Supernatural Interference

[AlexanderHowl]

Of course, you could always have the base penalty being ([TL-4, minimum 0] × 2), which still ends up being -8 for TL8. That means that anything made with technology from before 1700 would be unaffected by magic, which does make life easier for mages. Coincidentally, it also gives mundane people a reason to use archaic weapons, as using a SM-2 TL8 sniper rifle against a SM+4 dragon means suffering a -14 to skill. It also means that a SM-6 TL8 smartphone will suffer a -18 to skill to photograph the same dragon.

[SionEwig]

Originally Posted by AlexanderHowl

Of course, you could always have the base penalty being ([TL-4, minimum 0] × 2), which still ends up being -8 for TL8. That means that anything made with technology from before 1700 would be unaffected by magic, which does make life easier for mages. Coincidentally, it also gives mundane people a reason to use archaic weapons, as using a SM-2 TL8 sniper rifle against a SM+4 dragon means suffering a -14 to skill. It also means that a SM-6 TL8 smartphone will suffer a -18 to skill to photograph the same dragon.

That's one way to mitigate it a bit, but again, you end up with huge penalties. And if that's what you want, then go for it, I wouldn't use it though. I still don't see why you are having SM be a part of it, it's an unnecessary complication imo. And I'll mention range once again. It actually makes more sense to use some sort of range modifier than a size modifier.

[RyanW]

I think I would make things unreliable rather than difficult to use. In the presence of magic, you would make a roll to see if your technological gadget works. If it does, you suffer no penalty. If it doesn't, you suffer a penalty or can't use it at all, or have to get it repaired or replaced later.

I would be most comfortable limiting it to particularly complicated equipment. Pulleys and cams should work just fine even if arranged into a TL 7 compound bow. Springs should still be springy and lead styphnate should still be shock sensitive, even if it's all being done inside a TL 8 composite frame pistol.

Originally Posted by Apollonian

I think I'd also include high tech items that are crafted with magical materials and methods which don't suffer the penalty - obviously that'd vary by setting needs, but having orichalcum circuitry in your cell phone just sounds cool.

I like that. Another option would be devices that can mitigate (maybe only partially and/or temporarily) the distortion.

[AlexanderHowl]

Originally Posted by SionEwig

That's one way to mitigate it a bit, but again, you end up with huge penalties. And if that's what you want, then go for it, I wouldn't use it though. I still don't see why you are having SM be a part of it, it's an unnecessary complication imo. And I'll mention range once again. It actually makes more sense to use some sort of range modifier than a size modifier.

Size modifier means that smaller objects are more vulnerable than larger objects and that larger supernatural creatures cause more problems than smaller supernatural creatures. Otherwise, a single mage can cripple an aircraft carrier by just standing on it or a dragon is more likely to be pictured than a pixie. Range modifiers would actually make it paradoxically eaiser for technology to affect large supernatural creatures, as a dragon is easier to picture from a distance than a pixie.

[SionEwig]

Originally Posted by AlexanderHowl

Size modifier means that smaller objects are more vulnerable than larger objects and that larger supernatural creatures cause more problems than smaller supernatural creatures. Otherwise, a single mage can cripple an aircraft carrier by just standing on it or a dragon is more likely to be pictured than a pixie. Range modifiers would actually make it paradoxically eaiser for technology to affect large supernatural creatures, as a dragon is easier to picture from a distance than a pixie.

I can see what you're going for there, and if you want magic/tech to be pretty much incompatible, then you're ideas presented would work. But you really haven't thought through the full implications of this.

[AlexanderHowl]

Originally Posted by SionEwig

I can see what you're going for there, and if you want magic/tech to be pretty much incompatible, then you're ideas presented would work. But you really haven't thought through the full implications of this.

What do you think would be the full implications of supernatural interference?

[SionEwig]

Some would of course depend on how common mages and other supernaturals were. Also you would need to consider if magic and such have always been around, or perhaps it faded a long time ago and is (relatively) recently coming back. If mages and such are common and have always been as such, then you probably wouldn't have had much in the way of tech develop. If it faded away (or was never here) and then came back, then tech will have a lot of trouble. Mage walks down the street and how many phones/cars/computers/etc. fail? "Sorry about your pacemaker quitting." "Oops, didn't mean to crash the ICU." "It's not my fault that jetliner flew over my head." See where I'm going with this? Now, even if mages are fairly rare, them just being around tech will cause problems where they are.

So, if tech crashes then what can society do to survive? One possibility is such a campaign would be that mages and such become hunted. You get enough folks shooting at them and -14 on the skill or not, the mage will have a problem. Another option would be that mages and other supernaturals would be confined to remote areas where they wouldn't cause trouble for all us normal folks. Even if the problems with tech are temporary (how long until the device works again, how far away does the mage need to get, etc.), who wants the aggravation that disruption causes.

[AlexanderHowl]

I think the specification of 'against, by, or for the mage' would protect pacemakers, jets, ICUs, etc. from their influence. Of course, the mage could potentially crash a jet by teleporting onto it, but that is a deliberate action. Of course, mages could have isolated themselves in rural communities to protect them from detection.

[SionEwig]

Then you would need to make the cost of being a mage or other supernatural a good deal higher since you've effectively given them some extreme immunities.

I wouldn't have used the rules as you had originally written them and certainly not now. But if they work for your games, then go for it.

[Rupert]

The problem I see is that mages use clothing, housing, and so on. So, unless they live in very primitive conditions their stuff is going to wear out quickly. Cutting firewood with a steel axe will break the axe fast, or cause the mage to fumble and hurt themselves more than a normal person (and the same goes for a normal servant doing the chopping for the mage). Unless they had magic sufficient to replace technological artefacts being a mage would be a fairly cruddy existence. Modern medicine uses a lot of very small things (pills, etc.) that would break or possibly fail catastrophically when used on mages - they'd probably show allergies to a lot of drugs!