tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7652921.post7409892611829076303..comments2024-03-27T22:32:17.055-05:00Comments on Jeffs Gameblog: populist magicJeff Rientshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17493878980535235896noreply@blogger.comBlogger9125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7652921.post-73630552499375849342010-03-18T11:25:47.080-05:002010-03-18T11:25:47.080-05:00I generally prefer the idea that magicians and sor...I generally prefer the idea that magicians and sorcerers and such have to do something "special" to gain access to magical powers. That said, I think Doctor Strange is talking about psionics. :DAnonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05646247954542936623noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7652921.post-12404059924838885542010-03-17T11:56:08.445-05:002010-03-17T11:56:08.445-05:00For me, arcane magic always was something like the...For me, arcane magic always was something like the forgotten science of a better age. Everyone with an average intelligence could probably become a magic - user or wizard, though most neither dare nor care for. Why? <br /><br />Because a)it takes a considerable amount of time and money to even become a 1st - level spellcaster (excluding 99,9% of your typical medieval population)and <br /><br />b)to become better at sorcery, you'll have to visit dangerous places with unfriendly inhabitants and unhealthy mechanical or mechanical devices, haggle with rival, envious and possibly treacherous users of magic, and possibly even selling your soul in the process, and finally you'll have to avoid being burned at the stake by a superstitious village mob or church inquisitor for real or imagined devilry. <br /><br />WV: barili. As a wizard with a penchant for cooking, he was mostly known for the 1st-Level MU - Spell "Summon Peppers" which he used for combat and cuisine.Der Ogerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00977602334642769985noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7652921.post-54068379695882339292010-03-16T18:37:10.340-05:002010-03-16T18:37:10.340-05:00While I have played and run games with both views,...While I have played and run games with both views, S. John Ross expertly describes my prefered take on the subject (as he often does on many subjects - Thx S. John).Adam Dicksteinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04840144928096089178noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7652921.post-69415519301727774982010-03-16T18:08:21.342-05:002010-03-16T18:08:21.342-05:00That's the way it is in RuneQuest where everyb...That's the way it is in RuneQuest where everybody knows a spell or two but you have to become a Rune Priest to be a magical badass.Jerry Corneliushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04657432306103298802noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7652921.post-39212172066280199812010-03-16T16:32:04.815-05:002010-03-16T16:32:04.815-05:00Seems like a concept that is also present in Vance...Seems like a concept that is also present in Vance's novels. For example - Cugel learns spells from Icounu's boks.squidmanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03486198900111225929noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7652921.post-29663320973588251042010-03-16T16:30:17.424-05:002010-03-16T16:30:17.424-05:00I've always liked the idea that there is a &qu...I've always liked the idea that there is a "gift," but that the gift is actually a kind of throwback flaw. The cosmological reasoning goes like this:<br /><br />* A long time ago, magic was everywhere and crazy-go-nuts<br />* This resulted in a lot of messy death and misery<br />* The ability to use magic is founded on the ability to perceive it.<br />* People who perceived it more clearly gradually evolved themselves out of the gene pool, the hard way. The evolutionary fittest were those who instinctively block that crazy stuff out.<br />* These days, the ability to perceive magic clearly is a rare throwback defect, like being born without eyelids.<br />* Training and discipline can overcome the natural-perception hurdle.<br /><br />Or in other words, to use your X-Men/Batman comparison, wizards can be either, but there are definitely those with a mutant "talent" for it, but the talent is really more of a birth defect ... and (discreetly) a fundamental part of wizard training for the talented ones is to learn how NOT to see magic now and then, to grow those missing eyelids. This, to bring it full circle, was inspired directly by early-80s flashback scenes involving young Professor X needing to learn to shut out all the psychic stuff he's hearing.S. John Rosshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12284417121877141161noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7652921.post-81019001891954645422010-03-16T14:01:54.269-05:002010-03-16T14:01:54.269-05:00An excellent point, but the thing to take from thi...An excellent point, but the thing to take from this, for me, is that Marvel comics up to around 1990 are an absolute gold mine of game ideas. Time travelling pharoahs with laser beams? Yes please!thekelvingreenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01928260185408072124noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7652921.post-72486448727688966172010-03-16T13:03:52.228-05:002010-03-16T13:03:52.228-05:00Not in that issue. Maybe he hooked up with her mo...Not in that issue. Maybe he hooked up with her modern reincarnation in a later issue.Jeff Rientshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17493878980535235896noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7652921.post-64497415138929040272010-03-16T12:52:41.469-05:002010-03-16T12:52:41.469-05:00But more importantly, did Stephen tap that?But more importantly, did Stephen tap that?cappadociushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03444938548248623609noreply@blogger.com