Timeline for How would it make sense that spellbooks or grimoires teach only one spell?
Current License: CC BY-SA 3.0
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| Jun 16, 2020 at 11:03 | history | edited | CommunityBot |
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| Mar 15, 2019 at 22:11 | comment | added | Secespitus | @Renan Thank you very much for the bounty! | |
| Mar 15, 2019 at 13:46 | history | bounty ended | The Square-Cube Law | ||
| Feb 21, 2018 at 8:41 | comment | added | Ghoti and Chips | So, my comment was just using those two methods of knowledge acquisition (consult one small paragraph in a dictionary, versus reading a whole book/slew of books) to frame magic similarly, and to suggest that using a dictionary analogue (grimoire) for a spellbook might be flawed (and seems to map onto the general idea that a novice reading off the pronunciation of a spell doesn't cut it in a lot of fiction (Harry Potter, Dungeons and Dragons, etc.) | |
| Feb 21, 2018 at 8:38 | comment | added | Ghoti and Chips | The point of the comment, ultimately, was that, if you have a base knowledge of a language, you can understand practically any word by consulting a dictionary, and the story can happily end there for anyone who isn't a specialist. The same isn't true about learning how to draw, or play an instrument, or have a deep understanding of a philosophy. I was making that comparison with magic. A book with the name of a spell and pronunciation wouldn't get you far, you would still need to entrench yourself into a way of thinking that enables the magic, which requires more than the code and pronunc. | |
| Feb 21, 2018 at 8:30 | comment | added | Ghoti and Chips | @forest Of course, but pointing that out might indicate you missed the point I was making. A linguist's book on the word ga is highly specialised, whereas any entry book on music or philosophy (see my comment for context) is not going to be akin to a dictionary (i.e. Daoism - one sentence description) | |
| Feb 21, 2018 at 6:07 | comment | added | forest |
@GhotiandChips we don't dedicate entire books around a word's definition and pronunciation But we do. There's even a Japanese book entirely on the usage and history of the particle ga and how it compares to wa. Never underestimate the verbosity of a linguist.
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| Nov 29, 2017 at 21:06 | comment | added | Nick Dzink | This could be interesting if the spell is actually a plea for help from extra dimensional being. If you want Fthan'ghu to answer your plea and incinirate your enemies you need to talk to him in his language - otherwise he won't notice you among the infinite amount of voices in the galaxy, understand the diffirence between inciniration by rapid internal hydrogen oxidization and unctrolled fusion of hydrogen into helium, as well as how to to mark your enemies correctly. Last thing you want is for Fthan'ghun to nuke uranus because of some grammatical error(enema joke). | |
| Sep 18, 2017 at 9:45 | comment | added | algiogia | The book may also teach different levels of the spell: matchstick, small fireball, big fireball, star, inferno... | |
| Sep 18, 2017 at 6:53 | comment | added | Secespitus | @The_Sympathizer I am not aware of any game exploring this dimension but it was indeed my intention with this answer. That way you can easily explain why a certain Wizard can only learn certain spells. To make it easy: most fire spells have similar rituals and most water spells have similar rituals, but both are mutually exclusive as you mentioned. It's possible, with enough dedication, to master quite a lot of fire spells, but not even one simple fire spell and one simple water spell at the same time. | |
| Sep 18, 2017 at 2:45 | comment | added | The_Sympathizer | (cont'd) Are there any games that actually explore this dimension? | |
| Sep 18, 2017 at 2:43 | comment | added | The_Sympathizer | (cont'd) general outside-of-use life that could not be simultaneously satisfied? E.g. one could know and master two different programming languages well (and that takes a lot of time), but programming languages don't stipulate, e.g. you do ritual X before dusk every day even when you aren't programming. What happens if you had 2 spells that each stipulated 2 different rituals before dusk but each were totally/logically incompatible (e.g. one ritual required your stomach full to discomfort with food, the other you to be empty stomach) so they could not both be done simultaneously? (cont'd) | |
| Sep 18, 2017 at 2:43 | comment | added | The_Sympathizer | So this suggests that it is more than just learning technique - e.g. like computer programming, or art, or other high-skill activity , but also general behavior patterns that are adopted even when the skilled activity is *not* actively being practised . Because you mention a "lifestyle" requirement, not just a "skill" or "technique"/"discipline" requirement. This then naturally would make one wonder: what would happen if "knowing" two spells required two mutually contradictory *general behavior pattern* *non-practice* stipulations in the (cont'd) | |
| S Sep 15, 2017 at 2:32 | history | suggested | Malady | CC BY-SA 3.0 |
Spelling Correction
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| Sep 15, 2017 at 0:49 | review | Suggested edits | |||
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| Sep 13, 2017 at 11:24 | vote | accept | Bwrites | ||
| Sep 13, 2017 at 8:52 | vote | accept | Bwrites | ||
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| Sep 13, 2017 at 8:19 | history | edited | Secespitus | CC BY-SA 3.0 |
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| Sep 13, 2017 at 7:15 | comment | added | ndnenkov | I think the question was about why there are books called "Lightning bolt", "Lightning storm" and "Lightning ball", not why there is a book for "Lightning magic". | |
| Sep 13, 2017 at 3:51 | comment | added | somebody | Exactly :P it isn't easy to learn how to create a projectile that is a specific size and shape and how to maintain it for as long as possible | |
| Sep 13, 2017 at 1:29 | comment | added | Yakk | @Ryan The first person to cast a fire spell could replace flint, and light tinder. And maybe it only worked after eating a fire salamander, and only some people pulled it off. This led to the mastery of fire. The fire makers passed the technique down, and over the ages it was improved. Early on, improvements where often lost, rare and dangerous. Over time, a system to improve spells was developed. This book, "On Fireball", covers the depth of preparation, technique and background knowledge. The first fireball was cast on the shoulders of giants, by a genius fire wizard, and took a week. | |
| Sep 12, 2017 at 22:51 | comment | added | NotThatGuy | Technically "fire magic" is a collection of spells, not just a single spell. You might want to change that. | |
| Sep 12, 2017 at 20:35 | comment | added | Secespitus | @Ryan That is only if you assume magic to be very common. If it's the result of a lifetime to develop a Fireball spell and every Fireball spell is slightly different depending on the exact kind of energy the author was referring to it would end up with whole books describing a single spell. If all fire based spells use the same energy you might get something like you described above after enough time if the books can be preserved. But that depends on the scenario you want to use. | |
| Sep 12, 2017 at 20:23 | comment | added | Ryan | I keep falling back to the fact that there should be significant similarities between spells, to the point where up to almost all of the book would be redundant fluff or unnecessary commentary. You really don't need to know that some guy 1000 years ago was famous for using fireball, in order to cast fireball, or you have a catch 22 with how he could cast it in the first place. So much of that books is optional content, or content that should be common among other similar spells. A book about fire spells, another about fire tactics, and then scrolls for individual spells would be the result. | |
| Sep 12, 2017 at 13:03 | comment | added | Ghoti and Chips | Don't think of magic like a language and a spell like a word - we don't dedicate entire books around a word's definition and pronunciation, we have dictionaries that take care of the whole language's vocabulary. Instead, think of it like Philosophy or a Music genre. I can't just have a dictionary of all philosophies, because if you read "Daoism" with a tiny definition, it wouldn't suffice - you would need a book (or indeed a slew of books) to understand it properly. The same goes for Rhythm & Blues - I can't just show you a music sheet for you to understand how to play it. | |
| Sep 12, 2017 at 12:26 | comment | added | Willk | Wax on... wax off. | |
| Sep 12, 2017 at 11:58 | history | edited | Secespitus | CC BY-SA 3.0 |
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| Sep 12, 2017 at 11:57 | comment | added | Innovine | You could have a history of the spell and its author, too, and notable uses of the spell throughout history, if any. And traditional uses, maybe. | |
| Sep 12, 2017 at 8:39 | history | edited | Secespitus | CC BY-SA 3.0 |
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| Sep 12, 2017 at 8:23 | history | answered | Secespitus | CC BY-SA 3.0 |