I understand that, if players are going to be using magic, there

>>48681468
All of those settings suck though.

>>48681747
Why don't you list some settings you think are good instead of indiscriminately shitting on what other people like?

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>>48681468
OP you shouldn't take the opinions of the extreme minority of /tg/ autists as representative of prevalent thought in tabletop or fantasy fandoms.

>>48681787

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>>48681747

>>48681747
>Nehwon
>bad
Shit taste confirmed.

>>48681468
Because "Lol, a wizard did it" is boring and unsatisfying from a story perspective. It always comes off as the author going, "Okay, I can't come up with an in-setting justification for this next bit but I want something to happen so just shut the fuck up and ignore the nonsense I'm about to spew."

Plus, how does explaining how something works strip it of its excitement? I know how a handgun works pretty damn accurately. They are still some horrifying, fascinating little tools.

>>48683825
No, they're not. They're boring as fuck if you're not already interested in them. Point, shoot, something dies or close. That's. Way. Boring.

>>48683825
You can easily have poorly-explained magic without it becoming a Deus Ex Machina, you fucking tool. All that needs to be explained is what the magic does; how it does it is irrelevant in most cases. A spell that conjures an exploding ball of flame in the caster's hand, then propels it away at high speed in the direction the caster is pointing, will have the same effect on the plot regardless of it's inner workings.

The spell could involve manifesting one's inner energy as directed flame, or summoning a flame spirit from the elemental plane of fire. But none of that matters if it never affects the plot, or is affected by it. If the caster wandered into an anti-elemental-summoning field, then of course the mechanics of their spells would matter. If the caster was in the middle of a battle, and had just spent 10 straight minutes casting fireballs, then it would be helpful for the audience to know how tiring casting fireballs is, so they can grasp how much danger the caster is in (if any).

>>48684324
>They're boring as fuck if you're not already interested in them.
As opposed to some fop in a pointy hat waving his arms about wildly, speaking gibberish and spilling god only knows what sort of liquids about, and then something dies or vanishes or what have you?
Magic is not some special always interesting thing. Knowing EXACTLY how the wizard can shoot a fireball from his finger and having a pretty good idea of how much damage it will do to the unfortunate goblin, doesn't make the spectacle of it any less interesting. Assuming you were inclined to find it interesting in the first place. Otherwise, it's just yet another instance of the old fop wasting time showing off, instead of just stabbing the little fuckers.

>>48685232
>Otherwise, it's just yet another instance of the old fop wasting time showing off, instead of just stabbing the little fuckers.

He's not showing off. He doesn't have the skill with swords to kill goblins. That's why he's using a fireball spell in the first place, you goddamned clown.

You wouldn't be calling him a show-off if his target was a master swordsman in solid steel plate, would you? Why fuck around with a sword he doesn't know how to use and get killed, when he could just roast said swordsman alive, through his armour, from 20 feet away?

>>48681468
>this recent trend
>Sanderson does it
One author does not a trend make, OP. Can you point to any other franchises where this happens? I'm aware Brent Weeks did something comparable with the Luxin Drafting that magicians use in his Lightbringer series, but I'm stumped trying to name a third example.

>>48683825
So you give some of the broad strokes and then don't let the heroes use magic to solve their problems, but instead you use magic to PRESENT the problems.

>That dude summoned zombies! We gotta fight 'em with swords!
And then later
>Wait, he appears to be using some book! We should steal it!
>It's a ritual worship book centered around venerating and drawing magic from some evil ancient human who made himself into a monster to avoid death.

A couple sessions later, the party finds out there's a weird cult worshiping The Undying One. They investigate to discover some of the same symbols in their hidden house of worship that are in the book, and the pieces click together

At the end, they kill a lich and, all their magic taken away, most of the cultists flee the city.

How is that not more interesting than the players knowing every single thing about magic from the outset, including what liches are and whether they can grant spells?

>>48686614
The trend is readers/players wanting that kind of magic. I mean, there are some settings that have done it to a lesser extent in the past, but probably not to the degree of Sanderson.

Because weird handwavy woo woo magic is literally ALWAYS, and in EVERY CASE, deus ex machina. You fucking idiot plebs.

>>48688976
No you.