I have never played DnD for real and haven't delved into the universe alot, but you know what I really like about the DnD world? It's the spell descriptions. They actually tell you what a wizard has to do to cast a spell - how to channel which energies to produce a certain effect. I like how the games tell u that in order to cast "Lebenskraftentzug" (sorry, dunno the name in english) u have to open a channel to the negative energy plane and link the chosen creature to it, so that it's life essence can be drained. It's like seperate steps that all in one make up the spell. And then the game is realistic enough to have undead be healed by the spell Inflict wounds and damaged by Cure Wounds because their energies come from the negative plane. That's all really cool and it makes me wonder what it would be like to be an experimental-happy wizard, struck by an idea for a great new spell and sit infront of a desk surrounded by thick old books and different magical substances, going through ancient texts of magic for many moons until he finally comes up with some sort of prototype spell. Or maybe what it's like to try to enchant a ring with some magical ability, searching for the best way to infuse the ring with your magic. You'd have to choose different stones or materials to bind the magic to and then merge them with the ring or something like that... I'd really like a game that focuses on this side of a wizards life. A game where you have the freedom to create any magical effect desired, limited only by ur own imagination. Like if u wanted to make a spell similar to the scorching ray from DnD there would be many different ways to go about its creation. You could try to somehow materialize some flamable substance into this world, make it shoot toward ur opponent while at the same time heating it, so that it bursts out in flame or something like that. Or if u wanted to summon an air elemental, u would first have to think of a way of finding such a creature on the air plane and then force it through that gate u just opened infront of ur foe (and then u'd still have to make sure, it doesn't turn on u instead ^^). So, any of u guys happen to know a game like that? I have never heard of something like this. But then again, I don't play that many video games anymore & I'm not up to date at all. Of course there's always Magicka and the like where you can combine elements to spells, but those mechanics are awfully simple and dull compared to what I'm looking for.
I think that's ok but how about playing a Mexican from the old days? They have pointy hats -- just like wizards -- but they also make wonderful tacos and wear shiny bandoliers. There's even a rest option called Siesta, which is in addition to the usual "pass time" and "rest here" option. Does that sound ok too?
