Y’shtola has Stone IV, Foul, Blizzard IV, Aero, Water, and Thunder spells, and is called a Sorceress.
Alphinaud is an Academician, so he gets to have Scholar spells while keeping his carbuncle. Minfillia was able to cast spells as a Rogue. Urianger has a Death spell as an Astrologian.
Basically, don’t let your dreams be dreams. Have your character know whatever skills/spells you want, and if people call it lore breaking or Mary Sue tell them you don’t care. And that’s that.
THIS!!
I remember thinking about this when they showed off the trust system menu. I thought about it even more going through the MSQ and seeing their other abilities in cutscenes. I get lore is important to some but this is throwing wide the gates of possibilities. Let your characters learn/do whatever they want and have fun!
IMPORTANT! Because doing this with your own characters is actually not lore breaking/bending at all.
People who’ve known me for a while have probably heard this speech before, but what defines a Disciple of Magic class or job in this world has nothing to do with what spells they cast! It has everything to do with how those spells are cast. How do they manipulate aether? How do they focus that aether into a spell? And sometimes what medium are used to facilitate spellcasting. These are the things that define a mage, not what spells they cast.
For example, in lore a conjurer has access to all six elements: Wind, Lightning, Fire, Earth, Ice, Water. Y’shtola was originally trained as a Sharlayan conjurer. Thus, she has access to spells of all those elements. But how she casts those spells now as a “sorceress” might be different than what we, at a glance, might suspect from a conjurer, white mage, or black mage on the Source. It might be the same, just with a different name like how the WoD mage was a “Magus”.
Alphinaud isn’t a Scholar, because he doesn’t have a faery companion, or training as a Nymian Scholar. But he is a Sharlayan trained arcanist versed in healing magicks. Likewise, Urianger may be casting spells in the manner of a Sharlayan Astrologian, but he’s versed in other forms of magic from before, like arcanima. Those spells don’t necessarily go away just because you pick up a different tool… but you might have to reinvent how you work the spell!
A great example of this is Red Mage! They cast spells that were originally used by Black Mages and White Mages. The difference isn’t in the spells they cast, but again, it’s how they cast them that distinguishes them from their predecessors - casting using only internal aether.
So as @noscean-scholar said, don’t let your dreams be dreams! Just because we’re limited by the battle mechanics of the game, does not mean your characters have to suffer that same limitation. Mages invent spells. They come up with new incantations, geometries, and more efficient means of spellcasting. Just remember, it’s all about the “how” that defines the magic you use, not the “what” you’re casting.
