28 July 2026: DM's Guide--Magic pgs. 38-47

    Magic. Meh. There, I've said it. Never a huge fan, and have seldom played pure spell casters when given the opportunity in D&D. Sure, throw a spell here or there. Have some cool magic items. Monsters can do this or that. Fine. But when I started playing 5e in 2019, I learned very quickly that magic can be, and is, a game shaker. It became--for me as a 2e DM thrust into a 5e ruleset--a great source of frustration. I simply could not get over how powerful the characters, especially the spellcasters, were. Turns out that's the overall vibe of modern D&D, but spells were my first indication that things had gone very, very wrong in the game.

    If I have ever read this part of the DMG before, I don't remember, but it was eye-opening for me. There is a passage that opened up a whole train of thought about role playing and clerics:

Lesser clerics, then, draw only upon their education, training, and experience to gain spells, just as higher clerics do when they renew their first and second level spells. In order to gain third, fourth, and fifth level spells, however, higher clerics must reach intermediaries of their respective deities in order to have these powers bestowed upon them from the plane of their deity. When clerics become very great, they must petition their deity personally in order to receive the powerful words which enable the casting of sixth and seventh level cleric spells. It is obvious, therefore, that clerics wishing to use third or higher level spells must be in good standing (pg. 38). 

    I mean, that's awesome! It opens up tremendous opportunities for great gaming. I wish I had thought of it!

    With regard to wizards, I have speculated over the years about just what in the fuck magic is. Like...why, though? Where does it come from? What does it do? What, at its essence, is it? I sort of concocted this idea that magic was a force like gravity that was created by the planes of existence, and that wizards could tap into this force through arcane words and gestures. Imagine my joy when I read the following: 

All magic and cleric spells are similar in that the word sounds, when combined into whatever patterns are applicable, are charged with energy from the Positive or Negative Material Plane. When uttered, these sounds cause the release of this energy, which in turn triggers a set reaction. The release of the energy contained in these words is what causes the spell to be forgotten or the writing to disappear from the surface upon which it is written...The triggering action draws power from some plane of the multiverse...The energy flow is not from the caster per se, it is from the utterance of the sounds, each of which is charged with energy which is loosed when the proper formula and/or ritual is completed with their utterance... When spell energy is released, it usually flows to the Prime Material from the Positive or Negative Material Plane. To replace it, something must flow back in reverse. The dissolution and destruction of material components provides the energy that balances out this flow, through the principle of similarity (pg. 40).

    That literally explains it to me. That's why a caster needs spell components! That's where magical energy comes from!  45 frigging years, man, and I never read that page? Shame on me.

    Gygax then goes on to offer some commentary and clarity on a number of cleric, wizard, illusionist, and druid spells. I imagine these explanations arose from issues at the tables he played at. I skimmed a bit. 

    I can see a little bit of DNA from this book in the Dungeon Crawl Classics rules as I think about it. Not only is there a brief section on character backgrounds (secondary skills table on pg. 12), but there is a longer section about spells, spell books, and spell acquisition that makes wizards even harder to play. So that's a brake on the power, too. Being a wizard is really, really hard, but the payoff is enormous if you can survive long enough to become seasoned. All of this is new to me, or I read it so long ago that I've forgotten it. Much to think about.