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What's the point of gold?
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<blockquote data-quote="Dannyalcatraz" data-source="post: 6544658" data-attributes="member: 19675"><p>Pharaxis provided you with 2 links that answer your question with at least a few dozen examples in Western literature alone.</p><p></p><p>Since you didn't read them, I will skip over the details somewhat and note that the examples provided almost all date from fantasy or pulp literature written post 1900.</p><p></p><p>One you SHOULD know is no less iconic than some of the fiction mentioned- Fritz Lieber's Fafhrd & Grey Mouser stories include The Bazzar of the Bizzare, from which Dragon Magazine got the name for its section on "kewl" magic loot.</p><p></p><p>Why the difference between pre-1900 epic literature and post? Or in FRPGs? In general, the writers had radically different assumptions about the origins and ubiquity of magic items.</p><p></p><p>The epic writers generally assumed that magic items- major ones, at least- were given from divine or otherworldly sources, not made by mere mortals. In many cases, mortals who strove to create their own magic artifacts were struck down by the gods for their presumptions and hubris. Besides, nonmagical items of that level of workmanship would have been rare anyway.</p><p></p><p>Post-1900 writers lived in the Industrial Age or post-Industrial ages. They saw the way the mind of man could be creative on a massive, repeatable scale. And THEIR assumption was that magic was like technology: once you have any understanding of it, you can deepen, broaden and use that knowledge to make more. IOW, man can make magic items similar to those created by divine or otherworldly beings. This is Man as the Semi-divine Creator.</p><p></p><p>The other key difference: a broader dissemination of the basics of the laws of Economics. After the existence of <em>Wealth of Nations</em>, more people understood that, once a thing exists, a market for it will exist for it as well.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Dannyalcatraz, post: 6544658, member: 19675"] Pharaxis provided you with 2 links that answer your question with at least a few dozen examples in Western literature alone. Since you didn't read them, I will skip over the details somewhat and note that the examples provided almost all date from fantasy or pulp literature written post 1900. One you SHOULD know is no less iconic than some of the fiction mentioned- Fritz Lieber's Fafhrd & Grey Mouser stories include The Bazzar of the Bizzare, from which Dragon Magazine got the name for its section on "kewl" magic loot. Why the difference between pre-1900 epic literature and post? Or in FRPGs? In general, the writers had radically different assumptions about the origins and ubiquity of magic items. The epic writers generally assumed that magic items- major ones, at least- were given from divine or otherworldly sources, not made by mere mortals. In many cases, mortals who strove to create their own magic artifacts were struck down by the gods for their presumptions and hubris. Besides, nonmagical items of that level of workmanship would have been rare anyway. Post-1900 writers lived in the Industrial Age or post-Industrial ages. They saw the way the mind of man could be creative on a massive, repeatable scale. And THEIR assumption was that magic was like technology: once you have any understanding of it, you can deepen, broaden and use that knowledge to make more. IOW, man can make magic items similar to those created by divine or otherworldly beings. This is Man as the Semi-divine Creator. The other key difference: a broader dissemination of the basics of the laws of Economics. After the existence of [I]Wealth of Nations[/I], more people understood that, once a thing exists, a market for it will exist for it as well. [/QUOTE]
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