Proper Roleplay of Magic

[dragonfire9000]

Something I have noticed, in CoA, EfU (A or otherwise), Narfell... and... okay, that's the extent of my experience, but whatever. What I have noticed is that even large, brutish half-orcs and dwarves that despise and distrust magic seem to hardly blink when they see a member of their party flinging a fireball into a horde of goblins. It seems to me that this kind of display of raw occult power would be enough to cause most orcs to bown down and worship the caster, and certainly enough to draw some glares from dwarves. So my question is: in a low magic server, is such power commonplace? Do none take notice of those gifted and knowledgeable magisters in their midst? Personally, were I a commoner or one with little or no experience in such matters, this would shock me into cardiac arrest! Not to point fingers, but I arrived at the Ziggurat two days back with a sorceror who's first reaction was to drop into a crouch and conjure a ball of floating ice between his hands, threatening a dwarf with it. The dwarf didn't even blink at this clear use of arcane power, and simply carried on the conversation.

So... is this how it is meant to be?

Converse!

[Hammerfist0]

The arcane, while more powerful then the Melee discipline in general (Imo), is common place in the forgotten realms. While a commoner will probably be impressed by a big fireball, a half-orc who could adsorb two of them likely wouldn't.

At low levels, atleast.

High level spells- almost independent of the type, should draw a fair amount of awe. Also: Remember Sorcerers should draw far more attention then wizards. 18 cha is not something to be ignored.

[Jasede]

I suppose most character that arrive on the Ziggurat are adventurers. Now I fully agree certain types of adventurers might have specific reactions to magic: fear, hate, distrust, appreciation, wonder - but I can also imagine that most, all of them being level 2 and already having seen more danger than you or I in real life, have seen magic already, drank potions (an everyday adventuring thing, bottled magic), worked with a wizard, and so on, so I don't actually think there's a need to always roleplay some reaction to the arcane.

That said, of course it's great fun to do and adds a lot of atmosphere, especially when you play some Barbarian that bashes people head-first into the ground for using magic!

[Howlando]

Magic is not uncommon in this setting.

Some PCs may well dislike it, but only those from very isolated backgrounds will be astonished at it.

[Goblin Butcher]

I'm with howland and would add that your just another of the millions and millions of wizards in FR, your fireballs are but parlor tricks to the average adventurer whom has most likely seen many a mage in his time.

[I can has fun?]

This is a setting where the gods became mortal and walked the earth for a time, and where legendary flying cities powered by nothing more than pure magic came crashing down to the surface. A place where mothers not only tell their misbehaving children stories about the bogeyman, but will sometimes actually sell their children to the bogeyman for a sack of gold if they don't straighten out.

A fireball would be no more remarkable here than at Hogwarts.

[Letsplayforfun]

Although i agree magic is common enough, i'd like to make a side remark concerning this post. Most folks metagame lvls when it comes to determining caster's powers. Please avoid that...

Remarks i've had 'what you gonna do, summon a rat at me?' (lol), 'bah, i can do the damage you do in one sword swing', etc. Funny enough, theses stoped when Dalan hit lvl 9 (and he's not even a pvp pc).

When a mage does threaten your pc for example, well, what does your pc know of the mage? If you've seen him running away from rats, lol, but if not, what makes you believe he can't kill you in one spell? How'd you know you'll "absord two fireballs'?

Common doesn't mean less intimidating, imo. Same goes for clerics of course. Just a parallel with RL, many folks were scared to loot monasteries for the blasphemy it represented when no gods actually poped up. In FR, gods do pop up, and yet few seem to hold clerics in awe. Sad, imo.

But that's just my point of view on magic.

[Goblin Butcher]

Although i agree magic is common enough, i'd like to make a side remark concerning this post. Most folks metagame lvls when it comes to determining caster's powers. Please avoid that...

Remarks i've had 'what you gonna do, summon a rat at me?' (lol), 'bah, i can do the damage you do in one sword swing', etc. Funny enough, theses stoped when Dalan hit lvl 9 (and he's not even a pvp pc).

When a mage does threaten your pc for example, well, what does your pc know of the mage? If you've seen him running away from rats, lol, but if not, what makes you believe he can't kill you in one spell? How'd you know you'll "absord two fireballs'?

Common doesn't mean less intimidating, imo. Same goes for clerics of course. Just a parallel with RL, many folks were scared to loot monasteries for the blasphemy it represented when no gods actually poped up. In FR, gods do pop up, and yet few seem to hold clerics in awe. Sad, imo.

But that's just my point of view on magic.

Its easy to tell the power of a wizard over time, it's also incredibly easy to kill even a level 15 wizard without his buffs. If your not glowing I don't think your all that intimidating, if you are glowing, I'll judge your strength by your appearance. No self respecting arch-mage is going to be picking fights without shadowshield active.

I'd have killed/threatened Dalen if he ever gave me a proper ic reason. I don't think Dalen is a very good example of how players react to wizards, since you never really did anything other than sell people things and the occasional quests.

[Nihm]

My 6 Int half orc fighter not only knows what level your mage is, he also knows every spell a mage can possibly have in Neverwinter Nights, their probable DCs, and how to protect himself from them.

[Goblin Butcher]

My 6 Int half orc fighter not only knows what level your mage is, he also knows every spell a mage can possibly have in Neverwinter Nights, their probable DCs, and how to protect himself from them.

You forgot to mention how he sees peoples names above their head, can see mobs through walls and can home in on items/gold dropped by mysterious vanishing strangers in remote locations.

[Nightshadow]

lol

Even from an OOC point of view you can't assume anything about wizards/sorcerers/druids/clerics/bards/blackguards/palemasters/shifters (especially shifters)/RDD's, you just can't, you can try, and die, but the point of this is to live. Someone may merelly be using his rats for a time on weaker creatures, but when someone a bit more intimidating than a nightriser archer pops up, he summons fire elementals all over you. You should always hold true to the saying: "Oh, he knows magic... How much magic does he know? I better be careful around him, I'd rather not test his magical potential."

And yes, it is incredibly easy to kill wizards if you catch them off guard, and that should be fairly common knowledge for characters that wizards/sorcerers tend to be very fragile beings. I remember once on a different server my level 3 fighter attacked and killed a level 20 wizard, on multiple occasions.

[AClockworkMelon]

I can understand being awed by magic. But we're on an island. Transported there by magic. We fight skeletons. Every single quest we attend to we're beefed by mages and healed by clerics.

It's a wondrous thing, yes... but with enough exposure, anything can seem ordinary and be taken for granted. We aren't farmers. We're adventurers.

[Cruzel]

This thread is pointless IMO.  As long as it's not blatantly going against the setting, or OOC,  it's IC, It's RP. That's proper, bitches. Whatever your character wants to do/think about it, it's IC.

Go wild. There is no 'proper' way to do stuff like this.

[Thomas_Not_very_wise]

Cruzel Magic.

[Nightshadow]

This thread isn't pointless. It is here in the General Discussion thread, we're discussing whether or not our characters should be awed by magic.

And I think most newcomers would be awed by magic, then as time goes by, they get used to it, maybe learn a bit about it and form their opinion on it and how it should be used. The wandering mercenary from Zhentil Keep probably spent more time around assassins and thugs than around wizards, so when his companion throws a fireball suddenly, it should be pretty suprising. Perhaps the merchant who lived a few blocks away from Khelban 'Blackstaff' Arunsun in Waterdeep wouldn't be so suprised to see fire elementals being summoned. But, again, i've said it before and I'll say it again, spellcasters aren't to be underestimated, you shouldn't assume a fireball is the best they can throw, because they might have a phantasmal killer waiting for you. They might cast hold person and summon five elementals around you that beat you to a bloody mound of gore, when earlier they were only casting color spray and summoning rats.

As far as how shocked your character is, be as shocked as your character would be. A barbarian who lived alone his whole life off in the wilds of the world woudl be shocked, in my opinion. The nextdoor neighbor of Khelban 'Blackstaff' Arunsun might not be.