Subject: Re: magic and magical arts
From: Ari Miettinen (emiettin@hytti.uku.fi)
Date: Wed Oct 13 1999 - 16:07:39 EEST
> > > >On Wed, 13 Oct 1999, Ari Miettinen wrote: > >> In my opinion gods know all the symbols and that is what makes them powerful. That >> also means that if a mortal learns all the symbols, he becomes practically a god. >> (And in my opinion, it should be possible for a mortal to do so) >> He cannot destroy the world, because the other (true) gods won't let him. Of course >> they know spells which stop the mortal mage from destroying the world. Also, >> there are mortals who don't want to see the world destroyed and would also >> fight the destroyer. This creates balance, which is good. > >Well, I don't see why this would be the case? Since there are Gods of >ocean, forests etc so they probably know mostly symbols which are related >with their sphere(s) of influence. Well, Namhas knows all the symbols, Aluna knows goodie symbols, Sinister baddie symbols and so on, but there would be some resistance for a mere mortal to destroy the world (And there would be certainly be some mortals who don't want to see the world destroyed. If all the mortals want the world to be destroyed, there goes the world.. probably.) Hell, even resistance for Sinister, if he wished to destroy the world. The only one who is able to alone destroy the world is Namhas. (But this is beside the point) .. Also, if a mortal is able to learn new magic, certainly a god is able to do the same.. >> What do you mean with: 'mortals can never form true symbols'? > >Can you completelly descripe something which can't be descriped >by words, gestures or writings? The point in this is that when >God makes his spell he/she uses true form of symbol, he/she does >not speak or make gestures or use a component because he/she >fully understand what symbol is. I didn't realize that the gods used symbols in such manner, but even if I cannot describe something by words, gestures or writings, certainly a god of sufficient power can do so (if not by words, gestures or writings, then perhaps by telepathy or some other divine method.) That allows mortals to learn those same true symbols as the gods use. >Why should a God draw power from external source which requires time >and thus makes spellcasting slower, when he/she can use a portion of >of his/her own divine essence which anyway replenishes when mortals >pray him/her. Besides gods probably drain all unnecessary power out >side them to themselves. Maybe you understand better what I mean when >you compare mortal worshippers to nodes: like a mortal mage can drain >power from a node, also gods drain power from mortal worshipping, but >they can also hold that power in their essence (because they are >spirits) which mere mortals can't do, at least not so well. This was a nice explanation. >This also leads to suggestion where power of mortal mages grows same >way as power of gods when mortal mages drain power to their own >essence. So in theory a mage who has spent time draining power has >more sp (same as dp in this case) to spend in his/her spell. There >should be limit for this or mortals could eventually get as powerful >as the Gods. Continual spells can be either made so that they use >this power and constantly drain power from a mage until he/she no >longer has sp or they can be made to drain it from the free magic >in some area. In both cases sources eventually run out of magic >(= sp). The limit could be imposed by the mages physical form. Mortals are mainly physical beings and this makes them rigid in relation to magic. Gods are mainly magical beings and this makes them flexible in relation to magic. Another way to limit mortal's magical abilities would be to limit their magic recovery capability (spell point recovery). This could be another facet of their physical being. >Old mages are powerful because they have had much time to drain >magic to themselves and wise spellcaster would rather use spells >which drain power from the surrounding area than spells which >drain power from him/herself. Of course using own sp is always >quicker way to cast spells but it also drains eventually magical >reserves of a mage. So, does this mean that a mage who uses only word-components to cast his spells, does not need to use any of his own personal mana reserve (sps)? (Just asking out of curiosity) >> Why are there two (or more) different symbols meaning the same thing? >> Why cannot they be combined? What makes 'creation symbol 1' different from >> 'creation symbol 2'? > >Maybe there are only one set of true symbols but there are many ways >to imitate one symbol inside their three main manifestations. So for >example there are different words which imitate creation symbol and >different words which imitate fire symbol but these words don't >necessary fit together (ie creation1 word doesn't fit together with >fire2 word, but creation2 word fits together with fire2 word). I don't like this, but it is just me. If there is one 'true word for fire' which the gods use, when the other words would not simply work at all. Imho of course. The Main Point: Flexibility --------------------------- >This was originally made this way so we would have different mage >types without character classes: For example there are set of words >which descripe symbols in more chaotic way and thus make chaos spells >more powerful but they probably can't descripe as well other things >and can't descripe "order" symbols at all. Then there are ways to d >escripe symbols in ordered way but since order and chaos ways are so >different to eachother their manifestations don't fit together. >Hopefully you understood what I was trying to explain. :) Yes, I understood that thank you very much, BUT (there is always a but) if we have different sets of symbols for order / chaos / nature and so on, we will simply have three or more separate magic systems, which cannot be combined. In the original magic system suggestion i wanted all magic symbols to be usable with all other magic symbols. The reason for this was flexibility. In your scenario, if one mage would learn both Chaos and Order magic, he could use Chaos spells and Order spells, but not their combination. In my scenario, he could also mix the symbols and create a totally new kind of magic, Balance magic and this is good. (Imho again) >- Beregar Dar'Eldath (Beregar@majik3d.org) -------------------------------------------------------- Do not meddle in the affairs of wizards, for they are subtle and quick to anger. Do not meddle in the affairs of dragons, for you are crunchy and taste good with ketchup. --------------------------------------------------------
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b25 : Tue Feb 12 2002 - 00:03:21 EET