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<blockquote data-quote="Heathen72" data-source="post: 362855" data-attributes="member: 7029"><p><strong>Magic items</strong></p><p></p><p>Try not to resort to mimicking modern technology with magic. Otherwise it's too much like The Flintstones (Where the 'technology' is dinosaurs) Your example of "mood shirts" for instance is excellent because it is something magic achieves that technology cannot. I don't mind the self emptying chamber pot either, (a less inspired suggestion would have had a self emptying toilet) Handbags of holding are good too.</p><p>I'm not sold on the Clairaudience cups though (too much like mobile phones for my liking) Maybe you could have improved whispering wind instead? Imagine people stopping in the street talking loudly to themselves. You would think you had arrived in the land of lunatics.! That is the aim I guess; To make things as alien as possible - not only to the character's - but also the players. Look for the things that magic could do better (and differently) than technology. I can't think of anything as mundane, for instance, as a "magical automobile."</p><p>Flying carpet would be much more interesting! (even with all their dangers.) </p><p> </p><p>Also, Try not to create too much of a utopia. One would have thought that with all our wonderful technology and wealth we would have eliminated poverty and injustice. But we haven't. I can't see rich magicians creating free food for the poor unless they were getting something out of it. (Through advertising, for instance - maybe all the free food is enchanted so that the poor must advertise the products of their benefactor. Instead of beggars coming up and asking you for money, they would approach you to say who makes the finest jewellery, the best armour and which Inn has the best prices.) </p><p></p><p>Instead of switch lights, people might have their own personal lights. Can you imagine a pub with seventy people, each of them with a small incandescent flame hovering around their heads. </p><p></p><p>Maybe the rich all raise the spirits of the recent dead. They are4 accompianied by their lost mother /aunty/ brother etc because they can't deal with the loss just yet. They would invite them to parties (kind of like the holograms on Red Dwarf, now that I think of it!) Eventually they would get sick of them (maybe they are static after their death - never come up with anything new or keep on telling the same jokes) and the living would cancel the spell. Then again, can you imagine a man being stuck with his hated mother in law because his wife insists on keeping her around? Even worse if he were paying for it !</p><p></p><p>Finally, have a look at a couple of the Dying Earth books by Jack Vance. He has created several bizarre 'High Magic' cultures. And although I slightly embarrassed to say it, The Harry Potter books might also be a source of inspiration (they are very 'high' magic).</p><p></p><p>I have a few more ideas - I will put them down tomorrow.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Heathen72, post: 362855, member: 7029"] [b]Magic items[/b] Try not to resort to mimicking modern technology with magic. Otherwise it's too much like The Flintstones (Where the 'technology' is dinosaurs) Your example of "mood shirts" for instance is excellent because it is something magic achieves that technology cannot. I don't mind the self emptying chamber pot either, (a less inspired suggestion would have had a self emptying toilet) Handbags of holding are good too. I'm not sold on the Clairaudience cups though (too much like mobile phones for my liking) Maybe you could have improved whispering wind instead? Imagine people stopping in the street talking loudly to themselves. You would think you had arrived in the land of lunatics.! That is the aim I guess; To make things as alien as possible - not only to the character's - but also the players. Look for the things that magic could do better (and differently) than technology. I can't think of anything as mundane, for instance, as a "magical automobile." Flying carpet would be much more interesting! (even with all their dangers.) Also, Try not to create too much of a utopia. One would have thought that with all our wonderful technology and wealth we would have eliminated poverty and injustice. But we haven't. I can't see rich magicians creating free food for the poor unless they were getting something out of it. (Through advertising, for instance - maybe all the free food is enchanted so that the poor must advertise the products of their benefactor. Instead of beggars coming up and asking you for money, they would approach you to say who makes the finest jewellery, the best armour and which Inn has the best prices.) Instead of switch lights, people might have their own personal lights. Can you imagine a pub with seventy people, each of them with a small incandescent flame hovering around their heads. Maybe the rich all raise the spirits of the recent dead. They are4 accompianied by their lost mother /aunty/ brother etc because they can't deal with the loss just yet. They would invite them to parties (kind of like the holograms on Red Dwarf, now that I think of it!) Eventually they would get sick of them (maybe they are static after their death - never come up with anything new or keep on telling the same jokes) and the living would cancel the spell. Then again, can you imagine a man being stuck with his hated mother in law because his wife insists on keeping her around? Even worse if he were paying for it ! Finally, have a look at a couple of the Dying Earth books by Jack Vance. He has created several bizarre 'High Magic' cultures. And although I slightly embarrassed to say it, The Harry Potter books might also be a source of inspiration (they are very 'high' magic). I have a few more ideas - I will put them down tomorrow. [/QUOTE]
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