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The Transition of a D&D World into the Industrial Era
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<blockquote data-quote="77IM" data-source="post: 7880309" data-attributes="member: 12377"><p>For a low/rare magic setting, the question I ask myself is: how did the <em>belief</em> in magic an magical creatures affect the actual Industrial Revolution? The answer is, probably not very much.</p><p></p><p>In the low/rare magic genre, magic is very much NOT commoditized or commercialized, and magical creatures are definitely not farmed or domesticated. If you want magic, you have to go to the crazy old man in the tower or the cranky old lady out in the woods, and if you were to suggest using it to light your factory or spin your flywheel they'd turn you into a toad. There are no wizard colleges because the price of magic is too high, and anyone who spontaneously develops powers (like a sorcerer or warlock) gets run out of town on pitchforks. Clerics and druids are guided by higher powers that won't allow their miracles to be squandered on mass production, which is an ugly, dehumanizing thing.</p><p></p><p>Now... if a robber-baron wants to make a deal with a devil, that's entirely in-genre both for low/rare magic fiction and for Industrial Revolution fiction. Ditto for ghouls living in the sewers, sneaky goblins causing horrific factory accidents, and gargoyles snatching away children. During the real Industrial Revolution, there was also fascination with mediums, hypnosis, and "miracle cures" that blurred the line between superstition and science. This era also gave rise to many of the classic tropes of Gothic horror: creaky old haunted houses, sexually-liberated vampires, and rural country weirdos.</p><p></p><p>Basically, as science begins shining its light on everything and humans begin clumping together in technology-driven cities, magic retreats into subtle, hidden places. The kind of places where only adventurers can deal with it. Like urban fantasy, this doesn't mean the magic has to be weak; it just needs to be out-of-sight of the mainstream.</p><p></p><p>So that's the main change I'd make for a low magic/rare magic Industrial Revolution setting: the powers-that-be, the media establishment, and other mainstream influencers (local church leaders, popular celebrities, and community business people) all treat magic as a backwards, inconsequential, has-been power. Who needs potions when you have modern medical science? Who bothers trying to domesticate a hippogriff when you can just ride a hot air balloon? Why learn the dangerous magic of <em>fire bolt</em> when you can just pick up a pistol? In a setting where magic <em>has never been</em> a solution to ordinary people's problems, technology and industry and progress will be.</p><p></p><p>Unless, of course, you're a PC on an adventure...</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="77IM, post: 7880309, member: 12377"] For a low/rare magic setting, the question I ask myself is: how did the [I]belief[/I] in magic an magical creatures affect the actual Industrial Revolution? The answer is, probably not very much. In the low/rare magic genre, magic is very much NOT commoditized or commercialized, and magical creatures are definitely not farmed or domesticated. If you want magic, you have to go to the crazy old man in the tower or the cranky old lady out in the woods, and if you were to suggest using it to light your factory or spin your flywheel they'd turn you into a toad. There are no wizard colleges because the price of magic is too high, and anyone who spontaneously develops powers (like a sorcerer or warlock) gets run out of town on pitchforks. Clerics and druids are guided by higher powers that won't allow their miracles to be squandered on mass production, which is an ugly, dehumanizing thing. Now... if a robber-baron wants to make a deal with a devil, that's entirely in-genre both for low/rare magic fiction and for Industrial Revolution fiction. Ditto for ghouls living in the sewers, sneaky goblins causing horrific factory accidents, and gargoyles snatching away children. During the real Industrial Revolution, there was also fascination with mediums, hypnosis, and "miracle cures" that blurred the line between superstition and science. This era also gave rise to many of the classic tropes of Gothic horror: creaky old haunted houses, sexually-liberated vampires, and rural country weirdos. Basically, as science begins shining its light on everything and humans begin clumping together in technology-driven cities, magic retreats into subtle, hidden places. The kind of places where only adventurers can deal with it. Like urban fantasy, this doesn't mean the magic has to be weak; it just needs to be out-of-sight of the mainstream. So that's the main change I'd make for a low magic/rare magic Industrial Revolution setting: the powers-that-be, the media establishment, and other mainstream influencers (local church leaders, popular celebrities, and community business people) all treat magic as a backwards, inconsequential, has-been power. Who needs potions when you have modern medical science? Who bothers trying to domesticate a hippogriff when you can just ride a hot air balloon? Why learn the dangerous magic of [I]fire bolt[/I] when you can just pick up a pistol? In a setting where magic [I]has never been[/I] a solution to ordinary people's problems, technology and industry and progress will be. Unless, of course, you're a PC on an adventure... [/QUOTE]
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