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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Elder-Basilisk" data-source="post: 1604913" data-attributes="member: 3146">I suspect magic ceases to feel magical as soon as it's used in recognizable ways by the common man and for the common man's good. (Though it remains distinguishable from technology by the question: would it work in a strictly physicalist universe?)The wizard's tower ceaselessly guarded by spectral hounds who can see invisible intruders and who is served by summoned fiends feels magical even though a writer changing the story to science fiction would just need to search/replace "wizard" with "mad scientist", "spectral hounds" with "motion sensors" and "summoned fiends" with "robots." The reason is twofold: first, the scientist and the magician are the same archetype. (In fact, the early scientists often were magicians, alchemists, and astrologers as well). They both seek control over their environment with means that ordinary men do not understand. The second reason is because the mad scientist's control over nature is something beyond the reach of ordinary men and that only he controls and that benefits him primarily.The wizard who is doing research on a cheap form of binding lesser water elementals that enables anyone to command them (once bound) with a view to making them wash bowls, silverware, and clothes for the ordinary man does not feel magical. (Though, his research still is magical by definition because it depends upon spirits and elemental powers rather than mechanical or chemical forces). The reason for this is that the power he is researching would be usable and controllable by the ordinary man and benefits ordinary people as much as it benefits the wizard. Said wizard is recognizable as a type of entrepenuer or corporate researcher and is entirely familiar in his motivations and methods. It would be difficult to imagine him making a deal with the devil to gain his power or doing anything seriously questionable (while not required for D&D magic, the lack of support for that connection cuts him off from the wizards of folklore and mythology who usually did have to make such deals).So reliability really has nothing to do with it. The warlock's powers are generally reliable. The classic necromancer's powers are generally reliable. The witch doctor's powers are generally reliable, are fairly well understood (he asks/commands/bribes/intimidates/traps/whatever the spirits, they do things for him), and are replicable (by another witch doctor of similar skill). What differentiates magic from technology by definition is the source of the power. What differentiates magic from technology in story is the way that it is used and the kinds of people who use it.</blockquote>

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