69 lines
3.0 KiB
HTML
69 lines
3.0 KiB
HTML
<!doctype html>
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<html lang="en">
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<head>
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<meta charset="UTF-8" />
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<meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1.0" />
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<title>Magic as Control - Guide Extract</title>
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<link rel="stylesheet" href="book-page.css" />
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</head>
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<h1>MAGIC AS CONTROL</h1>
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<p>
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If the magical arts represent a field defined by difficult compromise and
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negotiation between humanity and supernatural powers, it’s just a matter of
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time before someone tries to overstep these “limitations” and gain full
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control over these forces.
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</p>
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<p>
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In natural fantasy worlds, magic is an allegory of life itself: the
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insidious desire to reject or eliminate its most complex and mysterious
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aspects – so that it operates “on a human scale”, following cold,
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predictable and standardized rules – sparked some of the most terrible
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atrocities during ancient times.
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</p>
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<h2>Disciplines Focused on Control</h2>
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<p>
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Even in this case, some character options lend themselves more to this kind
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of magic, unconcerned with the balance of the ecosystem, focused on reaching
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a result without any regard for the consequences:
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</p>
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<ul>
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<li>
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<strong>Entropism.</strong> A complex discipline with unlimited potential,
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capable of manipulating time and space, Entropism is perfect as the legacy
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of a distant epoch, when extremely advanced civilizations made reckless
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mistakes for which the world is still paying the price. More often than
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not, the protagonists that wield Entropism are androids or experimental
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beings, awoken after millennia of stasis. It’s a kind of magic
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dramatically out of place, a relic of a different time that brings with it
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a warning about a calamity that might strike the world again.
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</li>
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<li>
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<strong>Ritualism.</strong> Precisely because of its relatively basic and
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approachable nature, this discipline is often assimilated with an academic
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or rationalist mindset, divorced from the spiritual implications and, in
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the end, reduced to a mere tool. If used in conjunction with technological
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sciences it can reactivate ancient machinery to take full control over the
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forces of nature or be used to unleash indiscriminate preemptive
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destruction against any threat, be it real or perceived.
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</li>
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<li>
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<strong>Classes.</strong> It might be interesting to employ Classes such
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as Tinkerer, Merchant (see page 158), Loremaster and Symbolist (see High
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Fantasy Atlas, page 146) to create a character with a cold, utilitarian
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view of magic at first – over the course of the campaign they will develop
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a more complex and nuanced perspective, recognizing and confronting the
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idea that magic is a living force that they have to coexist with.
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</li>
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</ul>
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<h2>Conclusionary Concepts</h2>
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<p>
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Finally, we have to spend a few words on the most common variations of these
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concepts: deicide and fear of death.
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</p>
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</html>
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