[Thaumatology] Magic as Perks

Prince Charon · 06-07-2022, 11:11 AM

Imagine, if you will, that most or all easily-accessible magic is on the level of perks. Big things are rare and generally the result of a lot of preparation, a lot of people working together, or both. The most common magical advantages, possibly the only ones the PCs have access to, would be various forms of 'Modular Abilities (Magical Perks Only),' to simulate magicians having lots of such perks, some of them leveled. Beings with individual, powerful magical effects that they can pull off on the fly would be rare to the point of being legendary.

Magic items would generally be Situationally-Useful Magic Doodads, though a few legendary powerful items might exist. If Alchemy and Herb Lore exist in the setting, though, the 'standard' magic items would be Alchemical Charms.

Mostly, I'm wondering what this would do to a setting. Magic clearly exists - a magical version of something like the Ignition perk from GURPS Psionic Powers would be hard to fake at the standard fantasy tech level (TL3^), and can be proven to not be a trick at higher TLs - but it's all or nearly all minor things, if useful ones. Let's say that magical perks are also fairly common, so any given village is likely to have a bunch of people with a perk or two, but no-one or hardly anyone with lots - so, 10% have at least one magical perk, and 1% or less have more than five? Let's also say that beings with enough power to consistently solo mobs of peasants with torches and pitchforks are somewhere close to one in a million (world population in 1000 CE was probably between 250 million and 300 million, so there will be a few of those, but you aren't guaranteed to meet any).

Thoughts?

06-07-2022, 11:11 AM	#1
Prince Charon Join Date: Dec 2012	[Thaumatology] Magic as Perks Imagine, if you will, that most or all easily-accessible magic is on the level of perks. Big things are rare and generally the result of a lot of preparation, a lot of people working together, or both. The most common magical advantages, possibly the only ones the PCs have access to, would be various forms of 'Modular Abilities (Magical Perks Only),' to simulate magicians having lots of such perks, some of them leveled. Beings with individual, powerful magical effects that they can pull off on the fly would be rare to the point of being legendary. Magic items would generally be Situationally-Useful Magic Doodads, though a few legendary powerful items might exist. If Alchemy and Herb Lore exist in the setting, though, the 'standard' magic items would be Alchemical Charms. Mostly, I'm wondering what this would do to a setting. Magic clearly exists - a magical version of something like the Ignition perk from GURPS Psionic Powers would be hard to fake at the standard fantasy tech level (TL3^), and can be proven to not be a trick at higher TLs - but it's all or nearly all minor things, if useful ones. Let's say that magical perks are also fairly common, so any given village is likely to have a bunch of people with a perk or two, but no-one or hardly anyone with lots - so, 10% have at least one magical perk, and 1% or less have more than five? Let's also say that beings with enough power to consistently solo mobs of peasants with torches and pitchforks are somewhere close to one in a million (world population in 1000 CE was probably between 250 million and 300 million, so there will be a few of those, but you aren't guaranteed to meet any). Thoughts? __________________ 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; 06-21-2022 at 11:06 AM.