Mage Character Research

As a mage is possibly going to be a character type that I am making, I am going to do some research into Mages in hopes that it will widen my knowledge about mages so I can successfully create a mage character.

Mages, otherwise known as Wizards, Sorcerers, Witches, Warlocks, Magis, Magus's, Sages and Magicians primarily use magic powers. In any game with classes, there will always be one that maps to the Magician. These have the widest variety of any set of role-playing classes because there are so many varieties of functional magic.

A mage usually has high attack, blasting away at long range, but can easily get taken down at close rage. They usually have lower health compared to other classes.

Some variations: (These descriptions are taken directly from http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/FantasyCharacterClasses)

The Inherent Gift Magician: Other Names: Sorcerer. This magic-user was born with abilities they don't need to study, and can use more readily than other Magicians. This is sometimes explained as being descended from a magical creature, other times as being part of a Witch Species. However, they are often much less versatile than other magic-users, being limited to a smaller or much more tightly-themed pool of spells. Commonly, their powers manifest at adolescence.

The Theurgist: Other Names: Warlock. The Magician makes a pact with a higher spirit who supplies him with magical powers. This is usually flavored with a deal with the devil. While healing class pacts are seen as good, a Magician that makes a pact with an entity that gives them the power to harm or destroy is usually flavored in a darker light - and it may turn out to be with demons or Eldritch Abominations. Thus, this type of magic is usually heavily offensive and nasty, dealing heavy area damage.

The Summoner: Other Names: Conjurer. A higher level in which the caster summons the entity to them to do its bidding. Usually even more dangerous than regular Theurgists. Usually supplemented with some magic of another type. If the summoned entity sticks around for a while to assist the summoner, then they may learn magic that allows them to support it. If the summoned entity simply uses a single powerful attack or ability before vanishing, then the summoner is likely to have weaker abilities of roughly the same type, with the summons themselves serving as a form of Limit Break.

The Vancian Magician: Other Names: Wizard, among many others. These casters rely on Rule Magic and study to learn and wield magic, usually taking years, leaving their bodies squishy and out of shape... most of the time. Dusty tomes and candlelit towers are what you should associate with these guys. If there's a distinction between this and the Inherent Gift Magician, it will be that these ones have some kind of limitation — like needing to prepare which spells they'll use ahead of time — in exchange for more versatility if prepared.

The Red Mage: A Magician who does not specialize in one school or tradition and studies the magic of various types. They tend to be rare, and depending on which limitations they have, may be very powerful thanks to their versatility or very weak thanks to their lack of focus. In any case, they usually aren't able to use the more complex spells their specialized brethren use, or at least not nearly as often. Of all the kinds of Magician, they tend to be the most open minded and least prone to think there are Unequal Rites. May also have more physical prowess than most other mages to be even more versatile.

The Necromancer: A magic-user who wields power over the dead, blood, and "death energy". They're usually antagonists, but if Dark Is Not Evil, may be a playable class. Often they employ a Zerg Rush - creating hordes of weak undead and sending them after a problem till it dies. Any other abilities will likely be curses that weaken or sap away strength. Very often also a form of Black Mage, especially if an alternative more versatile battle mage is not available.

The Illusionist: A magic-user who casts illusions. Generally considered weak, with no real damage output, and has been phased out of most settings - their abilities are generally given to characters with Psychic powers and Bards.

The Nature Magician: Wields power over the natural world, often including elements, animals, and plants.

The Elementalist: A specialized mage who can only use Elemental Powers in some way. They may be able to use all the elements, or may specialize in one or two. Often, they are the key to winning Elemental Rock-Paper-Scissors in their setting. May sometimes come with a pact with - and optionally summon - Elemental Embodiment.

The Druid: A jack of all trades nature Magician. They often have a mix of elemental offense, healing, and the ability to morph into animals or elemental spirits to become melee fighters. To further the overlap with the Cleric classes, is often a "worshiper" of nature.

The Shaman: A nature Magician with a Summoner twist. This class generally revolves around bargaining with spirits and building a Place of Power for yourself. (Although since a story about someone who stays in the same place is likely to get boring, this place may become more or less mobile in practice.)

I've began with gathering examples of mage characters:

As you can see many mages wear long robes, which could suggest religion. Many of the clothing mage's wear looks very similar to, maybe even inspired by robes of monks, or christian style dress.

We also see mages generally using staffs or magic wands as their source of magic, though some can summon magic from their hands.

Mages can be good or evil, from novice to very powerful. Sometimes mages have certain themes, for example fire, frost & shock (like in the elder scrolls universe). They usually have "mana", which once delepted they cannot cast more spells. This usually regenerates over time, and generally the more powerful a mage the more mana they have. Small smells require less mana than huge spells.

A common theme in fiction is that the ability to use magic is rare or gained through a large amount of study or practice. Mages also generally learn spells through books or spell tomes.

Many mages live medieval settings in which their magic is not put to practical use in society; they may serve as mentors, act as quest companions, or even go on quests themselves. But their magic does not build roads or buildings, provide immunizations, construct indoor plumbing, or do any of the other functions served by machinery; their worlds remain at a medieval level of technology.

This got me thinking about what time setting I am going to set my general idea in. I never really thought about it until now but I think I assumed that it would be modern times considering I am using magical girls, whom are all mostly set in modern times with technology. What would a modern mage look like? What kind of world am I going to set my idea in? I really need to think about this as the kind of world and time set its in it will definitely affect the overall design of my characters. Could I make some sort of tech mage? Or is it okay to make a complete fantasy style character in the modern day?

I created a mind map, desconstructing everything a mage is:

Conclusion:

Rsearching the mage class has made me further understand what a mage is and all the sub-types there are, which I can apply to designing my character as in what type of mage they will be, if they will be a mage at all.

Looking into the character design of mages made me notices that robes are frequently used, and the link it has with religion.

I also now question what type of world my characters will be living in. Past, present or future? How will the time setting impact my story, and how will it also affect the design of my characters?

Whats next?

Continuing research of the classes!