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Old 09-28-2012, 12:25 PM   #101
David Johnston2
 
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Default Re: The Traveller Mindset

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Originally Posted by jason taylor View Post
"Just another" is a dangerous thing to say, and when applied to fictional tropes leaves out intangible flavors. Maybe a Psi is like a Mage but they don't really FEEL the same.
Most of that feeling comes from spells (and whole colleges) that aren't the kind of thing psi is generally depicted as doing. Leave out those spells, reorganize the colleges so that you have colleges of Telepathy, Telekinesis, Biocontrol and so forth and adjust the prerequisites and you'd end up with something that would feel a lot like psi.
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Old 09-28-2012, 07:06 PM   #102
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Default Re: The Traveller Mindset

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Originally Posted by David Johnston2 View Post
Most of that feeling comes from spells (and whole colleges) that aren't the kind of thing psi is generally depicted as doing. Leave out those spells, reorganize the colleges so that you have colleges of Telepathy, Telekinesis, Biocontrol and so forth and adjust the prerequisites and you'd end up with something that would feel a lot like psi.
Also, drop all references to enchanting.

@CombatMedic: Not in years. But I've read a lot of fiction where magic has loads of components required. Some of it predating D&D by half a century.
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Old 09-28-2012, 07:49 PM   #103
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Default Re: The Traveller Mindset

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Originally Posted by ak_aramis View Post
Also, drop all references to enchanting.

@CombatMedic: Not in years. But I've read a lot of fiction where magic has loads of components required. Some of it predating D&D by half a century.

I will organize this post by topics.

• Psionic “Enchantment”:
AD&D 2E Psionics rules include the creation of psionically active imbued items. The items must be imbued with sentience in order to have psionic abilities.
I've never used this in play, but it does sound fun.
I wouldn’t use it in Traveller, but I’m not much inclined to use psi at all in Traveller.

• Material components and magic in books and games:
Of course I agree that various magic systems do use material components. Others do not. 'Magic' is a pretty broad category.

• AD&D:
Just for the record, I'm a big fan of D&D and AD&D (I am currently running B/X D&D at the tabletop and also AD&D 2E in a play by post forum). The way D&D magic works seems to have had a pretty big effect on a lot of gamers and games. Some people imitate it; other deliberately design or use something very different.
I like Vancean magic, spell slots/levels, and all that jazz. Not for everything, but I like it in D&D.

Reading List:

I suspect we have read a lot of that same stuff. Appendix N?
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Old 09-28-2012, 08:16 PM   #104
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Default Re: The Traveller Mindset

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Originally Posted by combatmedic View Post
Reading List:

I suspect we have read a lot of that same stuff. Appendix N?
Not particularly. I didn't run AD&D much after I encountered Traveller, and not until 2E did I run it as anything other than a pickup game.

I'm not a big fan of "Vancian" magic as a rule. It's certainly present in a lot of post-AD&D (note the A) fantasy literature...

D&D's Psionic enchantments are almost but not quite unique... and a firm outgrowth of the Psionics is another form of Magic approach, vs the much more common (McCaffrey, Lackey, Bujold, Niven, Pournelle, and Stirling) Science of the Mind approach, or the external focus to enable more power of Lensman.

While I'm reasonably certain some of the stuff I've read is in AD&D Appendix N, I generally hold any recommendation from Gygax with the same contempt I have for his GMing advice...

But to be specific, I was thinking of Conan and Kull - wherein the magic is lots of discrete formulae, requires massive effort, and usually larger than man-sized ritual spaces...

And also some early 60's short stories. (I don't know the authors.)

Then again, I had a subscription to Omni and Analog in 4th grade...
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Old 09-28-2012, 08:52 PM   #105
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Default Re: The Traveller Mindset

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Originally Posted by ak_aramis View Post
Not particularly. I didn't run AD&D much after I encountered Traveller, and not until 2E did I run it as anything other than a pickup game.

I'm not a big fan of "Vancian" magic as a rule. It's certainly present in a lot of post-AD&D (note the A) fantasy literature...

D&D's Psionic enchantments are almost but not quite unique... and a firm outgrowth of the Psionics is another form of Magic approach, vs the much more common (McCaffrey, Lackey, Bujold, Niven, Pournelle, and Stirling) Science of the Mind approach, or the external focus to enable more power of Lensman.

While I'm reasonably certain some of the stuff I've read is in AD&D Appendix N, I generally hold any recommendation from Gygax with the same contempt I have for his GMing advice...

But to be specific, I was thinking of Conan and Kull - wherein the magic is lots of discrete formulae, requires massive effort, and usually larger than man-sized ritual spaces...

And also some early 60's short stories. (I don't know the authors.)

Then again, I had a subscription to Omni and Analog in 4th grade...
Omni! Man, you're bringing it back for me.
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Old 09-28-2012, 09:14 PM   #106
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Default Re: The Traveller Mindset

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Originally Posted by ak_aramis View Post
Also, drop all references to enchanting.
http://darkover.apiacoa.org/encyclop...matrix.en.html
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Old 09-28-2012, 09:25 PM   #107
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Default Re: The Traveller Mindset

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Originally Posted by David Johnston2 View Post
Kewl.

3E D&D has 'psi crystals.'




Another example of 'psionic magic' comes from the Deryni books. That magic sems to be a mix of ritual magic and inborn (but developed by training) psychic powers.
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