MAGIC

Schools and Understanding

Forgotten Realms

Magic was the ability possessed by some individuals to manipulate the ambient energies of the world to produce desired results, or so most thought. In the Realms, arcane magic was commonly referred to as "the Art", while divine magic was referred to as "the Power". In addition to granting spellcasting abilities, magic was an influential force in the Realms. It served as the source of energy for enchanted items, allowed people to travel across the world and through the extra-planar cosmology and even shaped the physical landscape of the planet. The basic essence of magic was known as raw magic.
The goddess MYSTRA controlled the WEAVE which was the main medium for channeling the arcane energies of the world. The goddess SHAR controlled the SHADOWWEAVE, a dark and distorted imitation of the WEAVE which flowed in-between its empty space. Divine magic was drawn from specific deities and not influenced by either MYSTRA or SHAR as evidenced by the fact it continued to work when arcane magic ceased to function. Historically this made it the most reliable form of magic.
Divine Magic Magic that originated from a spell-granting deity, usually through prayer, was considered divine in nature and called the Power by the common folk. Clerics, druids, paladins, rangers and others all derived their spells and spell-like-abilities from their deity. A practitioner of the Power had no affinity with the Art, as their spells were planted in their minds directly by their patron deity, and they did not tap the WEAVE. Casting divine spells was more like an exclamation of faith that brought about a sensation appropriate to the patron deity to whom the faith was devoted.
Arcane Magic Any magic that didn't originate from a deity was defined as arcane magic. The use of arcane magic was referred to in day-to-day speech as the Art, and a wide variety of people were able to practice it, to a small or larger extent, though the way in which they accessed the WEAVE differed dramatically.
Most wizards spent long years researching their art, gathering spells to their personal book, and each day they could only memorize a small fraction of these. The memory of the spell is wiped from his or her mind as it was cast. The wizard had to re-study the spell before he or she can cast it again, unless more than one casting of the spell in question was prepared. This changed at the conclusion of the SPELLPLAGUE when the goddess MYSTRA was reborn, and the casting of magic changed once again with her rebirth. Spells only require preparation once per day and are not forgotten upon casting, meaning that as long as the wizard has spell slots, the spell can be cast repeatedly.
Sorcerers, also known as innanoths, for their innate mastery of the WEAVE, were not required to research spells. They tapped into the WEAVE in a more direct manner, but because of this, the selection of spells available to a sorcerer was more limited than those available to a wizard.
Warlocks gained access to their arcane power by forging pacts with supernatural beings of the Realms, such as powerful aberrations from the depths of the Underdark, or even the ancient fey of Evermeet. Even bards of the Realms had access to the WEAVE to use certain magical abilities. Some, such as assassins and swordmages, could blend their arcane gifts with martial prowess.
Schools Schools of magic, also known as schools of philosophy, were categories into which spells were organized by function. Spells were created by wizards with these schools in mind, though divine spells fell within these preset categories as well. Still, there were also some spells that defied categorization within a school.

-Abjuration : A collection of spells of a protective nature.
-Transmutation : Formerly also known as alteration, these spells could transform the nature of the physical world or objects in it.
-Conjuration : This group of spells created or transported people, energy or objects.
-Divination : This school had fewer spells than others, but allowed the caster to see things that they normally would not be able to.
-Enchantment : An area of arcane study that specialized in manipulating the minds of others.
-Evocation: Although spells of this school seemingly created effects out of nothing, they drew raw power from out of the WEAVE.
-Illusion : This school was almost a secret society prior, even possessing their own language. Their spells were those that fooled the senses.
-Necromancy : A dichotomous school that wielded positive energy into healing spells, and negative energy to effect both the dead and undead.
-Universal : A small number of spells were not associated with any school but universally available, even to specialists.
Raw Magic Raw magic was a powerful force, locked within all matter, that was difficult and dangerous for even the most patient of mortals to wield. -Mana: Also referred as "spell power", this form of raw magic appeared as a golden light and was gathered through meditation. -Spellfire: This rare, supernatural-arcane ability was refined and controlled raw magic, drawing the living energy from diverse sources throughout the world. This manifested in a variety of ways, such as destructive silver bolts, healing radiance of silver light or white-hot jet of consuming energy. It was believed to uniquely manifest in a single person once per generation, granting the wielder magnificent feats capable of great magical transference or absolute mass destruction. -Wild magic: Areas where the WEAVE had been badly damaged, which produced wild magic effects, were scattered sporadically throughout the world, similarly to dead-magic zones. They caused spells and spell-like abilities cast within their borders to exhibit random complications like spell failure, effects rebounding back to the caster, or random creatures being assigned as a spell's target, among others. Study of these effects inspired the development of a thaumaturgical school of magic.