Magic

Pumping Up the "Magic" Factor
"So you have heard of a spell called lightning bolt and you wonder how this magic can be yours?" stated the sage. "I only know of one other mage who knew this spell and she is unlikely to teach it to you, nor do I recommend you try to steal it from her. That would be most unwise, young Bugstomper."
"Where did she acquire this arcane knowledge? Perhaps I could get the spell 'Lightning Bolt' the same way she did?" said the mage called Bugstomper.
"The way I heard it," whispered the sage, leaning close, "she acquired it from the cloud giant, Angrbodeus..."
Leaving his party of adventurers at the basecamp, Bugstomper started the long climb up the mountain. The stone steps winding their way around and around the mountain seemed endless and Bugstomper was glad for the draft of endurance potion he had purchased from the wise woman at the village below, even though it had cost him nearly all his savings. He thanked his good fortune that he has converted his gold into portable jewels before starting this quest. The villagers said the cloud giant, Angrbodeus, could be found at the top of the stairs when clouds covered the mountain peak.
Many hours later, as dusk drew near, Bugstomper rounded a bend and stopped short. There before him in the fading light stood a columned temple of giant proportions, shrouded in mist and shot through with the sun's last rays. He stumbled forward on legs that barely responded to his wish. He must enter the temple and find Angrbodeus!
Climbing the oversize steps proved almost too much for the exhausted mage, but at last he could use his arms as well as legs to propel himself upward. Passing between the colossal columns, Bugstomper seemed to enter another realm, one of splendor beyond imagine. Seated on a dais, a bearded figure lifted his gigantic head and emitted a thunderous laugh. "And who has come to disturb the quietude of Angrbodeus?" the giant queried.
In a voice shaky with fatigue and fear, for much depended on the outcome of this meeting, Bugstomper stated his name and the purpose of his quest. After agreeing to a price, the cloud giant taught Bugstomper the spell he sought, informing him that he would need to secure his own piece of fleece from the Sikelean sheep in order to cast the spell.
As he departed the temple and started down the stone stairs, Bugstomper practiced the incantation he had just learned. Of course, the spell would not actually work until he had a piece of  Sikelean sheep's fleece to rub. That should be no trouble, Bugstomper was sure his adventuring companions would be eager to accompany him to the island where he could find and slaughter a Sikelean sheep. He thought to himself, "I think there was something I recall hearing about a one eyed giant living on that island..." Then, "Wait a minute, my beard is white, so is my hair, and they've gotten longer! Oh, well, Angrbodeus said there was a price for such powerful knowledge."
Magic should be magical in our White Box or any other fantasy game. Mundane magic misses the entire point. There are many ways to make magic more "magical". The easiest involves colorful descriptions of the spell effects and involves no actual rule modifications. White Box magic is generally described as "Vancian" in reference to its similarity to magic in Jack Vance's Dying Earth stories. The spells in Mr. Vance's fiction have wonderful names and "mysterious" effects as well as being memorized and held in the magician's brain prior to casting. White Box states how many spells a Magic User may know and memorize. New spells can be rolled for or chosen when the MU levels up, alternately acquiring new spells can be an adventure in itself as described in the Bugstomper tale. In fact several aspects of making magic more magical are described in the short tale, used together they probably make magic a little too difficult to acquire for most gamer's taste. Bugstomper's magic has a cost in terms of turning his hair white/aging. He has to find someone to teach him the new spell and acquire a material component in order to cast it. Spells in White Box are somewhat unpredictable what with those spells affecting a target who generally gets a saving throw and other spells which do variable damage or affect a variable number of creatures. Many spells just go off as described with no surprises, however. The uncertainty of magic can make it more mysterious, dangerous and exciting. It isn't difficult to add mana, ley lines or other sources of magical power to one's campaign by house-ruling the White Box. The use of rituals can also add "flavor" and variety with little effort. Even the addition of a few rules that affect a few spells can spice up a milieu and keep things fresh for players in a long campaign.
Perhaps while adventuring on the Island of Sikel, Bugstomper learns of a spell of Water Breathing that can be earned from a certain skull of a drowned sorcerer and a really high level magic that enables the caster to Animate Dead. The latter spell supposedly exists in an ancient "living" tome held in a temple where vampires are known to perform their dark rites. Imagination is the only limit.