Sorcerer Tav: Bet that took hours of preparation. I can do it without thinking.
Gale: And I can pass water without thinking, but that hardly makes it magic.
Sorcery? Bah. Anyone can pick up a brush and paint, call themselves an artist even. But only through years of dedication and study can you create a true masterpiece. A sorcerer is like a child with paints, barely understanding what they are doing. I have mastered the art.
— Mialee the wizard, Dungeons & Dragons
Power? Wizards know nothing of power. Yes, they have their rituals and books, but take that away and what remains? I am magic. Take from me and you only invoke my wrath. Then, and only then will you see real power.
— Hennet the sorcerer, Dungeons & Dragons
What mage in any rival Tradition, of whatever skill, can boast the comprehensive knowledge of our least Adept? What other mage can offer any shred of theory to support his magick? The aboriginal shaman with his drums and rattle gives over his body to a spirit he knows not. The cleric with his song begs like a child for the favour of deities. The Ecstatic with his vice burns like a meteor and vanishes, and the witch with her blood rites aspires only to procreate. Even the Akashic with his meditation and exercise seeks passive contentment in false belief. Meanwhile, the Hermetic with firm will commands, "Do!" and it is done.
—Mage: The Ascension - Tradition Book: Order Of Hermes
"Because Infernomancy destroyed this town and killed its mayor. Infernomancy maimed the students here and butchered their friends. Because yours is not a 'misunderstood' magic. It is a cruel and sadistic path whose sole purpose is to cause suffering. And that, in your language AND mine, is why you can take your magic and go to hell."
—Dominic, showing his (justified) distaste for Infernomancy in Dominic Deegan.
Xykon: So, you're saying that wizards are better then sorcerers — and therefore that you are better then me?
Xavion: Well, I wouldn't say that...largely because it's so self-evident, it would be gauche of me to mention it.
Dorukan: Idiot! You cannot possibly hope to match my mastery of the arcane arts! You have not earned your magic, it came to you in your blood!
Xykon: Hey, you know what really gets under my skin? Proverbially, of course? A century of wizards looking down their damn noses at me. ... Only two things matter: Force in as great a concentration as you can manage, and style. And in a pinch, style can slide. In any battle, there's always a level of force against which no tactics can succeed. For example, all I need to do is keep smacking you with Energy Drains, and soon you won't be able to cast any of your fancy spells at all. Because yes, I am a sorcerer — and this magic is in my bones, not cribbed off of "Magic for Dummies." And I can keep casting the same friggin' spell at you until you roll over and die. You can have your finely-crafted watchnote — give me the sledgehammer to the face any day.
Xykon: Hey, you know what really gets under my skin? Proverbially, of course? A century of wizards looking down their damn noses at me. ... Only two things matter: Force in as great a concentration as you can manage, and style. And in a pinch, style can slide. In any battle, there's always a level of force against which no tactics can succeed. For example, all I need to do is keep smacking you with Energy Drains, and soon you won't be able to cast any of your fancy spells at all. Because yes, I am a sorcerer — and this magic is in my bones, not cribbed off of "Magic for Dummies." And I can keep casting the same friggin' spell at you until you roll over and die. You can have your finely-crafted watchnote — give me the sledgehammer to the face any day.
You may have heard this phrase before: hedge magicians.
Admit it; if you play Mage, you have probably spit that phrase out before: hedge magicians.
Perhaps you overlook them as the "willworkers" do. Perhaps you consider them "lesser talents," purveyors of parlor tricks enraptured with their own petty goals and completely oblivious to the Ascension War and its consequences. What good's a hedge magician when you could be a True Mage with all reality at your fingertips?
Admit it; if you play Mage, you have probably spit that phrase out before: hedge magicians.
Perhaps you overlook them as the "willworkers" do. Perhaps you consider them "lesser talents," purveyors of parlor tricks enraptured with their own petty goals and completely oblivious to the Ascension War and its consequences. What good's a hedge magician when you could be a True Mage with all reality at your fingertips?
—Mage: The Ascension - Sorcerer: The Hedge Wizard's Handbook
Other mages have very mixed feelings about diviners. Almost every type of magic has more direct ability to influence the physical world than divination does, and for all their tricks, diviners are no match for a battle-mage. What this means is that practically any mage who looks at a diviner knows that he could beat him up without much effort.
On the other hand that mage also knows that said diviner, given time and motivation, could find out every one of the mage’s most private, embarrassing, and dangerous secrets. And mages – especially ones who play the deadly political games of the Light Council and the Dark cabals – have a lot of secrets. Mages like the idea of diviners working for them, but they most definitely don’t like the idea of diviners working against them, and they’re never quite sure which one a diviner is doing.
As a result, mages tend to prefer to keep diviners at a distance, and the feeling’s often mutual.
Tristan: Your people, the mages. Why do they enslave each other?
Miles: There's only one kind of mage that matters: Storm-Singers.
Miles: There's only one kind of mage that matters: Storm-Singers.
Tristan: And you're not a Storm-Singer, so you don't matter.
Miles: Those who can't control the weather are bound so Storm-Singers can draw on their Secondary's power as if they were walking batteries.
Tristan: Why?
Miles: Power.
—Witchmark, by C.L. Polk
What makes a frog lizard any worse than a bird horse? Prejudice against the Simic, that's what. It's unfair!
You took the easy way out and sold your soul to a demon. You're a fake. A phony. The only reason you can do magic is because you have an eldritch sugar daddy with its tentacle up your ass who plays you around like a puppet. I on the other hand had to learn music. Learn how to play the instruments. Practice until my fingers actually bled. And then? It still wasn't over! I had to now add magic to the mix, making sure I could not only play music but use it to channel mana to do what I want. You are a cheat. A pay to play user. And now you sit here and complain that calling you a half caster isn't fair? Fair??? Sweetheart, if this game was fair, you would have been assimilated by Cthulu long back and wouldn't even have a functional form in the material world anymore, while I would be rocking a concert in Madison Square Garden.
—Reddit commenter
acting as a Dungeons & Dragons Bard
acting as a Dungeons & Dragons Bardsexhaver: what if magic was real but it was treated the way music is now with different genres and like “oh youre still into conjuring? thats cool I guess. recently ive been getting into third-wave post-necromancy, it’s some pretty heavy stuff”
chorusofravenousangels: “what do you mean you’ve never learned FIREBALL, it’s a CLASSIC”
“idk I’m not really into evocations.”
“how can you not be into ANY evocations?”
“well, it’s kind of dad magic, isn’t it?”
“idk I’m not really into evocations.”
“how can you not be into ANY evocations?”
“well, it’s kind of dad magic, isn’t it?”
