1
$\begingroup$

...for example a society which has wizards with similar abilities as in the world of Harry Potter or any D&D magic system - that is, wizards can cast spells to levitate, mind-control and haste the creatures or brew potions to affect their running performance. In this case the hips ogriffs are not allowed to fly, just run with a rider on their backs. So what would be the rules and tests to ensure there'd be no cheating?

So the question is, if you'd invent a public entertainment such as hippogriff races, how you'd do it to make it interesting and at the same time ensure the competitors won't get any magical 'assistance' to win?

Improve this question
$\endgroup$
  • $\begingroup$ Let them fly, air races were standard for years and are coming back again as time trials. $\endgroup$ – Separatrix Jul 12 '17 at 10:17
  • 4
    $\begingroup$ Since hipogriff are not real and not everyone is a HP fan, can you provide some more info to help us answering you question? $\endgroup$ – L.Dutch - Reinstate Monica♦ Jul 12 '17 at 10:24
  • 1
    $\begingroup$ You just said that the rule is they are not allowed to fly. Additional rules? Like they are not allowed to swim as well or what do you have in mind? The test would be if you can see them flying or not. How does one prevent tanks driven by civilians in normal traffic? Well, the police opens their eyes and if they don't see any tanks driving around things are fine. I do not see a real question here. I'm also confused about the word "cheating", if you could explain why you chose that one $\endgroup$ – Raditz_35 Jul 12 '17 at 10:32
  • 1
    $\begingroup$ The funny thing is that hippogriffs are even more fictional than most mythological creatures; originally "a crossbreed of a horse and a griffin" was an expression for "a thing that could not exist" since griffins and horses were thought to be enemies. Sort of like a flying pig would be seen nowadays. $\endgroup$ – IndigoFenix Jul 12 '17 at 10:45
  • 1
    $\begingroup$ If there are no rules, then there is no cheating. What are you asking of us with this question? It seems you already have your rules in place (e.g., not allowed to fly), so any test would simply be to see if an existing rule is violated. $\endgroup$ – Frostfyre Jul 12 '17 at 12:20
3
$\begingroup$

First, why are you banning them from flying?
That's like saying you're racing jets but they're not allowed to take off...

But presumably there are are two ways to go about this;

  1. Serious competition - Like in real world sporting you ban any kind of performance enhancing magic. Presumably spells cast during the race would be in some way detectable so anyone caught cheating in this way is disqualified and banned. Similarly any use of potions, charms etc. to increase performance would also be checked for and result in banning. At the end of the day what you end up with is basically a horse race...
  2. Wacky Races - All bets are off, no rules and nothing is disallowed (short of maybe attacking or killing the other contestants). This results in completely unpredictable races where riders and steeds are buffed and enhanced by magic, can change shape mid race, turn invisible etc. Limited only by whatever limits your magic imposes.

It's up to you which of those options you wish to choose really.

Improve this answer
$\endgroup$
  • $\begingroup$ I like the idea of jet taxi racing. You are right: horse race. Enforcers would watch for cheating. People would figure out ways to cheat. Gambling on races also invites the participation of organized crime, made more interesting by magic. $\endgroup$ – Willk Jul 12 '17 at 15:35
0
$\begingroup$

Well as in harry potter, you can't really put any limitations to what they can do, just ask them not to do it, and really hope it works.

If you really want them to not cast/spells or fly, you could magine some kind of harness that would enclose the hypogriff's wings, and maybe, for fun, a gag to ensure they can't cast anything (that's brutal, but i pictured it in my head, and that's also pretty fun).

Improve this answer
$\endgroup$
  • $\begingroup$ I don't think hippogriffs can cast spells. If they could, non-verbal magic is a thing in Harry Potter, so a gag might not stop them anyway. $\endgroup$ – F1Krazy Jul 12 '17 at 10:24
  • 1
    $\begingroup$ I see where you're confused. I meant gag for the wizards. I've gone a bit too far with the Harry Potter resemblance :) $\endgroup$ – General Baguettson Jul 12 '17 at 10:39

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged or ask your own question.