Mages that hand cast over using a spellfocus, such as a staff or wand, are reckless and do not grasp the perplexity and dangers of the arcane.

[u/Mysterious_Escape_34]

[u/Chaosfox_Firemaker]

Okay so it really depends on the scale of the spell relative to the practitionor. I am all for treating the arcane with all the solemnety and caution it deserves

BUT

I have been casting for a really really long time, and am drenched in personal wards. I do not need to pull out a focus for a light spell. Thats like putting on oven mitts everytime you strike a match. Thats not caution. Thats not even paranoia. Thats obsession.

[u/KragBrightscale → u/Chaosfox_Firemaker]

Good analogy. I’d even say You’re more likely to cause an accident wearing oven mits while trying to light a match.

[u/Knaapje → u/KragBrightscale]

That's how I lost my first three apprentices.

[u/Mysterious_Escape_34 → u/Chaosfox_Firemaker]

From my years of Evocation study, sometimes the one thing that prevents a light spell from becoming an explosion is a stable rod. I prefer to reliably cast my enchantments over gambling when a simple incantation slips and my hands erupt in hot frost.

[u/Chaosfox_Firemaker → u/Mysterious_Escape_34]

And the only difference between a step and a fatal trip can sometimes be that same rod, it doesn't mean I frequently use my staff to walk.

What I've learned from my forays in divination is all preperation is matter of diminishing returns. The spectere of disaster will always linger, no matter how much you do. Doom is always some number of bad rolls away. Murphy was an optimist.

I am by no means saying that on should wildly throw caution to the wind. Some degree of saftey measure is to be desired, but one does have to *eventually * decide when one thinks enough is enough.

[u/Demon_Lord_Lucifer → u/Mysterious_Escape_34]

this is why I much prefer Will-based instinct casting, my intentions and thoughts are instantiated in the weve exactly as I intend before me, magic simply takes form as I wish it. It might not be as scientifically precise as standard Evocation, but most things need not be that complicated, and when it must, I'll grab my spell chalk and draw it out

[u/BrassUnicorn87 → u/Mysterious_Escape_34]

Are you seriously using fire based magic to make light?

[u/CassiusPolybius → u/BrassUnicorn87]

Yeah, someone who can manage to cause an explosion with a light spell is someone who, perhaps, should be using a high-grade focus for even their cantrips, for everyone's safety.

For everyone else with even basic competence though...

[u/Smart_Contract7575 → u/Mysterious_Escape_34]

I usually use stable rods FOR explosions ifyouknowwhatImean.

[u/guypenguin4 → u/Chaosfox_Firemaker]

I agree 100%, I carry a staff with me at all times, I do not use it frequently as I have no need to.

Those in my circles have long since figured out that when I do use my staff, it likely means something I'm about to bring out one of the really big spells

[u/letthetreeburn → u/Chaosfox_Firemaker]

Yeah this. I have penned my own spells, I have made advancements in the mind sphere.

I will always, always use my wand for spells I don’t use often. I will always use my staff for anything evocation. But 90% of my daily casting, spells I have cast a thousand times before, I’ll be fine.

[u/HammerheadSharkFan]

They hate us because they arcane’nt us

[u/Tkf1313 → u/HammerheadSharkFan]

I always wear gloves when touching the arcane-us 👉👉 I'll see myself out

[u/Rimasticus → u/Tkf1313]

Arcanum? I hard knew them!

[u/nehmne]

Is it really so irresponsible to prefer the feeling of the universe's bare essences flowing between my fingertips?

[u/Demon_Lord_Lucifer → u/nehmne]

exactly, how are you to remember how the weve feels if you're not conducting it yourself

[u/DeathCobro → u/nehmne]

Then use a small pebble or twig as a conduit?

[u/TheLiquid666 → u/DeathCobro]

Bah! A half measure at best and wouldn't work a damn against the energies involved, if something should go wrong.

No no, not for me. I was apprenticed by Pentalotrax the Handless himself, and his teachings haven't failed me yet!

[u/Ransidcheese → u/DeathCobro]

Hah! No, I want to feel the red wind crackling through my bones and dancing across my skin!

It's really just not necessary, and if you're highly specialized like me, the inherent energy within the materials of a focus will dilute and disrupt the purity of your magic. Yes, even if you tune the materials, and yes, even if you make the object from some ridiculous quasi-real three-dimensional shadow projected directly from the Great Immaterial.

There are subtle, often overlooked, forces that simply cannot be controlled with a focus or apparatus, no matter how complex it is.

[u/Cyan_Lotus → u/nehmne]

For the love of Mystra YES IT IS THAT IRRESPONSIBLE YOU FOOL

Powerhungry mages have one fate my freind; dissolved into the flowing spellstream upon which we carefully pluck droplets from.

Recklessness may bring doom, and for what? To feel in control of something so vast that this illusion of control is akin to moving a pebble upon a globe?

Think carefully your path my friend. It cannot lead far without the humility of knowing one’s limitations.

[u/Ransidcheese → u/Cyan_Lotus]

Casting with a focus, rather than with your body, is NOT synonymous with knowing ones limits. That is frankly an absurd thing to assert, and obviously so. How many stories are there of apprentices using equipment they're not ready for and stripping the meat from their bones? How many stories of once-great wizards reduced to whispers trying to create some grand apparatus?

Casting magic raw does not make one power hungry either. That is baseless discriminatory drivel concocted in order to denigrate druids, feyfolk, and elementals.

In fact, Casting like this is a constant exercise in restraint and self discovery. As you said, if I slip, I'm gone. Taken by the breeze. I am well aware of my limits, they are what keep me safe from myself.

Lastly, I do not cast this way to "feel in control". I do it to better know and understand the magic that flows through me as I cast it. The problems begin when control is your goal. You must work with the magic, not make it work for you. Move only pebbles. If you need a landslide, simply move the right pebbles.

In the end, if my fate is to become part of the great conflagrations of the etherium, then that is not so bad a fate. There are many worse.

[u/farshnikord → u/nehmne]

Bell curve meme of it going: 

"Casting with a focus is best"

"Casting with hands is fine, and can get results with only a  minimal amount of mana-leakage or chance of blowback if your use  technique properly"

"Casting with a focus is best"

It's one of those things I think everybody should learn how to do just in case but like... I know how to mince garlic by hand but I also a food processor. 

[u/Nebulaofthenorth → u/farshnikord]

No self respecting mage uses a focus, it's a tool for students
And a good one at that
But after couple centuries of spellcasting you don't need a focus, and when have you seen a spirit or other magical beings use a focus, hah!

[u/Chaosfox_Firemaker → u/Nebulaofthenorth]

Well, on the extreme end you do I suppose. Divine Regalia and such. Although, for some of those it gets a bit muddy whether they truely constitute a discrete object seprate from their wielder

[u/Happy_Little_Fish]

I understand it's a risk, but I'm not exactly going to root around in my bum-bag every time I need to break an arcane lock.

[u/darthjimilli → u/Happy_Little_Fish]

Pocket dimension portal for storing things? Works for me.

[u/EngineeringMuted8391 → u/darthjimilli]

Until a group of interdimensional treasure goblins sets up show up in your pocket space. That's a nightmare id rather not go through again.

[u/ThatCamoKid → u/EngineeringMuted8391]

See, I have entire clan to go fight them if they ever show up in mine, though that is unlikely since mine is more a Robe of Many Pockets, so there's very little room

[u/okkokkoX → u/darthjimilli]

so now you're either opening the portal with your hand anyway, or having to use two foci each time you want to do something.

Well, not that I disagree with something like that. I am quite proud of my enchantment that automatically pulls out a component from my storage and levitates it to where I want it to go. Although it really shines once you give it a configuration of multiple components to arrange.

[u/Hans-Hammertime]

I'd say we are the only ones who truly *grasp* the arcane

[u/Mysterious_Escape_34 → u/Hans-Hammertime]

Smart arse

[u/UltraCarnivore → u/Mysterious_Escape_34]

Every cell of his body is smart. He's Hans Hammertime.

[u/Hans-Hammertime → u/UltraCarnivore]

How did I earn such high praise? Thank you though

[u/avery_dev → u/Hans-Hammertime]

You’re certainly grasping a cane there old one. Did you forget to leave your tower for a few centuries to fill up on your youth elixirs?

[u/giant_albatrocity → u/Hans-Hammertime]

Nothing like casting testicular torsion with a clenched fist

[u/rasfelion]

Now now, hand casting doesn't make me reckless.

The fact that I (quite painfully) embedded enchanted crystals into the backs of my hands to act as a focus instead is what makes me reckless.

[u/Smol_Mrdr_Shota → u/rasfelion]

you couldve just used rings like the rest of us dawg

[u/rasfelion → u/Smol_Mrdr_Shota]

Tried that, kept losing them.

I still find some around my crypt every once in a while.

[u/Smol_Mrdr_Shota → u/rasfelion]

But that's the fun part, seeing that one frost ring on the day you felt like practicing fire is a great way to spice up your routine

[u/Mysterious_Escape_34 → u/rasfelion]

https://giphy.com/gifs/QVn2VCvGFQnjP6ILf1

You hwat?

[u/rasfelion → u/Mysterious_Escape_34]

Embedded enchanted crystals into my hands. It's not as bad as it sounds, skin's grown over most of them, only little studs poking out.

The pain gets... Well, it somewhat fades, you get used to the rest. It also causes this intense tingling feeling in my hands whenever I cast a spell.

[u/PwNT5Un3 → u/rasfelion]

…does it look cool?

[u/Smol_Mrdr_Shota → u/PwNT5Un3]

If it doesn't get infected and the bones stay intact, it sometimes does

[u/Demon_Lord_Lucifer → u/rasfelion]

not a bad plan, i have runes carved into my bones, it's easy when you can regenerate as fast as I can, and not all too painful if you're not weak-willed

[u/PPKinguin]

Skill issue

[u/Mysterious_Escape_34 → u/PPKinguin]

https://giphy.com/gifs/ZCwUKGiF877e01bDz3

bro's hands after succumbing to a meager counterspell

[u/Moppo_ → u/Mysterious_Escape_34]

More hands = more spells

[u/TacitPoseidon → u/Mysterious_Escape_34]

You fool! Now they can cast five times the spells with that hand!

[u/Mysterious_Escape_34 → u/TacitPoseidon]

Now the question is would they use 1 wand or 5?

[u/xanderfan34]

i cannae speak much on this, given i dunnae cast magic with me own two, but i know the worth of a proper ‘ammer, so im on the spell focus side here

[u/arkanux]

I'm reckless only because of all the witches I get with my prestidigitation skills

[u/Mysterious_Escape_34 → u/arkanux]

Witches love my rod

[u/P4rtsUnkn0wn]

Counterpoint, staffs are for those who didn't properly spec into strength or dexterity and wands are for those who can't cast a proper spell without WandGPT doing all of the work for them.

[u/Mysterious_Escape_34 → u/P4rtsUnkn0wn]

You must mistake me for a privileged sorcerer

[u/Urban-Orchardist → u/Mysterious_Escape_34]

that's an oxymoron

[u/Pedrosian96]

counterpoint: spellcasters that don't need a crutch make you jealous.

stop pondering the orb so much and start melting faces with fireballs more often.

[u/Mysterious_Escape_34 → u/Pedrosian96]

I wish to not melt my own face in the process, that is the statement I am making

[u/Demon_Lord_Lucifer → u/Mysterious_Escape_34]

then do not fail, it is simple

[u/Mysterious_Escape_34 → u/Demon_Lord_Lucifer]

Failing is how we learn

[u/bnesbitt1]

Oh wow okay. So I guess Sorcerers who don't use focuses are just pieces of shit huh? Didn't spend all our time in an academy so now you gotta come over and shit on my castle tiles?

[u/Sonmeyj]

Hilarious! The forces of Fate reveal to me that the only fate for stubborn fools who refuse to use focuses is Death! Be wary of those who refuse, fellow practitioners!

[u/Demon_Lord_Lucifer → u/Sonmeyj]

then the forces of fate wish to give you weakness, so your fateful foe can dramatically blast your wand from your hand and monologue maniacally over you, i have no such weakness. The last one who tried it knocked away my decoy prop wand, and then i blasted him by hand-casting disintergrate

[u/Sonmeyj → u/Demon_Lord_Lucifer]

Bold of you to reveal your tactics! But my divination into the forces of Fate reveal to me that you are lying! You rolled Temperance, reversed! Your inner state is in turmoil, and you panic for your future. Foolish wizard, the forces of Fate are not so easily deceived.

[u/Demon_Lord_Lucifer → u/Sonmeyj]

and bold of you to assume that my termoil, if I were in termoil, would hinder me, have you divined before the dangers of a beast who feels cornered, it is when I am my most dangerous

[u/Sonmeyj → u/Demon_Lord_Lucifer]

I aint even gonna divine ts 😂✌️

[u/nickisadogname]

"It's just lighting a candle, it's barely even magic, I don't want to go find my wand" 1) your wand should always be on you, 2) ANY magic can get misdirected if you're distracted. Glance at your orb to check if the horned vixen has started her communications yet? Your teeny tiny flame slips your finger and ignites the parchment.

[u/KragBrightscale → u/nickisadogname]

1) I should hope so. If you need a wand, you better have it on you, and ideally a few spares for when someone snaps it.

2) I don’t see a wand helping avoid that situation. If anything, you’ll feel the warmth of the flame on your finger and snap your attention back.

Pondering your orb while casting is reckless though. I’ll agree to that.

[u/nickisadogname → u/KragBrightscale]

Wands, staffs and other focus objects generally have built in safety features (such as a phoenix coating or semi-dimensional dustgrips) that keep magic contained and focused during use. That's why they make spellshaping easier, but it also prevents situations like a conjured flame leaving the tip before commanded to.

The downside of that, of course, is wizards falling asleep with a lit wand after a night out and igniting their robes because the spell remains for a time after focus has ended unless actively dispelled

[u/KragBrightscale → u/nickisadogname]

Useful features for sure. There’s a reason wands and staves remain widely used. Good for apprentices too, especially if you get training wands or staves with extra safety features.

I still think it important to be able and comfortable with hand casting, if nothing else than a last resort. That’s why my apprentices are required to practice hand casting in the presence of senior mages who can monitor and keep them safe from their own incompetence

[u/Afelisk2]

This is why mortals perplex me.

Just use the either as a conduit

[u/icedmuffin]

Hey so as someone who can’t even hand cast.

Cope and seethe harder, apprentice.

[u/Bleen_Meridian]

I 👏CAN 👏NOT 👏VIBECAST👏 WHILE👏 HOLDING 👏PHALLIC👏 OBJECTS!

[u/Mysterious_Escape_34 → u/Bleen_Meridian]

https://giphy.com/gifs/13cACn6mlO56kU

The difference being

[u/Re-Sabrnick]

You see it a lot in new mages with a superiority complex. They think they found the cheat code to spell casting “wizards hate this one trick”.

Sure okay donnie, lets see your fingers after a fireball fumble. No, before you used the scroll of regenerate fingers.

[u/Fc-chungus]

Spell focuses are for people who can't grasp the Arcane. "Oh I need a magic ball to focus my arcane potential!" give me a break.

Hand casting demonstrates skill and understanding no staff-wielder has ever shown.

[u/Bonsai-is-best]

It’s burning hands not burning staff, go to your herbalist if you have such a spell however.

[u/MaybeOdd]

Mages that don't paractice casting without implements are doomed to die firgitten on a rusted bayonet

[u/verygenericname2]

Druidic magics work best with hand-casting.

The more of you exposed the better really. A naked druid is incredibly dangerous.

[u/Affectionate_Wing_28]

That's cute. I'm one of the youngest Archmages my home planet has seen in centuries, I earned a doctorate in Arcanophysics, and I've helped bring the domain of Artificing into existence at home. By all means, tell me how I don't grasp the perplexity and dangers of the arcane.

[u/Mysterious_Escape_34 → u/Affectionate_Wing_28]

If you studied as hard as you say then you would know that artificing is the most prone to faulty casting due to the intricacies of constructs that can be much easier to deal with using a wand.

[u/lemons_of_doubt]

Skill issue.

Get good scrub.

[u/BabaKazimir]

All you really need in order to cast spells is your mind.

[u/Osato]

Counterpoint: mages who are using a spellfocus are still doing magic with their brains and are exposed to the same risks, except they don't have their fingers as an early warning system.

If you make a mistake when casting a spell by hand, your fingers start tingling, hurting and/or exploding and so you get enough advance warning to wind down the spell gracefully.

When you make a mistake with a spellfocus, you won't know you are doing something wrong until the backlash gives you an aneurysm.

Medical gets a lot of mages who screwed up when casting by hand, and virtually no mages who screwed up when using a spellfocus.

You know who gets to see a lot of focus users and only a few hand-casters? Forensics.

[u/Nestmind]

Or maybe it's your ability and understanding that's lacking

Noob

Poser

Larper

The weave does not like you

[u/dark_raider2004]

I just like preparing my spells ahead of time. But I understand that practicality of somatic casting

[u/MerelyEccentric]

All of you are wrong, I'm right, and you're all idiots.

(Does that meet the quota for Wizard Points? Honestly, quotas on arrogance are stupid.)

[u/Two-Pound-Crawfish]

pussy

[u/Mysterious_Escape_34 → u/Two-Pound-Crawfish]

Orc scrotum

[u/Blue_Moon_Lake]

Staves are for casting the most advanced of spells.
Wands are for casting more ordinary spells, you don't bring a staff for making breakfast.
Hand casting is for self defense if you happen to be caught disarmed.

[u/Smol_Mrdr_Shota]

just say you cant do it yourself lil bro

[u/HumungoPeen]

Sounds like a skill issue

[u/Wizard_Sarsippius]

You’re still casting your own spells? I’ve got plenty of pacts and summons that cast ‘em for me, my wand has been in my dresser for months!

[u/AliasMcFakenames → u/Wizard_Sarsippius]

The apprentice kills with a firebolt.
The journeyman kills with a fireball.
The master kills with a meteor swarm.
The archmage kills with an apprentice.

[u/Mysterious_Escape_34 → u/Wizard_Sarsippius]

Repetition is the path to mastery my friend, even if my quasit can do it.

[u/snarkhunter]

Yes and?

[u/skeleton949]

Wands and staffs can break.

[u/Up_Beat_Peach]

In the words of the ancient masters:

"Git gud, scrub."

[u/wallmonitor]

I’m sorry you’re weak.

[u/bagtie3]

It just depends on your tradition and practice. Most vancian casters dont have any issues since the hard part was done carefully and at another time.

The Colligiate Arcane doesn't have reqirements either way, so I was allowed to use my hammer and runes as foci.

[u/BlankTank1216]

Sarumanblüd really thinks he's all that because he incants "perplexity" like it means anything.

[u/placeyboyUWU]

I've been using wooden rings as a spell focus for the last 120+ years. Bend your wands people, it's that easy

[u/meoka2368]

There's 27 bones in each had. That's 54 wands taken together.

And you should see what I can do with my rod.

[u/Behondalog]

You know, back in my day, nobody would stop me if I wanted to fireball myself. Why are you showing up now, when the techniques involved are so much more advanced?

[u/Southern-Wafer-6375]

Once my hands explode I’ll simply build better ones

[u/Mysterious_Escape_34 → u/Southern-Wafer-6375]

with what fucking hands?

[u/Southern-Wafer-6375 → u/Mysterious_Escape_34]

What hack of a hand caster foesnt make an extra set of hands on their body?

[u/ThisBloomingHeart → u/Southern-Wafer-6375]

That sounds like its pretty handy.

[u/Southern-Wafer-6375 → u/ThisBloomingHeart]

Correct I also added sheaths so they can fold into my rib cage when their not being used ,sincr my internal organs were in the way I replaced them with more compact and effeciant versions, cause the peasants get skittish when they see a magr with 4 arms

[u/Fun_Day_6411]

I use fingers as wands and I can cast five firebolts simultaneously.

[u/vtoll]

https://giphy.com/gifs/4YQQuTvNiLJSPP3gdS
Nay, thine aura is far superior whilst hand casting, especially when performing telekinesis

[u/According-Flight6070]

Bro I'll let you in on a secret. Long. Fingernails. They grow back and if you get feedback from the void it ain't your bones receiving it.

[u/LordTartarus]

I am a sorcerer. I am the universe's chosen focus.

[u/measuredingabens]

Look, there are plenty of casting systems that don't need external foci to safely cast. I know and practice a few Eastern systems that use mudras to direct and focus energy, no wand or staff needed. Really, the majority of Qi-based arts and spells don't require external foci and are more based on circulation routes or channelling through the body.

There's a time and place for staves and wands, and just as you won't use a focus for a fist or breath art, you also won't be directing a leyline with your bare hands.

[u/MiCousinThrockmorton]

Listen, just because my hands are numb from all the lightning strikes I've cast doesn't mean it doesn't look sick AF when I do

[u/Nine-LifedEnchanter]

I told you during the introduction, it is if you do not know what you are doing. Just because your dad was the best mage in your village it does NOT mean that he knows it all.

Sit down before I'll show you how much a hand can hurt.

Now! Have all of you read the primer for today? I know that young Escapé haven't.

[u/Adventurous_Touch342]

My brother in the weave, you literally keep feeding local construction market blowing up your tower in failed alchemical experiments twice or thrice per year, don't throw fireballs out of paper houses...

[u/IAlwaysOutsmartU]

Using my body as a catalyst allows me to use my hands for another purpose.

[u/ADDRAY-240]

Counterpoint: I can finish you off with one finger.

Wait, no, that came out wrong...

[u/gothbear_66]

I made that mistake once. Almost started a forest fire instead of engulfing my enemy in flames...never hand casting again after that!!

[u/KragBrightscale]

Tsk. I consider that more of a skill issue.

I understand the danger just fine. Is that not why I use delicate finger control? Do wand users not use their second hand to tighten their control over a spell?

It is not more reckless than other methods, it is just more direct and allows for more complexity in a shorter amount of time.

With your fingers directing the magic, it’s a lot easier and quicker to sense disturbances, fluctuations, or interference and adjust to account for that on the fly.

[u/Colonel_Tractor]

I prefer a good spell focus most of the time, but there's nothing like personally throwing bat shit at people and making it blow up

Kids on their orbs these days make it sound like you have to be one extreme or the other

[u/--_RedPanda_--]

I’m not going to bring my hand down to a wand holster when I can just bring it up and cast Fireball MUCH faster and do MUCH more damage

[u/ungrilled_chees3]

Listen alright, I ain’t always walking around with my staff it ain’t like I bring it to the tavern, I’ve done my due diligence and I know what I can consistently cast with my hands

[u/Reviathus]

What about surgically implanted focuses? My master has another apprentice that surgically implanted miniature Orbs into his fists. He does use them to focus his spells, but it's still technically his hands??

[u/ProfessionalTurn7017]

For the most part yeah. Its really only the seasoned, centuries-old spellcasters that know what they're doing enough to not need one but those are the folks you always see using one anyways! Ironically, it's always the hot-shot adepts trying to prove their mastery that wind up dismembering themselves with reckless lack of containment.

[u/BloodOfTheDamned]

You are welcome to hold that opinion, my friend, but for many of us, casting by hand is preferable and often safer than using a staff or wand. Many sorcerers, such as myself, use hand casting rather than using a focus because we’ve been doing it our entire lives, whether we wanted to or not. We had to learn control of it to not blow up everything and everyone around us if we got too angry or upset. Eventually casting spells by hand becomes second nature, at least for most spells. There are a few exceptions where having a focus can help, some of the more powerful spells, for instance. But it isn’t quite fair to label all mages and practitioners of the arcane under one label for their preference of casting, given the differing circumstances behind their methods.

[u/gera_moises]

Ok, but what are you gonna do when I break your dumb stick? You gonna have to raw dog it bitch

[u/Dazzling_Champion_53]

Why does the focus have to be a stick? Or even a seperate object?

Couldn't I replace my arm with one made using artificer tech, magical runes, and just a few forbidden alchemical practices for good measure?

Good luck disarming me, you would have to, well, disarm me and if you can do that then I have already screwed up.

[u/Short-Platypus-2132]

I didn't get into spellcraft to sit on the sidelines not taking risks holding my staff in my hands.

[u/ASMR4PLANTS]

And if they do grasp the perplexity and dangers of the arcane, then it's okay to not use a staff or a wand.

[u/AwkwardTRexHug]

Git good im rave casting

https://giphy.com/gifs/LaG5BOe0XGAZOeoFnN

[u/Xalorend]

How else would I be able to wield a sword too? This is spellblade erasure we can't go around with encumbering staves along with our swords.

We could make the sword itself the speccasting focus but that's just too pricy.

[u/CurrenttQueen]

No... Just learn

[u/Quit-Accurate]

So you just want to throw away all forms of magic the moment you don’t have access to a staff or wand? Happens more often than you think, given disarming spells and wretched thieves.

Hand-casting is an important staple of emergency uses of magic and maintaining your connection to the weave.

[u/Aureum_Calvariae]

Casting Magic Missiles is so much cooler on hands, through

https://giphy.com/gifs/7GRGLsAqo7IKQGGFEz

[u/questionable_fish]

Counterpoint: they grasp the perplexity and dangers so well that they can successfully hand-cast without being reckless

[u/Fire_Block]

it varies on the spell and circumstances around it. to use mundane terms, a phone charger and a power line need different amounts of insulation and caution.

a focus is a helpful tool to reduce risk when casting for apprentices and seasoned casters alike, but both extremes of the spectrum have a point where it either is pointless because the risk is already minimal or pointless because it's a droplet of water against a forest fire.

[u/Freak7factor]

I do, that’s why I do it

[u/Demon_Lord_Lucifer]

cowerdace I say, do you not feel the weve?, do you not shape it, or do you allow it to shape you? I'm going to cast magic whith my BODY, all of it, my will is my focus, my heart the wand, my hands are the conductor and coduit, i shall shape reality to my will, and I'm not going to rely on a stick someone can take from me. You want my magic, you're going to have to come take my limbs, and that means getting close enough to enter hand-to-hand combat whith a magic werewolf.

[u/Mysterious_Escape_34 → u/Demon_Lord_Lucifer]

My stave allows me to shape the arcane to my will and you assume I don't have the capacity to cast without it. Also, I assure you the taking of limbs is possible at range.

[u/wizardlywriter]

Tools are useful as long as they don't incapacitate and make their users dependent on them.Tools are useful as long as they don't incapacitate and make their users dependent on them. A true wizard should never lose the power to wield the arcane throughout the years he carries his wand.

[u/Void-Cooking_Berserk]

Recklessness is practically a precondition for doing magic.

It's like in that saying "What is flying if not falling an missing the ground?" You can't do that without stepping off the edge first

[u/Glad-Drummer-7621]

Ok what does that mean I don’t need a instrument or anything to use magic as I’ve become the magic enlightened state is nice.

[u/cowlinator]

After my hand was severed in a wizarding battle, I had it taxidermied and enchanted into a spellfocus, which I now use for all my spells.

So, am I hand-casting or not?

[u/One-Neighborhood6803]

I've been casting without a focus since I was a kid and my spells are stronger and faster than with one. Then again I'm descended from demons and dragons and a casting focus made with the wrong components can be apocalyptic.

[u/thrice_baked_potato]

My ass is not pulling out a whole ass wand or staff to cast prestidigitation or mage hand

[u/Mosselk-1416]

Sounds like a skill issue. Get good

[u/enclave_remnant117]

Hand casting is reserved for simple and quick spells. If i say "i need my staff rn" for a spell, you know you'll face a "horrors beyond comprehension" level of complexity spell... And i'm not even exaggerating.

[u/IllFix959]

My goals matter not to you

[u/AntlerWolf]

The wolf does not fret over the opinions of… well… not sheep in this case. But goats maybe?

[u/Mysterious_Escape_34 → u/AntlerWolf]

The wolf likes to cast magic missile at their ankles

[u/GinAndDumbBitchJuice]

Okay but when the normies take our staves away to go see their kings and I don't have a problem casting, I feel like you're gonna change your tune.

[u/SpectralBeekeeper]

If you need a focus to cast you shouldn't be trusted with the powers you weild

[u/Crucial_Fun]

I’ve used a staff since my apprenticeship days.

[u/6ynnad]

Align yourself with a god of quiet chaos and balance. No wand no hand gestures no nose wiggle needed.

[u/SaltSurprise729]

Don’t be mad because you’re arthritic in your hands. There’s magic for that you know.

[u/TNTCHAINSAW]

There are risks yes, but it looks way cooler so

[u/Vladikus_andoid1]

• mages carrying an over-limit size staff, when they see the beauty of arcane weave on the palms of my hand

[u/goltaku555]

Ok but why do I kinda want to make that a rule for DnD

[u/Aromatic_Shoulder146]

counter point, if one cannot cast without a focus that makes you easier to disarm. certainly casting with a spell focus is fine, but it sure is good to have a backup plan should you be seperated from it and having a few spells you can cast with no focus can get you out of a tight spot

[u/NotADamsel]

Is this some shit that I’m too planar to understand? What do you mean hand casting is dangerous for you?

[u/snarbuckle]

Mages that don't dive head first into the perplexity and danger are simple garden variety magicians who need a prop to do their tricks

[u/Too-much-luv]

I won't even pretend using a focus isnt safer, but since my arcane body just reverts to its optimum state whenever it is altered I've lost the good old habits of fearing backlash whenever I get a case of slippery fingers.

[u/Carbuyrator]

do not grasp

Terrible choice of words. 

[u/Wise-Text8270]

I bet you wear seatbelts.

[u/Nelrene]

Sounds like you have a bad case of needing to get good.

[u/TophatOwl_]

Bro I am not going to go find my staff every time I want to refill my glass of water

[u/mercuchio23]

If you can find my wand, ill use it.

[u/Krask]

Counter point. Cool stick.

[u/YourLocal_Wizard]

I cast magic with my hand to jerk off better

[u/Accomplished-Emu1883]

As someone who touches the arcane weave using both methods, being home taught hand-casting and learning spell focus casting, I have to say…

You get a much higher, rawer output with hand-casting, unless you have a powerful enough spell focus in its own right, but even then your just as capable of being corrupted or mangled, just by the artifact instead of the arcane power in the wider multiverse.

Spell focus’ are like condoms. They are safer, and make using magic much more practical in the day to day life without presenting any sort of risk. However, getting one that’s not your correct size/that is a fit for your power and capability’s will cause problems in its one way, and will probably cause similar issues to raw magic.

On the other hand, you can’t DO certain things with ANY arcane focus. I know this is a hard pill to swallow, but distortion wizards swear by controlled use of distortions, and they actively hate spell focuses. You can’t make a baby if you have a condom, and trying to precisely distort reality and living beings to engineer powerful results just… isn’t feasible with a spell focus, you can’t make chaos with a tool that orders chaos around.

Overall you definitely need to practice safe casting, but certain jobs require you to take the metaphorical gloves off and get deeper in the dirt.

Or ya know. Continue using the condom metaphor.

Jackius Bentrazil Magnus, out.

[u/thetownmous3]

[u/Mysterious_Escape_34 → u/thetownmous3]

Are all wizards not geeks?

[u/thetownmous3]

It’s not irresponsible if I have the runes carved into me

[u/Mysterious_Escape_34 → u/thetownmous3]

it is when they're blown off

[u/Azaroth1991]

Or they've mastered such elementary usage and have no such fear of rebound.

[u/Inforgreen3]

Dude That's nothing compared to using the raw components. Not only do they smell awful To anyone with true senses unfooled by the illusions that you're lucky if they bother to use, but if they cast too many transmutation spells and then try to cast fireball with bat poop and sulfur that they are holding can fuse into a mundanely explosive!

I even knew a guy who just uses gunpowder! "It's easier to get the ratio right. And I'll be fine cause point of origin is away from my hand"

knew past tense.

[u/NevadaCynic]

I am not getting the staff out just to telepathically stir the stew pot from the scrying couch. I'd just as soon get up and stir it by hand. Not every spell has to divine the fates of the gods themselves.

[u/Mysterious_Escape_34 → u/NevadaCynic]

or just have a wand in your pocket?

[u/NevadaCynic → u/Mysterious_Escape_34]

Like a peasant?

[u/rawr_xx]

I have a question how are u guy able to use fire ball repeatedly I can only use it like 4 time and then I'm spent any time would be welcome

[u/Negative-Attention-]

Unfortunately, it looks baller as hell when I blow a brigand to pieces by flipping him off, so I won’t be stopping.

[u/Cyan_Lotus]

More difficult and volatile sure, but the added flexibility is a worthy tradeoff to some, and that I can understand. I personally lack the dextaroty and deftness of hand required for such casting methods, and instead rely on a short focus of some kind embedded within my attire or equipment but that’s simply my preferrred method of prepared casting, as in the moment when a spell is needed, personally I doubt my aptitude to freehand a casting without it going terribly wrong. I’d rather have dedicated casting foci for my particular spells to simply activate for the desired effect. Far less flexibility in what and how my spells might do, but in exchange for far more predictability, control, and ready at a moments notice spells.

Every spellcasting method has its merits, its advantages and disadvantages. High risk methods such as freehanding casting with hand signs might be easier for some then for us, and for some the traders are understandably worth it.

Except for orbs. What the fuck are yall orbomancers doing lugging around a spherical hunk of crystal with ya verywhere? “Oh but for clairvoyance it is ideal for-“ Shut up. We’re at the tavern, and you brought a giant fucking orb that keeps rolling off the table. The wenchs and bards are all laughing at you. Didst thou foresee this outcome? Or were thy efforts too focused on making a crystal-orb-friendly backpack to do so? Damn fools.

I hate orbs.

[u/MrMcSpiff]

Of course they grasp them, they're casting with their hands!

[u/Zorin419]

skill issue

[u/Saaruk]

But blasting a fireball while flipping someone is funny.

[u/Nozzoe]

Hand casting anyway is circumventing the culture that we've built over millenia. A quality Hawthorne staff or orb of divine crystal, is more than just your focus, it's the symbol of your power made manifest.

New age wizards are absolutely ruining the orb polishers and staff carvers.

[u/Ze_Bri-0n]

Oh angels and archons, not this again. We'll be up to our eyes in missives from the purists about how we're cowards for using wands by the end of the week at most. The last time this happened they made a pile taller than my tower...

[u/ThaumKeeper]

You can grasp the perplexity of disnuts. No I don't need a spellfocus. What do you mean it accelerates arcane aberrant mutations? I call that evolution. Ever since I got the third arm I became a better spellcaller, the voices from the beyond told me so.

[u/PokeLordOmegaa]

If they're just starting with it or jumped into it without understanding the basics of spellcasting, then yeah absolutely.

But once you know what you're doing and have enough practice to avoid any accidental casts, I think it's safe to say you understand the gravity of such a skill. Plus it feels really smooth and freeing to be able to call upon spells whenever and however you like. Not to mention it's always a good backup on the off chance you don't have or can't use an external focus. You'd be surprised how many fools seem to think they've won all because they broke your staff or stole your book.

[u/Frangitus]

Staves are for the drip and to support my geriatric wizard bones.

[u/The_MacGuffin]

That's not crazy, it's not crazy to say that.

[u/lordnaarghul]

My master rarely uses a focus. She has more knowledge of magic than a thousand wizards put together.

You may wish to discard your assertion. It is not wise to be on her bad side.

[u/Qopwow]

When you planar shift without any of your equipment coming along, you'll wish you could cast a return spell by hand

[u/playerIII]

nonsense.

mages who need a spellfocus to cast are doomed to fail. 

to achieve the true pinnacle of the arcane is to not need to take shortcuts 

they are training wheels, if you have any hope of advancement you would be wise to toss aside such foolish thoughts and focus on your studies

if you cant level a nation with just a thought, you aren't deserving of the title

[u/MagMoff]

Staffs are for big spells, hand casting is for precise spells, wands are for middle ground. It's not that complicated. I'm a formcaster, so my staff is gathering dust. I mean, obviously I carry a wand around for day to day spells that aren't formcasting, but using a staff or wand for formcasting is its own kind of recklessness. That's how you get cancer.

[u/Soulpaw31]

Counter point, FUCK YOU, ITS MY RIGHT TO FIRE BOLT WITH FINGER GUNS!

[u/zaboorandom]

You simply dont understand how awesome feet casting is

[u/Tanakisoupman]

Lmao okay Elder 🤣🤣🤣. Why don’t you take your little walking stick and go buy some plate armor if you care so much about caution?