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Message: <blockquote data-quote="GuardianLurker" data-source="post: 392961" data-attributes="member: 786">Re: Wizards are not like ScientistsHmm. I see the argument you're making. I'm not sure I agree with the numbers part, as I imagine that "driven priests" would just about balance out with "missed scientist".However, it did spark a realization in me; there is a big difference between the power of the spell-casters, and the prevalence of magic.As we've both pointed out there's an inherent limit to the prevalence of "artificial" magic in a fantasy world, just because of the way they "magic production" works.However, spellcasters (Wizards and Sorcerors in particular) would be *very* wealthy relatively. (At least if you don't use the Vanilla rules for spellbooks.) And wealth almost always translates into social power, especially if the owner/weilder happens to be people-oriented (like Sorcerors).However, social power does not necessarily make a person part of the ruling class, especially in a feudal culture. The powerful merchant princes of late medieval Europe weren't members of the nobility (by and large), but woe to the ruler who tried to work against their interests.This would mean that you'd have high local concentrations of magic around spellcaster's residences, and almost nothing away from those concentrations. Cities of light, dread, and wonder, and a countryside of ignorance. The wealth disparity would be even larger than that of our own medieval Europe. Depending on how extreme you make the gap, there might even be separate cultures in the cities and countryside. The city cultures might even be unified if rapid magical transport is common enough.Also, even though the spellcasters would be wealthy, note that most of their wealth comes from "free necessities", not actual income (unless they become traders or merchants). This means that the spellcaster will have very little *real* luxuries, despite what appears to be a lavish lifestyle. This also places a limiter on their social power, as anyone who's ever been "house-poor" can tell you.Actually, most of the changes responsible for our modern lifestyle are a result of the Enlightenment, not the Renaissance. This is not to knock the importance of the latter, I'm just pointing out that it took a LONG time (as humans measure things) to make that state change. It would actually be very, very reasonable to play in a Renaissance Fantasy world; this is essentially what FR is. As for what your magical society looks like 600 years later, check out Dragonstar. And just to be complete, I'd put Greyhawk as roughly equal to pre-plague Europe, which was surprisingly wealthy (and healthy).</blockquote>

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