Vancian magic system

The Vancian magic system is the popular term for the traditional Dungeons & Dragons spellcasting paradigm, in which characters must memorize or prepare spells ahead of time, and can only cast each such prepared spell once.

Vancian spellcasting differs from the majority of videogame RPGs inspired by Dungeons & Dragons, which typically use a mana points system or a cooldown system. Later editions of the D&D rules moved away from the Vancian system or modified it to add versatility.

Origins

The magic system used by the original Dungeons & Dragons (1974) drew inspiration from the Dying Earth novels by Jack Vance, for whom the Vancian magic system is named. In those books, wizards need to memorize a spell to use it, which wipes itself from the caster's mind after it was cast.

The origins of D&D's magic system are described in issue 6 of The Strategic Review, The Dungeons & Dragons Magic System, by Gary Gygax. The term "Vancian" was used in that article. Gygax decided to emulate Vance's magic system as he felt its versatile and short spoken spells were best suited to the realities of dungeon adventuring. Other magic systems in fiction were often too complex or time-consuming to take place during a melee battle, too powerful relative to the abilities of D&D's other character classes, or too weak.

In 2007, Gygax wrote:

"The "memorize then fire and forget" principal for casting spells Jack Vance assumed in his fantasy stories seemed perfect to me for use by D&D magic-users. IT required forethought by the player and limited the power of the class all at once. I still like the concept even though I have gone to a manical energy point system in the Lejendary Adventure RPG."

Jeff Goad, writing for Goodman Games, specifically attributes Gygax's inspiration as the short story Turjan of Miir, which originally appeared as the first entry in his 1950 short story collection The Dying Earth. In this first story, the wizard Turjan must study spell books to memorize spells:

These were volumes compiled by many wizards of the past, untidy folios collected by the Sage, leather-bound librams setting forth the syllables of a hundred powerful spells, so cogent that Turjan's brain could know but four at a time.

In the second story, Mazirian the Magician, it is clarified that each spell can be cast only once before being forgotten or used up:

For all Mazirian's magic he was helpless. The mesmeric spell had been expended, and he had none other in his brain. In any event he could not have uttered the space-twisting syllables with that mindless clutch at his throat.

In 2010, Tim Kask described the Vancian magic system as inspired by Gygax's desire to balance magic users, fearing that they could become more powerful than fighting men. Gygax had previously observed this problem in the Chainmail wargame and his Castle Greyhawk home game. Kask also noted that while Gygax was a fan of the magic system in Jack Vance's fantasy works, he favored Conan, and may have been biased toward warrior type characters as a result.

Rules

Original Dungeons & Dragons

In the original Dungeons & Dragons rules presented in Men & Magic (1974), Magic-Users and Clerics have a limit on the number of spells of each level which can be used per day. As they increase in character level, the number of spells of each level increases. For example, a first-level wizard can only memorize one first-level spell, while a sixteenth-level Magic-User has five spells each of levels 1 to 6 (the maximum attainable spell level in those rules).

As described in the original rules, the listed spells are the total number which can be "used (remembered during any single adventure) by that character", and "A spell used once may not be reused in the same day." These limitations were misunderstood or ignored by many early D&D players (see Opposition).

Advanced Dungeons & Dragons

In the AD&D Players Handbook (1e) (1978), p.40, Gygax clarifies that a spellcaster may memorize the same spell twice, in order to cast it twice in the same day. This attitude would be criticized by TSR's Tim Kask, who believed it against the spirit of the Vancian magic system.

Spells are selected prior to beginning an adventure, taking 15 minutes per spell level to memorize. By the AD&D Player's Handbook (2e revised) (1995), p.107, this had been reduced to 10 minutes per spell level. A clarification is that it wizards cannot choose to forget a spell in order to make room for a new one, although they can effectively do this simply by casting the spell. Spells can also be prepared more than once.

Specific description of the rationale of spell memorization is given in this book. A wizard reads his spell book to perform complex mental exercises, which impress magical patterns upon his mind that cannot be simply learned like a normal skill. Spellcasting involves triggering the release of the stored mental energy, which wipes it from the spellcaster's mind.

Dungeons & Dragons 3rd edition

Dungeons & Dragons 3rd edition made some notable changes to the Vancian system. Characters no longer memorize spells, but prepare them, a thematic difference but functionally identical. Each potential available spell is referred to as a "spell slot". Character classes can now have 0th level spell slots, used for casting weak spells known as cantrips or orisons.

More significantly, several character classes cast spontaneously, whereby they may freely cast from a list of spells known, although they are still limited to a certain number of each spell level per day.

Vancian spellcasters in third edition generally receive slightly more spells at early levels, thanks to bonus spell slots awarded for high ability scores, plus the inclusion of cantrips; for example, where the AD&D 2nd edition wizard starts at level 1 with one 1st level spell, their 3rd edition counterpart will additionally have a second 1st level spell if their Intelligence score is at least 12, and will have three 0th level cantrips. Additionally, clerics gain additional spell slots to prepare domain spells.

Post-Vancian casting systems

Dungeons & Dragons 4th edition

Dungeons & Dragons 4th edition abandoned the Vancian magic system. The core spellcasting classes in this edition cast spells which can be cast with a frequency defined as one of at-will, encounter, or daily. This system somewhat resembles the "cooldown timer" system used in videogame RPGs of the time.

D&D 4th edition made the dramatic change of abolishing the Vancian magic system entirely. Spells, and other class-based powers, were now divided into daily powers, encounter powers, and at-will powers.

In developing the D&D 4th edition's wizard class, the designers were inspired by mechanics previously seen in D&D 3.5 accessories Complete Arcane (2004) and Complete Mage (2006), which gave spellcasters unlimited-use at-will spells in a balanced fashion. In particular, these were the warlock's eldritch blast power, and the Reserve feat system.

Dungeons & Dragons 5th edition

Dungeons & Dragons 5th edition introduced a more flexible derivative of the Vancian system. Spellcasting characters prepare spells each day, but may spontaneously cast those, up to a limit of a certain number of each spell level per day. This system strikes a balance between Vancian and spontaneous casting.

The concept of at-will spells is carried over. Cantrips in 5th edition can be used an unlimited number of times, and are substantially more powerful than cantrips in 3rd edition.

Unlike the original Vancian system, a spell prepared once may be cast multiple times, to the limit of the caster's available spell slots.

Alternatives

The psion and psychic warrior classes, from the D&D 3.0 Psionics Handbook (2001), use a power points system where each power costs a certain number of points to use.

The D&D 3.5 rule sourcebook Unearthed Arcana (3e) (2004) described a variant spell points system, allowing standard spellcasting classes to be played using the same system. However, this has the side-effects of allowing a character to cast more high-level spells by forgoing low-level ones, and increases versatility considerably.

Reception and influence

Opposition

Many players of the original Dungeons & Dragons system either rejected the Vancian casting limits or misunderstood how it worked. In The Strategic Review #6 (Apr 1976), p.3, The Dungeons & Dragons Magic System, Gary Gygax explains:

"The principal error here is that the one 1st level spell allowable to a 1st-level magic-user could be used endlessly (or perhaps at frequent intervals) without the magic-user having to spend time and effort re-memorizing and preparing again after a single usage. Many players also originally thought scrolls containing spells could be reused as often as desired." ...

"To further compound the difficulties, many dungeon-masters and players, upon learning of the more restrictive intent of the rules, balked. They enjoyed the comic book characters, incredible spells, and stratospheric levels of their way of playing.

In Playing at the World chapter 5.6, "Alarming Excursions", it is described that articles in gaming fanzines of the day (e.g. APA-L #521 and #523) ignored this advice, perhaps deliberately so, but recognized that it would be too powerful to allow each spell to be cast an unlimited number of times per day. Their solution was to propose a mana points system, something which would later become the dominant magic system of videogame RPGs.

In the letters pages of Dragon #216 (Apr 1995), p.93, reader Donald Hoverson argues that the Vancian magic system fails to emulate the broader genre of fantasy fiction sufficiently well, as the majority of fantasy works do not work on a Vancian system. He recommends a spell point system, but with the caveat that certain particularly useful low-level spells should have a higher cost.

Praise

In Dragon #218 (Jun 1995), reader Robert Melvin responds by defending the Vancian system as easier to use and track, and rewarding players for wise preparation.

In 2006, Gary Gygax spoke of his continued appreciation of the Vancian system.

For the AD&D game I still prefer far and away the "Vancian" system." It makes players with spell-casting characters plan ahead while keeping their PCs from dominating play.

Use in video games

The Vancian magic system appears in Final Fantasy (1987), a computer RPG inspired by Dungeons & Dragons and released for the Nintendo Famicom and Nintendo Entertainment System. Its sequel, Final Fantasy II (1988), changed to a spell points or MP system, which was a common magic system in video game RPGs of the late 1980s and onward.

The Vancian system was never common in video game RPGs, aside from those based directly on the Dungeons & Dragons rules, such as Baldur's Gate.