Velenne
Explorer
In the home-brew world my group and I created for the birth of 3rd Edition, the abundance and use of magic spanning its landscape has grown with each passing year. At the current point in the time-line, mages have been in control of the world for over a century and a half. Their policies and laws have lended them growing power to such a degree that they rule unchallenged over every inch of land from North to South, East to West (the land is divided for each school of magic, ruled as an independant state by a "magelord" with its own beuocracies, but each magelord serves as part of a council not unlike the UN).
By allowing that time for them to collect power and gather the greatest minds in the world, we've sought to create a Golden Age of Magic to play in. But just how much should the Art be a part of city-folk's everyday lives?
To illustrate, imagine a parallel between today's level of technowledgy, but substitute magic. What our grandparents had found fantastic and exciting, we see as common everyday parts of our lives. Substitute television, B-52's, and MRI's for scrying pools, Firestorms, and Cure spells. The people who live in cities find things like this old hat and commonplace. There are wonders, to be sure, but they've become a bit jaded to most of it. Farmers and country-people would have access to magic, but far less so, just like today.
So what would life be like? We're talking the Golden Age of Magic here folks. Teleport companies instead of airlines, churches instead of hospitals (clerics instead of doctors), guards and wards instead of security systems etc. What's a-day-in-the-life like for a blue-collar worker, a white-collar worker (presumebly a mage, as bright students are enrolled in State-run mage acadamies at an early age), y'know average Joe and Jane? I envision very tight control over magic and the creation of items (especially offense spells) requiring permits and liscences or being altogether illegal.
I'd like to steer away from the topic of War in the Golden Age of Magic in this thread. It's been analyzed before (see the "How would you protect a fortress" thread a few pages back) and I don't want to rehash it. Also, if you know of any books on the subject, and would recommend them, I'd love to hear about it. Post on!
By allowing that time for them to collect power and gather the greatest minds in the world, we've sought to create a Golden Age of Magic to play in. But just how much should the Art be a part of city-folk's everyday lives?
To illustrate, imagine a parallel between today's level of technowledgy, but substitute magic. What our grandparents had found fantastic and exciting, we see as common everyday parts of our lives. Substitute television, B-52's, and MRI's for scrying pools, Firestorms, and Cure spells. The people who live in cities find things like this old hat and commonplace. There are wonders, to be sure, but they've become a bit jaded to most of it. Farmers and country-people would have access to magic, but far less so, just like today.
So what would life be like? We're talking the Golden Age of Magic here folks. Teleport companies instead of airlines, churches instead of hospitals (clerics instead of doctors), guards and wards instead of security systems etc. What's a-day-in-the-life like for a blue-collar worker, a white-collar worker (presumebly a mage, as bright students are enrolled in State-run mage acadamies at an early age), y'know average Joe and Jane? I envision very tight control over magic and the creation of items (especially offense spells) requiring permits and liscences or being altogether illegal.
I'd like to steer away from the topic of War in the Golden Age of Magic in this thread. It's been analyzed before (see the "How would you protect a fortress" thread a few pages back) and I don't want to rehash it. Also, if you know of any books on the subject, and would recommend them, I'd love to hear about it. Post on!
