To wand or not to wand...?

[cenwolfgirl]

^ if you are going to play this game you could just pick up any old stick and use that as well if you wanted 

[DragonEyes]

^ if you are going to play this game you could just pick up any old stick and use that as well if you wanted 

I like that idea, very much. It throws the trope from Harry Potter back upon itself. If the power is handed down from person to person rather than something that is built through learning, maybe the wand acts as simply a guide for the magic and requires no preparation or sigilry. You could even make a Jackie Chan wizard who goes through half a dozen wands in a fight trading up for better ones as he goes.

[cenwolfgirl]

that would be rather amusing

[Jabberwockey]

So if Im understanding you correctly, the ONLY purpose of the wand/rod/whatever you decide upon is for the focusing of the casters magic.  There is no special construction/preparation/glyphing etc... necessary to make the wand function.  IF that is the case then I personally would consider the particular item type irrelivant.  Case in point, in JB's world of magic Harry uses multiple items.  His wand, his blasting rod, his shield bracelet, multiple rings and a slew of other things I wont bother to go into.  Maybe they could use any item available, but the more personal the connection to the item the more effective it is.  For example, a character purchases a ring at Wally World and uses X amount of effort/focus/energy through that ring to blow up a house.  That same person could use their wedding ring with the same amount of effort to destroy an office building.  Then they use the wedding ring of their grandmother who raised them and was the only family they ever knew yada yada to nuke a town.

Point is that if the only purpose of the item is to focus the magic and no special preparation is needed then ANY item is fair game.  Making it personal to the caster gives you the opportunity to kind of get crazy with it! Imagine if Harry could only ever focus his magic when he was in the Blue Beetle! Not very practical for a main character but potentially very amusing and situationally appropriate for a minor or one time character.

As far as it needing to be threatening, that isnt necessary.  If you were to go back in time with a 357 magnum and threaten a group of Knights Templar with it they will probably laugh at you....until you pull the trigger.  It would be the same today if somebody pointed a stick at you and said they were going to cast a spell and burn you.  You would probably laugh unless they actually did it. 

Anyway, my whole point is that based on what you have said, you can use whatever items you choose to since no special preparation is needed.  Good luch and I hope I wasnt too long winded!

[cenwolfgirl]

it depends on the univers you have created but basicly you sumed it up in the first sentence yes 

[Serack]

If you haven't yet, I highly recommend you read Sanderson's First and Second Law of Magic (actually of writing magic in fiction)

First Law

Second Law

These are pretty good guidelines on the do's and dont's of what to do with your magic.

[Madd]

Maybe, maybe not...This could make a nice "wand." After all, it's essentially the same thing as your typical wizard's wand: a wooden stick. This one's just a bit bigger. And it has the added bonus of being useful for adjusting unwelcome attitudes.

Shalala?  I can never remember the name of the thing, but thats what Pikel calls it in the Drizzt novels! 

Shillelagh?

If you haven't yet, I highly recommend you read Sanderson's First and Second Law of Magic (actually of writing magic in fiction)

First Law

Second Law

These are pretty good guidelines on the do's and dont's of what to do with your magic.

Excellent advice, those articles really helped me polish up my own notes for how my magic system will work.

[Serack]

Honestly, I'd say the only person who's done a better job than Sanderson of writing a magic system for his books is Patrick Rothfuss. 

And that is using "better" loosely.  Sanderson's magic systems are intricate and are practically a character in and of themselves in how he reveals it in onion layers.  And they are usually incredibly internally consistent and creative.

Patrick Rothfuss's magic system is all that (not quite as innovative maybe) plus it's incredibly poetic which wins.

Of course I've only seen one by Rothfuss, and nearly half a dozen by Sanderson, so if you add em up...

[Quantus]

I agree that a wand specifically may not need to be the end-all of the form of focuses in your world, but i also agree with those saying don't broaden the system too quickly.  If the story took shape in your head with everyone using wand, see if you can make it.  So you obviously seem to like the idea of a focus requirement for the magic (it gives us something to send skittering waaay across the floor when we need to, after all ;-)) 

So Why would a system need a wand shaped Focus? 

Maybe casting requires an external conductor for the energies, and it needs a point to focus it;  then a wand is the typical for ease of use and transport, but a spear or sword would to it too (but maybe the bulk makes them unprecise), and even a good fountain pen, drumstick, or radio antenna would do it too, and most practitioners simply prefer something custom made to something scrounged. 

Or maybe the casting is a gesture-based magic, something that has been studied and accumulated in secret for generations, and so using a wand is literally the only way they know how to do magic, though the most experienced might be able to pull it with just a finger. 



I read a story once (cycle of fire) where the magicians bound energies into object to cast spells ward-style.  It could be any old object, though some held different energies better than others.  But the cool thing was that each needed a primary focus (traditionally a staff, but the MC made his in a sword with sentimental value)  that was sort of a storage battery for their energy.  The idea was that they gave off energy naturally, but needed to channel it into a sort of capacitor, so that it would be lost and that large amounts could be called up at short notice. 

That could work with your idea of a mantle: maybe the Mantle isnt passed from generation to generation, maybe its something that has been /accumulated/ over the generations.  Maybe the wand itself isnt whats important, but it is the current storage container for a Bloodline cache of power. 

0.02

[arianne]

It comes as no surprise to anyone that I'm just now discovering I should have thought it through before I decided to wand up my characters. Like Quantus said, the idea of something that rolls away or breaks or whatever just when you need to use it.

I did consider using a cell phone or something as a similar focus, but it sounds a bit oxymoronic for this universe, though I'm liking the idea enough that I might use it for another story.

I did kind of change the wand from “any old stick” to a stick made with special material that is useful for focusing power, although as of now the wands don't have an owner user issue, meaning that anyone who's a wizard can use anyone's wand.

[Quantus]

That sounds cool.  What kind of material?  Is it a single one for everybody, like a special metal or crystal or some such?  Or do different groups use different materials for their magic?  Like some favor a special metal while others use a special wood.  Maybe a single ingredient that can be added to several things, like alloyed into metals, or fed to trees to make special wood.  Just random thoughts.

Edit:
Let me say though, that I am a big fan of Focus items for magic. They provide a visual anchor, imposes physical actions to what may otherwise be dull internalized stuff that is difficult to describe from the outside, and give opportunities for creative limitation.  A wand needs to be brandished, and can be taken away.  A tattooed symbol is nicely visual and cannot be stolen, but may not lend itself as easily to action poses when the spells start flying.  A magic ring is a classic, but has some of the issues with an inert image that the symbol would.  I like to tie actions to the spells when I can.  It gives me a nice visual to keep coming back to, and makes its use a bit more deliberate.  Dresden has to actually point his blasting rod any time he uses it, only has to ready his shield bracelet by "shaking it out" (and that may just be habit) and doesnt have to do anything to get the Duster going.  Change those limitations and you have a completely different feel.  Imagine if he had to activate the Duster, or if his shield were a constant bubble.  What if his blasting rod were a ring, then he could cast and carry stuff at the same time, could cast more readily while immobile, and it would indicate an attitude that doesnt hold the Fire at arms length (injury not withstanding). 

Jumping to the Owner issue, you could always do it the star wars way.  According to the RPG books, which Im told are considered cannon as far as the world mechanics go (keeps all the different writers on the same page I guess) anyone can use a lightsaber, but its owner had time to attune to it, and so could use it better, and could override your Force control to do things like take it back from you if you aren't careful.  Most apprentices start with a generic loaner until they build their own.  It takes a special crystal or two, but they can be artificially manufactured, though everyone says the natural ones are best.  The crystal determines the colors, which have slightly different behaviors (reds do more raw damage, i think one of the other ones was defensively superior...)

Its shading closer to Harry Potter than you were wanting to go with the attunement, but the construction system is at least less restrictive than one that has like three wand makers in the whole world.