New answers tagged magic
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IDK if someone already said this but aside from the good ideas above such as hallucinating the smell of brimstone (because tactile/olfactory hallucinations are so rare), using holy water or crosses or the like that only possessed ppl react to, if you'd like it to be more subtle perhaps an MRI or CatScan would show the difference for whatever reasons and you ...
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Since it was not ruled out, let see how the monsters (rather than the traders) could be engineered to fit your requirements. One way to do it is to make them predictable: careful planning based on the behavior of the monsters (learnt by the people over the few past generations) can drastically reduce risks, but it is easy to imagine reasons why some group of ...
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I am reminded of an idea I had long ago for zombie apocalypse scenario. The monsters would require sight of a person before they act, essentially if they can't see a person they just act as if nothing is there. So it would be possible to create corridors out of almost anything and travel safely through them between areas.
My idea was that initially people ...
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Rules
Does magic rely on the collective subconscious, or personal minds involved to provide subjective definitions of all words in the spell? (I.E. can re-learning on a truly deep level is possible, but very hard, as in real life)
If there is a physical manifestation of the contract, is all logic and/or wording fixed because is not subject to memory ...
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Repellents
Tear gas.
Pepper powder.
Acid spray.
etc.
Nothing that's really dangerous to humans. You need the stuff easily accessible on the caravan, and you don't want to wipe the caravan out just because some bumbling idiot accidentally opened the canister with Greek Fire.
There could be plot hooks here:
Stuff that works only against specific monster ...
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"Literally, as the planet was consumed by near-total darkness, the clouds turning black"
This could be the effect of a frequency-shifting field. A spherical layer all around the planet has been turned into a nonlinear optical medium (in very limited volumes this can be done by magnetic fields, or it can happen in solid lattices, but in this case, well, ...
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Given that you are familiar with the Three Laws of Robotics, you are also probably familiar with the fact that Asimov made a living off of just how many ways they could go wrong!
Something I have found very important when looking into formal language is the work of Tarski on interpreted languages. Tarski proved that a formal language cannot specify its own ...
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Who would have thought, that the universe started to expand so fast, that the space between earth and the sun was expanding faster than light.
The earth was in eternal darkness, since the light of no star was reaching it. Our only hope are the plants, who managed to feed on dark energy. The physics behind the plants are still unclear, but scientists all ...
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IMPORTANT NOTE - I am assuming in my response that by "light" you meant "light" and not "visible light". If you meant "visible light", heat is a form of light that we can't see. So, just have the darkness convert the photons to heat to grow the plants. Otherwise, if you actually meant "light", see below.
Well, if everything turned dark, it can't just be "...
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I was reached out to (Original document credit: [https://docs.google.com/document/d/1wmCHSse_Sdl9A9kD0qdruRC74PKctF_zaB2MvNT7TdY/edit] ), here is the result:
Magickly binding Declaration of Service Between Warlock and Master
● Sec. I- ACKNOWLEDGEMENT OF THE SCROLL
○ It is hereby agreed upon by all involved signatories and/or their authorized ...
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Since darkness is not energy, but rather it is a lack of light energy, you would need to have your magical darkness absorb the incoming light and convert it into some other form of energy that your plants could use for photosynthesis. This energy type would need to be invisible to the human eye to get the darkness effect you want.
The biology of the leaf ...
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These laws are the ultimate authority controlling your behaviour
These laws may be changed by me but not by you
I will always be the ultimate arbiter of any dispute concerning the law
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A bit of an unconventional approach that slightly modifies your expectations, but what if those who are specialized to fight monsters really aren't all that great at dealing with humans?
Based on what you've described in your question and comments, the monsters are solitary or small pack hunters, don't have any kind of tool use, and probably don't have any ...
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Tame monsters
You have a fiction in which your expect your readers will dig monsters. Your characters have a problem? Solve it with more monsters!
https://cramgaming.com/ark-survival-evolved-pvp-review-29642/
See how the TRex back there is having second thoughts? Just like that.
The monsters created by your event vary. Some of them can be captured, ...
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If you want to move through hostile territory there really are only five options:
Stealth. Avoid detection with camouflage, clever routes, speed or by taking out enemy scouts.
Staying out of reach. If the monsters live on the ground only you could use aircraft, boats, underground tunnels, teleportation, magical pathways …
Defend the caravan with armed ...
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Monsters could be inactive/away at certain times, say during night, or during a full moon, or during storms.
Maybe they dislike moonshine or they gather every week for some monstrous social event)
Anything that make the monsters a little bit predictable can be used to sense when is it a good time to travel.
How easy it is to understand the monster ...
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The magic-based monster repellent/weapon system that you've described sounds a lot like a modern-day LRAD - a non-lethal weapon that uses highly-focused sound waves to incapacitate or repel a target. Your communication devices generated vibrations in the magical aether at extremely high frequencies, and they could focus these vibrations in a general ...
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Greed and bribery:
Are the monsters open to bribes? If caravans pay intelligent monsters, smart monsters will make caravan routes their territory, maybe even erecting toll booths. Less intelligent monsters recognize caravans leave dead sheep outside their camps at night, and feed off these easy meals, leaving the caravans alone. Perhaps monsters even guard ...
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All trade is done by ships
A ship can transport a lot more goods for the overhead than wagons which means that you can afford to invest in heavy cannons that a caravan would not have. We saw a lot of this in the age of piracy where common cargo gallions were often armed just as well as proper ships of war. While a squad of footman with 1/2" muskets might ...
answered 2 days ago
Nosajimiki - Reinstate Monica
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This things can help caravans to move between cities:
Speed
Magic monsters are big, nearly invincible and powerfull, and ruining city is effortless to them (houses cannot outrun them), but, they are not very good at running.
Ordinary healthy human with 30kg backpack and walking stick can easily do 6km per hour on good terrain, and with some training, he/...
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Deception and Bait
The usual purpose of a "caravan" is mutual protection (the principle of mass) against a mobile attacker (robbers) in unfriendly territory.
That doesn't apply here. Your monsters may be clever, but they are not intelligent, and the question specifically rules out massed rifles as an effective deterrent or defense.
Instead, place a bait ...
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This question is really quite open ended in that there are many possible solutions that are entirely setting specific. But since you are asking this question I will assume that those are not what you are looking for, that you do not want to make up anything special to explain this, and answer accordingly.
The easiest solutions is to look for a historical ...
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Speed, Scouts, & Leapfrogging Routes
Trade is a necessity for any kingdom above a certain size, so they'll need to trade for certain. The key, then, is to figure out how to minimize the risks, and there's three components to it. The first is speed. Obviously, the faster you can go, the less time you spend between safe zones, and the less time between ...
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Trade caravans could be flanked at some distance perhaps up to several miles by small groups of special forces troops who know roughly where to expect the monsters and provide diversionary incidents at the time of caravan passing. This might include generating loud noises, lighting fires, creating a lot of smoke, providing stashes of the monsters favourite ...
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Your magical 'telegraph' system has magical 'telegraph wires'.
The Settlements are covered by a net or field of magic, emanating from the central device. This used to allow 'sub-stations' in telegraph offices to send and receive messages, instead of everyone having to go to the central office - useful in larger town and villages. It is this field which is ...
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Combining all 3 together:
Entropy
Entropy happens naturally and causes the decay, dispersal, and cooling of everything in the universe. When magic taps into its power, it is creating something orderly (as defined by the spell), at the cost of creating disorder in the future. It can cause...
Heat to be dispersed
Matter to be broken down
Life to be damaged
...
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I like this concept but would make a few changes:
Expand the range beyond 2-3 inches, to a foot or two. The problem with such a short range is that it would be hard to get many items entirely into that space. For example, a bulky backpack, a staff, a rifle, a small box -- all of these you might want to sync, but it would be hard to press them against your ...
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Hey look! Half the moon is gone!
**
You want a big explosion that doesn't cause any collateral damage? Simple -- take the largest inanimate object you can find and make aim the explosion at that. Traditionally the moon is a good choice. Other good choices include the Sun (which typically results in 3 days of night) and Mt Everest.
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Matter and power, more specifically a Guardian golem.
Her power, without intervention, is likely going to manifest itself as different kinds of energy, especially light, heat and in a way, sound (aka a gigantic explosion). Your wonderful goddess however, while still under control of such power, could condensate it in form of matter. Going by Einstein's ...
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[D]oes my magic system seem at least somewhat grounded in reality?
Not exactly. Reality doesn't have infinitesimal vibrating strings of which certain people have the mutation which allows them to manipulate them in order to screw with people's minds, heal faster than they should be biologically capable of, or whip around water as if control by telekinesis. ...
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Wavelengths.
Natural mana exists in a whole spectrum. Artificial mana has a fixed number of wavelengths that give it the same coverage as natural mana, the same usage, but its efficiency is lacking.
Current storage methods hold in many wavelengths, including all those within artificial mana, but it cannot properly contain natural mana.
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"Mana" is actually the name of a class of substances, much like "fuel" is. Just as there are different types of fuel having different properties, so there are different types of mana. In fact, it is possible to synthesize the so-called "natural mana", but it's really not a good idea because it is so energetic. Humans can naturally produce small amounts of it ...
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It's haunted!
Mana, obviously, is a mixture of the life force and psychic energy of the beings it came from. Laymen think it's a piece of their soul, which obviously is just superstition. Nevertheless, it contains an imprint of the will of the being it came from.
Artificial mana is high in life force and low in psychic energy, because it is made by ...
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Mana accumulated in humans is the result of consciousness and the exertion of will and the presence of sophisticated ego. This is the most primitive form of magic - believing 'I am me' many many times over a life causes a mana-body to accrete overlayed with the physical body.
Perhaps in addition to will (the method), mana must be acquired somehow such as by ...
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natural mana is chaotic
A fundamental rule of nature is that it is a world of strife and conflict. Primal forces wax and wane in strength, but remain truly unreliable. In every living thing is a small reactor of unpredictability, entropy incarnate. It's in mankind, too, but in such great quantities. A wolf might be hungry or lonely, but it's man that hates. ...
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The difference between Synthetic Mana and Natural Mana is similar to the difference between the following two groups of food.
Fresh meat, baked bread, fresh grapes, and milk.
Jerky, hard tack, raisins, and water.
You can survive on the second, but the first is generally a better quality meal. The second has the advantage that it will last a significantly ...
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The combination of genes that are required to produce very high magical ability is an extremely delicate balance. It's not just a gene that dictates the "ability score", but rather a complex intermingling of different genetic factors, and a change in even just one of these genes can undo the whole construction (for want of a better word).
Furthermore, the ...
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What is mana? It might be :
A divine spark,
Psychic energy,
or some alternate form of undiscovered physical energy.
If mana is psychic energy, the problem might be your choice of degenerates as a source. There might be an as-yet-undocumented quality of personal character that effects how rapidly mana becomes decoherent. History provides plenty of anecdotal ...
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Maybe it's not the witches making the wands...
Maybe the wands are being made by normies, but they have to trap part of a witch's soul inside a wand.
Then maybe somebody using a wand is like walking into a haunted house. A normie can walk into a haunted house and be like, "This is just an ugly house," because they can't see / sense any evil spirits within - ...
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Mana can only be properly contained withing a living, organic receptacle.
Taking a look at these people, despite absolutely worthless to the point one wouldn't ever know if they were to disappear, their mana stays within them so well, better than any other container, and the same can be said for those with higher levels of mana. But there's essentially one ...
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Like many chemicals the purest form of mana is highly reactive. Think of hydrogen peroxide or acids: you hardly find them pure, rather diluted in some solution.
Or think of neutrons outside an atomic nucleus. They are unstable.
A similar concept can be applied to mana. When it's too pure it's highly unstable and thus bound to either destroy its container ...
answered May 19 at 10:06
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You're asking something quite hard here. What you want to know is the equivalent of asking how to maintain your (pre-industrialisation) stableyard in a world of motorbikes. Regardless of how fit or fast your horses are, a motorbike is faster and has greater range.
Yet stableyards still exist in our world of cars and motorbikes, they just don't fill quite ...
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So your world has magic batteries, essentially? Then wouldn't that mean that
A person with more mana could fill them up faster, thus still having more frequent access to the same level of magic
People can still get to different levels of magic until they need technological assistance, meaning they're less reliable
Additionally, interfacing with magitech ...
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Its normal for people to make tools they can't use themselves.
Adults make clothes for babies, but we can't wear them.
Fender (the guy, not the brand) never learned how to play guitar.
Humans make prosthetic limbs for animals, that can't replace our own limbs.
I don't see a need for a magical explanation for how the witches could create tools that they ...
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Witches have no natural mana, but they can manipulate with mana of others
WARNING: Possible spoiler
Answer to this might lie in the Night Watch series from Sergei Lukyanenko.
In this series, there are Others, people with supernatural abilities. Later in the series the protagonist learns how does magic actually works. Its not that the Others have higher ...
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I can think of two reasons off-hand based on two reasons why one would have that in the first place. The issue is not coming up with a reason, but justifying it under the rules of the world.
If a person's capacity is to be relevant, then there has to be a reason that stems from either the progress of magitech, or from the laws of magic.
#1: Any One ...
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Personality. There may be a minimum level of intelligence required to be an engineer, but intelligence only helps if you have a certain problem-solving mindset. If you don't have the passion for it, you have a lot of other options, but if you obsess over it constantly anyway, you can get good. I'm 6'4" tall, but was never good at football, because I have ...
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heterosis
It is not some particular gene, but a combination of genes in a heterozigous combination for all of them.
Whoever you cross-breed the mage to, you get an average type of children with 99.9% probability. It is equally or even more probable to get the superior phenotype by just leaving people to procreate however they ...
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Genetics do not confer an absolute advantage or disadvantage. A gene (or combination thereof) may be advantageous in one environment and not at all in another. Even if the genetics of an individual are advantageous (at least in theory) there are many ways in which that advantage is not passed on to descendants. The individual may not mate and/or the off-...
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