Many fantasy literature settings have their own unique spin on wizards and, at least as important, how wizards interact with one another. In this month’s RPG Blog Carnival, I’d love to hear about your setting’s (or favorite fantasy novel’s) wizards, their society, and what makes them unique.
To celebrate my birthday, because I love talking about wizards, the topic for July’s RPG Blog Carnival is the Ways of the Wise. If you are one of the Illuminated in the blogosphere, post a link to your blog article about the Ways of the Wise in the comments below.
Do your wizards study books of ancient lore and hunt for lost spells, like Vance’s wizards in Lyonesse and the Dying Earth, or do they learn the secret names of things to wield great power, as Le Guin’s wizards do in Earthsea? Are there a limited number of wizards that could ever exist, like the Istari of Middle-Earth, or could anyone be initiated into the mysteries of magic?
Are there multiple kinds of spellcasters that the uninitiated would call wizards, but who think of themselves as being completely different? Are wizard, sorcerer, alchemist, witch, warlock, invoker, channeler, and mystic synonyms, or do they describe a dizzying array of differing paths to magical power? Is magic inborn, granted, or stolen?
Do wizards come together peacefully in a shared purpose, or do they squabble over the last few spells not yet lost to the mists of time? Is there a College of Magic, or multiple such schools? A Ministry of Magic, with dreaded prisons or punishments for those who violate their laws? Why do wizards need one another, and why do they clash?
In future posts, I’ll answer all of these questions and more for the wizards of my own settings, Dust to Dust and Aurikesh, as well as some of my favorite settings.
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