Where does arcane magic come from?

[uv23]

Seems like a really stupid question but hear me out.

In settings such as Dragonlance and FR, arcane magic is a force that is provided by the gods to wizards, much as divine magic is provided to their clerics. When wizards call out their ancient words, make their gestures and so forth, they're basically praying for their magic. Sorcerers tap into a natural power that exists as an eternal and primal force, whether its internal or external.

So to get to my question. In worlds where the gods do not specifically provide arcane magic, where do wizards get their power from? Who's ears do their ancient words fall on? What significance do their gestures and components have? How long has this power existedand where did it come from? Sorcerers are easy to explain in these settings but wizards have me a bit stumped...

 

[saduff]

Magic just is ! It is a part of the world. It is a force that binds us together. In low-magic settings, its usually not that magic is not there its just that the people have lost touch with that part of the world. Le Morte de' Arthur ( spelling ) When Merlin describes the "dragon" that is magic.

Just my opinion

 

[gamecat]

Think of magic as a force, much like gravity or light, that is peculiar in that it responds to various movements, vocalizations, and consumption of items. A wizard is a sort of "physicist" who studies the physics of magic.

 

[Apok]

Of playdough and the Force...

I've always thought of magic as being like The Force from Starwars (before they introduced that midochlorian crap). Certain individuals have learned to "tap into" this force and shape it to their own ends. Think of raw magical energy being like playdough; the mage gathers up the raw playdough and shapes it into the desired effect through a specific formula (a spell). Just like the Force, magic is everywhere. To quote Yoda, it "surrounds us and binds us."

 

[Oni]

My personal take on it is this. Magic is a force, and energy that surrounds everything. Spellcasters call on this energy in various ways, but they are all drawing on the same source of power. To access the force of magic and manipulate it to do specific things certain patterns of energy must be called upon. Divine casters pray for these patterns and in turn some higher power grants it to them. Sorcerers have the patterns ingrained into their very being and so can call on them as they need them. Wizards store these patterns in their minds through sheer force of intellect, and have developed a formulaic system for noting them in print allowing them to recreate the mental pattern from their books. This is why wizards all have their own very individualized spellbooks, because the notation is so complex that working with someone elses notes is almost impossible. The patterns for each of these classes is completed with various somatic, material, and verbal componets.

Thats a quick look on my take of the Dnd magic system.

 

[smetzger]

Thats like asking where Physics comes from.

 

[uv23]

Thanks for the replies. But most of what you folks are saying still sounds like sorcery rather than wizardry. My friend in the office here is telling me to be satisfied with suspension of dibelief but I'm too anal to do that I think Oni's answer strikes closest to the mark. Its something I've been thinking about quite a lot since reading the latest Dragonlance books and being reminded of just how divine that particular realm's arcane magic really is.

 

[Sodalis]

"tiny organisms that reside in all of us. "...the most rat-bastard explaination ever

I was completely happy not knowing what it was... other than a mysterious "force" that controls everything

Edit:

 

[Akunin]

Well....

When a daddy Wizard loves a mommy Wizard....



Gonna have to go with the "Naturally-existing forces manipulated through the will and rituals of the caster." answer.

 

[Jack Daniel]

I define magic in my campaign as breaking the laws of nature and physics -- which is what magic actually is -- but it can only be accomplished by drawing energy from another reality or plane. In D&D magic has always been explained as the act of fixing anomalous extraplanar energy from "somewhere else" into one's own mind, and shaping it as a spell, as opposed to psionics, which was using one's own force of will to pull that energy out of wherever and do something extraordinary. It's a far call from the typical explaination of magic in a Final Fantasy game (where magic is drawing on the life force of the planet and universe around you, like Star Wars) or in classical folklore (where magic is supernatural power granted by spirits, demons, faeries, etc).

In my own game, in order to sort of explain everything (since I didn't like AD&D's nameless and distant "plane of magic"), I ruled that the extraplanar sources for magic vary depending on the caster. My planescape is set up with the astral plane separating the material plane from the heavens, and the ethereal plane between the prime material and the hells. Consequentially, the astral plane is mildly good aligned and the ethereal plane carries the midly evil aligned trait. I pretty much left the inner plances alone. Then I set up the magic system for each type of caster:
Wizards: casters with just enough brains to use arcane lore to shape ethereal energy into spells without being corrupted by evil.
Sorcerers: casters who are charismatic enough to make bargains with denizens of spirit worlds and the like to learn spells.
Clerics/Paladins, Druids/Rangers, Shamans/Sohei: priests who are granted power from divine forces; not much change here.
Shugenja: preists who draw magic directly from the inner (elemental) planes.
Psions/Psychic Warriors: individuals with the will and ability to shape astral energy into psychic effects.
Monks, Sohei: warriors who draw on ki are using their own internal energy, native to the prime material plane, sort of like FF's lifestream or the life force manipulated by Jedi.

It makes for a pretty unique system where magic is dangerous only to the foolish or unwary, psionics are rare and innate but sorcery is not, and divine magic is much the same.