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META: Magic in Fenspace
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Why do I feel this is one mage who'll have 'lightning bolt' really early on her spell list? [grin]
"Shocking Grasp? That was my first spell!" [grin] -- "It is the business of the future to be dangerous" - Hawkwind Ace Dreamer Wrote:"Shocking Grasp? That was my first spell!" [grin]To be accurate: Shocking Grasp, range self.  M Fnord Wrote:So I was reading yet another oMage argument elsewhere & had this minor brain dropping, maybe it has some application to the thread: When word of this gets to Kohran, her reaction will be, "You see, this is why I keep telling everyone to be careful which paradigm they buy into. If you go with a paradigm that has bad effects when you do something big, like this one, you're gonna pay for it eventually!" -- Rob Kelk "Governments have no right to question the loyalty of those who oppose them. Adversaries remain citizens of the same state, common subjects of the same sovereign, servants of the same law." - Michael Ignatieff, addressing Stanford University in 2012 M Fnord Wrote:On the Perpetually-Threatened Shadowrun Crossover: Ha. Ha ha. Ha ha ha ha hahahahahahahaHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! [/joker] Oh, the idea that lead to Cathy's template has been a Shadowrun mage who morphed into a catgirl during the "Year of the Comet".
A suggested standard item to add to the 'Mage Crown' is the 'Mage Torc', or 'Mage Amplifier'. This is based on the idea of sharpening the user's mind from the point of view of intelligence, as used for magical purposes - other abilities which require related mental flexibility, focus, and concentration might also benefit.
Torcs are only any use if you don't have native or trained intelligence sufficient to use magic efficiently (12 on the GURPS scale). Use of a torc can develop some people with experience so they don't need one any more, though they can safely go on wearing one. Occasionally people wear active or inactive torcs when they don't need to (in GURPS terms they have 12+ Intelligence), possibly to help others underestimate them, or think their magical talents have been harmed by removing their torc. A torc in this context is a necklace of twisted thick metal strands, worn as a necklace. In fact the effect it produces is not (or need not be) magical, as it directs stimulus into the wearer's brain. This is changed in real time, as the head moves on the neck. Seeing as stimulus just needs to be of brain areas, rather than individual neurones, much less precision is needed than the Mage Crown, so it can be further away, and not directly coupled to movement of the head. There are carefully designed-in, redundant, cut-outs, so that if the torc is damaged, or might stimulate the wrong areas of the brain, it shuts down, until repaired. You'd need to be very expert and/or have some really sophisticated tools to tamper with a torc so that it might harm someone, by stimulating the wrong part of the brain. Torcs do not need to be personalised, and no training is needed to use one. On putting one on if you haven't worn it previously there is a few seconds adjustment period, then it works at full effectiveness, indefinitely. Torcs do not require external power or battery replacement, and are powered by body heat or waste body energies. Some torcs are ornamented on their end pieces, with things like the heads of beasts, or otherwise in a Celtic or Gaelic style, but this has little to do with their functionality. They are typically made of a metal like gold, non-corrosive 'waved silver, or on occasion non-corrosive 'waved copper; some technomages use titanium (and some use platinum or iridium). -- "It is the business of the future to be dangerous" - Hawkwind
A little bit more to illustrate how I plan to handle magic at Catgirl Industries... *G*
############# “But I spend so much time in school on normal things, I want to learn more about magic!” Mikaja complained. “I could learn so many interesting things from you that would help me.” Lisa rolled her eyes. “Magic” she spat out. “Yeah, magic!” Mikaja said with enthusiasm. She carefully began to move her hands closely together and a tiny ball of electricity formed between them. With lots of concentration she kept the ball stable and finally hurled it against a large battlesteel plate. “You really think that is magic?” Lisa asked with a grin, then she stretched out one hand and a finger-thick lightning bolt left her right hand and impacted on the plate, level a scorch mark on it. Mikaja just stared at Lisa for a minute. Surely Lisa was an expert in electricity and lightning, but could she do real magic? “What do you think” Lisa asked seriously, “is this magic for you?” Mikaja just nodded. “You see, that is the problem... ‘Magic’ often is a word for I do not understand.” Lisa started to explain. “For some Fen it is even the same as I do not NEED to understand. I once met a young Wizard who showed me his incredible telekinesis spell. When I asked why he did those twirl with his wand, he said that was just the spell movement... he didn’t know and he was happy with it.” Lisa looked around in her lab. “You want to come here to learn the Magic of Benjamin Franklin... the Magic of Michael Faraday and Nikola Tesla.” she said, “but you lack the basic knowledge to do this. I have asked for your test results and I think you are slacking off compared to some of your sisters.” Mikaja looked to the ground, unwilling to say something. Maybe Lisa was right, but she had been distracted by some random magical accidents in the last year. “I will make you a promise” Lisa continued, “you will stop fooling around at school and as soon as you have the necessary basics I will begin showing your the secrets of electricity... and I am sure there will be magic in a way you never even dreamed about.” ##### (edit) I also would like to delay the creation of "mage booster" items until AFTER the first generation of Mages grew up!
On the subject of magic systems, Spacebattles.com has an interesting thread on Rune Magic that could be relevant, here, as I could easily see some people developing a system like this.
Likewise, the fuuinjutsu system in Naruto looks pretty similar, just Asian-flavored and apparently more complicated. For that matter, the hand signs in use, with or without saying the name of the spell/jutsu in Japanese, looks rather like a magic system, to me (I'm planning a vaguely similar system for one of my GURPS games, though with one-handed signs). I could easily see members of the Village Hidden in the Asteroids concealing a Mage Booster under their headbands. "Never attribute to malice that which can be adequately explained by stupidity, but don't rule out malice." -- Heinlein's Razor |
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