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Old 12-17-2009, 10:51 PM   #4
whswhs
 
Join Date: Jun 2005
Location: Lawrence, KS
Default Re: Change from 3rd Ed to 4th - Tech (energy) subcollege

Quote:
Originally Posted by Black Rose View Post
The 4th edition goes out of its way to specify that "power" means

"any energy used by a machine to do its job. At TL8, this generally means electricity. Earlier TLs might use mechanical power from a waterwheel or steam engine; later TLs might use exotic forms of beamed power."

This is, quite clearly not the only way, which allowed for tapping geothermal vents, forest fires, and hurricanes... provided you could survive being near them.

So, does anyone know why?
Well, I'll tell you the way I look at it. If you apply the spell to natural phenomena, you are obtaining mana by tapping the natural environment. But getting mana by tapping the natural environment is already an inherent function of magic! That's what accounts for a mage getting a 1-point reduction in energy cost at skill-15, a 2-point reduction in energy cost at skill-20, and so on: He's turning the energy flows in the environment into mana, or drawing on mana spontaneously formed from those energy flows.

On the other hand, the ability to get mana from machines is not an inherent feature of magic. The spell is a special adapter for that purpose.

Other than that, a machine normally has power focused in a specific place: current flowing through a wire, a driveshaft turning, steam in a boiler, that sort of thing. High-energy natural phenomena are dispersed through a much larger volume. Not the same thing at all.

And, finally, the extension to natural phenomena takes away much of the benefit to the mage of living in a higher-tech society. The invention of the windmill has little value if the mage can draw power from the wind. So instead of the picturesque technomage with a steam engine or a huge water wheel at hand, you get a mage who stands beside a running stream!

Bill Stoddard

Bill Stoddard
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