An alternative to Vancian magic for rpg’s

From the 1st Edition d&d player’s handbook:

“A mysterious chaotic unstable force permeates the very air we breath, most are oblivious to its existence, but there are those learned and reckless enough to tap into its vastness, and at any cost untold power and vision will be theirs.

Every day the Magic-User will sit down with their spellbook to memorise a certain number of….”

To hell with that.

Mysterious Chaotic Force? Learned practitioners that recklessly tap into vast, eldritch energies for power and vision at any cost? When I think of that, I don’t think of calmly sitting down with a book and writing in it like it’s my diary, NO!

I think of bargains struck with the forces of darkness, demons and worse things out there. I think of words of power shouted into the hurricane that is forming at arms length, as the very air crackles, writhes, and twists in on itself. I think of Stormbringer and the Lich King and the Dark Portal and the Rings of Power.

Those things exist in RPG’s, but they are quantified. Knowable. Almost yawn-inducing. “Oh, a plus one sword. Add it to the pile. Ring of Wizardry? I have a feat that does that already.” “How many experience points until 5th level? I wanna cast a fireball…”

It’s too mundane, too steady, almost scientific. I want to bring mystery and danger back to spell-casting, and uniqueness to magic items.

To that end, let’s break the Vancian system, and try something new.