Will Byers (Noah Schnapp) has a deep connection with his Dungeons and Dragons character, wizard Will the Wise. Sometimes he dresses up in a suit and has the character's name written on his fortress in the forest. When Will the Wise is defeated in battle by the demon lord Demogorgon in Stranger Things series premiere, it foreshadows Will's kidnapping later in the episode.
This connection was reinforced in the season two episode “Will the Wise”, where it was revealed that Will had returned from the Upside Down and was connected to the dark force residing there. But in season five, Dungeon Master Mike Wheeler (Finn Wolfhard) proves that Will is less like a wizard and more like a sorcerer, giving the character an idea crucial to the group's survival. But to follow along, you need to understand exactly what the difference is between a wizard and a sorcerer in D&D. Don't worry, we're here to help.
[Ed. note: The following contains major spoilers for Stranger Things season 5, volume 2]
In the third episode, it looks like the demogorgons are going to kill Will and his mom Joyce (Winona Ryder) until they stop dead in their tracks. Mike states that Will may have instinctively used his powers to control them, which gave him the idea to use his connection to the hivemind in episode 4 “Sorcerer”. Drawing inner strength from his happiest memories, he is able to kill several Demogorgons and save his friends.
Wizards vs. Sorcerers in Dungeons and Dragons
In D&D, wizards and sorcerers are arcane spellcasters capable of using the most powerful offensive magic in the game, such as the fireball that Will the Wise used against the in-game Demogorgon in the first episode of the show. The main difference is how they gain their powers. Wizards learn magic from spellbooks, compiling their knowledge into volumes that they must review every day and memorize for use in battle.
Mike calling Will a wizard is an anachronism, as the class wasn't introduced until 2000, after Wizards of the Coast bought D&D publisher TSR and released a new version of the game. The 3rd Edition rules added the sorcerer as a slightly easier way to play as a spellcaster, since they don't have to choose which spells to prepare each day or manage a long selection from their spellbook. Instead, sorcerers have a more limited number of spells that they can cast again after a good night's sleep, but they have the advantage of being able to cast them more often than wizards.
Magic comes easier to magicians because they are born for it. Most 3rd edition wizards are descended from dragons. While wizards rely on their intellect to study books, a sorcerer manifests his magic through the power of his personality. Mike's advice is even more anachronistic because it wasn't until 5th Edition in 2014 that the D&D class began to represent a wide range of bloodlines, such as ties to celestials, fey, and demons. (Paizo Pathfinder Roleplaying Game, which uses the basic D&D 3.5 rules, introduced a wide range of magical bloodlines in 2008.)
2020 D&D Book Cauldron of everything Tashi introduced the wizard of the Aberrant Mind, a spellcaster who possesses psychic abilities from contact with alien influence. This descriptor fits Henry Creel (Jamie Campbell Bower) very well, who got my powers from the influence of a force from another dimension. This also applies to Eleven (Millie Bobby Brown) and her sister. Kali (Linnea Berthelsen)as both gained their powers from being imbued with Henry's tainted blood. This means that Dr. Kay (Linda Hamilton) is essentially trying to use Kali to create a new army of sorcerers.
In fact, Will is a sorcerer
Except that maybe Will isn't actually a wizard. One big difference between Will and Eleven is highlighted by the way the characters move their arms when using their abilities—what D&D would call somatic components. Schnapp explained the difference during a virtual roundtable attended by Polygon.
“It was supposed to be the same outstretched arm that Millie uses, but it wouldn't make sense because in the second volume [the Duffers] explained that [Will’s] abilities come in different ways,” he said. “They're not innate. They're from Vecna. So replacing it with an outstretched hand to show he was pumping it out made more sense.”
This is not a sorcerer. This is a warlock, a type of D&D spellcaster who draws powers directly from a powerful patron with his own goals. Warlocks usually gain their power from making pacts – such as the classic pact with the devil – but they may serve willingly or seek to undermine their patron's plans. They are also the vessels that these powerful beings use to work their will on the world, much like Vecna ​​used Will to build tunnels throughout Hawkins. Now Vecna ​​is trying to realize his plans by concluding contracts with a large number of children, under the guise of goodwill Mister What to force them to volunteer to serve him.
Calling Will a sorcerer would still be anachronistic, but not as anachronistic since the concept was first introduced as a variant of the wizard in the 1990 book. Complete Wizard's Guide. It became a full class in D&D 3.5 and one of the core D&D classes in 4E. This is a dangerous way to gain power from another entity, as Will learned when Vecna ​​kept him in a trance and forced him to reveal information. But Will's new abilities are sure to be extremely important to protecting Hawkins in the series finale.
First seven episodes Stranger Things Season five is available to stream now on Netflix, with the finale airing on New Year's Eve.
