Magic-Whence Cometh?

It may have seemed like I was about to get into Shamans. But I hadn't quite hashed out the background necessary to discuss them.
Actual Shamans, and people in Shamanic societies have what is called an "enchanted worldview." They believe that spirits are real, and that the realm of the numinous is near-at hand, though invisible. It is something very real; to be respected or feared, and typically quite mysterious. The shaman is the person who intercedes between humans and this other realm. They typically do this by inducing an altered state of consciousness. This altered state can be atained in a number of ways. They believe this altered state allows them to interact with the spirit world.
It is in this otherworld that the shaman becomes capable of "magical" abilities such as shape-shifting, passing without a trace and interacting with otherworldly beings.

What is going on here?

If we wanted to simulate this sort of thing in D&D, how could we go about it?

As is, we really can't. There is a mention of the astral or ethereal plane. But I have never been able to find a description of what these places are supposed to be like. And the canon Planar Cosmography of D&D is a mess. I guess we could use it could serve in a pinch though.

It gets really bad when you add Spelljammer (fantasy space) into the mix.

 

All this is to say that a druid/shaman is not required to move through other planes to use their powers. They cast their spells per day and use abilities normally on the Prime Material Plane, going about their daily business. They don't even have to be "in nature" to draw on the power thereof. They don't even have to get naked and dance.  

 

Where does Magic come from?

 

You could have a whole campaign centered around answering this central question.

Most of the time however, the campaign will be about something else: Race Wars. The disposition of a magical maguffin. Foiling the agenda of a progressively-minded villain. Repelling an Alien Invasion. Survival. So magic in the setting will be taken as understood.

 

It seems that players will default to having their characters speak of magic in  exactly the terms by which it is described in the rulebook: Arcane Spells, divine Spells, schools of magic, spells per day. Does it not seem odd that the characters in the setting have such precise knowledge of the deep workings of their universe? Feigning ignorance of magic (if you have a fighter or barbarian) is considered cute at first, but is quickly abandoned for how much it seems to bog down the flow of the game.

 

So you wind up with magic which is ubiquitous, disposable and not understood by its users. Like fast food. Whenever someone casts Magic Missile, they typically do it with the same level of enthusiasm they would display when ordering a combo at McDonalds. Or less.

 

I don't know about you guys, just can't have that and call it "fantastic." 

Here are some ways I've been thinking of presenting magic. They are pretty out-there, and dependent upon the flavor of the setting.

 

The Sakaguchi/Amano approach

Entities have inherent magical powers which they cast as easily as thinking or exercising a muscle. I named this approach after the producer and artist behind the Final Fantasy franchise. FF was originally an attempt to do 8-bit D&D. But it developed its own flavor. If you look at Amano's art, everything has an ethereal, otherworldly appearance which seems to indicate the spiritual, magical status of a character as much as anything else.
 



David Bowie, according to Yoshitaka Amano.

 

In these games, even warrior-type characters seem to have vast reserves of some inner power. Except instead of typical spell-like effects, their power gets channeled into shiny sword-beam attacks or wire-fu style acrobatics.  Wizard-types cast elemental or healing spells, and seem to be able to project energy. But they can't do specific, fine-tuned effects like "alter self" or "mage hand."

Since these magic powers seem so inborn to a character, I would base it off ability scores. It also kind of begs a system to define a character's morality, since a character's personality seems to affect the flavor of their powers. If you want to do magic this way, the rest of the stem would have to be suited to it.

 

Magic as Fantastic Technology

Like mundane technology, magical effects are reliable and reproducible. It's just like starting a fire or what happens when you mix baking soda and vinegar. Except in a world with components from magic herbs or monster's body parts, the range of possible effects extends into the uncanny.

This seems intriguing because it allows anybody to learn or use magic tricks, so long as they have the necessary ingredients and can perform the necessary recipes. The burden would fall on the game designer to invent a number of spell-recipes, and on the game master to make them available in the game. 

Here's one:

Pulverizing the scale of a Behir and vigorously rubbing the dust between your hands will allow you to use Shocking Grasp, once with each hand. This renders the dust inert and useless. An adult Behir has 50+3d6 usable scales. 

 

Magic as Incomprehensible Technology- The Vancian Standard

Arthur Clarke is often quoted "Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic." This is pretty much what is going on with the wizards and spellcasters in Jack Vance's Dying Earth Stories.

Vancian magic is the original basis of spellcasting in D&D. Magic is explained as a highly advanced form of mathematics. A spell is a mental formula which must be memorized, and is so complex that only a limited number can be known at any time. This is why wizards have to be smart.

The introduction of sorcerers and warlocks blows this all to crap though.

 

Actual Technology as Magic

The contrasts between clerics as "divine" spellcasters, and wizards as "arcane" spellcasters always seems to me to indicate a division between Faith on one hand, and science and technology on the other. If we take this literally, then a spellcaster's power manifests as physical devices. Spell components become the assorted equipment the "wizard" must carry. Research cost become just that. Burning hands becomes a flamethrower, detect magic becomes a Geiger counter or EMF detector. Homunculi and golems become robots.

If you played a wizard in D&D and described his spell-casting as such, it would come off as tremendously gonzo (saving that one for my post-apoc, no humans, Bakshi-esque campaign where elves live on reserves and run casinos) I am mostly just saying that your technologist takes the place of a Wizard in sci-fi or no-magic settings.

 

Magic as Inherently Alien and Destructive.

They said that the occult was of the Devil. But what if They were actually right? In certain weird, horror or pulp settings, magic is suspect at best. Tarzan, Conan, Solomon Kane, and John Carter wouldn't touch sorcery and you know it. Magic is not merely a technology, but something truly unnatural; anathema to reality.
This is a rather niggling, intuitive feeling that you can get about magic: A few words or gestures yields effects of great power. Nothing is free though. If conservation of energy is held true, then some awful price is being paid somewhere else.
I have a pet theory that all magic is effectively summoning; summoning a little heat, a little electricity, a little force from somewhere else in Creation. But the transfer is not 100% efficient. There is some "friction" to it. The normally "closed" systems of the universes are opened to each other, and entropy is allowed to work on an extra-cosmic level. These transfers progressively break down the physical laws of the universe. This is why technology frequently doesn't work in high-magic settings and vice versa.
Eventually, when things like gravity or electromagnetism stop working reliably, a universe could be so fragmented and chaotic that it is effectively ruined.

 

And what of the clerics and their gods? The gods know this secret. They will risk the destruction of a few worlds to further their own agendas. Got to break a few eggs.

 

Quantified Magic

I want to analyze some spells and determine how much energy and power they require in precise, mathematical terms. The object would be to set limits on the power-rating of a given spellcaster. This would give the caster freedom to design spells and magical effects. The limit on magical power would be a numerical value, and not arbitrary distinction. Energy necessary to repair the crystalline structure of a broken sword: minimal. Energy necessary to repair complex living tissue: significantly more, and it may require a knowledge of medicine as well.

This might annoy people who dislike doing physics in-game though. But imagine how much power you would have if a simple "mass-effect" was among your low level spells. With Quanitfied magic, you would have that freedom.

 

I promise, my next post will be something actually useful in game and not pure speculation.

PS. Magic as a function of Will.
A friend reminded me of this possible setup, and it needs mentioning. This is the explanation for Magic used in White Wolf's Mage: The Awakening. In this universe, reality is perception. (Or is perception reality?) a Mage's power comes from their ability to bend their own mind. By thoroughly altering their own perception, reality is altered in turn. Various magical traditions provide different means to convince one's self of new realities. Of course, since all minds share the same reality, creating an obvious magical effect which contradicts a bystander's perception can have negative consequences for the offending mage. This mechanic provides a balance for this free-wheeling explanation of magic. Anyways, World of Darkness is a cool setting and system. So it is always worth mentioning.