An Open Letter on the Open Gaming License, to Wizards of the Coast

Re:An Open Letter on the Open Gaming License, to Wizards of ... by coldpie on Monday January 09, 2023 @03:14PM (#34315354)

You definitely can, and many do. But D&D is the lingua franca of this space. If you say you're casting Magic Missile, I know you're going to toss a few d4 on the table. Even if I'm brand new to your adventure, if you say you're a Level 15 Magician, I know you're a pretty righteous dude. No other system has the same level of familiarity across such a broad audience.

I think you're right though. No one with eyes on a big audience is going to want to tie their brand to a Wizards product after this decision. Shame.

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Re:An Open Letter on the Open Gaming License, to Wizards of ... by sleepybrett on Monday January 09, 2023 @03:42PM (#34315730)

Magician is not a class in D&D

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Re:An Open Letter on the Open Gaming License, to Wizards of ... by dragontamer on Monday January 09, 2023 @04:36PM (#34316476)

D&D Terminology gets quite arcane, especially around the arcane casters.

So Wizard is the class, but the title inside of D&D depends on the school the Wizard specializes in. Much like how we call a "Doctor" also a "Brain Surgeon", the "Wizard" could be an "Enchanter", if they specialize upon memory-rewriting / charming / brain-bending magic. (Ex: Charm Person, Suggestion, Geass, Dominate Person).

But IIRC, there is no "Magician", as you said. But there are Evokers, Universalists, Conjurers, Diviners, Illusionists, Transmuters, Enchanters, Necromancers, and more. There are also Sorcerers (_totally_ different), Witches, Magi, Alchemists, Clerics, Druids.

Frankly, I'm personally surprised that there's no "Magician" yet. Its like someone stepped into D&D and surprisingly guessed at the one word that wasn't actually in the game yet... (The closest word, "Magi" is a "Magus" IIRC, not a "Magician")

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Re:An Open Letter on the Open Gaming License, to Wizards of ... by shagie on Monday January 09, 2023 @05:30PM (#34317306)

If we go back to old school AD&D... from the Player's Handbook (1e) the class titles for a Magic-User were:

    1. Medium
    2. Seer
    3. Conjurer
    4. Theurgist
    5. Thaumaturgist
    6. Magician
    7. Enchanter
    8. Warlock
    9. Sorcerer
    10. Necromancer
    11. Wizard
    12+ Wizard (nth level)
    ...
    16. Wizard (16th level or Mage)
    17. Wizard (17th level)
    18. Wizard (18th level or Arch-Mage)

Screen shot of a scan of the first part of the table (it spans two pages and the 2nd page is uninteresting): https://imgur.com/a/WOS2TAF

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Re:An Open Letter on the Open Gaming License, to Wizards of ... by sleepybrett on Monday January 09, 2023 @05:55PM (#34317698)

sure .. but you'll note that he says a 15th level magician .. no such thing ;) Also I played a fuckton of AD&D .. i don't think anyone has ever used a class title in actual play that I know of.

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Re:An Open Letter on the Open Gaming License, to Wizards of ... by ChrisRackauckas on Monday January 09, 2023 @04:00PM (#34315992)

That's what very good illusionists want you to think.

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Re:An Open Letter on the Open Gaming License, to Wizards of ... by coldpie on Monday January 09, 2023 @04:10PM (#34316109)

Yahhhh it's been a while for me :) I thought about googling but decided to gamble on my memory. Guess I lost :)

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Re:An Open Letter on the Open Gaming License, to Wizards of ... by aplkorex on Monday January 09, 2023 @04:36PM (#34316471)

You just rolled a 1, that's all.

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