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Message: <blockquote data-quote="s/LaSH" data-source="post: 1491584" data-attributes="member: 6929">To pay lip service to the thread topic: I've seen a few SF RPGs. Theme would be what I'd like to see: a firm handle on what you do. Fiction, gameplay examples, sample adventures or seeds - good things. They don't have to be hard and fast rules, but there should be a handle there. Consider Star Wars, which is Cool. What do you do? Well, it's not one thing, but I think we can all agree on what Star Wars is, and it isn't what Traveller is. If that helps illustrate my point.On the topic of Clarke's Law:'Huzzah, Raiminster! Have you got those scrolls of fireball yet? We're heading out to the Troll Fens tomorrow.''Yeah, gimme a minute. Oh, and tell the cleric to stock up on protection spells.''Already done. He's checking in with the gods now to assess our chances, see if there's anything we're overlooking. He'll memorise our buffs before we set out.'As we can see in this example, magic is awe-inspiring and mysterious, an uncertain art filled with temerity and danger.Or maybe I'm engaging in deliberate hyperbole to make a point. Point is, maybe they don't know quite how magic works, but they're certainly treating it like the phonograph player in the remote tribal village. And sure, maybe a tribal shaman can curse those who displease him to death with a harsh glare. (Modern science explains the success of this technique as psychosomatic on the part of the victim.) But that's no different from pointing a gun at him, is it? A gun is technological. A curse is magical. And it has exactly the same effect: you respect the guy pointing it at you.Anyway, isn't magic just a primitive science that managed to get something right? Look at the word 'mage'. The Magi were a sub-nation of the Persian Empire, known as priests and astrologers. They were, therefore, amongst the first astronomers. Subsequent magicians include alchemists, whose principles evolved into chemistry. At its heart, magic is an attempt to do stuff and understand it. And as it progresses, you discover how it works, and put it together creating a scientific framework. If you can't understand it, you can't use it for specific tasks, and there's no point in using it.Or at least, so I believe.</blockquote>

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