So, I’ve always thought that little about spell schools makes sense in 5e.
What, exactly, separates Abjuration and Evocation? Apparently, only how they’re used, because both can be used for different elements (Armor of Agathys) and essentially seem to interact with “raw magical energy”.
Why do summoned entities follow your orders? Wouldn’t that be enchantment-related? What does Conjuration do, exactly? Is it pulling things from elsewhere (as implied by teleportation spells, which also uncomfortably overlap with banishment spells) or is it creating them (as implied by Tenser’s Floating Disk)?
Why in Mordenkainen’s, Bigby’s, and Tenser’s names does healing fall under evocation? How does raw magical energy fix the delicate chemistry of the human body, a task more suited for either Transmutation or Necromancy (literally “communication with the dead”, but also apparently responsible for Vampiric Touch, able to restore hit points)?
My proposal is thus:
Abjuration: The use of raw magical energy, not manifested physically, but to negate spells and block other forms of energy.
Conjuration: Inter-, Extra-, and Intra-Planar transportation, of creatures or objects. Dealing with said creatures and objects is another problem entirely.
Divination: The perception of occurrences at any time or place, with more restrictions the further it is from here and now.
Enchantment: Interacting with the internal mind, influencing it.
Evocation: Manifesting magical energy as different forms of energy in the physical, whether thermal, kinetic, or otherwise.
Illusion: Messing around with the mind’s interaction with the physical (this explains both conventional illusions and Nystul’s Magic Aura).
Animancy (Necromancy): The manipulation of life force; this includes all spells granting sentience and healing magic.
Transmutation: The alteration of physical entities, from the fine-tuned Enhance Ability to the more crude Stone Shape.
Thoughts? I’m well aware it’s on the radical side, but it’s the most consistent and logical thing I could come up with.
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Phantom Menace to Society
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So, I’ve always thought that little about spell schools makes sense in 5e.
What, exactly, separates Abjuration and Evocation? Apparently, only how they’re used, because both can be used for different elements (Armor of Agathys) and essentially seem to interact with “raw magical energy”.
Why do summoned entities follow your orders? Wouldn’t that be enchantment-related? What does Conjuration do, exactly? Is it pulling things from elsewhere (as implied by teleportation spells, which also uncomfortably overlap with banishment spells) or is it creating them (as implied by Tenser’s Floating Disk)?
Why in Mordenkainen’s, Bigby’s, and Tenser’s names does healing fall under evocation? How does raw magical energy fix the delicate chemistry of the human body, a task more suited for either Transmutation or Necromancy (literally “communication with the dead”, but also apparently responsible for Vampiric Touch, able to restore hit points)?
My proposal is thus:
Abjuration: The use of raw magical energy, not manifested physically, but to negate spells and block other forms of energy.
Conjuration: Inter-, Extra-, and Intra-Planar transportation, of creatures or objects. Dealing with said creatures and objects is another problem entirely.
Divination: The perception of occurrences at any time or place, with more restrictions the further it is from here and now.
Enchantment: Interacting with the internal mind, influencing it.
Evocation: Manifesting magical energy as different forms of energy in the physical, whether thermal, kinetic, or otherwise.
Illusion: Messing around with the mind’s interaction with the physical (this explains both conventional illusions and Nystul’s Magic Aura).
Animancy (Necromancy): The manipulation of life force; this includes all spells granting sentience and healing magic.
Transmutation: The alteration of physical entities, from the fine-tuned Enhance Ability to the more crude Stone Shape.
Thoughts? I’m well aware it’s on the radical side, but it’s the most consistent and logical thing I could come up with.
Phantom Menace to Society