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Message: <blockquote data-quote="WayneLigon" data-source="post: 1651044" data-attributes="member: 3649">Decide two things, first: (1) What is the true source of magic and (2) is it something that can be learned or is it inate? #1 decides if something can be approached in a scientific manner; if all magic stems from the Well of Chaos, then it's unlikely that it will ever be anything more than a powerful and seldom-understood 'Force'. If all magic comes from study and formulation of ancient runes that created the world, then it's likely that such a study can be made in a logical fashion.  #2 also decides this in a different way. IF anyone can learn to be a wizard (something I'll assume is possible, since the D&D rules seem to support this), then again it's likely that there is some written means of transferring this knowledge. Some might do it in a master-apprentice manner, some might do it in a university setting. If magic can only be done by those with an inate gift, then it's less likely unless that ability is fairly common.  Once those are aside, what is the relative sophistication of the best-learned society? The concept of scientific method is pretty new to us, but then we didn't have a 'force' that could command energies and matter at our beck and call. If such a thing did exist and lent itself to diciplined study, then I think the impetus to develop an understanding of it would be greater since unlike in our world there would be real, tangible understandable benefits to doing so.  Something I would like to see would be a difficulty level to spells, so that you could say that spells of a certain DC might 'not be invented yet'. That was what I really loved about GURP Technomancer: certain things, like 'Cure Disease' were not invented for decades after the discovery of magic, and that's with a fully literate society with hundreds of years of scholarship behind it.  Another reason I love the Malhavok Press stuff; There are spells in there that would logically be invented. If there is a teleport spell, then one of the first things someone else is going to research is 'mess up teleport'. There are several examples of spells like that in the Complete Book of Eldritch Might.</blockquote>

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