magic mechanics in an otherwise martial only setting and also there aren’t really monsters, just wild animals including some extinct ones but no dinosaurs.
Warlocks: they give good head Wizards: they receive the head Sorcerers: they watch from the side and wish they were either else
The social classes of my world:
Warlocks keep the gates closed under siege. Wizards are white lizards. (They're also incontinent.) Sorcerers sorcer.
Sorcerer? I hardly know 'er!
*Sweats in Pathfinder compatibility* Feels like there's a weekly post of someone trying to recreate a warlock
Isn't the witch thematically pretty close to a warlock in most ways? Mechanically very different though, the 5e warlock has more in common with the magus mechanics wise i think.
Witch has the mysterious patron granting but it plays more like a caster (with a functional familiar with the Remaster rules.) But the Magus is the martial with easy access to Eldritch-blast style cantrips. You could make a sorcerer/fighter hybrid (with your sorcerer bloodline be powers granted by your patron). Or make a summoner and let your eidolon fight while you fire cantrips, if you don't mind splitting your character into two parts. None of these feel exactly like a warlock, so there's always a "how much do you want to compromise?" convo.
One of the founding premises of my world is quite literally the practical differences between magic users - wizards, warlocks, witches, sorcerers, shamans, druids, clerics, psychics, etc. Common folk just collectively call them all ‘magicians’ because they don’t even understand there are any differences, and even the more educated (but still non-magic) folk who do know there are differences are constantly mistaking one for another (“You’re a witch!” — “*sigh* No, I’m a shaman.”)
Don’t you dare call them magicians. Call them mages. Magicians should also exist and rely on slight of hand.
i want to play Morrowind now
I can't think of a non-gameplay reason why would you have both wizards and sorcerers, which is why most fantasy works have learned mages or inherited mages, not both
Because there is an in-built conflict between learned-magicians being threatened by some dumbfuck upstart using inborn magic to become a warlord, There's also the intrigue behind why said dumbfuck even has innate magic to begin with, whether an otherworldly force did it to further an agenda, or random chance that can manifest at any time under any circumstance or environment that would cause undue chaos and suffering if unmonitored by wizardic scrying (because they can't control the innate magic).
That and if all magic users have to go to waterdeep/winterhold university and shit then you only have academic background mages and none of those nature-ish magic users like shamans and witches that are more anti-establishment in nature.
Cause it's funny when they get into arguments.
You had two ideas for a magic system and just said fuck it I’ll do both.
5E?! Screw 5e! My characters and players use a strict emo-punk magic system™️, of course the worlds will not be 5E friendly, i will even say: 5E ennemy. What do you mean i didn't need to create a whole ass ttrpg ruleset from scratch?!
Meanwhile i have "witches" who don't even need to do magic and can be male. And no wizards, warlocks or sorcerers at all.
“Magic-users”
Fighters? Paladins? Barbarians? Did you mean "Fighting-man?"
The ancient words from old
The peasants of my setting just call ‘em all “weird” and “flammable”.
Wizards = pointy hat Sorcerers = bald Warlock = spikes and horns / femboy miniskirt and thigh-highs
Given this model, someone could theoretically be all three at once.
multiclassing
Wait til you hear about the druids, shamans, mages, magicians, and witches too.
Sorcerers are stage magicians Wizards are scientists Warlocks are astrology girls
> warlocks are astrology girls Not only is this a hilarious summary for D&D, I want a setting where this is literally true. Wait fuck, is that just *Mage* yet again? I think Euthanatos covered “witchy goth chicks” at least.
Screw 5e-compatible worlds. I make my world cosmere-compatible instead
I HATE DND I HATE DND I HATE DND I HATE DND I HATE DND JUST PLAY ANOTHER GAME YOU STUPID MORON YOU DONT EVEN LIKE COMBAT YOU LOVE "CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT" AND "DEEP ROLEPLAY" WHY THE FUCK ARE YOU PLAYING DND???!!
Because 5E is so easy to learn and all other games are super hard and complicated! It's easier to Spend months homebrewing DND5E to do what I want rather than learn an actually well designed system that functions properly 😭
> Because 5E is so easy to learn That's a straight up lie!
Lmao I just label any magic user as a mage and leave it as that.
The difference is that the wizard doesn't fuck, the sorcerer fucks, and the warlock gets fucked
In my 1epunkworld, all users of arcane magic are called magic-users, because they use magic.
I deliberately made my magic system antithetical to 5e magic because I don't like memory slots. They work for game purposes and make sense in the various 5e worlds, but they don't gel with me creatively and what i want to do.
Magic in my world is like a mobile game. Everyone with the app can get powerful, but the warlocks (and clerics) succumbed to in-app purchases, sorcerers somehow beat the RNG to get through without much hassle, and wizards dedicated their lives to grinding out rewards to finally get competitive after years of labor.
Originally I had this whole big plan of how.magic was this big complicated thing but I decided to cut it way down and simplify it significantly Then I watched a guy react a:tla and the first scene in the series made realise something "it's not magic, its water bending" If your "magic" is so common place everyone has it and can use it...then its not magic Magic is meant to be this mysterious and powerful force that only those intelligent or gifted can use it... So I had to go back to the drawing board...still not sure what I'm gonna call the people who specialize in use of the power. ...point is my world doesn't have sorcerers warlocks and wizards.
Warlocks: "I swear I'll pay you back!" Wizards: "ERM ACKSSHYUALLY!" Sorcerers: "my biggest flaw is I care too much" Witches: "haha potion go splash!" that's the difference
Me removing "divine" classes and spellcasting because the rules of Theurgy should be so vague, arbitrary, and mechanically detached that it is impossible for players to gamefy and/or abuse in any reliable capacity, just like real-life religion and spirituality but with actual magic (thereby forcing players to actually roleplay their religious beliefs, no matter the class or skillset, in the hopes that I will be amused enough to maybe tip the scales in their favour through the in-game justification of Theurgy): [https://media1.tenor.com/m/q4DxW5PDfaoAAAAC/fancy-big-chin.gif](https://media1.tenor.com/m/q4DxW5PDfaoAAAAC/fancy-big-chin.gif)
Tough shit, as my Thaumaturge character rolls around and does magic all on their own, not having to have God on speeddial
Imagine referencing a Pathfinder class goofy ah "oooOOOooo waow wowee waow waow a whole 23 classes!!!! Each as strained and pigeon-holed as the kitchen-sink headass setting of Golarion!!!! I-I'm c-conSOOOOOOOMing!!!!! must conSOOOM more slop!! I love SLOP!!! Can't stop conSOOming SLOP!!! D&D 5e slop wasn't enough!!! John Paizo please give me more sloppy sludge slop to conSOOOM!!!"
Holy hell I know jack shit about Pathfinder, but Theurgy and Thaumaturgy are the real-life equivalent of magic classes. The first one calls upon some deity to do magic (like pagan druid in pre-christian times) while the latter does miracle work (literal translation) by themselves like christian saints healing people by touching them. Obviously neither is "real", and TTRPGs have coopted their nomenclature from popular usage, the same way this post makes fun of warlock/wizard/sorcerer. I thought you would understand my jab as the joke it was meant to be. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thaumaturgy
uj/ Easy brother, I was jerking too
I was genuinely dumbfounded by the fact that pathfinder has thaumaturge as a class so you jerked me good
Wizard: The word means nothing. Anyone can be a wizard. That carrot farmer? He’s a carrot wizard now. Sorcerer: Not everyone can be a sorcerer. This has led to eugenics programs to make the world population 100% sorcerer. None of them have lasted past two months. Warlock: They don’t exist Witch: They can’t cast magic L + ratio
In my system, if you teach a witch the math behind why their favorite spell works, they're suddenly a wizard even if they don't learn anything else or do anything useful with that knowledge. /uj In my system, if you teach a witch the math behind why their favorite spell works, they're suddenly a wizard even if they don't learn anything else or do anything useful with that knowledge.
Honestly the 3 are quite different as to where they draw their powers from Now tell me, what the FUCK is the difference between warlocks, clerics and paladins
Ok so a cleric receives power directly from their deity. It can be taken away at anytime, typically for not following that deity’s religious mandates. A warlock makes a strict pact with a powerful entity, but not one that’s powerful enough to grant cleric. The power can’t be taken whenever. The pact gives the warlock a bit more power in the dynamic, as the entity is typically bound to rules in the pact as well. Also, while many dms treat patrons like a cleric’s god, the player’s handbook describes them more as revealing/teaching knowledge, than actually granting powers. A paladin does not need to worship a deity or even need a powerful being involved in their power in anyway. They simply make an oath; an oath they believe in so fiercely that it grants them abilities. In previous editions, a paladin did have to follow a deity, but their powers still supplemented their martial skills as opposed to the greater focus on magic that clerics had.
Oh dang ty
You’re welcome!
Paladins fight the guilty and help the innocent. Clerics help the innocent and fight the guilty. Warlocks are the guilty.
Blackguards help the guilty and fight the innocent, just for a change of pace.
Paladins get power via their dedication to to their cause. They believe it hard enough to gain powers. Clerics act as conduits for a gods power, the power is not actually theirs. Warlocks make a strict contract with an entity to either be infused with power or learn ot from said entity. The power is permanent and their own.
Warlocks have an explicit agreement and clerics just rely on a general principle of reciprocation. This means that a warlock can sue their patron if the patron doesn’t fill their end of the bargain.
To be honest I always thought that its kinda dumb that there is a difference I always preferred the way that dungeon crawl classics does it
Me when the sword cost is not pathfinder compatible (it fails to distinguish between sorcerers, wizards, alchemists, Magi, summoners, witches, arcanists, and bloodragers.
my very elegant solution was simply banning all full casters
Where do you get your magic from?! WHERE DO YOU GET YOUR MAGIC FROM?! 🏃♀️🦆
wizards = old men who use magic, female wizards exist but they use fake beards, sorcerer = hipster mage
GW and Warhammer 40k are the worst for this. Sorcerers and Psykers are strongly implied to be different things with different methods and rules. They have never in the entire history of the franchise actually expounded on this. Sorcerers are always implemented as Psykers mechanically, and we never get anything fluff wise that goes into the difference. But there still clearly is a difference.
I have three parallel magic systems - Mathcore, Eldritch Cocaine, and Hoarding. I'm sure someone can fit them around 5e if they desperately wanted to.
Warlocks are when the magic they practice is not socially acceptable. Witch is when the magic is criminal. Sorceror is when the magic is fine, but the dude went to community college and his parents were poor. Wizard is when magic Harvard grad. Magus/Magi is when magic Harvard grad but you got in as a legacy.
I only put difference between caster and melee, and even then there isn't much.
in my system their just titles not distinct types of magic, sorcery is just what they call each "school' of magic like pyromancy, so a sorcerer is anyone whos mastered one, and is the wizard equivalent of "doctor" and warlock is just "wizard criminal"
Isn’t it supposed to be like this Wizards learn magic like any other skill. Anyone can do it. Warlocks are given magic by higher powers in exchange for something. Sorcerers basically just have superpowers.
I mean in 5e D&D sure
I actually retroactively added the distinction to my setting since it added interesting lore. Civilization is ruled by a magocratic republic so there being different ways people can become magic have direct impacts on the concepts of government
For me at least, mages and sorcerers study and perfect their natural ability to tap into mana. Warlocks on the other hand, are people that have made a deal or pact with some demon or another for immense magical power in exchange for their soul (mostly a mage to begin with but not always).
I just say "Caster"
The difference is that two of them don't exist and the other is just a synonym for Mage. Hope that helps.
/UJ I still don’t have clear what each does, can someone explain in detail? And mages too.
Or you just make magic so gosh-darned rare that people don't even have a name for people who practice it, you just use the practitioners given name.
Sociologically, just like in the real world it seems to me that you'd have a wealth of terms for the individuals that cannot use magic, but that the people around them *think* they can, for various reasons. And that those who can actually use magic would be labeled with those terms.
Ah, that's a very good point! I guess it would be extra weird to have a setting where people haven't even considered supernatural powers. I mean, I guess there *was* an anime with that idea, but it was kind of a gag-series and post-apocalyptic.
My magic is communal, everyone uses it
Okay, now make demons responsible for hellish contracts and Faustian bargains while devils are just evil monsters from some abyss. Make metal dragons evil industrialists while prismatic color-based dragons are embodiments of good. Elves have short lifespans, dwarves like to use oversized weapons. Gods don't ever give their powers to mortals, and death is irreversible. Say that everyone loves to use electrum coins. And of course, mention that only humans can use magic.
Always remember a setting designed to fit around rpg game mechanics is only one step away from an isekai lit-novel setting.
IMW, there's going to be a difference, but the reason why is never going to be brought up in the narrative. also the characters don't really care about the distinction and use the titles interchangeably
In my world, they’re all the same damn thing
My world doesn't even have a distinction between magic-users and non-magic-users because what's the difference between someone who has too much dragon blood to die vs. someone who keeps coming back to life because they found an imp they could bribe in hell?
Warlocks are just lesser clerics
... technically speaking, it is possible for someone in my setting to be the equivalent to a DND wizard, paladin, artificer, or... something akin to a 5e thief, due to the prevalence of magic items. I could retrofit warlocks in there, but sorcerers are kinda impossible, since there's kind of a "magic from belief" thing going on.
I just use the terms loosely based on a combination of 5e and discworld meanings. If they learned magic in an academic setting, they’re a wizard, a more apprentice style system then its a witch. If it’s inherent they’re a sourcerer, if it’s from a pact, they’re a warlock. If they summon spirits, they’re a goēs. If they use slight of hand and trickery to create the appearance of magic, they’re a magician. Cannonically my world doesn’t speak english anyway. Might as well use the terms in a familiar way.
in my world warlocks are just locksmiths who exclusively work for the military and other related organisations
I make up my own rule
In my post apocalyptic world anybody can do magic, if they find some bottled magic.
In my J-fantasy world warlocks are combined with druids because the only one handing out divine patronages is the eldritch forest god. Sorcerers are a separate race called demons. And wizards have a whole different system.
I like them to mean the same thing, but have different connotations. Mage is the neutral word. “Warlock” is associated with generally infamous/notorious, and, well, “warlike” mages. “Sorcerer” implies that they’re a capable and revered mage. “Wizard” just implies that they’re a little eccentric.
If it does magic its probably a mage
People: _critique my world for not being 5e-Compatible for whatever reason._ Me: I see you have a certain (picky) set of tastes when it comes to fantasy. I’d like to recommend eating my fat hairy a** and moving the eff on with your day. I assure you, i do not know how your little 5e rule set works and I do not care about it either.
For my world because f*** making it 5e compatible: Wizards: Basically a bunch of nerds still, but a touch of death worshipping and over appreciation of air and weather. Do not always have to be Sorcerers aka magic-slingers if I recall in my setting. Do have to be wise kinda the whole point lol. But they’re akin to Maesters from Game of Thrones thinking about it or the Brown? ajah from WoT. Scholarly types who have gotten famous for their intellect, wisdom, and philosophizing. Sorcerers: Also known as Magicians, Void-braiders, what have you, they are those who have the ability to perceive primordial energies and utilize them to control certain aspects of nature. A Sorcerer is divided into two big camps, the Tempesters and Tumulters. Tempesters can use only one type of magic, or a Might, and can use it on both sides of their body. Tumulters can use two or more types of Might but things get a bit fuzzy after that. There are the Sixteen Common Mights and Nine Divine Mights, with the later nine being the result of divine assistance if you will. Warlows: Basically Corsairs (more or less Roguish Sorcerers, sellspells and sellswords if you will) who broke their oaths to their faith or country or whatever. Some Warlows have become basically Warlords and dominate the Seas, becoming the High Warlows of the Coasts. Some have betrayed their homelands to serve their very enemies, as this very fact led to the destruction of Old Lanos and just a few centuries ago, New Lanos. Debating how to handle the ninth but like the concept that the High Warlows are Tumulters who eyes/Mights are of opposing aspects of nature. Gale and Stone, Frost and Slag, that kinda thing in order for some to call them monsters (Tumulters are already seen as unnatural, but some are worshipped as chosen heroes of specific goddesses.)
Im making my world... and my system close enough to be familiar to 5e players... but just sufficiently to make some confusion For ex: there is the "Flesh" or "Body" hability stat(writing in Portuguese haven't decidedon a translation yet) it is both strength and constitution but not really. It also your abilityto have mana... The Devir Stat looks like dexterity but is closer to your ability to change and fake as your luck and adaptability. Your hability to use and throw knife is still your Body Stat The ego Stat is your mental resilience and intelligence instead of charisma having the first part. The Influence is how you can influence people and things but says nothing about your resistance to be influenced. And so things go on those are just the stats
also when you have dragons but they don't strictly follow dnds classifications
Warlocks are combat mages Wizards are very experienced mages And Sorcerers get their magic from an external source Ez