if you were told by your DM that you would be playing in a high magic word, what kind of world would you expect to be playing in, what would you expect to see and would would you expect not to see? What do you consider to be high magic?
I would like to get a discussion going about this because I have been creating a high magic world setting.
In my world setting, magic is extremely common, everybody can use cantrips from being small children, every adult can cast level 1 spells and most adults can cast level 2 spells. So magic is everywhere and it does everything. Because magic is so prevalent in my world, it has been used to build what is essentially a utopia. In this world, nobody is homeless, nobody is hungry or thirsty, there is no crime - magic has been used to construct delicate glass spires that are intricately decorated with marble that has been magically carved into breathtakingly beautiful designs and magically polished so that it shines like the sun.
There are crystal lakes, magically maintained forests, rolling hills of unnatural beauty, vehicles that run on magic energy - transportation portals that allow you to cross entire continents in the blink of eye and literal castles in the sky. In this world, magic provides and nobody wants for anything. No war, no hunger, no disease, no despair. At least on the surface. Scratch the surface however; and you will find things are not so bright. Magical ability is valued above all in this world and although the vast majority of the population are born with magical ability - a few are not.
Those few are quickly weeded out, whisked away from their homes and families, who are all to willing to let them go. Without magical ability, they are considered a drain on society and unworthy of the splendours it provides. They are kept in seclusion, locked away underground and used in the most inhumane of ways. Sterilised and rented out by the government as concubines for visiting dignitaries or used for medical or magical experimentation - infected with all manner of diseases and inflicted with various curses and used as living dolls for student healers to practice upon.
This is the dark side of a high magic world. A side that everyone knows about, but which is never spoken of for the shame of it.
On the surface, we see a magic utopia where those with magical ability indulge their every whim. Below ground, we find a dark cyberpunk-esque world of narrow streets, locked gates and claustrophobic cells, where those without magical ability struggle to survive amidst widespread abuse and exploitation that everybody on the surface world denies even exists.
So what is your interpretation of a high magic world and what do you think of mine?
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I am an online author and sci-fi lover who plays table too roleplaying games in his free time. See all my character concepts at: Character Bios – Jays Blog (jaytelford.me)
When I think of high magic, I think of Discworld. Then I think of Xanth, Eberron, the Pelagirs in the Valdemar setting, and the Magic: the Gathering multiverse. I think of the Five Hundred Kingdoms, where the world's magic manipulates pretty much everything and everyone to its own absurd ends. I turn my attention to video games, which leads me to think of Skylands. And finally, I think of the GURPS definitions of high and low mana. Extremely clipped excerpt from GURPS Basic Set, Fourth Edition; specifically, from a sidebar on page 235:
Mana is the ambient energy that empowers magic. Magic will work only if the mana level of the game world or specific area allows it, as follows:
High Mana: Anyone who knows spells can cast them.
Normal Mana: Only mages can cast spells. This is the default mana level in most fantasy settings: mages use magic, others don’t.
Low Mana: Only mages can cast spells, and all spells perform at -5 to skill.
No Mana: No one can use magic at all.
Notes: GURPS defines a mage as anyone with the inborn ability to sense and manipulate magical energy, as represented by the Magery advantage.
When I define a setting as High Magic or Low Magic I determine three things. The first is how do the common people of the realm react to Magic. The second is how difficult is it to learn to manipulate magical forces. And the last is how common are magic items.
The combination of all three will determine to me whether I find that system, world, book setting, etc. High or Low magic. A high/moderate degree of any two is usually enough for me to call it High. If only one of the categories is High then I usually lean toward low.
When considering high magic settings, remember that high level arcane magic can quickly start warping settings and should be kept to a minimal in the populace.
Generally, I imagine high magic settings as around half (more if you like) the population able to cast cantrips, 20-25% have a 1st level spell or 2, less than 10% able to cast 2nd level spells, 1% able to cast up to 5th level spells (these will be soldiers, nobles, politicians, and influential businessmen).
Magic items, particularly common and uncommon, are everywhere, sold in the street, used in homes, with a heavy lean toward non-combat use. Magically enhanced public services like water, sanitation, transportation, and entertainment really help sell a high magic world.
A high magic world also has high magic dangers. Its not a utopia, the world will be scarred by past wars fought with magic weapons and magically warped plants and animals lurk in untamed regions.
When I think "high magic" I think in a very general way because I've never played in one or run/built one. I think of today's world but with magical technology instead of what we have now.
Come to think of it, that world may not be so very different to our own. The majority of people still wouldn't know how to create the magic that fuels what they use in daily life... hmmm... food for thought.
Thanks for your replies. Reading all your replies was interesting. Also just to answer @DxJxC regarding a high magic world not being a utopia.
The world has had it's wars when the various countries of the world fought between themselves to become to dominant nation. These wars were not magical as magic was not so prevalent then as it is now.
These were the alchemist wars (wars of science)
Eventually, at some point in the long distant past, a weapon was invented by one of these countries. An extremely powerful bomb. The county that invented it, planned on using it to bomb all the other countries into submission.
However, when the first bomb was dropped, something unexpected happened. The bomb was so powerful that it didn't just blow apart physical matter, it shattered time, and breached the ethereal barriers that separate our realm from the Fey realm.
As the Feywild began to bleed into the human world, it began changing and warping the human realm. At first, just the geography began to change as the spirit of the Feywild attacked and overtook the spirit of earth
Then the animals began to change, some changed physically, others changed magically and became fey representations of what they were.
Eventually, the most powerful wizards and sorcerers in the world (there were some back then, it was just that magic was not very common) managed to close the breach but not before the world was changed forever.
Overtime, even the people of the world have been changed. Magic now perminates everything and everyone.
This all happened so long ago now that people tend to take the story more as a creation myth than actual history. They don't believe the alchemist wars ever happened and can't imagine a time when they lived without magic.
This is really why the government so ardently persues anyone born without magical ability. They are proof you see, of a far distant past. A past that could bring the world into chaos if it was widely believed to be true.
And so through propoganda, laws and doctrine, the government of the world has found a way to disguise the truth.
The world appears to be a magical utopia but scratch beneath the surface and you find that it is anything but. It is ruled by a tyrannical government who care only for themselves and their own power and there is a war brewing between those who live on the surface and those who live underground. Between magic and science.
Add to that dangerous animals that roam the forests and a lost civilisation from the time of the alchemist wars and you have a world that hides it's true nature beneath the splendor of its beguiling beauty
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I am an online author and sci-fi lover who plays table too roleplaying games in his free time. See all my character concepts at: Character Bios – Jays Blog (jaytelford.me)
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Hi everyone,
if you were told by your DM that you would be playing in a high magic word, what kind of world would you expect to be playing in, what would you expect to see and would would you expect not to see? What do you consider to be high magic?
I would like to get a discussion going about this because I have been creating a high magic world setting.
In my world setting, magic is extremely common, everybody can use cantrips from being small children, every adult can cast level 1 spells and most adults can cast level 2 spells. So magic is everywhere and it does everything. Because magic is so prevalent in my world, it has been used to build what is essentially a utopia. In this world, nobody is homeless, nobody is hungry or thirsty, there is no crime - magic has been used to construct delicate glass spires that are intricately decorated with marble that has been magically carved into breathtakingly beautiful designs and magically polished so that it shines like the sun.
There are crystal lakes, magically maintained forests, rolling hills of unnatural beauty, vehicles that run on magic energy - transportation portals that allow you to cross entire continents in the blink of eye and literal castles in the sky. In this world, magic provides and nobody wants for anything. No war, no hunger, no disease, no despair. At least on the surface. Scratch the surface however; and you will find things are not so bright. Magical ability is valued above all in this world and although the vast majority of the population are born with magical ability - a few are not.
Those few are quickly weeded out, whisked away from their homes and families, who are all to willing to let them go. Without magical ability, they are considered a drain on society and unworthy of the splendours it provides. They are kept in seclusion, locked away underground and used in the most inhumane of ways. Sterilised and rented out by the government as concubines for visiting dignitaries or used for medical or magical experimentation - infected with all manner of diseases and inflicted with various curses and used as living dolls for student healers to practice upon.
This is the dark side of a high magic world. A side that everyone knows about, but which is never spoken of for the shame of it.
On the surface, we see a magic utopia where those with magical ability indulge their every whim. Below ground, we find a dark cyberpunk-esque world of narrow streets, locked gates and claustrophobic cells, where those without magical ability struggle to survive amidst widespread abuse and exploitation that everybody on the surface world denies even exists.
So what is your interpretation of a high magic world and what do you think of mine?
I am an online author and sci-fi lover who plays table too roleplaying games in his free time. See all my character concepts at: Character Bios – Jays Blog (jaytelford.me)
When I think of high magic, I think of Discworld. Then I think of Xanth, Eberron, the Pelagirs in the Valdemar setting, and the Magic: the Gathering multiverse. I think of the Five Hundred Kingdoms, where the world's magic manipulates pretty much everything and everyone to its own absurd ends. I turn my attention to video games, which leads me to think of Skylands. And finally, I think of the GURPS definitions of high and low mana. Extremely clipped excerpt from GURPS Basic Set, Fourth Edition; specifically, from a sidebar on page 235:
"Any society that would give up a little liberty to gain a little security will deserve neither and lose both" -- allegedly Benjamin Franklin
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When I define a setting as High Magic or Low Magic I determine three things. The first is how do the common people of the realm react to Magic. The second is how difficult is it to learn to manipulate magical forces. And the last is how common are magic items.
The combination of all three will determine to me whether I find that system, world, book setting, etc. High or Low magic. A high/moderate degree of any two is usually enough for me to call it High. If only one of the categories is High then I usually lean toward low.
When considering high magic settings, remember that high level arcane magic can quickly start warping settings and should be kept to a minimal in the populace.
Generally, I imagine high magic settings as around half (more if you like) the population able to cast cantrips, 20-25% have a 1st level spell or 2, less than 10% able to cast 2nd level spells, 1% able to cast up to 5th level spells (these will be soldiers, nobles, politicians, and influential businessmen).
Magic items, particularly common and uncommon, are everywhere, sold in the street, used in homes, with a heavy lean toward non-combat use. Magically enhanced public services like water, sanitation, transportation, and entertainment really help sell a high magic world.
A high magic world also has high magic dangers. Its not a utopia, the world will be scarred by past wars fought with magic weapons and magically warped plants and animals lurk in untamed regions.
I like your setting, I'd play in it.
When I think "high magic" I think in a very general way because I've never played in one or run/built one. I think of today's world but with magical technology instead of what we have now.
Come to think of it, that world may not be so very different to our own. The majority of people still wouldn't know how to create the magic that fuels what they use in daily life... hmmm... food for thought.
Hi guys,
Thanks for your replies. Reading all your replies was interesting. Also just to answer @DxJxC regarding a high magic world not being a utopia.
The world has had it's wars when the various countries of the world fought between themselves to become to dominant nation. These wars were not magical as magic was not so prevalent then as it is now.
These were the alchemist wars (wars of science)
Eventually, at some point in the long distant past, a weapon was invented by one of these countries. An extremely powerful bomb. The county that invented it, planned on using it to bomb all the other countries into submission.
However, when the first bomb was dropped, something unexpected happened. The bomb was so powerful that it didn't just blow apart physical matter, it shattered time, and breached the ethereal barriers that separate our realm from the Fey realm.
As the Feywild began to bleed into the human world, it began changing and warping the human realm. At first, just the geography began to change as the spirit of the Feywild attacked and overtook the spirit of earth
Then the animals began to change, some changed physically, others changed magically and became fey representations of what they were.
Eventually, the most powerful wizards and sorcerers in the world (there were some back then, it was just that magic was not very common) managed to close the breach but not before the world was changed forever.
Overtime, even the people of the world have been changed. Magic now perminates everything and everyone.
This all happened so long ago now that people tend to take the story more as a creation myth than actual history. They don't believe the alchemist wars ever happened and can't imagine a time when they lived without magic.
This is really why the government so ardently persues anyone born without magical ability. They are proof you see, of a far distant past. A past that could bring the world into chaos if it was widely believed to be true.
And so through propoganda, laws and doctrine, the government of the world has found a way to disguise the truth.
The world appears to be a magical utopia but scratch beneath the surface and you find that it is anything but. It is ruled by a tyrannical government who care only for themselves and their own power and there is a war brewing between those who live on the surface and those who live underground. Between magic and science.
Add to that dangerous animals that roam the forests and a lost civilisation from the time of the alchemist wars and you have a world that hides it's true nature beneath the splendor of its beguiling beauty
I am an online author and sci-fi lover who plays table too roleplaying games in his free time. See all my character concepts at: Character Bios – Jays Blog (jaytelford.me)