164
votes
Why would having more mages to conduct a spell not make it faster?
For the same reason nine women can't make a baby in one month.
The spells are full of components that simply can't be divided or done in parallel: each step requires a certain amount of time to ...
- 17.3k
95
votes
Accepted
Why would having more mages to conduct a spell not make it faster?
"If it takes an orchestra with 40 members 60 minutes to complete Beethoven's Ninth, how long will it take an orchestra with 60 members to complete the piece?"
Anyone vaguely familiar with how music ...
- 1,511
65
votes
How do I stop annoyed wizards from killing people all the time?
they can kill anyone they know the location of with a thought
The wizards very rapidly kill each other.
It makes sense. Any of those bastards could kill you with a thought and probably... too late, ...
- 306k
63
votes
Accepted
How can I prevent witches from cheating the magic system?
I want you to round up two people. They are going to sit 20 meters away from you, and they are going to do something random with their hands for 5 seconds. Your task is to tell what each individual ...
- 45.7k
62
votes
Overpowered magic "specialists" exist; why don't governments extensively use them?
Governments and military leaders require obedience and loyalty. If they have high-powered weapons, they want the people who wield those weapons to fire them when and where they are told to, without ...
- 7,903
54
votes
How can I prevent hyper evolved versions of regular creatures from wiping out their cousins?
Hydras would not compete with snakes
Most snakes eat rodents, or other small animals. Even large constrictors don't generally eat adult-human-sized prey. Assuming that hydras would be interested in ...
- 12k
54
votes
How could possession magic be limited to prevent overuse?
Remember analogue audio tapes? Copying them was a lossy process: If copied too often, you'd accumulate noise until the content is no longer enjoyable.
Make soul transfer a lossy process, too. Applied ...
- 31.6k
54
votes
How can resurrecting a person make them evil?
Our entire idea of the afterlife is wrong.
Instead of an entire soul going to a good place or a bad place, The soul is sundered and the good and bad portions are split to their prospective realms. ...
- 4,340
53
votes
Accepted
If magic is programming, then what is mana supposed to be?
In this cosmology, envisioning mana as akin to the computational resources - CPU time, RAM, or other crucial system components - that a sentient program or a fragment of the universe's architect can ...
- 856
52
votes
Accepted
Why wouldn't all wizards be buff?
Easy Target and Food
It seems from reading your question that a wizard doesn't NEED to look/be super jacked to have superior strength. Sure an average-knight-looking wizard might not be quiiite as ...
- 524
49
votes
In a world where magic comes from mythological stories, what's stopping my characters from writing more?
Mass belief
The actual mechanism of how such stories gain actual power is by combining the 'belief magic' of many people. Thus, a story that's known and believed by few people simply can't affect ...
- 7,088
48
votes
How do I stop annoyed wizards from killing people all the time?
If the wizards are more powerful than lords, then they form a mageocracy.
If the wizards can easily defeat a lord and their feudal levies, then they will quickly become the lords with their feudal ...
- 41.6k
47
votes
How can a resurrection system prevent the cheapening of death?
If the goal is to prevent the "cheapening" of death, then add some consequences to that. You have already done that in a few ways: (a) there's a 1.5 year break before they come back - this is ...
- 7,664
42
votes
Accepted
Is there a way to keep science from ruining tribute magic?
Here's a few possibilities you could adapt for your setting:
Scientific knowledge reduces the efficiency of wishes.
Consider this: a child wishes for a pig to fly, but has no real
knowledge of ...
- 6,838
42
votes
Why wouldn't tribal chiefs use berserkers in warfare?
They kill EVERYTHING.
A berserker cannot recognize friend from foe. They want to kill their (former) comrades as much as their enemies. That makes them bad for fighting in groups. Where they shine is ...
- 66.3k
41
votes
How can I protect witches in combat who wear limited clothing?
Needing soldiers to protect a valuable asset in the midst of combat so it can be used limits its value.
Definitely not, at least in absolute terms. That's the exact concept used with naval squads, ...
- 301k
41
votes
Accepted
How to balance time-slowing magic?
You only get a few seconds
If the brain's processing does not slow down, then neither does its demand for glucose and oxygen, so you don't have long to think. A few seconds of brain time and you're ...
- 82.7k
39
votes
Accepted
Why casting grand spell usually accompanied with tapping the ground with quarterstaff?
To Empty the Staff for Next Time
To cast any spell a wizard has to do a bunch of magical calculations in their head. The spell focus helps compartmentalize this $-$ they can do part of the calculation,...
- 66.3k
39
votes
Accepted
How do I nerf a magic system empowered by emotion?
Antipathetic Magic:
Opposites Attract: So you want emotions to power magic, but don't want characters able to go all "dark side" and just stay perpetually angry/happy to become gods. ...
- 64.4k
38
votes
How do I nerf a magic system empowered by emotion?
Magic drains the emotion
You may need to be angry to cast an attack spell.
You may need to feel joy in order to help others with your magic.
You may need to feel a strong bond with somebody to cast a ...
- 8,132
34
votes
Accepted
Nuclear magic: Surviving your own spells
Smite from above.
source
Having a fireball on your lap is hazardous, as is pointed out. Your wizards avoid this. Those who can make fireballs can open portals at some distance. They open them ...
- 306k
34
votes
Accepted
In a world with regenerative magic why would creating an item not allow you to regenerate?
It is regenerated... in the item.
Creating a magic artifact permanently (or at least, until the artifact is destroyed or disenchanted) "displaces" part of the mage's "magic capacity&...
- 14.5k
34
votes
Accepted
Why would guns be more popular/useful than magical swords against other humans and entities
Training
These swords may be superior as individual weapons, but militaries and police forces prefer guns for the ease of training and standardization. A new recruit can be taught to use a gun in ...
- 2,233
33
votes
How do I stop annoyed wizards from killing people all the time?
Why doesn't Bob kill Joe on the spot
Well, the answer is in your question: "a serf to a feudal lord". In theory, a feudal lord isn't just there to extract wealth from their subjects, but to ...
- 78.5k
32
votes
How can I prevent hyper evolved versions of regular creatures from wiping out their cousins?
Make the super animals depend on mana to live, and move the mana around. As it passes through any given area it moves slowly enough that the animals change, but fast enough that the super animals don'...
- 142k
32
votes
Accepted
Will nothing bad happen if I just create infinite energy?
While this infinite energy generating process does technically break thermodynamics, which has catastrophic implications for physics, it’s unlikely that this magic system would be problem for the ...
- 1,135
30
votes
How could possession magic be limited to prevent overuse?
Don't make the base witch inherently dominant. It should be a tough struggle of wills to take control of the new host. Of course, a skilled witch will be very skilled at soul combat, and have spells ...
- 41.6k
30
votes
Accepted
How can I make the application of curses a profitable industry?
If your witch can create these bonds without actively being the user then this seems like an excellent way to profiteer off those seeking revenge.
Someone already paralysed you in a car crash? The ...
- 66.5k
30
votes
Why wouldn't tribal chiefs use berserkers in warfare?
You can use whatever elements of those points, or none.
Nobody wants to go out like this. His people don't like it.
Think about it. The leader might want murderous machines to throw at the enemy. ...
- 8,542
30
votes
Why wouldn't all wizards be buff?
Take a look at professional or Olympic-level athletes. All are extremely fit, but they display differing levels of muscularity and size depending on their disciplines, because different types of ...
- 21.5k
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