Modern Dark Fantasy Magic

[AlexanderHowl]

Modern dark fantasy is a genre of modern fantasy which lacks the hopeful elements of series like Dresden Files or October Daye, so the magic of any modern dark fantasy setting should be as wicked as it is powerful. GURPS fortunately provides us with a number of methods through which to represent modern dark fantasy magic. Unfortunately, the standard magic system is not quite modern dark magic material, as they are geared more for a dungeon crawling experience.

Conversely, Energy Accumulating Path/Book Magic and/or Energy Accumulating Path/Book Magic that are capable of using corruption, spirit-assistance, and/or threshold-limited rules as an optional alternative to normal energy gathering rules fit quite well within modern dark fantasy settings. As long as using such rules are optional for using magic, it preserves the modern dark fantasy message that magic is usually wicked because its practitioners choose to do optionally bad things just to make things more convenient. Of course, sacrificing living things, especially living human beings, for power fits within rubric of modern dark fantasy.

So, have you ever run a modern dark fantasy game and, if so, what types of magic have you ended up using? How did you tempt your players into dooming their PCs? At what point did the players recognize that they had unwittingly used magic in such a way that their PCs had crossed the line from hero to villain?

[Apollonian]

Originally Posted by AlexanderHowl

So, have you ever run a modern dark fantasy game and, if so, what types of magic have you ended up using? How did you tempt your players into dooming their PCs? At what point did the players recognize that they had unwittingly used magic in such a way that their PCs had crossed the line from hero to villain?

GURPS Cabal; Path Book Magic using the hermetic modifiers and correspondences; and since they were Cabalists, the line to villainy was receding quickly into the middle distance shortly before character creation finished...

[Say, it isn't that bad!]

Just to note, the standard magic system is not quite so harmless as sometimes thought: A critical failure while casting a spell can summon a demon (roll of 18 on the critical failure table).

There's other things on that table that aren't great, either...

[AlexanderHowl]

Yes, but that is not a deliberate act of darkness, but an accidental act of darkness, and one that is quite rare. If a critical failure occurs once every 50 spells, and a demon is summoned once every 200 critical failures, it is a 1:10,000 chance occurrence. Of course, it could be turned into dark fantasy by having wicked magic turn every casting critical failure into a normal failure, or an opportunity, at a cost. After all, practitioners who have sold their souls to Satan probably do not have to worry about random demons being summoned (or may be able to command them if they do appear).

For example, let us consider a modern dark fantasy setting where practitioners can optionally use corruption with Energy Accumulating RPM. If practitioners use their own energy reserve and/or normal energy accumulation, they have the normal risk of botches and quirks. If they use some corruption though, even a single point in a casting, they can ignore quirks and turn botches into quirks. Thus, the slippery slope that characters begin to slid down.

[Say, it isn't that bad!]

Hmm... perhaps for every point of corruption, the GM later gets to spend it to increase the chance of critical failure, and/or make it worse when it happens?

[AlexanderHowl]

At least in my mind, a key element of modern dark fantasy magic is an attractive and easy method of damnation. Corruption, spirit-assisted magic, and threshold-limited magic all have their own methods for doing so. If they made critical failures more likely or worse for the practitioner, that would be a fair good incentive not to engage in such practices. Of course, it is up to the individual GM how attractive and how easy...

In a lot of modern dark fantasy settings, the bad guys rule because the bad guys have won. For example, in a secret modern dark fantasy setting, the people in positions of power are either practitioners of wicked magic or are beholden to practitioners of wicked magic. Perhaps they sold their soul to a demon god in order to become the governor of a state or, after they became governor, they were approached by someone who had knowledge of their every sin, and the video tapes to prove it, and they have been blackmailed since then.

In any case, wicked magic underlies the power structure even more than influence or wealth because it provide both. For example, in a dark version of the Dresden Files, Harry would be the mayor of Chicago and the White Council would be the Illuminati, as evil and as corrupt as the Faerie Courts or the Vampire Courts. Harry would control Marcone through the blackmail material he gathered on him and would summon Marcone when he had issues with any chaos and disorder on the streets. The Paranet would be Harry's private magical army, a previously untapped magical resource, that he would use to either take over or supplant the White Council and/or to become governor of Illinois and, eventually, President of the USA.

[GodBeastX]

The GURPS Magic system can work fine if you turn on some options from Thaumatology book. Turning on Distortion Points and using Diabolical tables can make workings quickly turn very dark indeed.

[Johnny1A.2]

Originally Posted by AlexanderHowl

Modern dark fantasy is a genre of modern fantasy which lacks the hopeful elements of series like Dresden Files

The Dresden Files has all the makings of such a setting, the main factors in-story that keep that world from being a dark fantasy world are the White Council and the Church. Remove those restraining factors, and the world of DF would look like dark fantasy pretty quickly. All the necessary ingredients are there.

[tshiggins]

My campaign doesn't use magical corruption, but the utility of magic in a world that doesn't believe in it, plus the need to keep the secret because of the catastrophic affect it has when witnessed by mundanes, creates ethical quandaries that fuel a *lot* of questionable activity.

[exalted]

One way of doing it is just adjusting the spells that are available, if they are sufficiently disturbing no sane person will use them lightly and the only really kind of good way to use them is on even worse people. Even better if they are convienet and simply to use if you have no morals.

Did it or some demonic and underworld themed powers in my exalted campaigns and it ended up with anyone even partially decent renoncing such powers eventually. In such a scenario you pretty much don't need corruption mechanics because frequent use the convieint powers is the corruption.