Yet again I'm asking you nice people of the CBG to look over the core ideas I have for a setting and critique them. Plus I enjoy them so maybe you will too.
Intelligent, talking animals: Various special animals in this are not only sentient but have their own societies. Right now the only one I'm certain of is at least two (maybe three) societies of canines, but large pig-like beasts of burden, horses, and probably some birds of prey are also possibilities.
Animal theme: I want animals and animal images to be an important part of this setting. Ex: Aside from the example above I'm also having at least one of the two magic types be linked to animals. Also the one god worshiped is known as Black Cat.
Only one god: Both to keep things simple and because it might be interesting I'm gonna stick to one deity for everyone (at least everyone in the region I'll care about). Different interpretations of doctrine and some nature/spirit worship will be the deciding factor of how a religion is different.
Outside technological influence: One really important part is that one location in this setting is linked to a sci-fi city which lies on another planet (though vast majority of the inhabitants of said city are unaware of this), and has been for not a short time. So the fantasy setting is interspersed with bits of advanced technology smuggled over and reverse engineered, though a lot of this latter actually uses magic.
Science-y device magic: One of the two kinds of magic, the kind that can be learned by anyone, is not based on doing magic yourself but rather building devices that do magical things. With this definitely comes magic technology. There would be different disciplines and schools based upon the type of devices.
Primal magic: the other type of magic is based around inherent power and activating it via instincts.
These ones are old but included for completeness:
Impersonal, unintelligent magic: I like magic. But there's something I hate about it when it operates according to the worldview of people. I'd rather have it work its own way and people have to figure out it, they way they have to approach science.
Also I don't like there being an intelligent force behind or controlling magic. This applies both to gods and the "minds/souls" of people, and even to the idea that magic understands "words". Magic should be a natural force, and like all natural forces it doesn't have an intelligence.
Magic is a part of the natural world: None of this "magic is separate/comes from another dimension" stuff. Or the "magic is unnatural" stuff. Magic is an integral force to this universe and allows for quite fantastic things to be part of the natural order.
I have considered doing "science-y device magic" for my own campaign as well. Think it's a pretty sweet idea; the stalwart magician decked out in magic gizmos and armor. Combining that with the animal theme would already be a pimped trope to some degree.
Maybe the humans aspire to the animalistic as well and use drungs/magic/genetics/what-have-you to give themselves animalstic traits? Or maybe they use self-mutilation or sharpening of teeth/nails.
Quote from: Crippled CrowI have considered doing "science-y device magic" for my own campaign as well. Think it's a pretty sweet idea; the stalwart magician decked out in magic gizmos and armor.
The idea grew out of a combination of asking "exactly how would implements be so important to a caster's magic" and the rules for devices from superhero games (i.e. all your powers are in the device). Combine that with the traditional image of a wizard as a guy in workshop/lab and you have a tinkering mage. Plus it lets me have a unique kind of magic without really requiring too much detail.
Quote from: Crippled CrowMaybe the humans aspire to the animalistic as well and use drungs/magic/genetics/what-have-you to give themselves animalstic traits? Or maybe they use self-mutilation or sharpening of teeth/nails.
I hadn't considered these. Possibly the self-enhancement aspect is a more recent development, or maybe it's feared because it tends to produce side-effects. As for self-mutilation I'll use that for my extinct Mesoamerican-like ancient ruin-making civilization (Aztec zombies wearing jaguar skins with sharpened teeth and fingernails).
WIll your item-mages use self-created technology, ancient technology or a combination?
Mostly self-created or created by someone contemporary to them. I'm not sure about ancient technology, as I have some ideas about why this world exists that would create that but as very powerful stuff, but I'm also trying to decide if I want the standard "ancient people who were like us but very advanced".
In case anyone wants a deeper look at what I'm working on here are summaries for the canine societies as well as some various branches of the device mages.
Intelligent animals:
Wolves:
---Duskwalkers: The name given to all wolves who are traditionally seen as independent of the cultures of the People. However the truth is that Duskwalkers are wolves who have held on strongly to their traditional system of clan groupings, which in some cases leads them to choose living in areas remote from People settlements.
-----Three-Eye clan: One clan of Duskwalkers that can be found among People they are sometimes known as "ninja-wolves" due to their skills at the art of stealth. Their true power lies in their perceptiveness and sensory magic.
-----Underbrush clan: A backwoods group of forest-dwellers, who generally choose to keep to themselves despite being quite friendly people. They are unmatched trackers even among wolf-kind.
-----Twilight clan: A legendary clan said to live in the mid-world between the lands of the living and the lands of the dead. They are rumored to be skilled illusionists.
---Sunracers: The wolf society that has integrated with People cultures. They have no groupings of their own to speak of.
Artifice: A type of artifice is defined by whether it focuses on the type of device made, a school, or on the process of making it, known as a discipline. (So yes, you could be a member of a school who practices a certain discipline.)
---Lens School: Makers of devices that deal in light and vision the Lens school focuses on ideas relating to visual perception, both to enhance and confuse (the latter by means of light projections) as well as more mundane qualities such as optics and careful study. They are frequent patrons of visual art forms. Members of the Lens School always have some sort of spectacles or monocle on them even if they do not need it.
---Hand School: Gloves are what most people think of when they recall the Hand School, but hand-jewelry is also an important part. The magic of the Hand School is varied, from attacks to defense to manipulation, any sort of effect that could be reasonably linked to the hand (and for this reason named after a body part rather than a type of device). Often the butt of popular jokes about greed and lust.
---The Wizard School: Derided as not a true school the Wizards concern themselves not with the device they make but on the practice of magic itself.......and how people perceive them. Thus they shape their devices into "traditional" shapes such as wands, staffs, tombs, and other such parphenalia, and dress in long robes embroidered with shapes or "mystic" letters. Most common folk consider them more humorous than respectable.
---Forge Discipline: Metal shaped by fire from a random lump is chaos molded into a pattern. Forge magic concerns itself exclusively with working earthen elements that can be affected by heat, mostly metal. Elements important to artifice: type of metal used, shape of the forged item, engraving/inlay, inclusion of gems/crystals.
---Woodcarving Discipline: A discipline that spends as much time expounding the virtues of nature and "natural living" as it does its techniques and choice of materials.
Oooh, I like "science-y device magic." My setting, Crystalstar, uses a form of it in that the crystals required to do most fancy stuff have some rather basic and useful but "magical" properties, like "stores heat" or whatever. Are you going to tie magical energy to certain specific objects like that, or make it more of a general "force" (like electricity?)
It seems like that this take on magic is very fitting with your idea of making it impersonal and just part of the natural world-- it's more like science than the Harry Potter (or whatever :P ) concept of spellcasting.
Quote from: sparkletwistOooh, I like "science-y device magic." My setting, Crystalstar, uses a form of it in that the crystals required to do most fancy stuff have some rather basic and useful but "magical" properties, like "stores heat" or whatever. Are you going to tie magical energy to certain specific objects like that, or make it more of a general "force" (like electricity?)
I think tying it to one type of object would be a bit too limiting (and there's a bit too much "psychic crystals" in using only crystals/gems for me to stick to them), but since it will be science-y it's take recognizable forms. The "force" idea is much better, since you could believe it could possibly be redirected by such materials as inlay golden wire or the way a clay statue is painted.
Quote from: sparkletwistIt seems like that this take on magic is very fitting with your idea of making it impersonal and just part of the natural world-- it's more like science than the Harry Potter (or whatever :P ) concept of spellcasting.
Well Harry Potter wizards all require wands (most of the time, anyway, I didn't pay that much attention). In fact if you really think about it if the magic user had any of these items on them and their gestures and words were ways of activating the item's functions then they wouldn't look too different from the traditional view of the caster (which is the reason the Wizard School exists). That's kinda what I like about it: I can and fully intend to use it to go in different directions, but I can have my "usual wizards" just for the fun of it. :D
Hmmm, I was wondering: what if I used this stuff in a space opera setting instead of fantasy? Would it still work?
Possibly. You'd have to be careful to make sure it doesn't become tacky... Advanced civilizations usually don't try to emulate animals. Maybe if you focused extensively on bio-mechanics?
Quote from: Crippled CrowAdvanced civilizations usually don't try to emulate animals.
They'd be a lot more interesting if they did.
But I suppose if I shifted over to sci-fi I could drop at least some of that. I ask because I'm experiencing one of my normal shifts in setting taste, and rather than start over with all-new tropes I figured what I had here might still work for some semi-mystical space opera.
Quote from: Crippled CrowMaybe if you focused extensively on bio-mechanics?
What if I focused extensively on how animal DNA was used to transform people into different races?
Advanced civilizations may try to emulate animals if those animals are sentient, intelligent, talking beings that were responsible for a lot of the "civilization" in the first place. It could work. :D
Or maybe they take on a more symbolic aspect. Sleek spaceships covered in shiny black chitin-esque overlocking metal plates for insect aliens. Could get silly quite quickly though (maybe you don't mind).
You could always focus on non-terrestrial animals.
Or maybe the human race have finally discovered extra-terrestrial space travel, and they have also discovered genetic tampering at high levels. With the only DNA available for splicing being that of other terrestrial creatures, animals, they start splicing their genes into their own to make themselves stronger or to create superhuman hybrids for their dangerous intergalactic voyages. Maybe their hunger for more power has grown so strong that they seek out extraterrestrial lifeforms so they can splice them as well? Animals and aliens would become "treasure" that could grant them new powers ^^
I actually kind of like that idea.
A lot of good ideas.
Here's one of mine that's existed in various forms up till now:
A group of super-aliens discover humans. They each take one group and spread out among the stars, altering their chosen group with Earth animal DNA as they see fit. A long time later you have a variety of "aliens" who are all really modified humans, each group bearing features of one animal and a different culture.
I really don't think the emulation of animals is actually all that odd even for an advanced civilization. If you look at humans today vs. humans a really long time ago we're still putting a lot of stock in the symbolism of animals.