Magical Theory of Krynn

D&D 3e (3.0/3.5) Rules

by Darthsylver

Krynn is unlike any other world when it comes to the use of magic. Throughout the ages the world has seen the use of arcane & divine magic, sorcery and mysticism through the Messengers of the gods and the Wizards of High Sorcery. There are other practioners of magical feats that are more rare such as druids, bards, rangers and paladins. Let us not discount the renegade sorcerors. Where exactly does all this magical ability come from? For those of you willing to indulge me here is my theory about magic in Krynn.

In the beginning when the world was made magic was infused into everything through creation. For what is magic if not creation of life. What is it that sparks the first signs of life but magic itself. Magic is a part of everything and therefore magic can affect everything. Not everyhting is affected in the same way but everything can still be affected by magic.

At first only the gods who created the world knew of the existence of magic. Eventually this knowledge was passed on to the mortals of the world. As such primordial magic was discovered. Primordial enabled a person to affect anything and everyhting if the person drew enough power from creation, there were no limits. The first such being to learn this power were the scions and while they did not have a name for this power it was essentially a mix of sorcery and mysticism.

Eventually others learned of this magic but not all were as hungry for the power granted by primordial magic. They simply learned what they needed and did not pursue other paths. Some of the first druids of the world learned mysticism and how to affect the forests and animals and they used this power to protect nature. Others would learn sorcery and had no care for the use of magic on the woods and animals or even the realms of the dead. These magic users became known as wild mages.

Still others sought to bring joy and happiness to the world and learned that their very voice could invoke magic in their audiences and bards became a part of the world. In an effort to protect the world from dragons scions and wild mages drew upon an immense amount of power and released a terrible backlash of magic on the world. Frigthened by the destruction that was inadvertenly loosed upon the world they were hunted down but not all were caught. Other practioners of primordial magic hide for fear of discovery.

It was during this time that the gods of magic taught the hunted mages and scions a different type of magic that was termed arcane. This magic has precise methods of invoke magical displays of power and effects and therefore was more controlled and safe than primordial magic. While the mages believed they were drawing power from the earth, they were actually being granted the power from the gods of magic. Each spell had a specific ritual that accompanied it, by following the ritual properly the mages were showing faith in the gods of magic, believing that as long as the ritual (spell) was performed correctly then the magic would work as planned.

In order to protect these new users of magic the other gods decided that they would grant those that believed in them the ability to use magic and messengers of the gods were born.

Throughout the ages of Krynn knowledge of the different types of magic has come and gone. Faith and belief has been lost and regained. Krynn is know entering a new age in which magic in all its forms has been released upon the world. I hope you enjoy the Age of Magic.

In short my theory is this:

• Clerics use Divine magic. Cleric spell list.
• Paladins use Divine magic. Paladin spell list.
• Messengers of the Stars use Divine magic. Modified Cleric list.
• Wizards of High Sorcery use Arcane magic (which is really divine magic from the gods of magic.) Wizard spell list.
• Mystics use Mysticism (only a part of primordial magic). No system as yet.
• 5th age sorcerers use sorcery (only a part of primordial magic). No system as yet.
• Renegade wizards use either sorcery (a part of primordial magic. no system as yet) or arcane magic (which is divine magic from the gods of magic, the sorceror spell list).
• 3e sorcerers use sorcery (a part of primordial magic). No system as yet.
• Bards use a mix of sorcery and\or mysticism (depending on the effect). Bard spell list.
• Rangers use Mysticism or Divine magic (depending on whether they believe in a deity). Ranger spell list.
• Druids use Mysticism or Divine magic (depending on whether they believe in a deity). Druid spell list.

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