Friendship is Dragons
Updates Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays
Page 1587 - Head Cannon
Author Notes:
Newbiespud
16th Sep 2021, 6:00 AM
edit
delete
(Pop-out)
23 Comments:
If I had to guess, I would say modern day incantations are shorter, maybe more catchphrases to jog the memory and create word/spell associations? This would probably work better when it comes to casting spells faster, since there's less buildup time, but it also may weaken spells by making them simpler and do less stuff. So, older spells in that case would generally be more complex, maybe more often be an amalgamation of lots of different spells in one incantation, taking more focus and time to cast while also doing more things once the spell is cast.
Filling in the blanks, it sounds like the modern style is for simpler incantations, which probably makes spells easier to learn in some ways (less to memorize) but harder to learn in others (it's easier to associate a certain state of mind with a song than with a simple phrase), but wouldn't ultimately affect their power at all. Incantations are just a tool to achieve focus, after all, not things that are necessary in and of themselves.
So... Memes? "Shaka, when the walls fell" to attack a city? ;)
Lord Darcy? The one from "Pride And Prejudice" landed gentry but didn't have a title. Clue me in, please? :)
It's been a month, but check out the series starting with "Murder and Magic" by Randall Garrett. If you like fantasy detective stories, it's fun!
"Any sufficiently analysed magic is indistinguishable from science."
There is a fancy amount of varying episodes picked through for these panels and I am all for this.
The hard part is picking just the right episode for the scene of Spike holding a checklist.
Anyway, I once had a bard that cast spells via interpretive dance rather than singing. Which the group was all for once I assured them tap shoes were not likely to be involved. You can make more noise with slam dancing anyways.
Anyway, I once had a bard that cast spells via interpretive dance rather than singing. Which the group was all for once I assured them tap shoes were not likely to be involved. You can make more noise with slam dancing anyways.
Just a bit of a cliffhanger there, Spud? ;)
There are some that love to listen to headcanon, past Lore, and everything the mod does... And others that are very impatient and want to go to "I slash X monster" and we can guess that many GM had many like them...
You saying us ADHD people can't do magic!??!!! And that autistic people are prodigies!? Go and f... Oooh! A shiny coin!
Would also imply the undercurrent of "magic enhancement drugs" (aka stimulants) that might be floating in the dark underbelly of society, lol.
I'm sure the right ADHD person could apply their hyperfocus to magic and be quite skilled. :)
Though yes, now that you mention it, I can imagine there being some kind of magical stimulants market, but for the sake of my own worldbuilding work I'm not going to apply it here.
Pssst...
Hey buddy... Want to try an extract of Poison Joke...
Hey buddy... Want to try an extract of Poison Joke...
You do know that ADHD can be co-morbid with autism, right? I have both ADHD and Asperger's. Sometimes I'm easily sidetracked, other times I hyperfocus and forget to eat.
It strikes me that this sort of extra detail might be EXACTLY the sort of background knowledge of the magic system which might be useful for Twilight's player. For instance, if an old-style magical incantation was incomplete, perhaps the issue was that the incantation COULDN'T be finished in the ancient style, and what she needs to do is to identify the important elements and convert them into the more modern style in order to formulate the sort of spell that Twilight would use. A detailed discussion of details of the magical system that Twilight would know but Twilight's player doesn't might be very useful.
But then, it could be a discussion to have over food while the players that AREN'T interested can do something else.
But then, it could be a discussion to have over food while the players that AREN'T interested can do something else.
I'd guess the long version to essentially boil down to, "The magic comes entirely from the caster. The spell itself is more or less a mnemonic device to put them in the right mental state to cast it. So, in modern times, spells tend to be more logic-based and formulaic, to match the worldview of the caster." (And old magic is more difficult to cast, because it requires adopting an archaic mindset to be in tune with the spell.)