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Dungeon World / Re: Low fantasy/magic?
« on: March 27, 2013, 04:58:27 AM »
There's a few things about the first post I don't understand.
You want a low fantasy setting, but it should still have magic in it?
Where does the magic come from? If you answer: "uh, some deity or demonic forces, I guess" then its pretty much a far step away from low fantasy to high fantasy, as it gives reason to believe that there are a bunch of gods and demons strolling about, dealing out magical powers on a whim.
Limiting the magic doesn't really make it less fantasy, there's still magic and it must come from somewhere.
European academics in the 16th century developed a discipline called Demonology, where they studied how witches gained magical powers and from what sort of demonic forces it derived from. Sex with demons is a common way of gaining powers. Being born half human and half demon is another good way of possibly do something magic. Naturally we think of these demonologists as kooks today, but their fear was real at the time that something unnatural was going on in the world. Demons everywhere, the end of the world is nigh! This is a low fantasy setting. The belief that there is something terrible going on, witches everywhere.
And don't forget all the rituals the common people must do to avoid bad luck or what have you! Throwing salt over the shoulder, having silver in the baby's crib, hanging up horseshoes above the door, these sort of small things, they are all linked to the belief of magic.
You want a low fantasy setting, but it should still have magic in it?
Where does the magic come from? If you answer: "uh, some deity or demonic forces, I guess" then its pretty much a far step away from low fantasy to high fantasy, as it gives reason to believe that there are a bunch of gods and demons strolling about, dealing out magical powers on a whim.
Limiting the magic doesn't really make it less fantasy, there's still magic and it must come from somewhere.
European academics in the 16th century developed a discipline called Demonology, where they studied how witches gained magical powers and from what sort of demonic forces it derived from. Sex with demons is a common way of gaining powers. Being born half human and half demon is another good way of possibly do something magic. Naturally we think of these demonologists as kooks today, but their fear was real at the time that something unnatural was going on in the world. Demons everywhere, the end of the world is nigh! This is a low fantasy setting. The belief that there is something terrible going on, witches everywhere.
And don't forget all the rituals the common people must do to avoid bad luck or what have you! Throwing salt over the shoulder, having silver in the baby's crib, hanging up horseshoes above the door, these sort of small things, they are all linked to the belief of magic.