Effects of Magic on the Real World
jjafuller:
I am not sure if this topic has been addressed before, if so let me know and I'll take a look at the other work. Right now this is just a kernel of an idea, but I think after a little fleshing out it could be an interesting scenario to look at. For now I am just going to link to the blog post where I toyed with the idea. I'll update this post with links of development material as they become available. For convenience I'll cross post the post here so you don't need to go to my site to read it.
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One of the major issues I have associated with fantasy settings is that a world filled with magic is essentially medieval plus wizards. It seems even more silly in the context that many settings purport to be thousands of years old. So, what I want to do is make a basic game that could help model the effects magic on an otherwise realistic world.
Originally, I was thinking about setting this up in the ancient / dark ages since my interest is primary on the fantasy realm. Player knowledge would become a significant hindrance though. Effectively players would have unfair knowledge about technological development that could be leveraged with magic. In order to deal with the problem, the game should likely be set in modern day.
I am thinking of setting up a small self contained scenario for this, kind of like Lady Blackbird, with pregens. I want to keep the characters disassociated from the players in order to avoid weirdness. The scenario would kick off when the group uncovered a set of "items of power." That essentially give those in possession of the items the ability to wield magic. Magic should not be limited in functionality, other than the final result of the effects cannot create paradoxes.
The question becomes, how to model the interaction of magic within the world. I'm thinking a basic die mechanism that can be used to measure the degree of success when attempting to use magic for something. And, while the player always succeeds, their margin of success determines the level of complication created by the act. Complications would scale relative to the effect desired.
As far as complications are concerned, I am thinking about creating some tables that could be rolled against in order to generate some ideas. But, complications that are directly relevant would be preferred. The trick of the matter is trying to figure out how something like, an unlimited supply of free gasoline would affect the world.
What would be the best way to model such a thing?
Concept Post: http://they.misled.us/archives/1732
ADGBoss:
Very interesting.
I think that to begin with I would ask a number of questions regarding magic and the nature of such.
1. What is magic, really? Is it the creation of God / The Gods? Is it technology that is super advanced? Is it alien tech? Is it just a branch of science that was discovered and then abandoned?
2. How are the items and magic controlled? Acts of will? Tapping into 'The Force'? A simple switch and or word?
3. How does magic interact with mundane (for lack of a better word) technology? Can they be used in synthesis? Are they antagonistic? Can they even co-exist at all?
4. What is the scale? For instance if the protagonists only make free gas for themselves, no big deal. If they make free gas available to everyone, there would be economic and possibly even political or criminal ramifications. Big Oil might quickly move to outlaw magic.
One thing I might suggest is some kind of control mechanic or even an X,Y axis where X is success or failure and Y is degree of power. The Degree of Power would increase how many people notice the magic and its effect on the rest of the world.
jjafuller:
Quote from: ADGBoss on July 13, 2011, 05:54:59 AM
1. What is magic, really? Is it the creation of God / The Gods? Is it technology that is super advanced? Is it alien tech? Is it just a branch of science that was discovered and then abandoned?
Since I am focused on the ramifications of the magic, rather than the source I am not planning on defining this. It would be a question to be answered in play.
Quote from: ADGBoss on July 13, 2011, 05:54:59 AM
2. How are the items and magic controlled? Acts of will? Tapping into 'The Force'? A simple switch and or word?
Originally I imagined this as simply "acts of will," but I don't really want to define it as such. Much like the first question, the specific activation mechanism need not necessarily be defined.
Quote from: ADGBoss on July 13, 2011, 05:54:59 AM
3. How does magic interact with mundane (for lack of a better word) technology? Can they be used in synthesis? Are they antagonistic? Can they even co-exist at all?
The level of synthesis would be relative to the sophistication of the user I would expect. It would be much simpler to use magic to spin a wheel than interface with a Mac. I'm a software developer, but my binary is a bit rusty, so I don't think I would be able to make something interface directly. But, I could probably pull it off by chaining a few effects today.
Quote from: ADGBoss on July 13, 2011, 05:54:59 AM
4. What is the scale? For instance if the protagonists only make free gas for themselves, no big deal. If they make free gas available to everyone, there would be economic and possibly even political or criminal ramifications. Big Oil might quickly move to outlaw magic.
Yes, I think intent is important, as is scale.
Quote from: ADGBoss on July 13, 2011, 05:54:59 AM
One thing I might suggest is some kind of control mechanic or even an X,Y axis where X is success or failure and Y is degree of power. The Degree of Power would increase how many people notice the magic and its effect on the rest of the world.
I definitely what to address scale. However degree of power may not necessarily be directly relevant. For example, knocking over the statue of liberty during the ball drop would be pretty big scale, but not require as much power as say, compiling a brick from energy.
stefoid:
Governments would treat real magic somewhere between drugs and nuclear weapons.
happysmellyfish:
Just want to bump this a little, because the idea of intelligent political gaming is nice.
To kick things along a little, have you considered using Shock: Social Science Fiction?
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