Steve Jackson Games - Site Navigation
Home General Info Follow Us Search Illuminator Store Forums What's New Other Games Ogre GURPS Munchkin Our Games: Home

Go Back   Steve Jackson Games Forums > Roleplaying > GURPS

Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
Old 01-20-2019, 12:55 PM   #1
AlexanderHowl
 
Join Date: Feb 2016
Default Path/Book Magic in Modern Campaigns

So, I was wondering how people would use Path/Book magic in modern campaigns? Would it have the status of magic in the real world, where believers claim that it possesses power but skeptics point to the lack of obvious effects as proof that it does not exist? Would it be considered a quaint practice that may have had utility before the modern era but has been supplanted by science and technology? Would it be considered a specialty field that supplements modern science and technology?

In order to make each scenario equally likely, let us remove the Path of Gadgets and any proprietary rituals from the Path of Gadgets from consideration (though any ritual that the Path of Gadgets shares with another Path would be allowed). The effects of the proprietary rituals of the Path of Gadgets would be far too useful, especially when it came to rocketry, for anyone to discount the utility of Path/Book magic if they existed. Every other Path could exist in any scenario, though the Path of the Elements and the Path of Forms are borderline cases.
AlexanderHowl is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-20-2019, 01:17 PM   #2
Prince Charon
 
Prince Charon's Avatar
 
Join Date: Dec 2012
Default Re: Path/Book Magic in Modern Campaigns

It depends a fair bit on whether you're limited to exactly the rituals in the book, as well as how widespread rituals like Embody are (and how they work in the setting). Skinchange by itself would make it difficult to claim that magic wasn't happening, unless it doesn't work when the user is being watched, or something like that, so I'd say that the Path of Form is not all that borderline. New Path of Form rituals, such as one that transformed non-living things into other non-living things (or into living things, or living things into apparently non-living things, like turning flesh to stone) would likewise contribute to this, as could new Path of Elements rituals.

Embody used on something that shouldn't be moving, like a glass sculpture, would be pretty difficult to explain away if scientists were allowed to examine it. Spirit summoning, if the spirit becomes visible and can interact with the world physically without Embody or Fetish, would likewise be tricky to explain away.

Mind you, it also depends on how widespread Path/Book Magic is to start with. The fewer users there are who are inclined to try to prove that their magic is real, the less likely it is that the public will believe it, especially in the era of modern special effects (sure, seeing something in person makes it rather unlikely to be CGI, but not that many people will be seeing it in person, if their aren't that many casters showing it). Likewise, the more difficult or rare rituals with obvious physical effects are, the easier it is to ignore.

If it does get proven to exist, there will be many scientists doing SCIENCE to it, even if it lacks a lot of the rituals that would be especially useful in the modern age.
__________________
Warning, I have the Distractible and Imaginative quirks in real life.

"The more corrupt a government, the more it legislates."
-- Tacitus

Five Earths, All in a Row. Updated 12/17/2022: Apocrypha: Bridges out of Time, Part I has been posted.

Last edited by Prince Charon; 01-21-2019 at 05:47 AM.
Prince Charon is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-20-2019, 07:44 PM   #3
GreatWyrmGold
 
Join Date: Oct 2011
Default Re: Path/Book Magic in Modern Campaigns

Quote:
Originally Posted by AlexanderHowl View Post
So, I was wondering how people would use Path/Book magic in modern campaigns? Would it have the status of magic in the real world, where believers claim that it possesses power but skeptics point to the lack of obvious effects as proof that it does not exist?
Unlikely. People don't believe magic exists because magicians utterly fail to produce results under controlled conditions, or in any way with utility beyond spectacle. A real magician who could barely levitate a quarter could still prove that he had telekinesis by just scheduling an appointment with the James Randi Educational Foundation and lifting a quarter they provided.


Quote:
Would it be considered a quaint practice that may have had utility before the modern era but has been supplanted by science and technology? Would it be considered a specialty field that supplements modern science and technology?
Almost certainly the latter, much like how computers supplement technology developed before the Cold War. If there are tasks which magic can do better, quicker, or more easily, magic will have some use. Even if magic is largely eclipsed by mundane technology, there will still be speciality applications where it's the best option. (There are still data-storage tasks which we use magnetic tapes for.)


That's not specific to the mechanics of Path/Book magic, that's specific to the concept of "magic". Thinking of it as inherently different from everything humanity does in the real world doesn't make sense, unless it's new enough that people in-universe think of it that way. If magic has existed as long as humanity, or even longer, it will just be another tool.
GreatWyrmGold is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply

Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Fnords are Off
[IMG] code is Off
HTML code is Off

Forum Jump


All times are GMT -6. The time now is 04:08 PM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.9
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions, Inc.