Questions tagged [magic]
For questions that have to do with magic, as opposed to science/technology. Remember to explain any limits.
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Would a freeze ray be effective against modern military vehicles?
Similar to my previous thread. In my setting, wizards from a pre-industrial fantasy world come to real life. One of these wizards is a cryomancer recruited by the US military and tries out his talents ...
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What percentage of the population has the "magic gene"?
So I have a world that has magic. Whether you can use magic is hereditary, and there's about a 1/4 chance of inheriting the "magic gene".
What I want to know is, will the percentage of magic users ...
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Would lightning bolts be effective against modern military vehicles?
In my setting, wizards from a pre-industrial fantasy world come to real life. One of these wizards is a destruction mage recruited by the US military and tries out her talents against modern forces. ...
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What would a pantheon with Hestia at the Head look like? [closed]
Hestia first and last was Zeus older sister, Goddess of the hearth and home, protective and . In this setting, Hestia or a deity similar enough is offered rulership and she accepts. What kind of ...
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What would be the major effects of heating wood in particular and other common materials anaerobically?
I'm essentially working on a book in which the magical system involves people converting an energy source into a mimicry of an "element", complete with most of the properties but not ...
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When describing a royal court what are the things to be kept in mind and mentioned? [closed]
Like the structure, the people and the proceedings.
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Assuming that most of the human experience is based on the body's biological makeup, what would someone experience if they were just a soul [closed]
In my story the main character has their soul removed from their body and sealed away for a very long time. Assuming that the soul is just a carrier for someone's memories and personality what would ...
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Justifications for a language learned via magical transference?
Say I've got a hero who's been summoned to another world. The inhabitants of this world have been expecting his arrival, and are armed with the knowledge that he won't speak their language. So the ...
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How can I make the rules of my Faerie Portal free from contradiction?
On the hilltop in the field near my house, there lives a coven of witches. Or, more accurately, there is a coven of witches living in a pocket of the Faerie Realm which has recently become attached to ...
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What if you could shut off the pull of gravity on your body?
I have an idea for a magic system where the one wielding magical power can shut off gravity for their body. However, anything on them (clothes, accessories, etc.) will still experience regular gravity....
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Could I keep buildings heated during multi week long hibernation?
In the world of a story I'm writing, there is not normal night and day, nor are there seasons. Instead, the world is governed by magical lights, which occur in several week cycles - the light Dawn has ...
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IF you had a territorial struggle based on magic, how would it play out? [closed]
A large part of the political power in my world building for my book is based around a concept called "grinding" where a faction would gradually amass influence and natural resources by ...
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How would zombies affect trench warfare?
After thousands of years the mightiest of magic uses have finally cracked the code to revive the dead... Kind of. The resurrection spell, while restoring the body to a basic capacity, leaves them a ...
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What is a word for the arcane equivalent of a monastery? A place where magic is studied and practiced? [closed]
I'm trying to come up with the label of an isolated location on a floating island where wizards go to practice magic in peace. I've already come up with the name, Skytower, but Skytower what? Is there ...
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Would an evolutionary predecessor for winged quadrupeds start with four legs and gain wings? Or start with two legs and wings and gain extra legs?
Background
For a pair of games I am working on, I'm trying to work in a VERY basic evolutionary timeline for a lot of the more mythical creatures to set up design language of some of the creatures. ...
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How can I give my character purple hair without hair dye?
Basically, I have a character that I'm working on in a futuristic-fantasy type of planet. She's supposed to have purple hair that she was born with.
What is a magical explanation for this phenomenon?
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What would it be like for a human to maneuver while at supersonic speed?
The person is superhuman. There is both magic and sci-fi involved in the setting. They have the physical strength required to accelerate to supersonic speeds. They have the ability to latch ...
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How should I order the categories of my magic system? [closed]
In my world where intelligence is everything, the study of magic is divided into different categories. The type of intelligence you have will affect the kind of magic you use.I’ll come up with names ...
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How to counter bulletproof plate armor with 19th Century technology? [closed]
I'm writing a timeline where the Russian Empire figured out how to make magical armor. By fully immersing plate armor in holy water, that plate armor is now fully bulletproof. No projectile will ...
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How to build a giant city in a harsh environment?
In my world, there is a magic civilization. They are on a far away continent, but it is harsh and snowy. In the current time, they have now giant cities, the main ones being a mix of both steam and ...
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Realistic Airships
I'm looking for an answer concerning a steam powered airship. The steam is generated via coal burning. The ship is propelled by an X amount of steam engine propellers (think Besler steam plane). The ...
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Why would absorbing someone's soul to extend your life physically mutate you?
Souls are the sum of an individual. Their memories, personality, and everything that makes them "them". Souls also contain essence, which keeps the body alive and allows it to function. Essence, or ...
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How could possession magic be limited to prevent overuse?
Maleficient is an evil witch on a quest for true immortality. Until she accomplishes her goal, she uses a midpoint form of magic called reincarnation in order to buy her more time and keep her alive. ...
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Making magic into a science in a science fantasy setting? [duplicate]
Lately I've been thinking a lot about science fantasy settings, specifically the inclusion of magic within it. It feels most fitting for, in a society where technology is highly advanced and magic is ...
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How to stop water runoff on floating islands that lack an available surface
I am building a world with islands floating in air, and I'm looking for solutions to loss of water from runoff/erosion (think rivers emptying off the side of the islands). The islands vary in size, ...
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Question on gravity and its relation to weight and force
I'm working on a character for a story that has the ability to somewhat play around with gravitational forces, mainly weight reduction stuff but I'm sure there's other applications. Practically this ...
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What would prevent living skin from being a good conductor for magic?
Various forms of magic exist, and they are used in different ways for different effects. One involves scribing runes onto an object to provide it with magical properties. This allows for enhancing ...
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Why did the "Orks" never develop better firearms than Firelances and Handcannons?
The Orks of my world are actually the technologically most advanced civilization. They are bigger and stronger than humans, have bone plates on their heads, greenish skin, and are more akin to the ...
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Why is there so much unused mana flowing in my mana economy?
I asked some questions about creating a stable economy that uses mana as currency.
I'm stuck on a new problem trying to use it, why is there so much mana circulating in the economy already? I want ...
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If someone was suddenly subjected to a vacuum would they sh*t themselves?
If someone has the magical ability to make a vacuum(no or minimal matter/atmospheric pressure) on earth around someone would that person in the vacuum then sh*t their pants? If so would it have to be ...
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How does having super strength/speed but similar mass to a regular person change close combat fighting?
How does having super strength/speed but similar mass to a regular person change close combat fighting?
This world is a cultivation world. That's a world where people can cultivate abilities by using ...
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Footwear for my invisible fantasy race
My setting (urban fantasy set in 1998 America) has a variation on the classic movie monster of the "invisible man". Here this species (tentatively called the neverthere) has a physical body ...
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In a world where magic can only be used for baking, how can this be exploited to naturally lead to invention of space travel? [closed]
basically what the question says. Of course, magic must preserve the conversation of energy. Baking is defined in the normal way:
the action of cooking food by dry heat without direct exposure to a ...
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How could overclocking the human body actually weaken my abilities?
My name is Dio Brando, and I am the embodiment of masculinity. As the epitome of physical male perfection, I am stronger, faster, sexier, more intelligent, and frankly just better than you in every ...
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Assuming a person has water/ice magic, is it even semi-possible that they'd be able to create various light effects with their magic?
Like, forming water into ice prisms and using those to perfectly reflect the light. Limits are that the water is just normal water, the ice is normal ice, and the light itself can't be changed (...
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How could magic slowly be destroying the world? [closed]
Hypothesis: A world with magic users is (unbeknownst to them) slowly dying because of magic usage
Question: What would be the underlying cause of this slow decay?
Conditions:
The magic in this world ...
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How can a magic civilization stop their sun from dying?
Hypothesis: In application of the laws of thermodynamics (conservation of energy) it could be that the sun's energy was (almost) depleted to perform feats of magic (energy was taken from the sun).
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What is optimal for a government to encourage people to wish for to boost economic growth? [closed]
A world with a similar tech level to ours has discovered that randomly magical beings will have random encounters with magical beings who will offer wishes for some service or kindness. These wishes ...
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How Long Would It Take a Party of 3 to Get 1000 Miles With a Wagon and a Horse [duplicate]
So I need to know how long it would take a party of three or four to get 1,000 miles with a fairly heavy wagon and one or two horses. Without stops I know walking will take around 14 days. There are ...
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Objectively most efficient way to increase focus?
If resistance is how long you can go doing physically exausting stuff before you die or get overtraining fever
then focus is the analogue to magic, your ability to perform magically exhausting stuff ...
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How would a medieval society look if food was not a factor to consider? [closed]
The Context
To give a short context of the question, my world is called Atmos, and it's a world where continents float above a layer of clouds. They aren't just floating islands, there are landmasses ...
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Exploring a Black hole sci fi possible/not possible
I'm currently creating a universe and in that universe is the human race which has been around for about 37000 years. I am currently trying to figure out what tech they would have access to what would ...
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Which is a more effective strategic weapon/deterrent in a medieval fantasy world. A flying ship or a super gun or spellarms? [closed]
The Situation
After 4 years being a baron, the empire that you are sharing a border with decides to declare war to your suzerain. It will take at least a year for them to muster their whole army and ...
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Would we see cannons in a magic-using society?
In a society that has relatively plentiful magic, enough that spell casters would be a standard part of any size-able army, would cannons and artillery still develop?
For the purpose of this question ...
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Why would a dangerous form of magic be kept alive in a post-apocalyptical scenario? [closed]
This question is in the same universe as my last one, How to raise an army against the dark lord when everyone thinks he was already defeated?
In this universe, magic is powered by the energy of ...
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Creating an Abyss [closed]
I want to write spawn, a very tropey story about men selling their soul for one last chance either revenge or something else. However, the story I want to tell is more about regrets and Things We ...
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How could a misotheistic society kill belief in powered gods?
In my setting there is a religion of giants (gaians) who believe magic/the supernatural are an affront to nature and must be exterminated by any means necessary.
For magic users this isn't to much of ...
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How would I balance the powers of manipulating the strong and weak nuclear forces in a magic system where other elemental powers are present?
I've been toying with the idea of including manipulation of the strong and weak nuclear forces in my magic system but have had a hard time balancing the sheer power of said forces. As far as my ...
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Debris from a ringed planet, and believability
I am writing a fantasy book, so while I am not too concerned with being completely scientifically accurate, I would at least like for aspects of my world to feel believable, so as to not take the ...
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Why would two different biological forms of magic form in the sexes? [closed]
I understand mixing magic and evolution is ... a bit of a no-no, but why would the sexes develop magic differently?
Women's magic comes from a core located near their hearts where they draw and store ...
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