15
you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[-] Poogona@hexbear.net 1 points 1 month ago

I think too often "magic" ends up existing in that sort of story as just alternate technology. It can make the dichotomy between them seem like little more than an aesthetic difference, and it's especially obvious when the magic is highly systematized. A wizard who threatens to shoot fire from his hands, who is loaded up on his mana resource and has great aim with his hand-blasts, seems to me like little more than a person with a fancy gun.

There are some examples of "system" magic that still feels distinct though, like in Earthsea or Discworld, where magic is a tool that interacts with the world like technology, but cannot be manipulated without something special that is difficult to exploit. Discworld's magic is basically 40k orks, magic that stems from collective belief, which is hard to manufacture inorganically. Earthsea's magic comes from understanding things deeply, being able to capture the essence of things in a word and then being able to manipulate it. The "magic" ends up being the same hard-to-define relationship between the world and the words we use to break it into pieces. In a way, it's like technology's shadow, the same drive to control and understand but in the opposite direction.

this post was submitted on 23 Oct 2024
15 points (100.0% liked)

Worldbuilding

1069 readers
1 users here now

A community for sharing your worlds, exploring others' worlds, and discussing anything relating to the art of worldbuilding.

Resources

Related Communities:

Battlemaps

Dungeons & Dragons

TTRPGs

Rules:

  1. Follow Lemmy's Code of Conduct.
  2. Remain on-topic. Worldbuilding contains many areas of interest, so, when in doubt, explain how your contribution fits within worldbuilding.
  3. Give context in the comments of your post. This will help your audience engage with your creation and encourage interaction.
  4. Tag posts as NSFW if they contain images or discussion of extreme violence or explicit sexuality.
  5. Advertising should not disrupt the community. Self-promotion of projects related to worldbuilding are fine. However, you must be willing to engage with your audience.
  6. Love each other. There's a human on the other side of your screen, so treat them with respect.

founded 4 years ago
MODERATORS