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Offline Joelok314

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Question about elements
« on: June 15, 2010, 11:32:56 PM »
Hey,

I just have a quick question that I wanted people's take on. What element would Harry's volcano wall be under? Fire or Earth? He's obviously heating the stone to magma temperatures, but he's also moving the ground to form the wall. I'm thinking it might be a bit of both (possibly even two different spells, one to heat the earth and one to move it). What do you think? ???
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Offline Archmage_Cowl

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Re: Question about elements
« Reply #1 on: June 15, 2010, 11:34:27 PM »
take your pick. Honestly it could be either one. Thats one of the cool things about this game. For that specific situation i'm pretty sure he made a comment that he did it with earth magic.
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Offline Joelok314

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Re: Question about elements
« Reply #2 on: June 15, 2010, 11:39:10 PM »
Quote from: Archmage_Cowl on June 15, 2010, 11:34:27 PM
take your pick. Honestly it could be either one. Thats one of the cool things about this game. For that specific situation i'm pretty sure he made a comment that he did it with earth magic.

Yes, he said that in the book. But obviously things don't translate perfectly from book to RPG- though they have done an incredible job coming pretty darn close. So, I just wanted to see what the general consensus on this might be.
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A man once told me death smiles at us all. All a man can do is smile back.

Do you think a man can change his destiny?
I think a man does what he can, until his destiny is revealed to him.

May the best day of your past, be the worst day of your future.

Offline Deadmanwalking

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Re: Question about elements
« Reply #3 on: June 15, 2010, 11:43:35 PM »
Lightning can be either Earth or Air. Ice can be Fire or (probably) Water. Magma can be either Fire or Earth. Any force you can justify can be part of any Element. The elements are only classified that way because that's the mental construct the Wizard uses after all.
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Offline Joelok314

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Re: Question about elements
« Reply #4 on: June 15, 2010, 11:46:31 PM »
Quote from: Deadmanwalking on June 15, 2010, 11:43:35 PM
Lightning can be either Earth or Air. Ice can be Fire or (probably) Water. Magma can be either Fire or Earth. Any force you can justify can be part of any Element. The elements are only classified that way because that's the mental construct the Wizard uses after all.

That makes sense. Now that I think about it, magic is just what the user believes it to be. So, if the wizard thinks magma is under earth or fire, then that is what works for him... Cool, that answers better than a general consensus.
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A man once told me death smiles at us all. All a man can do is smile back.

Do you think a man can change his destiny?
I think a man does what he can, until his destiny is revealed to him.

May the best day of your past, be the worst day of your future.

Offline John Galt

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Re: Question about elements
« Reply #5 on: June 16, 2010, 12:05:04 AM »
Quote from: Joelok314 on June 15, 2010, 11:46:31 PM
That makes sense. Now that I think about it, magic is just what the user believes it to be. So, if the wizard thinks magma is under earth or fire, then that is what works for him... Cool, that answers better than a general consensus.

In fact, a wizard may very well be using the "magma" element.  The elements are whatever your wizard thinks they are.  They are simply the manifestation of his will.  The reason so many wizards in the Dresdenverse use Fire, Water, Air, Earth and Spirit is because the vast majority of the Wizards in the books are from the western world, where those were thought to be the basic elements of the Universe when most of those wizards were born.  The younger wizards continue to follow tradition.

You can use any elemental system you want as long as you and the GM can ensure it remains balanced.
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Offline Deadmanwalking

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Re: Question about elements
« Reply #6 on: June 16, 2010, 12:33:31 AM »
And explain where you learned it.  :)

Self-taught spellcasters could have just about anything, but full White Council trained Wizards are pretty much going to have one of the traditional Elemental systems (Western or Eastern)...though different individuals' interpretations may differ quite a bit.
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Offline exploding_brain

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Re: Question about elements
« Reply #7 on: June 16, 2010, 02:26:34 AM »
I'm planning, at some point, to play an ex-physicist wizard who divides magic up into Classical Newtonian (physical), Electromagnetic, Relativistic, Quantum, and Thermodynamic.  It's all the same rules governing the behavior of the universe, but the limited human mind needs different tools to understand what's going on in different situations.
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