Sunday, January 22, 2006

Creative Sorcery

I'm Mel and I'm addicted to Roleplayers. That's my RPholic self.

I've been writing in this RPG forum, although I'm not a roleplayer and I haven't been one for half a decade (pardon me, it sounds longer that way). And recently there's been this discussion there, about wizards and sorcerers, and which of the two is "cooler" as a character concept. And I don't really give a damn about any of it, but it's so far away from my focus point that I couldn't help myself from answering, since I appreciate the various related analogies with oh so many other things that I do actually care about.

A wizard, you see, is a guy who decides he wants to work with magic, and decides to work hard on that, read dusty tome upon leather-bound volume, and progresses steadily along his path. A sorcerer, on the other hand, is one whose magic comes from within, he's "chosen" in a way and he just develops the "talent" as he goes along. And in the debate, I chose the first option as being more noble and inspiring. And it was true, I promise it was true. In a sense.

Just five minutes ago, I told Than that he was a sorcerer at what he does. He creates, and most of it is not skill, he hasn't really broken a sweat, ever in his life, unless he really, really wanted to, in order to get where he is today. It comes from within. There's people out there who try hard, they study anatomy, or their various creative media, or other people's art, and they progress, steadily and surely. Than is not really one of them. But he does work magic with his hands.

And yes, he's a sorcerer. It doesn't have the same level-headed nobility that a wizard may have, the same conviction or the same perseverance, the same droplets of effort scattered upon everything he does. He just does whatever strikes his fancy, not even remotely suffering the same kind of consequences, not holding the same amounts of constant responsibility and pride at what he does.

But that's what makes him the hero of the story, just as sorcerers usually are. Ged of the Earthsea, Timothy Hunter, Harry Potter... and Than, my man.

7 comments:

JMai said...

I thought Harry Potter was a wizard? -s-

I like the new look, btw.

BunnyDee said...

Heh. He is termed a wizard, yes. In the DnD sense, however, he would be classified as a sorcerer, since, according to the books the magical ability comes from "within" him (he was able to defeat Voldemort as a baby etc) and he only hones these skills through practise etc. You really don't need to know these things if you're not into DnD, however... No, really. Not worth your time. Not worth mine either, don't know why I bother ;)

Thanks for commenting on the "new look" :) I'm quite proud of it myself, although it was kind of a quickie (a few details still need touching up, I'll get to that eventually, after I hand in two 2000 word essays :P).

Natalia said...

I love RPG... A LOT...that's why I don't currently have any games or consoles at home. That would truly be the bermuda triangle of my time... and I already do that enough with blogging lol

-N

JMai said...

Mmmm, it'd be ok if you wanted to explain it to me... but yeah, I'm not sure I'd be able to quite grasp it.

All bunnies are happy bunnies -s-

Anonymous said...

Still, "Wizards" can draw better than me :)
As for me, I think I'm an illusionist.
I do make wonders but you're never really sure if they're real or just a trick.
One of my greatest talents always was to cleverly cover my mistakes and weaknesses and disguise them as art.

And it's not bad to be an illusionist either. Most of the people don't believe in real magic anyway so, a wizard and a sorcerer would be the same thing to them. Fake.
They don't expect miracles. All they care is to see some pretty lights and have a good time.
And that's all I care to give them.

Atalante said...

I could never be a wizard, but I guess that comes with being a sorcerer of some sort. ;P

Still, I do drool on what organized people who have studied and practiced for years can do. And I know that I will probably never have neither the patience nor the willpower needed for such effort, as I also very well know that this specific statement is what secures my 'curse'. I declare it, and then I don't even have to try...

P.S. Than, some people do expect miracles. They are a few, though. It must be the air... it's killing them.

BunnyDee said...

Hehe, yep, it makes me hurt as well - I'm something swimming in between the two myself, not really well equipped in any of the two areas though...

Oh well... Than doesn't believe in miracles anyway, until they happen :P
Yet for some reason, he still believes in me ;)