The Magic of...Magic.

So you’ve got your pointy hat and staff. Maybe you’ve got some magical tattoos. Or perhaps you have a cauldron and familiar. But really how do you cast your spells? How does you magic manifest in the world around you? Many people just want to blow things up and say I cast fireball, and that’s ok, but this article is for those who want to put a little more magic in their magic.

I’ll admit I am not a fan of playing magic users in Pathfinder or D&D. It's not like I don’t like magic however, one of my favorite games is Mage the Ascension. And one of the things I loved about Mage was the idea that all magic users forced their will upon the world in different ways. And there’s no reason why this can’t translate over to Pathfinder.

Does the Shaonti fire blooded sorcerer cast his fireball the same way as the Magnimarian Evoker? What method does the Tian Wizard use and how is it different from the Egyptian Influence Osirian wizard? Does a cleric of Asmodeus’ casting appear the same as the cleric of Shelyn?

One of the best loved NPC I had was in a 3.5 homebrew I ran. Lucius “Lucky” Littlefoot, yes I’m one of those weirdos who likes alliteration. Lucky was a beguiler and the worlds luckiest Halfling. The thing is he never cast his spells in such a way that any of the PCs knew he was a spell caster.

When they were locked in a cell he pulled out a set of picks and mumbled to himself in a language they didn’t understand. They thought he picked the lock but what he really did was cast knock. They were all curious as to why he’d take time to talk to the cricket he kept in a cage, they didn’t notice at first the orcs falling asleep on the battlefield. The multicolored sand he threw at the enemies, color spray.

But really it was the description of how he cast his spells that made the character. I didn’t just say he casts knock, he casts sleep, he casts color spray. I described the actions and let the PC figure it out.

One of the other players in my Rise of the Runelords campaign I’m in is a cartomancer witch. He doesn’t just cast spells and be done with it. When he wants to cast light he describes his character drawing an appropriate card from the harrow and the light emanating from the card. He gives the magic a distinct flavor dealing with how his character projects his will upon the world.

People constantly ask about how you can get your players immersed in the game more. And one of the best things to do is to make you world seem more dynamic. Having magic be more than just I cast scorching ray is one way to do just that. Magic should be alive (unless you’re a necromancer) as it effects the world around it.

How does your caster will his magic to work? What is his or her style and tools of the trade?