Wizards and Mages

[Tyranicus]

My wife asked me what the difference is between a wizard and a mage. I had to think about it for awhile. Let me stress I'm not singling out any one universe I'm just looking for the fundamental difference between the two. Here what I gathered so far from my own observations.

Wizard
A wizard is a board ranged magic user. Wizards study and experiment with magic. Wizards general have vast knowledge on many arcane subjects but usually have not mastered any particular field. Wizard require a focus object. A staff is preferred but other objects can suffice. Many wizards inscribe spells within tomes or parchment were they can be easily read.

Mage
A mage is innate spell caster, meaning they have a natural talent for spellcraft. Most Mages can cast spells using Arcane sources. Mages can focus their talents using primal or elemental magic. Fire, Water, Earth, Air. Mages typical use a staff or focus to augment their already vast power. Staffs also help focus the energies that Mages wield.

 

[soren7550]

I always figured it boiled down to that a wizard is a male magic user whereas a mage is a gender neutral term.

 

[KyuubiNoKitsune-Hime]

The recurring thread tends to be this in fiction:

Wizards(and Witches): Born with special magical powers, usually more powerful than those who just learn how to use magic.

Mages: Those who learn magic over time, usually specializing in a single field. It makes sense because mage is short for magician generally, and magicians learn their illusion(or magic in fiction).

 

[Queen Michael]

Oh, that's simple. A wizard is a magic-using man, while a mage is a Swedish belly.

 

[FalloutJack]

I kind of take the Ragnarok Online route: A mage is a person who uses magic decently, but is not a humongous expert, but a wizard is a master-level practicioner.

 

[Albino Boo]

Mage is the anglicisation of the Latin magus and wizard is a portmanteau word form the middle English wys (wise) -ard. They both have the same meaning its just Mage dropped out of common use and was revived by fantasy games to sound more mystical.

 

[RoBi3.0]

It has been my experience that the words are interchangeable and mean the same thing.

 

[DoPo]

It has been my experience that the words are interchangeable and mean the same thing.

Yes - they are. They both mean (more or less) "a wise man" as albino boo pointed out.

Unless there is a specific setting we're discussing, there is no difference.

Let me stress I'm not singling out any one universe I'm just looking for the fundamental difference between the two.

Then there is none. Most places actually use one or the other - occasionally you'd find a setting that has both and that may or may not differentiate between them in some way - it's not even necessarily going to be what you described - they could also be related to

- rank - one is a higher rank than the other. That may be purely formal (e.g., rank in an organisation) or ranked by skill level
- the type of magic they are tackling - for example, they both could be equivalent in "spellcasting ability" but one tackles elemental forces, the other - other kinds (they would depend on how the setting classifies its magic). And again, it may be a purely formal distinction - any spellcaster can do both kinds of magic, by these specialise (e.g., due to belinging to different organisations) or it could be a distinction of intrinsic ability (people are born one or the other).
- the way they are tackling magic - this one is very broad and includes your observation, but many more - for example, one could be a "generalist" the other a specialist spellcaster, or it could be that they use different "sources" for their magic, or that the universe fundamentally reacts different, even if they try to do the same thing.

There is no actual classification that can be done unless we're more specific.

 

[Knight Captain Kerr]

I wonder where the idea that only women are witches came from because historically speaking it isn't true. Both men and women were accused of witchcraft and labelled as witches.

Anyway in our world they basically mean the same thing, in fiction the difference between them depends on the setting.

 

[Nismu]

For me Mage is generic term of arcane magic user. including wizards, sorcerors, warlocks, witches.. though i guess it sometimes is just shortening of 'magic user' that would include clerics and other divine casters as well.
while wizard is more specific mage that uses intelligence based casting spellbooks, formulas and such, kinda like scientific magic.

pretty much dnd based i guess ( and yeah i know wizards were mages on 2e)

 

[Addendum_Forthcoming]

I don't know ....

'Mage/i' just seem to be all arcane magic users in concert and disciplines...

Whereas a 'Wizard' just seems to be one particularly type of willworker, with a particular path to their magic invocation.

---------------

In D&D 2e/3.x/3.5

'Mages' tended to be any arcane (as opposed to divine; Clerics, Druids, Paladins) magic users in concert with the idea of a sense of fellowship, or mutual characteristic by which magic dominated their utility.

'Champions' was a term used to connote a magical tradition based on the perseverence or observance of an element of transcendental power beyond that of mortal ken. Whether that be natural balance, faith, conviction in a deity's appointed task.


In World of Darkness;

'Mage' basically meant any person that hailed from the Watchtowers in either the Supernal Realms or (its profane mimicry) in the Abyss, and including a whole lot of magical traditions and 'legacies' by which one crafts their soul to be emblematic of their magical power. Whether it be Arcadian willworkers, to Shamans of some primordial essence of the flesh and shadow.

So that modern-day witch-doctor that Awakened? A mage. That modern-day martyr being touched by angels and lifted to a higher realm on some hostile battlefield after a hellish encounter with the enemy? A mage. That postal officer that sees past the Lie of the Fallen World in between the monotony of slotting letters into a V-Sort frame in a day of infallible order? Touched by the Contracts of the Fey and lifted up to become a mage.

That being said, you had 'gutter mages' who derived their magical power from entirely unawakened means.

But everyone had a 'touch' of magic possible in the World of Darkness. Anybody could learn the arcane secrets in the shadows of the world, if you wish to risk life and limb for it and challenge the omnipresent inky black creeping just outside your vision. A vampire's disciplines, a hunter joining a Tier 2 or 3 organization, a regular person searching out an arcane relic, a changeling who wields a sliver of the power of the Fey, etc.

But 'Mage' was the most magically potent of all the PC options.

-------------

In conclusion 'mage' and 'wizard' don't seem that much of a distinction depending on the internal lore.

 

[Scarim Coral]

From my experience (games and tv, films etc)-

Wizard- They tend to weild an item like staff and wand and it's pretty much a male only profession/ title. Also they are pretty strong in arcane magic.

Mage- They don't wield any item (well ok sometime a book) or channel their magic into their mouth (a vocal spell). Instead they either used their hands or chant it via their mouth. While they are also powerful but they seen to know more of the elemental magic. Also both male and female can be a mage.

Granted not all fitted into this vision I have of them (Tales from Earthsea there is such a thing called an "Archmage" who is a dude and had a staff and I once remember seeing a "female wizard").

 

[Breakdown]

Mages take pride in their appearance and material possessions.

Wizards are stinky tramps.

 

[GabeZhul]

I wonder where the idea that only women are witches came from because historically speaking it isn't true. Both men and women were accused of witchcraft and labelled as witches.

Anyway in our world they basically mean the same thing, in fiction the difference between them depends on the setting.

In some settings there are male witches, or rather "wytches". The change is because in the public conscious the original word became engendered, so they have to turn it back into a gender-neutral term.

As for the OP: It depends on the setting. As a general rule of thumb I tend to go with modified D&D rules.

-Wizards are arcane spellcasters who have to learn spells through study and experience, but they can do anything and can come up with new spells.

-Sorcerers are innate spellcasters who have a narrow range of talents but they can improve rapidly.

-Espers/Psykers are innate spellcasters with a very narrow, often very specific talent which might or might not get power-ups as the story progresses.

-Warlocks are either innate or arcane spellcasters who got their narrow but powerful powers from demons, devils or other nasties.

-Druids/Wytches are natural casters with a wide range of spells and abilities, all of which are restricted to nature.

-Clerics/Priests are divine casters who get their narrow range of powers from gods or other divine beings.

-Magicians are Penn and Teller.

-All of the above are different kinds of Mages, as they are all magic users in one way or another.

 

[Drops a Sweet Katana]

One word has one syllable, the other has two. That's about it. The meaning will change from property to property, but on average they are interchangeable.

 

[DoPo]

In World of Darkness;

'Mage' basically meant any person that hailed from the Watchtowers in either the Supernal Realms or (its profane mimicry) in the Abyss

For completeness' sake: in the old World of Darkness, mages had both similar and also widely different concept. The similarities are that they wield true magick, and to do that they also Awaken. The difference is that there isn't an objective higher magic that has always existed, but rather, they get their power from within. Once Awakened, they can literally shape the world to their will.

In both settings and Sleeper could Awaken and their ultimate goal (more or less universally) is Ascension, the differences lies in between and it's more conceptual - in old Mage, willworkers chant spells or draw circles, or use amazingly advanced gadgets because this helps them focus their power to change the world. In new Mage, they could do the same, but it helps them because it improves the connection to the Supernal realms and thus makes channeling the true laws of the universe easier.

And here is another fundamental difference between the two settings - in both, the mages are "suppressed" for a lack of a better shared description of their situation. In nWoD they are trapped in a false reality[footnote]what can, somewhat accurately, be described by picturing the Matrix. Only once you get out, you get magical powers.[/footnote] while the ones in oWoD are trapped in a reality that is...well, all too real, actually, yet it doesn't fit their type of spellcasting. In both cases this means that when a mage throws a fireball that's an Incorrect Thing, according to the cosmos and usually Bad Things Happen. In nWoD, that's due to the Exarchs who erected the Lie in the first place in order to trap humanity there, while they wanted to have all magic for their selves. In oWoD, it's because in the late Medieval period, a group of mages wanted to protect the world from the supernatural, so...they managed to convince everybody that it didn't exist - the nature of Reality is that it can be reshaped by anybody, the majority of the population who are unAwakened, essentially outvote the Awakened.

That being said, you had 'gutter mages' who derived their magical power from entirely unawakened means.

These would be a variety of users of Low magic - there are a bunch of them, including Thaumaturges cultists of (essentially) Cthulhu, some immortals and others. They all circumvent the Supernal magic by tapping into powers available in the Lie.

In old World of Darkness, mortal mages were (mostly) called sorcerers or hedge mages. They were not too dissimilar to Thaumaturges from nWoD - they get their power by exploiting existing laws in the world. The difference between them and the Awakened is perhaps subtle from the outside (they would both wave their hands and produce a strange effect) but their powers work fundamentally different. Imagine a sorcerer and a mage need some money, and decide to get some from a person. Let that person represent the universe. A sorcerer would ask politely, for which they may get some change, while a mage would mug the guy. That's more or less the essential difference - sorcerers know specific actions which would yield some result, while mages do actions to distract the universe as they transform the universe into the desired result. This makes Awakened magick far more potent...and far more dangerous, too, as the universe itself snaps back at them when they push it.

 

[Aerosteam]

To everyone who thinks wizards are the male version of witches:

Spoiler

They're not, it's actually WARLOCKS.

Anyway, I think mage is the generic term for a magic user whereas wizard is someone who specializes in elemental magic.

 

[Eddie the head]

"A mage is like a wizard only not as cool." Really it just comes down to whatever. Define it however you want or need at the time. A rat could starve on the difference between the two.

 

[Addendum_Forthcoming]

In World of Darkness;

'Mage' basically meant any person that hailed from the Watchtowers in either the Supernal Realms or (its profane mimicry) in the Abyss

For completeness' sake: in the old World of Darkness, mages had both similar and also widely different concept. The similarities are that they wield true magick, and to do that they also Awaken. The difference is that there isn't an objective higher magic that has always existed, but rather, they get their power from within. Once Awakened, they can literally shape the world to their will.

In both settings and Sleeper could Awaken and their ultimate goal (more or less universally) is Ascension, the differences lies in between and it's more conceptual - in old Mage, willworkers chant spells or draw circles, or use amazingly advanced gadgets because this helps them focus their power to change the world. In new Mage, they could do the same, but it helps them because it improves the connection to the Supernal realms and thus makes channeling the true laws of the universe easier.

And here is another fundamental difference between the two settings - in both, the mages are "suppressed" for a lack of a better shared description of their situation. In nWoD they are trapped in a false reality[footnote]what can, somewhat accurately, be described by picturing the Matrix. Only once you get out, you get magical powers.[/footnote] while the ones in oWoD are trapped in a reality that is...well, all too real, actually, yet it doesn't fit their type of spellcasting. In both cases this means that when a mage throws a fireball that's an Incorrect Thing, according to the cosmos and usually Bad Things Happen. In nWoD, that's due to the Exarchs who erected the Lie in the first place in order to trap humanity there, while they wanted to have all magic for their selves. In oWoD, it's because in the late Medieval period, a group of mages wanted to protect the world from the supernatural, so...they managed to convince everybody that it didn't exist - the nature of Reality is that it can be reshaped by anybody, the majority of the population who are unAwakened, essentially outvote the Awakened.

That being said, you had 'gutter mages' who derived their magical power from entirely unawakened means.

These would be a variety of users of Low magic - there are a bunch of them, including Thaumaturges cultists of (essentially) Cthulhu, some immortals and others. They all circumvent the Supernal magic by tapping into powers available in the Lie.

In old World of Darkness, mortal mages were (mostly) called sorcerers or hedge mages. They were not too dissimilar to Thaumaturges from nWoD - they get their power by exploiting existing laws in the world. The difference between them and the Awakened is perhaps subtle from the outside (they would both wave their hands and produce a strange effect) but their powers work fundamentally different. Imagine a sorcerer and a mage need some money, and decide to get some from a person. Let that person represent the universe. A sorcerer would ask politely, for which they may get some change, while a mage would mug the guy. That's more or less the essential difference - sorcerers know specific actions which would yield some result, while mages do actions to distract the universe as they transform the universe into the desired result. This makes Awakened magick far more potent...and far more dangerous, too, as the universe itself snaps back at them when they push it.

Ahhh... I should have said 'NWoD' mage. Anyway, yeah. WoD in general. NwoD had hedge wizards innnnn Second Sight supplement? But yeah, WoD had magic a-plenty, but the most powerful practitioners available in general to PCs were Mages in the M:tA game. But depending on your outlook, certain qualities of all the splats (WWerewolf, vampire, mage, Sin-Eater, etc) had 'magic'.