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| Refeering to the author Jack Vance, a perpetrator of the 'dying earth' genre of fantasy fiction, of which Gary Gygax was a big fan. In roleplaying games the term 'vancian' became notable because the [[D&D|Dungeons & Dragons]] magic system, specificaly the way wizards use spellbooks and memorize a certain number of spells per day was based on the magic system Vance used in his books.
| | #REDIRECT [[Vancian Casting]] |
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| Also called "fire-and-forget" spells because after you've cast a spell, you've unable to do it again until you get a good night's sleep and at least an hour to re-study your spellbooks. Systems that use Vancian magic will also have artifacts with the same limitations, such as scrolls that can be read only once to cast a spell written on it, or wands that use up a number of charges as magical ammunition to cast spells.
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| [[4E|4th edition]] has dropped the spellbook memorization mechanic from previous editions but retained similarity to Vance's magic in the distinction between simpler at-will spells, one-time spells and complex rituals.
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| 4E casters never run out of spells as older edition wizards did (due to memorization issues), but rely on at-will spells (can be cast continuously, without limit) and magic implements (ie wands) for a more Harry Potter feel.
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| The Vancian system obviously remains in its most pure form in the Jack Vance's Dying Earth RPG.
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| [[category:Game Mechanics]]
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