Very High Mana and Society

[maximara]

Something to consider. Magic isn't just limited to spells. There is Low Magic, Natural Magic (which likely gives Alchemy a boost in number of materials that can be combined into new and exciting elixirs), Hedge Magic, and many others that don't involve spells.

In a very high mana world default wizard magic as it is described in GURPS Magic may not exist.

[Flyndaran]

What would very high mana even mean for those magics though? At least the RAW spell type has clear risks and benefits.

[AlexanderHowl]

They do not necessarily exist in every setting and, when they do, they suffer just as much as spells. For example, within very high mana areas, alchemy treats failures as critical failures (though critical failures must be confirmed). Considering that alchemy critical failures can easily kill people, alchemists in very high mana setting are either very good or very dead.

Of course, every animal, plant, and even mineral may be magical in a very high mana world. Natural abilities are probably stabilized by the process of evolution, otherwise they would not pass on. It would not necessarily be unknown in such a world for a mountain to get bored with the scenery and decide to go on holiday at the beach (good news for the people who live on the mountain, bad news for anyone along its path).

[Flyndaran]

That sounds more like "Very Silly Mana", which on further thought should be a type. Magic with an inherently mischievous tilt.

[Donny Brook]

Originally Posted by AlexanderHowl

So, imagine a world where everywhere is very high mana and every magical failure is a critical ... Could such a world resemble our world and could the people in such a world develop a society similar to our society?

Just like the universe-is-a-simulation theory, we might have no way in this world to ever determine that our world is indeed a world born of the chaos magic flux of butterfly wings

[AlexanderHowl]

That would be rather an interesting idea. The reason why there are no effective magicians is because there is too much mana rather than too little, and they inevitably kill themselves off before they reproduce. Humans would have evolved very high levels of Magic Resistance, allowing them to eventually overwhelm the magical creatures of the Earth over the course of hundreds of thousands of years. Other than the poor unfortunate who is born with Magery instead of Magic Resistance, the population is largely unaware of how magical the world is.

Imagine the Cabal running into such a world. First, every failure is a critical failure and every critical failure is a catastrophe, so they would have to be very careful in their magical usage. Second, the average human would possess MR 10, meaning that the majority of Cabal operatives would have difficulty casting any magic against the natives. They would end up having their rear ends handed to them by the natives.

[Michele]

Originally Posted by Flyndaran

Imagine if anyone with nothing more than the knowledge in their head could effectively drop a dirty bomb by accident or intention.

That's why I'm saying you guard the knowledge.

[Flyndaran]

When has that worked in the real world for long?

[David Johnston2]

Originally Posted by Flyndaran

When has that worked in the real world for long?

It would work better if dabbling with the knowledge in question was well known to be extremely dangerous. You'd still have a demon problem, but...so what? Just make demon-hunting a profession and move on.

[Daigoro]

Originally Posted by Flyndaran

When has that worked in the real world for long?

Not every setting has to be in a steady state. Prohibition didn't work for long, but it's still one of the most popular settings for historical fiction and gaming.

This setting could be about how high mana is affecting society, and how law and society is trying to cope.