[Design] Magic: An Initial Sketch

[Cameron Jones]

FUCKING GREAT LEV!!!

am slowly re-inventing myself.  See:
www.drcameronjones.com

Has been a very weird period for me.  Forgive my lack
of contact...13yrs is hard to move on from.

regards - Cameron.

P.S. The builders are @ bv - go down there sometine,
and wlk around the back and see! ... it did come true,
just under diff circumstances than I imagined.


--- Lev Lafayette <lev_lafayette at yahoo.com.au> wrote:

> An initial sketch ideas for a magic system 
> ------------------------------------------
> 
> Theoretical speculation first then some game
> proposals. Gamers will notice influence from
> Rolemaster, RuneQuest, the Hero System Ars Magica
> and
> Hero Wars - and even a touch of Swordbearer for
> those
> who remember that game.
> 
> 
> Metaphysical issue 
> -------------------
> 
> 
> The basis of the Mimesis game is historical fantasy
> with a "solidly simulationist agenda" (Dave Cake is
> going on the back cover blurb for that one). Based
> of
> this simulation means that there must be a way or
> simulating magic and magical effects in a manner
> that
> is historically and culturally accurate and which
> doesn't require too much of a suspension of
> disbelief
> for non-believers (which I presume is most of us,
> right?).
> 
> Through various anthropological studies, it seems
> fair
> to claim that magical beliefs have existed in every
> indigenous culture, specifically contact with the
> spirit world. All cultures also seem to use a medium
> to express spiritual ability; in Polynesian cultures
> it is mana, in Australian Aboriginal cultures maban,
> in East Asian chi or ki, the Egyptian ka, the
> Hellenic
> ichor, Hindu prana etc.
> 
> So for the purposes of this game magic and magical
> creatures etc do exist. Whilst this may not be
> *true*,
> it is *accurate* for nearly all people of primitive
> and traditional cultures and even for most of modern
> times the majority at least believe in some degree
> of
> supernatural, psychic or paranormal power; metaphors
> are "real" (a rose *is* blood red), and coincidences
> have a cause.
> 
> Initially magic is represented as a cohesive whole.
> Anything and everything in the game world had a
> Spirit
> trait and everything was magical. As the world lost
> its animist lustre, magical processes initially
> became
> more specialised and esoteric and over time, as
> people
> became increasingly disenchanted for magical
> explanations of natural phenomena, even this was
> lost.
> 
> As people lost their faith in magical explanations,
> so
> too magical effects disappeared.
> 
> "So where are the dragon bones?", asks the
> well-meaning atheist. We'll get to that.
> 
> 
> Definition and Manifestation
> ----------------------------
> 
> Magic is the use of supernatural, psychic or
> paranormal means to predict, achieve or explain an
> effect. It breaches basic rules of space and time,
> matter and energy. It is intrinsically chaotic.
> 
> Magic has changed historically. In primitive
> cultures
> (savages and barbarians, to use Morgan's charming
> classifications) magic is primarily Animist and
> magic
> users are Shamen. In traditional cultures (slavery
> and
> feudalism), magic becomes split into - to use the
> Rolemaster terms - Channelling (supernatural,
> priests), Essence (paranormal, wizards) and
> Mentalism
> (psychic, mystics). In modern times magic
> "disappears"
> from the normal world and magical professions
> transform into mundane professions, c.f.,
> 
> 
> World		Medium*		Content		Primitive	Traditional
> Modern
> Objective	Essence 	Elements	Shaman*		Wizard	
> Sciences
> Intersubjective	Chanelling	Actions		Shaman*		Priest	
> Laws
> Subjective	Mentalism	Thoughts	Shaman*		Mystic		Arts
> 
> * The medium for Shamen is Animism.
> 
> Animist Magic. The foundation of all other mediums,
> Animist Magic is highly adaptable and versatile. It
> can use foci and materials (like Essence magic),
> group
> rituals (like Channelling) and meditative practises
> (like Mentalism); often it will use all three. The
> danger of animist magic is the chaotic feedback and
> disasters that befall with failed use of magic.
> Animist magic attempts to reduce the possibility of
> feedback by ensuring the tribe follows the the
> mythic
> narratives in their everyday life and by assigning
> themselves to totem clans and by ancestor
> veneration.
> The most important being animist magic is the Great
> Spirit, the primeval state of chaos itself from
> which
> all things come, followed by Mother Nature and
> Father
> Time and so forth. The practise of animist magic
> involves contacting sprits embodies in people,
> animals, plants and objects and directing their
> power
> to the will of the Shaman.
> 
> Essence Magic. Essence magic is concerned with the
> dispassionate study in traditional society of
> elements, the humours and so forth. With careful
> investigation of nature and the constant quest to
> find
> instances of noumenal or essential examples of an
> element or humour, wizards derive their power.
> Essence
> magic includes divination through astrology, alchemy
> etc. Essence magic is highly dependent on
> book-learning and use of foci.
> 
> Channelling Magic. Channelling magic is concerned
> with
> harnessing or invoking the will of others in
> dedication to a single cause. This can be achieved
> by
> appeals to a greater being (e.g., a deity) or by
> orchestrating rituals of worshippers. Channelling
> magic includes divine interventions, summoning and
> necromancy. Channelling magic is highly dependent on
> knowledge of religious laws and the use of verbal
> and
> dramatic expressions and symbols.
> 
> Mentalism Magic. Mentalist magic is concerned with
> self-control over one's mind and body. Through the
> use
> of systematic contemplation and exercise a mystic
> can
> draw upon extraordinary inner resources when
> engaging
> in the phsycial world (like the capacity to walk on
> burning coals, to slow one's heatbeat to a neglible
> rate etc) and to project their mind in the psychic
> world (telepathy, psychokinesis etc). Mentalist
> magic
> is highly dependent on concentration and often
> freedom
> of movement.
> 
> Modern Skills. Occassionally, the application of
> modern skills (the sciences, the laws, the arts)
> cause
> experiences which must give the impression of
> magical
> such is their extraordinary nature. Of course, once
> established within a scientific, legal or artistic
> discourse the activity loses its unique and chaotic
> expression and thus ceases to be magic. Modernity is
> about the destruction of premodern magic into an
> ordered and rational world.
> 
> "... in 1941, physicists Sherr, Bainbridge and
> Anderson transmuted a radioactive isotope of Mercury
> into pure Gold..."
> 
> 
> Game Rules and Play
> -------------------
> 
> Every character is raised in a magic tradition, even
> if that tradition (for Modern characters) is "None"
> (or Mundane) as Lay Membership. Foreigners may also
> be
> granted this level of membership. By the time a
> character reaches adolescence they become a
> Apprentice
> (Essence), Acolyte (Channelling) or Initiate
> (Mentalism) of a particular tradition. Learning the
> 
=== message truncated ===



		
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