Quote:
Originally Posted by Wavefunction
There have been some really interesting and very helpful responses so far, ones that I think have probably covered that topic as much as it can usefully be covered. So I thought I'd change the question slightly: What does magic do for a setting that superpowers don't?
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There's a lot of "magic" that is superpowers. For example the "magic" in the Mistborn or Grimnoir series consists of comic book superpowers that are called "magic". So I'm going to rewrite your question:
"What does spell casting do for a setting that superpowers don't".
The essential difference between a spell and a superpower (as I imagine them) is that a spell consists of knowledge that lets you exploit a set of hidden commands somehow built into the universe. Without study to learn these commands you can do almost nothing. It's possible that you were born or initiated with a kind of "sys op" status that gives you access you wouldn't otherwise have, but still you can do little or nothing without learning or developing the "codes".
A superpower on the other hand, is an ability to do something impossible for normal humans that you gained at birth, by accident, or through deliberate exposure to something that changes your body into something not quite human and not in an entirely predictable way. While it is possible to gain skill with your super power, you can use it without any skill at all. You'll just be clumsy with it. Shooting energy blasts out of of a body part just by wanting to (or perhaps accidentally) is a super power. Hitting what you aim at is a skill.
So being a spell caster is about what you know. Being a superhuman is about what you can do. So to be a good spell caster in theory you have to invest a lot more study in developing your powers. A superhuman child can charge right out and start committing havoc on the streets the day after they get their powers. A spell caster who has just started study will usually be able to do very little.
Now spell casters are potentially far more versatile than a typical superhuman. With more skill a superhuman can come up with more applications for their powers, but ultimately they are stuck with with whatever their genetic lottery or super soldier serum gave them at the start.
Some consequences of this are:
1. Superhumans generally have less potential for economic impact than because they get whatever they get, regardless of whether there's a market for it and their abilities are usually more individual. You can't usually train an entire class of superhumans in "helping plants grow" or "finding ore". As a result when spellcasters exist in a world that is otherwise like our own, they tend to exist in secrecy, perhaps a hidden culture of their own, because otherwise they wouldn't live in a world like our own. "Occult" means "secret".
2. There is less of a correlation between age and capability with superhumans. The most powerful person in the world could be an adolescent...or a toddler. There also less of a correlation between being studious and being dangerous.
3. Spellcasting tends to have more unpredictable consequences when it goes wrong because miscasting a spell can be the same thing as casting the wrong spell.