Subject: Re: Starting locations
From: McDuff (kenroberts@totalise.co.uk)
Date: Thu Nov 25 1999 - 14:01:44 EET
>> Orcs don't get along with anyone. It's in the descs. Elves get along with >> humans, reasonably well, but we don't know how well they get along with >> trolls/dwarves/necrolytes/catpeople yet. > >Hmm, in WHAT desc? I'm sure that there were some orc descs posted before I got cut off last time. Anyhow, me and thee did thrash out a basic plan for the orcs, and then this got altered a bit by Harum. The general upshot of it is that Orcs are cursed for some reason, and hold a grudge against everybody else. Or has all this been forgotten? >Yes, but do players remember the >situation? Remember that we have real players playing those chars, so >if they don't remember time before cataclysm (how could they remember >since they haven't played before it) they really don't know how things >were until someone tells it to them. Well, I imagine that the shockwave, or whatever, might cause loss of memory for a while, as most accidents have a tendency to do, but things like social groups would be retained, and we can't wipe out ALL knowledge or there would be no language! Knowledge is layered in the mind, and you can eliminate some without getting rid of other stuff. A quick word with a sage would do. > >Magic is no longer energy, it's patterns. There has been two cataclysms. two? I've only been reading about 1. Is the "energy" model incompatible with the "pattern" model? Here's what I mean by this: In quantum physics, it is hypothesised, space-time, matter, energy, emerged from a convergence of probabilities. The laws of physics were set up at whatever time by whatever process, which stated that the probability of space time existing at this point was x, and so it became so. The process was repeated until everything was produced from probabilities, and adjusted by the same probabilities to produce more complex forms. How does this relate to Magic in Majik? If we have Namhas creating the first magic, and then forming more and more complex patterns out of this initial "stuff" and then patterns out of the patterns etc, we have, in a sense, two forms of "magic" that are derivatives of the primal magic. The first one, the stuff, may not even be magic as the people on the planet know it, in the same way that no-one in medieval culture knew about the quark or the quantum process. The second is the adjustment of probabilities of higher patterns. The power of magic is based on the adjustment of patterns of lower and lower orders, so that the Higher Gods can control the very fabric of reality itself. The sages are in control of maintaining this process, but not able to adjust the pattern itself, just regulate the "flow" with their tools from the gods. (For reasons for flow, we can alter some 10D physics and plug that in) I know, it's stolen straight from physics, but I think that quantum physics as a concept is so beautifully off the wall that it's almost in the realm of fantasy already. This provides a reasonable model of the world as well, explaining why everything is like it is, and why it works. This suggestion will provide the basis for a cataclysm, will provide a reason to hate magic users after the cataclysm (people will know that it was a magical accident, even if they do not know the cause. The sages greeting new players could warn them of the dangers of meddling with things they do not understand, showing them what will happen if they do not), and it will not provide a need to redefine the politics of the Gods with any battle or whatever. Besides, I do not think that Namhas would allow the balance to be broken like that. Also, using this, the magical accident between powerful mages would still be viable. The "maintenance flaw" as an idea might not be workable, but I think that the "quantum magic" is a solid base to build everything else on. Suggestions? McDuff
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