<!-- MHonArc v2.4.4 --> <!--X-Subject: Re: DESIGN: The Physics of Magic --> <!--X-From-R13: pbqreNvoz.arg --> <!--X-Date: from scipio.globecomm.net [207.51.48.12] by in11.ibm.net id 865572344.40396-1 Fri Jun 6 04:45:44 1997 CUT --> <!--X-Message-Id: 199706060445.EAB46526#out1,ibm.net --> <!--X-Content-Type: text/plain --> <!--X-Head-End--> <!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 3.2//EN"> <html> <head> <title>MUD-Dev message, Re: DESIGN: The Physics of Magic</title> <!-- meta name="robots" content="noindex,nofollow" --> <link rev="made" href="mailto:coder#ibm,net"> </head> <body background="/backgrounds/paperback.gif" bgcolor="#ffffff" text="#000000" link="#0000FF" alink="#FF0000" vlink="#006000"> <font size="+4" color="#804040"> <strong><em>MUD-Dev<br>mailing list archive</em></strong> </font> <br> [ <a href="../">Other Periods</a> | <a href="../../">Other mailing lists</a> | <a href="/search.php3">Search</a> ] <br clear=all><hr> <!--X-Body-Begin--> <!--X-User-Header--> <!--X-User-Header-End--> <!--X-TopPNI--> Date: [ <a href="msg01218.html">Previous</a> | <a href="msg01220.html">Next</a> ] Thread: [ <a href="msg01218.html">Previous</a> | <a href="msg01217.html">Next</a> ] Index: [ <A HREF="author.html#01219">Author</A> | <A HREF="#01219">Date</A> | <A HREF="thread.html#01219">Thread</A> ] <!--X-TopPNI-End--> <!--X-MsgBody--> <!--X-Subject-Header-Begin--> <H1>Re: DESIGN: The Physics of Magic</H1> <HR> <!--X-Subject-Header-End--> <!--X-Head-of-Message--> <UL> <LI><em>To</em>: <A HREF="mailto:mud-dev#null,net">mud-dev#null,net</A></LI> <LI><em>Subject</em>: Re: DESIGN: The Physics of Magic</LI> <LI><em>From</em>: <A HREF="mailto:coder#ibm,net">coder#ibm,net</A></LI> <LI><em>Date</em>: Thu, 05 Jun 97 21:45:10 -0700</LI> </UL> <!--X-Head-of-Message-End--> <!--X-Head-Body-Sep-Begin--> <HR> <!--X-Head-Body-Sep-End--> <!--X-Body-of-Message--> <PRE> From one of our better known members: From: yospe#hawaii,remove.this.edu (Nathan F. Yospe) Newsgroups: rec.games.mud.admin Subject: DESIGN: The Physics of Magic Date: Thu, 29 May 1997 14:20:12 -1000 Well, having recieved a couple of requests for this, here are a couple of magical universe models: Model 1 - Fielded planes overlapping, each possessing influence over the others Four planes: Physical, Mental, Magical, and Animistic Physical is broken into the following elements, which can be harnessed and drawn into a being who uses them - Speed - imbued in all objects in motion, and fed by the -power-. Strength - imbued in all objects that lend or counter motion, also fed by -power-. Immutivity - imbued in objects that cannot be moved, such as armor. fed by -substance-. Integrity - imbued in objects that can survive degradation of -substance-. Armor, for example, would be formed of objects with high immutivity and _very_ high integrity. A weapon should be inbued either with speed or with strength, or possibly both. Speed attempts to counter integrity, stregth to counter immutivity. -power- can be gained by draining some source of -substance-, such as is done by men to food. -substance- is extracted from the physical field by special constructs. Plants are the only common forms of these constructs. Mental is broken into the following elements: Percived (the eye) - imbued in all senses, natural or otherwise, the font of awareness. Precognition, mind reading, and the awareness of the universe. Projected (the hand) - imbued in all controls of aspects of the mental plane. Can decieve the eye, or the center. Disguise, projective telepathy. Concieved (the source) - can create projections into the physical plane, or alter parts of the physical. Teleportation, telekinesis, and telecreation are all aspects of this. Invested (the center) - alterations to the mental plane itself. Focus, control, thought and reason, and self healing on the physical plane. Magic is broken into the following elements: polar opposites, cancel each other on contact. Water/Fire - The creative and destructive magics; both are chaos. Earth/Air - The stagnant/permanant and the changeful/mercurial; both are transience. Light/Dark - The purity and the absense; both are order. A chaos and an order will mix to form an ancience. Water + Light - Hope (Birth Magic) (Females Only) - includes healing Water + Dark - Pain (Blood Magic) - self sacrifice here... includes absorbtion of another's wounds, and sympathetic - a wound for a wound Fire + Light - Strength (War Magic) (Males Only) - non flame projectives... beams and blasts and raw magic. Fire + Dark - Terror (Control Magic) - similar to blood magic, but the blood is of another. Extracts a price from its user in the fullness of time. A chaos and a transience will mix to form a change. Water + Earth - Growth (Soil Magic) - all magic relating to plants Water + Air - Cloaking (Mist Magic) - teleportation, false projection, etc. Fire + Earth - WorldBirth (Lava Magic) Fire + Air - Burning (Flame Magic) - All actual fire spells require air. A transience and an order will mix to form a finality Light + Earth - Animation (Life Magic) - includes necromancy, which lacks the negative connotations of the traditional version. Light + Air - Cleansing (Lightning Magic) Dark + Earth - Ending (Death Magic) Dark + Air - Sleep (Time Magic) - slowing of time, preservation... an instant becomes an eternity. A combination of three becomes a universal. These magics are the domain of Demigods and Demons. + Water + Earth + Light - Creation - Water + Earth + Dark - Old Death + Water + Air + Light - Blessing + Water + Air + Dark - Dreams (as in inspiration) - Fire + Earth + Light - Decay - Fire + Earth + Dark - Damnation + Fire + Air + Light - Cycle of Life - Fire + Air + Dark - Dreams (as in nightmares) As for the dreams... the two sleeping dreams mean placing a person into a literal dream realm. Damnation and Hopes are similar realms. The demigod/ demon controls the realm itself on every level. These are not minor magics. Old Death and the Cycle are opposites, creation and decay as well. These are the kind of spells that affect the land from horizon to horizon. No mortal may control more than two aspects of the magical field. To attempt to do so results in death or deification, depending on whether the mortal has the needed degree of the life force to overcome this sort of magic. Life force is imbued in all life. A person with enough life force becomes an animist. An animist commited to the life side of the force will be accompanied by flowering and flourishing life. Flowers in the footsteps and poisonous water becoming pure. Life force responds to water, air, and light as aspects of its positive side, fire, earth and dark as its negative side. Absolute power in two of the three as both positive or both negative guarantees the potential of assention, though both positive creates a demigod, both negative, a demon. Even the demigods and demons are limited to one great magic. Mastering a lesser magic of the neutral combination can be overcome by other factors that are secretly tracked (I actually have an alignment hidden in the system, though it is used for nothing except the transition.) Death will cast a player into the underworld, and leave them vulnerable to the beings that feed on raw mentality and life force devoid of body. It is possible to win back to life of ones own volition, though this costs greatly in life force, which is hard won while in the underworld. Magic (Life Magic) can revive a person, in part or in full. A spirit can be summoned back into the world, though not the physical plane, by a strong enough animator, which has the effect of allowing the spirit in a bottle trick. There are a number of other features to this life/death/immortality system, but the overall result is a totally consistant magic driven world. My implementation of these rules extends to the point that farming is handled entirely by the engine, for example. A single magic can be projected or directed, and the power controlled subject to the limits of a player's ability to channel, tap, and direct the correct aspects of the magical field. A player can learn to cache magic, but this can backfire. Magic eddies and flows, and a tracker can find a mage by following the eddies created by that cache. Oh, and if I ever am satisfied with Physmud++ and release it, I will allow one (and exactly one) person to run this scenario on it, as it is just one of my test scenarios, but the rules work pretty well, and I have a small bit of landscape for it, including a few towns, a forest, a large plain, a desert, and the dragons' run. (Dragons are physical and magical, and have aspects of fire and air. The sentient ones are also present in the mental plane.) -- J C Lawrence Internet: claw#null,net ----------(*) Internet: coder#ibm,net ...Honourary Member of Clan McFud -- Teamer's Avenging Monolith... </PRE> <!--X-Body-of-Message-End--> <!--X-MsgBody-End--> <!--X-Follow-Ups--> <HR> <!--X-Follow-Ups-End--> <!--X-References--> <!--X-References-End--> <!--X-BotPNI--> <UL> <LI>Prev by Date: <STRONG><A HREF="msg01218.html">Re: DESIGN: The Physics of Magic</A></STRONG> </LI> <LI>Next by Date: <STRONG><A HREF="msg01220.html">Re: [MUD-Dev] over the shoudler view</A></STRONG> </LI> <LI>Prev by thread: <STRONG><A HREF="msg01218.html">Re: DESIGN: The Physics of Magic</A></STRONG> </LI> <LI>Next by thread: <STRONG><A HREF="msg01217.html">TSR has been bought.</A></STRONG> </LI> <LI>Index(es): <UL> <LI><A HREF="index.html#01219"><STRONG>Date</STRONG></A></LI> <LI><A HREF="thread.html#01219"><STRONG>Thread</STRONG></A></LI> </UL> </LI> </UL> <!--X-BotPNI-End--> <!--X-User-Footer--> <!--X-User-Footer-End--> <ul><li>Thread context: <BLOCKQUOTE><UL> <LI><STRONG>Re: [MUD-Dev] Lorry's document on wizard-hood</STRONG>, <EM>(continued)</EM> <ul compact> <LI><strong><A NAME="01264" HREF="msg01264.html">Re: [MUD-Dev] Lorry's document on wizard-hood</A></strong>, clawrenc <a href="mailto:clawrenc#cup,hp.com">clawrenc#cup,hp.com</a>, Tue 10 Jun 1997, 02:39 GMT </LI> </ul> </LI> <LI><strong><A NAME="01220" HREF="msg01220.html">Re: [MUD-Dev] over the shoudler view</A></strong>, Jeff Kesselman <a href="mailto:jeffk#tenetwork,com">jeffk#tenetwork,com</a>, Fri 06 Jun 1997, 11:52 GMT <UL> <LI><strong><A NAME="01252" HREF="msg01252.html">Re: [MUD-Dev] over the shoudler view</A></strong>, Raz <a href="mailto:muddyraz#mushroom,demon.co.uk">muddyraz#mushroom,demon.co.uk</a>, Sun 08 Jun 1997, 07:33 GMT </LI> </UL> </LI> <LI><strong><A NAME="01218" HREF="msg01218.html">Re: DESIGN: The Physics of Magic</A></strong>, coder <a href="mailto:coder#ibm,net">coder#ibm,net</a>, Fri 06 Jun 1997, 11:29 GMT <UL> <li><Possible follow-up(s)><br> <LI><strong><A NAME="01219" HREF="msg01219.html">Re: DESIGN: The Physics of Magic</A></strong>, coder <a href="mailto:coder#ibm,net">coder#ibm,net</a>, Fri 06 Jun 1997, 11:45 GMT </LI> </UL> </LI> <LI><strong><A NAME="01217" HREF="msg01217.html">TSR has been bought.</A></strong>, Jeff Kesselman <a href="mailto:jeffk#tenetwork,com">jeffk#tenetwork,com</a>, Fri 06 Jun 1997, 07:47 GMT <LI><strong><A NAME="01216" HREF="msg01216.html">I have no words and I must design</A></strong>, clawrenc <a href="mailto:clawrenc#cup,hp.com">clawrenc#cup,hp.com</a>, Fri 06 Jun 1997, 07:28 GMT <UL> <LI><strong><A NAME="01292" HREF="msg01292.html">Re: [MUD-Dev] I have no words and I must design</A></strong>, Adam Wiggins <a href="mailto:nightfall#user1,inficad.com">nightfall#user1,inficad.com</a>, Wed 11 Jun 1997, 21:49 GMT </LI> </UL> </LI> <LI><strong><A NAME="01194" HREF="msg01194.html">Message problems with this list</A></strong>, coder <a href="mailto:coder#ibm,net">coder#ibm,net</a>, Thu 05 Jun 1997, 22:34 GMT </UL></BLOCKQUOTE> </ul> <hr> <center> [ <a href="../">Other Periods</a> | <a href="../../">Other mailing lists</a> | <a href="/search.php3">Search</a> ] </center> <hr> </body> </html>