A theory of Magic

[mythusmage]

There's a new Mythus Mutters over at the D20 Magazine Rack. It's the essay on magic I promised after that theory of magic thread I started some time ago. Rather than put an extra-long posting here, I decided to post it as an article over there. So go take a look, then come back here at let me know what you think.

 

[wizardoftheplains]

Hi Mythus-
I took this from your essay- "So the more you try to change, the greater the degree of change, and the further away the item is you are trying to change, the greater the effort needed to change it. Which means that changing a one ton demon one thousand miles away into a 5 pound puppy involves magic on the quasi-deital scale at the very least."

I tend to agree, and this could be the start of a very interesting magic system. Where difficulty is calculated by distance, size, degrees in separation of states of matter (change blade of grass to steel sword), resistance to change of present state (saving throw), etc. etc.

3e touches on this a bit, so does 2e, and 1st. And this appears in 'craft your own spell difficulty' rpgs like Castle Falkenstein, etc.

But it could wreck havoc on speed of gameplay (depending upon style of dm and players). This would work well in a fully computerized D and D rpg though.

Player "I summon Hitler from across time and space to Faerun changing him into an orc in the process."
Computer quickly runs the numbers.
.001% chance of an orc showing up with a tiny black mustache.

Thanks for pointing me to that site. I rarely go to that url.
gary

 

[Gellion]

Cant magic ever just be, well magical.

 

[mythusmage]

I tend to agree, and this could be the start of a very interesting magic system. Where difficulty is calculated by distance, size, degrees in separation of states of matter (change blade of grass to steel sword), resistance to change of present state (saving throw), etc. etc.

3e touches on this a bit, so does 2e, and 1st. And this appears in 'craft your own spell difficulty' rpgs like Castle Falkenstein, etc.

But it could wreck havoc on speed of gameplay (depending upon style of dm and players). This would work well in a fully computerized D and D rpg though.

Player "I summon Hitler from across time and space to Faerun changing him into an orc in the process."
Computer quickly runs the numbers.
.001% chance of an orc showing up with a tiny black mustache.

Thanks for pointing me to that site. I rarely go to that url.
gary

Award yourself a "Made Alan Chuckle" point.

The whole thing about degree of change, range, scope of change etc. I got from the Mythus Magick book for the Mythus fantasy RPG. There magic is a case of, "Magicians do it to people, wizards do it to towns, demons do it to countries, and gods do it to continents."

I expect that in most campaigns spells and all their variables will be worked out before hand using any system based on my essay.

I wonder what changes would have to be made if it got applied to D&D magic?

 

[Deadguy]

Cant magic ever just be, well magical.

Aha! Well that, my friend, is the crux of the matter!

When magic appears only as part of the backdrop of a setting, and not in the hands of the PCs, then it can be as mysterious as the DM wants, since only he or she has to understand the reasons (or can have things happen entirely on a whim).

But then the PCs get their hands on magical abilities we need to formulate at least some rules governing its use. Why? Well in part its because it helps the DM make reasonable determination of the effectiveness of the magic, rather than having to wing it every time. But more importantly than that it gives the player some idea of how to try and use those magical abilities.

Can you imagine how hard it would be to play a Fighter if there were no rules governing its use other than DM fiat? How confident would you be in having your PC enter a fight, if you really had no idea what things were possible, what you might reasonably be able to achieve, and so forth?

In a sense it's because we are playing a role-playing game, and games need some rules, else they devolve into 'I can do this', 'Can't', 'Can too!'.

Of course, none of this means that all aspects of magic need be comprehensible, just those elements in the hands of the PCs. For example, in my own Shattered World campaign the players can develop a pretty clear understanding of how Arcane and Divine Magic works - both in and out of character. But the magic of the Fey is forever closed to them, and its actions are based entirely on my moods and the needs of the story. The rhyme-and-reason lies outside the understanding of mere mortals. As such it is 'magical' in the sense I think you meant.

There, that's better. Got that out of my system!

 

[mythusmage]

Cant magic ever just be, well magical.

Do you want it magical because it's mysterious, or magical because of the wonderful things it does?

The whole thing is, in part, a poke at the occultists and new agers etc. who make such noise about "scientism", but want their hobbies to be accepted as science.

In any case, treat magic in your game the way you want to. There's no way I can stop you, so I won't even try.