D&D General Let's Share Our Alternate Lore

[Inanity]

Sure, but since it is magic there are lots of ways it can be less like science and more like magic. For example, you might need an ephemeral "spark" that you're born with to use magic. If you don't have that spark you can learn all the arcane theory you want, but your spell casting simply won't accomplish anything. Sorcerers could be those with strong sparks that manifest on their own, whereas wizards have weaker sparks that need to be nurtured.

Another way for magic to be more magical is that there might be certain times when magic simply ceases to work (I think Mystara had something like that). Laws of physics don't typically take the day off.

long and boring discussion to follow (well not boring to me but):

I would say nether case requires any 'spooky' entities; posit a force M (=magic). M is integral in producing effect E (causing THIS entity to have THOSE sorcerer powers) in condition C (spark)... Now, we can go about maybe determining MORE general and more interesting dynamical features of M in other conditions and in relation with other things; and mamybe even conctruct a more general (or fine-grained or specific or more robust) language used to explain more fundamentally why M does E in C. And we are on our way to a science...

Concerning local variaition in the perceptible phenomenon: it seemingly occurs; This region of water will be this dense at these temps/pressures; just becasue a volume of water is liguid given conditions C doesnt mean the laws of nature have suddenly STOPPED WORKING (or that there is NOT A MORE GENERAL THEORY THAT EXPLAINS THIS PHENOMENON AND THAT IS constructed to be general and universally applicable and necessarily 'active' or 'operative')!

similarly, just because some regions of space or of the plenum or Aether (or whatever) have 'no magic' whatever that means (or that region of water has no frozenness, whatever that means) doesnt mean the laws of magic are not a (maybe merely proper) subset of the laws of nature(=physics)... It coud be that those magicky tendrils are such that under conditions C they have effect N (null magic); normally water provides sustenance, but if cyanid is added then well... I imagine we can come up with an indefinitely many relevantly analagous (yet maybe appropriately dfferent) cases attempting o illustrate the following: Regions of Null magic does not indicate that the laws of magic are not a subset of the laws of nature!

DM fiat aside This discussion is already in a weird conceptual space. For
(i) we are trying to figure out the true metaphysics of worlds we create
(ii)but from theperspective of thinkers FROM THOSE WORLDS, what would be reasonable for THEM to think not for US TO STIPLUATE;
(iii) yet OUR EVIDENCE consists of CREATE/stipulated RULES;
What metaphysic IS AT LEAST CONSISTENT WITH RAW? (or RAI; odd query really) is my guiding quetion in this context.. I maintain that a physicalism is consistent with RAW (that is a claim that many would deny; as many think souls are both (i) assumed to exist and (ii) cannot be given a coherent physical interpretation...

Even despite the evidece(astral projections divine interventions) I think a philosopher of Greyhawk could maintain a reasonable phyiscalism (think planescape; where any of the factions outright crazy or flippant n the face of the PERCEIVED evidence; i.e. were any being bad empirical researchers? I say no[t necessarily]...

In short it could be that null magic regions is just how the laws of physics work; further, we can point to numerous cases IN THE REAL WORLD, where local variation is accepted as not problematic for theories that maintain that the laws of nature are universal and generally applicable....

I imagine most havent made it this far... wanting to play some DnD

 

[Tonguez]

Owlbears and Griffins are related, with the Owlbear being a primitive and robust form of Griffin. Aarakocra may also be evolved from Griffins.


Also I dont like DnDs colour coded dragons and so I got rid of them. My would has Celestial Dragons (SIlver Lung), Wyverns and faerie dracons but True Dragons are all of one species with their colours being determined by their environments not their type.

Dragons are hyper intelligent therapsids who from birth are able to spit acid and breath toxic gases. All other effects (lightning, cold) are magical in nature and Dragons have a strong affinity with magic. Dragon fire is unusual as it is an alchemical substance which dragons have learnt to produce in their gullets by mixing their natural acid and gaseous breath with metals and other substances they consume. This substance is spat into their cloud of gaseous breath where it ignites.

 

[Theo R Cwithin]

How, if at all, do Boggles, Nilbogs, Redcaps, and/or Banderhobbs fit in?

I've never really thought about it! For the setting where I used this description of goblins, it was just the continuum of the "ordinary" sorts of goblins. So I never considered gobbo varieties with special powers, as they didn't really fit in that world.

 

[Lanefan]

Hmm, then maybe "trace" elements of uranium could create dead magic zones.

Can I steal this and mod it?

Go right ahead!

One of the underlying premises of the first big campaign I ran was that the world's magic was destabilizing due to a mostly-uranium meteorite that had crashed a few centuries back and introduced traces of uranium into the atmosphere. Around the crash site magic didn't work at all; the farther away you got the more (relatively) reliable it became, until at and over about 1000 miles away it worked about 99% of the time and went wild the other 1%.

The adventuring mostly happened on the other side of the world.

 

[Lanefan]

Magic in D&D is formulaic and predictable, making it much more akin to a science than the helter skelter bending of reality. I don't necessarily prefer it that way (I am more in the "forces men cannot hope to control" camp for magic) but as written magic as science works fine in D&D.

It's science until you introduce wild magic, at which point science goes out the window to be replaced by wonderful, wonderful chaos...

Arcane casters have learned how to use science-like methods to (mostly) reliably harness magic, and it more or less works for them. Bards have learned to harness it through manipulation of sound. Divine casters rely on their deities to do the harnessing for them, they're just the conduit.

 

[Winterthorn]

@Tonguez : Trolls are male hags? Brilliant! I'm yoinking that if I may

@Lanefan : I have often enjoyed reading your campaign ideas in the past. Those two default items of homebew lore are great.
I have had issues with various published pantheons and what to do about my homebrew settings, so your approach fits to my thinking of starting simple and perhaps leave things sufficiently inscrutable by using aspects to fit the needs of the world at hand.
Uranium cancelling magic? Love it! So simple, easy to implement, and good fodder for further ideas - I might go so far as to include raduim, plutonium and other related metals. (Radiance from Mystara has oddly popped into my head just now, lol.)

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

@Tonguez : Trolls are male hags? Brilliant! I'm yoinking that if I may

@Lanefan : I have often enjoyed reading your campaign ideas in the past. Those two default items of homebew lore are great.
I have had issues with various published pantheons and what to do about my homebrew settings, so your approach fits to my thinking of starting simple and perhaps leave things sufficiently inscrutable by using aspects to fit the needs of the world at hand.
Uranium cancelling magic? Love it! So simple, easy to implement, and good fodder for further ideas - I might go so far as to include raduim, plutonium and other related metals. (Radiance from Mystara has oddly popped into my head just now, lol.)

Makes golems incorporating those elements particularly nasty...

 

[SkidAce]

(Radiance from Mystara has oddly popped into my head just now, lol.)

I know, right?

 

[Eltab]

Makes golems incorporating those elements particularly nasty...

Beholder central eyeballs glow in the dark ?

 

[RangerWickett]

In my home campaign, orcs basically created the world by forming it out of a bunch of primordial energy floating around in Limbo. Their civilization collapsed afterward because the rules of magic changed, and humans outcompeted them.