LogFAQs > #967559172

Lokarin posted...

What's the difference between a mage warlock enchanter sorcerer etc?

Depends on the context.

As others have pointed out, in D&D it's mostly a question of how you learned magic. A sorcerer has innate power, a wizard studies, a warlock makes a bargain with dark gods. An enchanter is a specific type of wizard (one who uses enchantment magic), and a mage (or magic user) is just shorthand for any type of spellcaster.

In other games it can have other meanings - in Mage: the Ascension, for instance, a mage is someone who does True Magic while a sorcerer is someone who does Hedge Magic, and most other terms aren't really used (though someone might use wizard as a nickname for Hermetic mages or warlock for a Verbena or Nephandus).

In real life the terms are mostly interchangeable and mean the exact same thing. And mostly mean someone who does dark magic (even necromancer started out meaning that, not specifically someone who raises the dead). About the only real distinction is that warlock is often used for a male witch, or just someone who directly makes a pact with the Devil for magic. But the implication is that sorcerers, enchanters, wizards, necromancers, nigromancers, thaumaturgists, telergists, and most other classifications are all doing the same thing anyway.

About the only real exception is magician, which used to mean the same thing, but now has sort of morphed into only meaning people who do stage magic (ie, fake magic). Which is sort of where terms like illusionist and conjurer have gone as well.