  Fantasy
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** Image ID #1169323 Unavailable ** Fantasy! In the realm of the imagination, boundaries become meaningless. I'll be pointing out different styles and offering advice on key elements of fantasy writing. Enjoy 
“Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.” - Arthur Clarke |
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Magic Users
Long gone are the days of first-edition Dungeons & Dragons which brought the general term "magic user" to hordes of fantasy role-players. D&D featured one of the first attempts to systemize magic almost like a science. (D&D's magic system was loosely based on the 1950's Dying Earth book series by Jack Vance.) Since then, fields of magic have been specialized in countless other games and books as generations of players grew up.
Whereas once a sorcerer could do anything with a few words and a wave of his hand, now those abilities are governed by logical limitations. Different levels of competence apply to beginners (novices, initiates), journeymen (adepts), and masters. Advanced spells require study, so naturally mages would specialize in areas in which they have strengths. Difference fields require different focuses and rituals.
The main terms for magic users (magician, sorcerer, wizard) are used interchangably. There are tons of particular class names out there. Let's take a look at the most popular ones.
Types Of
 Magician or mage is a general term for a practitioner of magic.
A witch or warlock is an unsophisticated user (without formal training).
Wizards have a lot of ability or power.
A sorcerer is serious about magic arts, to the point of scholarly study.
A prestidigitator performs sleight-of-hand tricks.
An illusionist deals in tricks and spells that deceive the eyes and mind.
Enchanters modify objects with charms and hexes.
An alchemist transforms substances, such as lead into gold.
Summoners can cause naturally occurring creatures to approach or appear.
A conjurer forces creatures to appear from great distances or other dimensions.
A visionary focuses on predicting futures and scrying distant events.
Necromancers deal with death, bones, and restless spirits.
Elementalists focus on manipulating primary elements: fire, air, water, and earth (pyromancy, aeromancy, hydromancy, and geomancy).
In Techno
In science fiction and cyberspace stories, magic users are the engineers and hackers. They perform amazing feats from behind closed doors or inside black boxes. The how-to isn't as important as it is inexplicable; what matters is the flashiness of the results. Just to show how applicable "magic" is as an analogy to unknown or secret practices, every phrase below comes from modern software coding terminology:
Medicine Man or Witch Doctor - an unsophisticated practitioner
Guru or Wizard - one with knowledge, sophistication, & study
Voodoo Magic - effects achieved by recipe, without the coder's full understanding
Heavy Wizardry - the obscure intricacies of any very particular field
Deep Magic - feats not widely known, and purposely kept secret
Black Magic - it works but no one understands why
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Some enchanting works I found on the site:
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 Nighala a.k.a. Doxie Do-Right  wonders: I was wondering about the differing forms of magic, i.e. the difference between conjuring, alchemy, etc. I know a lot of authors use these terms interchangeably, but are there any rules specific to the differing types of magical powers?
Response: Hopefully the above article helped to answer this question somewhat. As for specific rules... in any fictional world, those are really up to the author!
 Izkata comments: Another idea on how magic works that I like:
People (magicians, whoever) have access to magic only through their subconscious, and so are normally unable to control it. Magic words, runes, staves, etc. don't actually do anything, but they create the correct mindset - like a trance - for the subconscious to be directed for short amounts of time. But because of how quickly the trance passes, the various different spells/runes/etc are what creates the various different effects on the subconscious to make it (and, therefore, magic) do different things.
cwiz ponders: What is 'fantasy'? Everyone defines it differently.
Response: Good question. In fact, I'd like to know what everyone else thinks before I reveal my own definition. Please send in your [somewhat] short answer to this question, and it'll appear in next week's Ask & Answer section. Plus you'll get a handy-dandy GP bonus for participation. 
 Next week's Editor: Feywriter
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Fantasy: October 25, 2006 Issue [#1339]
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