The lore book is helpful in this regard. 
Metaphysically, all of the different schools of magic are doing the same thing. As Kerin points out, they have rather significant paradigmatic and philosophical differences, particularly in how they're taught and how their practitioners view the world and magic. This means that there's a fair bit of overlap in the end result of their practices, even if the methods are rather different.
In terms of what you can actually do, consider the paradigm of the Discipline. Arcanima is based on geometries and its spells involve the manipulation of matter and motion. So, an arcanist wouldn't create a giant blast of fire; while they metaphysically could do so if they devised the proper mathematical formula for it, that wouldn't be the route they'd take. Instead, they would alter the properties of the object to accelerate its decomposition (which is, as the lore book points out, more or less what Tri-Disaster does). The arcanist thinks in these terms, and all of the spells she's been taught operate in those terms, so it's hard for her to step outside that box.
That said, arcanists can clearly break things. All of the Disciplines can produce protective barriers, whether personal (a thaumaturge's Manaward and Manawall) or protective of a group (Nymian arcanima's shields, astromancy's barriers, or a conjurer's Protect to deflect attacks). Both conjurers and thaumaturges can affect the mind, putting someone to sleep; arcanists and astromancers have less authority there, but that makes sense, given that their emphasis is on the immediate and physical or time and space, respectively.
More germane to RP, I think, is where you go from here with your concept. For most practicing mages, the concept that "magic is magic" isn't particularly well-liked ICly for a variety of reasons (not the least of which is rivalry among the guilds). A character who goes down that road is likely to encounter resistance, but this can make for some interesting RP on the philosophy of magic. If you specialize in one Discipline, it's important to consider both the fact that they have a bit of overlap and that there's just some things that a wielder of a Discipline just would not do. Conjurers don't focus their efforts on bigger and more impressive ways to destroy things, because that's not what their paradigm teaches. Arcanists don't muddle around in vague concepts like "meditation" and "feeling aether," because reality is math, dammit. They focus on what they can prove, not what they believe. This extends even to stretching the boundaries of a Discipline. An arcanist wouldn't muck with spells affecting the mind, because the mind is hard to conceptualize and harder to define mathematically. A thaumaturge isn't going to concern themselves with ways to heal injuries, because thaumaturgy is an art of endings.
As you can see, this is a topic of great interest to people who RP their characters as mages, particularly when they're magical researchers.
Page 8 Wrote:Manipulation of aether in a manner that deviates from its natural tendencies is what scholars call "magic." While the various schools of magic such as thaumaturgy and conjury all employ differing methods to achieve this goal, the basic concept is the same.
Metaphysically, all of the different schools of magic are doing the same thing. As Kerin points out, they have rather significant paradigmatic and philosophical differences, particularly in how they're taught and how their practitioners view the world and magic. This means that there's a fair bit of overlap in the end result of their practices, even if the methods are rather different.
In terms of what you can actually do, consider the paradigm of the Discipline. Arcanima is based on geometries and its spells involve the manipulation of matter and motion. So, an arcanist wouldn't create a giant blast of fire; while they metaphysically could do so if they devised the proper mathematical formula for it, that wouldn't be the route they'd take. Instead, they would alter the properties of the object to accelerate its decomposition (which is, as the lore book points out, more or less what Tri-Disaster does). The arcanist thinks in these terms, and all of the spells she's been taught operate in those terms, so it's hard for her to step outside that box.
That said, arcanists can clearly break things. All of the Disciplines can produce protective barriers, whether personal (a thaumaturge's Manaward and Manawall) or protective of a group (Nymian arcanima's shields, astromancy's barriers, or a conjurer's Protect to deflect attacks). Both conjurers and thaumaturges can affect the mind, putting someone to sleep; arcanists and astromancers have less authority there, but that makes sense, given that their emphasis is on the immediate and physical or time and space, respectively.
More germane to RP, I think, is where you go from here with your concept. For most practicing mages, the concept that "magic is magic" isn't particularly well-liked ICly for a variety of reasons (not the least of which is rivalry among the guilds). A character who goes down that road is likely to encounter resistance, but this can make for some interesting RP on the philosophy of magic. If you specialize in one Discipline, it's important to consider both the fact that they have a bit of overlap and that there's just some things that a wielder of a Discipline just would not do. Conjurers don't focus their efforts on bigger and more impressive ways to destroy things, because that's not what their paradigm teaches. Arcanists don't muddle around in vague concepts like "meditation" and "feeling aether," because reality is math, dammit. They focus on what they can prove, not what they believe. This extends even to stretching the boundaries of a Discipline. An arcanist wouldn't muck with spells affecting the mind, because the mind is hard to conceptualize and harder to define mathematically. A thaumaturge isn't going to concern themselves with ways to heal injuries, because thaumaturgy is an art of endings.
As you can see, this is a topic of great interest to people who RP their characters as mages, particularly when they're magical researchers.
The Freelance Wizard
Quality RP at low, low prices!
((about me | about L'yhta Mahre | L'yhta's desk | about Mysterium, the Ivory Tower: a heavy RP society of mages))
Quality RP at low, low prices!
((about me | about L'yhta Mahre | L'yhta's desk | about Mysterium, the Ivory Tower: a heavy RP society of mages))
