I Hate Magic

[SquidSponge]

Firstly - the author is combining/confusing religion and magic. Some real-world religions mention magic, but in most fantasy settings the two are usually (often very pointedly) separate things. Myself, I like it that way - real-world religion is a touchy topic (including with myself) that just doesn't need to be in games (and its inclusion is risky at the best of times).

Most of the arguments here actually seem to be complaints about typical settings. The author seems to be saying that he doesn't like high-magic settings. Whatever floats your goat man, that's your opinion. Your OPINION. Myself, I quite like high-magic settings. But sometimes a low-magic setting is cool too. Variety is what we need, and that is the point the article should be making - that there are not enough low-magic settings in games - rather than "high-magic settings are bad".

As for the symbolism argument, the lack of verbal/somatic components (can you tell I'm a D&D player?) to spells in games is often a result of limitations of time (or sometimes effort) on the devs' part. In a game like Skyrim, magic is not the focus - in a mage-centric game (quite rare, let's face it) this should be different but in a game where magic is one of MANY options, that a not-insignificant proportion of players will rarely use to any extent, pouring vast quantities of time, effort and money on animations and voice actors to create unique verbal & somatic components for each and every spell (of which there are hundreds), wouldn't make sense. Other times V/S/M components of spells are presumed to be there, even if they aren't specifically shown, for simplicity or technological limitations' sake. Just like there's more to swordfighting than "pointy end go in other man", despite what the animation shows.

Myself, I usually play casters but I also like the option of playing a warrior/thief/other type; I enjoy playing good or neutral characters, I don't want to be be forced into evil alignment because of my class choice; I like high-magic settings because 2 years of hospital rehabilitation kinda slows the plot right the f*ck down when the alternative is buying a bottle of red liquid. And as such I wouldn't complain about a bit more variety in settings, I generally love how magic is done in games.

Also, I didn't appreciate the misleading, inflammatory title. Stop that.

 

[actar411]

I'll admit, I don't normally read Critical Intel, but I found this one a particularly compelling read. I completely agree with that sentiment as well. In Dungeons and Dragons, in order to get the ability to do anything really cool, you had to pump days of play into the game with your friends. If you wanted to do things that truly were awesome, like going to other dimensions and such, you had to interact with PCs and NPCs, fight monsters and people, and do skill checks (so many skill checks. You work for those cool things, you spend the time having fun (hopefully) with friends. By the time you get there, you will have inside jokes, stories, and those great moments of "Hey remember when we were searching for the key on that ship?" "Yeah, you mean when they found us so you set the captains quarters on fire . . . with us inside?" (Yes I was the guy that set us all on fire.). Games like that, you have to work for every moment like that, they don't just happen. That's where the true magic is, in those moments.

 

[The Almighty Grigard]

I guess the author would be interested in playing a game based on the pen and paper role playing game Ars Magica. The entire game is based around working and inventing new ways to manipulate magic.

He speaks about having to pay for your magic. In Ars Magica, any person who has the gift of being able to use magic is constantly surrounded by a sense of unease and foreboding which seeps into anyone around them, making them fear and despise the Magus, just because he happens to stand around them. This makes any and all wizards highly ostracized even before they start chanting their spells. Any spell that is sufficiently powerful also required expenditure of a highly rare magical energy that must be harvested from dead magical beasts, or distilled from places of magical nature, which takes 3 months.

Now, gestures and incantations. Each and every Magus has to invent their own way of channeling magic, making up their own incantations and gestures for each and every spell they know. If they are taught a new spell by someone else, they still need to invent their own version. Lastly, their own personality seeps into their magic and every spell they do is changed superficially in a way that is unique to each magus. For example, each of your spells might incorporate the color green, or the smell of lemons, a particular symbol, extreme attention to detail or unwarranted chaos.

There was a Kickstarter for an Ars Magica game, sadly it didn't reach its goal. I'm hoping they can still make their game somehow as Ars Magica is my favorite RP so far. Fairly simple to learn and play, yet ridiculously deep and flexible. And you don't have to roll 23 ten sided dice each time you want to attack something like Exalted.

 

[Corakus1]

snip.

I think it depends on the RPG system you use (D&D is not the only one). I for one play DSA (The Dark Eye) and the magic there is more of a science where every spell can be broken down to basic formulas. Not only that but even the application differs extremly from character to character.

In this system there are applications of magic that are forbidden but anyone with the ability to store astral energy in his body can become a mage (there 3 types from full mage, half mage [mostly someone who was not taught at an academy] and quarter mage [in many cases not knowing he posseses magical powers and thus he has a very limited arsenal]).

Agreed, I myself am not Christian either, yet I have no problem with someone actually borrowing from the mythology to use in a game or show.It's like Norse mythology, a lot of people like it.But I doubt most of the people who saw Thor in theatres were Norse pagans.As long as the material isn't actually trying to convert and is instead trying to entertain, I don't see anything wrong with it.

 

[CloudAtlas]

As some posters pointed out, the really deep, complex treatment of magic that the author wishes for might be difficult to implement for game play reasons, and I agree. But that doesn't mean that you shouldn't strive for improvements. And many things that would improve magic in games are not that hard to implement. And the author already mentioned a few of them, and I'm only summing up here, for the most part:
- Explain how magic works (or how it is believed to work) in your universe. And do so in a way that every player learns it, not bury it in some books or something that most never read.
- Create more interesting spells. It is magic, after all, so there are few limits - why does it always have to be the fireball? With modern games visual fidelity, it should be possible to make spells like the "filling lungs with water" or "crumbling weapons" visually distinct.
- Make casting magic mechanically more interesting. Perhaps you have to use button combinations, mouse gestures, some action reliant on good timing, or whatever - actual game designers should have better ideas than I do. Very complex mechanics might not fit to a game's gameplay, but it should be possible to create something more intriguing than "press A".
Sometimes, you have to position, block, dodge and time well in melee combat, position well aim carefully with your bow in ranged combat, and with magic, you just have to press a button, it's the easiest thing. That doesn't feel right.



- Give magic negative consequences. This can be done in numerous ways. On a very basic level, gameplay-wise: Give magic the possibility to backfire (perhaps if you don't execute a spell well) - damaging the caster, no damage at all, summon hostile instead of friendly monsters or whatever). If you're using necromancy, blood magic or some other "dark" magic, and this magic is granted to you by higher beings in the game world, eventually the "responsible" higher being might demand some meaningful, painful sacrifice from you in a story. Using a lot of magic - if it is somewhat "dark" magic - could change the look of your character, negative consequences could affect NPCs you like, decidedly change the reaction of some NPCs towards you, letting the mage lose control over himself for a short time, or whatever.This all works even if magic is not the main theme of your game.
- Make the use of certain kinds of magic conditional on player (character) behavior. If some spirit, good or evil, grants you his magic, you can only use it as long as you behave according to this spirits moral values. A paladin may not be allowed to use poison. Or, if you can have sex with NPCs, like in your typical BioWare RPG, some warrior-monk can only use certain abilities as long as he's chaste.

All that stuff would not be so hard to implement, and would (or might) make these games more interesting. Sure, there'll always be more lighthearted games where magic should feel about as simple as bullets, flamethrower and grenades, but that's not the feeling that games like Elder Scrolls, Dragon Age or the likes aim for, I think.

 

[sageoftruth]

I'd love to see that take on Divine spells. Perhaps have an open world game where your mana represents your favor with the God you're channeling. You replenish it not with items, but by doing things that please the God, as you said. Another neat idea would be to have the cost of divine spells go down significantly when wielding them against the god's sworn enemies. A cool idea would be to have you face off against a high priest of a rival god and then have both gods instantly grant their channelers with all of their powers and unlimited usage of them until the battle is over.

You could even have someone of multiple faiths who tries to balance his devotion to multiple gods so he can wield a variety of divine spells. It would provide for an interesting incentive to behave a certain way throughout the game, since many of your actions would either please or anger the many gods.

 

[Requia]

You bring up tabletop RPGS, but I'd argue they're part of the problem. Especially starting with 3rd edition D&D, where magic was codified into a reliable science and technology with clear-cut rules. There wasn't really a sense that magic was some esoteric, forbidden lore known only to a select few, and often at great price. Rather, it's something you can buy on a street corner for a few hundred gold pieces.

I played 2nd, the way it tried to portray magic was a horrible mess that was totally unplayable and created serious dissonance with the fact that the players *do* have easy access to magic in their party members, yet the rest of the world doesn't.

If you want to ado a thing where magic is something largely inaccessible rather than treated like everything else in the world, you can't also hand the PCs magic powers of any kind.

Edit: and then I realise this is thread necromancy, why does Escapist keep recommending year old content to me?