Okay, this is my kind of discussion. Love seeing all the answers here! My main, Devyn Piper, is a conjurer and some of this discussion is fairly important to how he became one and how he continues to practice as one.
Please bear with me, as I tend to write in a scatterbrained fashion.
Aetheric Source - In addition to what others have said (mostly Gegenji) I'd like to mention that I believe all jobs/classes draw from some internal reserve as well when they cast. What exactly does MP represent? Is it the body's capacity to channel aether without burning out? The actual pool of aether in one's body? I can't see it as the total amount available to you (other than those who draw solely from themselves such as summoner / scholar) because why wouldn't black/white mage have an infinite supply, or near as much as makes no difference?
I've always thought of it like so: Every casting class draws on their own personal aetheric reserves to cast spells. No matter where the bulk of your power comes from you can't just hope really hard and have some external source do all of the work for you. You start the casting using your own aetheric reserves to open the proper link between yourself and your magic's source, which provides the rest of the oomph for your spell. I think of it like a car's battery. Does the battery provide the power that makes the car drive around? No. Can you start the car driving around without the power from the battery? No. Does this fit within actual game lore? I have no idea, but it makes things make sense to me.
Focus/Weapon - Agree wholeheartedly with Gegenji on this. As far as casting with/without, I also RP the ability to cast minor spells without a specific focus, but require the higher end stuff or the more intricate/delicate stuff to need SOME kind of focus.
For example: One of Devyn's friends was about to get into a stupid fight the other day and he used his innate casting ability - no focus - to conjure a fist-sized rock hovering over his hand so he could threaten to bean the first moron to try turning the argument into a physical fight.
For higher end casting, however, he does need a focus. Being a conjurer these are fairly easy to find in one form or another, and I've RPed being able to use just about any natural wood in a pinch. Obviously it would be ineffective compared to a specially prepared staff or wand but in an emergency it could mean the difference between life and death. Is this actually plausible? I'm curious to know what the game says, but it does mention "unworked wood" somewhere so I thought it made sense that a conjurer, caught without his normal focus, could get a makeshift one out of nearby material.
Just my two gil worth!
[Edit: Sounsyy's post was not up yet when I hit reply to type mine. Always bringin' it with the lore! Feel free to tear my comments apart - I like being accurate.]
Please bear with me, as I tend to write in a scatterbrained fashion.
Aetheric Source - In addition to what others have said (mostly Gegenji) I'd like to mention that I believe all jobs/classes draw from some internal reserve as well when they cast. What exactly does MP represent? Is it the body's capacity to channel aether without burning out? The actual pool of aether in one's body? I can't see it as the total amount available to you (other than those who draw solely from themselves such as summoner / scholar) because why wouldn't black/white mage have an infinite supply, or near as much as makes no difference?
I've always thought of it like so: Every casting class draws on their own personal aetheric reserves to cast spells. No matter where the bulk of your power comes from you can't just hope really hard and have some external source do all of the work for you. You start the casting using your own aetheric reserves to open the proper link between yourself and your magic's source, which provides the rest of the oomph for your spell. I think of it like a car's battery. Does the battery provide the power that makes the car drive around? No. Can you start the car driving around without the power from the battery? No. Does this fit within actual game lore? I have no idea, but it makes things make sense to me.
Focus/Weapon - Agree wholeheartedly with Gegenji on this. As far as casting with/without, I also RP the ability to cast minor spells without a specific focus, but require the higher end stuff or the more intricate/delicate stuff to need SOME kind of focus.
For example: One of Devyn's friends was about to get into a stupid fight the other day and he used his innate casting ability - no focus - to conjure a fist-sized rock hovering over his hand so he could threaten to bean the first moron to try turning the argument into a physical fight.
For higher end casting, however, he does need a focus. Being a conjurer these are fairly easy to find in one form or another, and I've RPed being able to use just about any natural wood in a pinch. Obviously it would be ineffective compared to a specially prepared staff or wand but in an emergency it could mean the difference between life and death. Is this actually plausible? I'm curious to know what the game says, but it does mention "unworked wood" somewhere so I thought it made sense that a conjurer, caught without his normal focus, could get a makeshift one out of nearby material.
Just my two gil worth!
[Edit: Sounsyy's post was not up yet when I hit reply to type mine. Always bringin' it with the lore! Feel free to tear my comments apart - I like being accurate.]
