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01-02-2022, 08:35 PM
(This post was last modified: 01-02-2022, 09:22 PM by Ignispark.
Edit Reason: Line spacing didn't work out. Adding in line spacing so you can read this.
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[STATIONARY_FRICTION]:
Maxim looks to be a wonderful character, excellent work.
For those interested, I have some information on magic and technology below. If anyone is particularly interested in playing an ancient creation or something from the connection, or even something from somewhere else, I can explain some more about how they function. Feel free to let me know. If anyone is interested in particular sorts of fauna, flora, or perhaps even some examples of things from ancient ruins or the hypothetical creatures from the connection for backstory reasons either I can also provide some examples as applicable. I will get to some examples of relevant information for cooking when I can but I will admit that I am by no means an expert on the topic. I will try to throw in some interesting magical options as relevant.
General Magic and Technology:
Beacon Magic and Tech (Modern Magic and Tech)
Beacon magic can come in many flavors. It can be similar to a wizard like you see in a fantasy novel or seem mundane and merely augment incredibly normal tasks. One common theme is that there is generally a fairly straightforward cost to usage, often either the energy of the user or something like a battery. One beacon may be able to conjure fireballs using the energy of fire around them, another maybe be able to put the energy of a lightning strike into a building, allowing that building to serve as a large battery for their town. More complex usages of magic generally require experience and training. What you intend to do, your knowledge of the locations involved, how you perform the magic and what you use to do so, and what energy you provide is often the most relevant information on how magic will go.
It is possible to learn multiple ways to do magic, but it is akin to learning a new trade of sorts. Learning how to make electronic devices like your local beacon does will likely require careful apprenticing and understanding of why they do what they do. It is also possible to develop new ways to utilize magic independently, though it is not without risk and it can take longer. It is recommended that beacons experiment with magic someplace it cannot harm others, in case something goes wrong.
Beacon technology is mostly derived from ancient ruins or developed from what has already been derived. There is currently no usable internet analog, so developments have to travel by foot or by the connection. Pure non-magical technology is generally more resistant to odd magical phenomenon, but can also be made into magical technology. Often the less you have to make on your own, the easier it is to make a magical device. If you have a computer terminal that you want to control with your thoughts, having a computer terminal that already exists is going to be a necessary first step. It will still be a hell of a project though.
Common usages of magic in daily life include as a means to enhance parts of daily life like helping them mine a tunnel, build a house, or similar endeavours. It can be used to help protect themselves from dangerous fauna, flora, unfriendly beacons, or something worse. It can be in about any part of life that you could expect, though it's most common in forms that involve physical transfers and manipulations of energy and usually not going to be heavily in anything abstract.
Ancient Magic and Tech (And Partial Flavors)
Ancient magic can exist on a scale anywhere from entirely ancient to entirely modern. The latter is effectively beacon magic and means that the caster or object works entirely like modern magic. The former means it is entirely in its own category, such as divine magic mentioned in the section below. It is unknown precisely how this scale works but some theories include whether the object or individual is ‘compatible’ with the ideas that seem to be present in modern magic, how much the object or individual has adjusted to the nature of the world and that things have changed, how much the individual values their powers as they are, and more. Sometimes it may seem arbitrary.
Ancient magic at its most isolated form still usually requires energy, though it is often able to access energy more easily and from greater distance than modern magic. It also often can take from sources which are not often used in modern magic including more abstract concepts. Additionally, it often functions on different rules than most modern magic. It may have to follow some rule-set that the magic of the subject was created with, it may be limited to specific scenarios, or have no clear restrictions at all. Sometimes a power will be incredibly potent, with no ability to lessen its effect. In one case, you may be granted immense precision and perfect execution of a task, at great cost.
Ancient technology, when purely non-magical, is similar to beacon technology in that it is more resilient against magical phenomenon. However, it can vary from something familiar to beaconkind to something beyond their capability to recreate including artificial intelligence (which can of course use magic as well, provided they are a person), spacecraft, advanced weaponry, and more. Unlike most of beaconkind, it seems whatever made the devices was organic with organs like hearts and lungs and required things like air to survive.
When magical, it becomes even harder for an aspiring reverse-engineer to figure out how it works, as some of the principles of ancient magic may not be easily reproduced. Ancient magic itself has not been successfully performed by any known beacons, though it persists in some of the ancient constructs and objects still present. It might be possible though.
Some theories exist that ancient magic is closer to the connection than modern magic.
Connection Magic and Tech (Mystery Flavor [And Partial Flavors])
It is theorized that the magic of the connection utilizes and manipulates existing magic. It currently appears similar to ancient ruins to some extent, so some believe that it has the most absorbed from that. Some theorize it changes its form to suit the world and has yet to adapt to the modern day or recognize beaconkind. Regardless, it is likely even less bound than ancient magic, able to use your memory and other things as energy without much thought. There are no proven examples of connection magic or technology. It can likely range from seemingly familiar to incredibly alien even to an ancient automaton though.
On Gods:
Modern Magic:
There is no evidence supporting modern magic based divinities.
Ancient Magic:
All known remnants of ancient gods have no traces of beacon magic. It is unknown if they could do so, or if perhaps having that would somehow invalidate their divinity. While it is unclear how many ancient gods exist, there are plenty of tributes to figures of power and magic which has not been found to ever mix with modern magic that implies that some ruins are notably divine.
Connection Magic:
Of the rumored mysterious entities, it could be reasoned that you could call one god. Or that perhaps an ancient god could have some of its magic from the connection. In any case, there very well could be gods of the connection or other reasonably powerful beings that can loan their powers or perform other great feats.
As a bonus note, flora and/or fauna can be magical. Some species may inherently have minor magical effects, while others could have uncommon or rare deviations. In all naturally occurring cases, this will be modern magic. If a specimen was preserved in an ancient bunker or was an ancient experiment, it is possible that it could have ancient magic. As a side-note, this does mean fauna or flora could hypothetically be a playable character as well.
Maxim looks to be a wonderful character, excellent work.
For those interested, I have some information on magic and technology below. If anyone is particularly interested in playing an ancient creation or something from the connection, or even something from somewhere else, I can explain some more about how they function. Feel free to let me know. If anyone is interested in particular sorts of fauna, flora, or perhaps even some examples of things from ancient ruins or the hypothetical creatures from the connection for backstory reasons either I can also provide some examples as applicable. I will get to some examples of relevant information for cooking when I can but I will admit that I am by no means an expert on the topic. I will try to throw in some interesting magical options as relevant.
General Magic and Technology:
Beacon Magic and Tech (Modern Magic and Tech)
Beacon magic can come in many flavors. It can be similar to a wizard like you see in a fantasy novel or seem mundane and merely augment incredibly normal tasks. One common theme is that there is generally a fairly straightforward cost to usage, often either the energy of the user or something like a battery. One beacon may be able to conjure fireballs using the energy of fire around them, another maybe be able to put the energy of a lightning strike into a building, allowing that building to serve as a large battery for their town. More complex usages of magic generally require experience and training. What you intend to do, your knowledge of the locations involved, how you perform the magic and what you use to do so, and what energy you provide is often the most relevant information on how magic will go.
It is possible to learn multiple ways to do magic, but it is akin to learning a new trade of sorts. Learning how to make electronic devices like your local beacon does will likely require careful apprenticing and understanding of why they do what they do. It is also possible to develop new ways to utilize magic independently, though it is not without risk and it can take longer. It is recommended that beacons experiment with magic someplace it cannot harm others, in case something goes wrong.
Beacon technology is mostly derived from ancient ruins or developed from what has already been derived. There is currently no usable internet analog, so developments have to travel by foot or by the connection. Pure non-magical technology is generally more resistant to odd magical phenomenon, but can also be made into magical technology. Often the less you have to make on your own, the easier it is to make a magical device. If you have a computer terminal that you want to control with your thoughts, having a computer terminal that already exists is going to be a necessary first step. It will still be a hell of a project though.
Common usages of magic in daily life include as a means to enhance parts of daily life like helping them mine a tunnel, build a house, or similar endeavours. It can be used to help protect themselves from dangerous fauna, flora, unfriendly beacons, or something worse. It can be in about any part of life that you could expect, though it's most common in forms that involve physical transfers and manipulations of energy and usually not going to be heavily in anything abstract.
Ancient Magic and Tech (And Partial Flavors)
Ancient magic can exist on a scale anywhere from entirely ancient to entirely modern. The latter is effectively beacon magic and means that the caster or object works entirely like modern magic. The former means it is entirely in its own category, such as divine magic mentioned in the section below. It is unknown precisely how this scale works but some theories include whether the object or individual is ‘compatible’ with the ideas that seem to be present in modern magic, how much the object or individual has adjusted to the nature of the world and that things have changed, how much the individual values their powers as they are, and more. Sometimes it may seem arbitrary.
Ancient magic at its most isolated form still usually requires energy, though it is often able to access energy more easily and from greater distance than modern magic. It also often can take from sources which are not often used in modern magic including more abstract concepts. Additionally, it often functions on different rules than most modern magic. It may have to follow some rule-set that the magic of the subject was created with, it may be limited to specific scenarios, or have no clear restrictions at all. Sometimes a power will be incredibly potent, with no ability to lessen its effect. In one case, you may be granted immense precision and perfect execution of a task, at great cost.
Ancient technology, when purely non-magical, is similar to beacon technology in that it is more resilient against magical phenomenon. However, it can vary from something familiar to beaconkind to something beyond their capability to recreate including artificial intelligence (which can of course use magic as well, provided they are a person), spacecraft, advanced weaponry, and more. Unlike most of beaconkind, it seems whatever made the devices was organic with organs like hearts and lungs and required things like air to survive.
When magical, it becomes even harder for an aspiring reverse-engineer to figure out how it works, as some of the principles of ancient magic may not be easily reproduced. Ancient magic itself has not been successfully performed by any known beacons, though it persists in some of the ancient constructs and objects still present. It might be possible though.
Some theories exist that ancient magic is closer to the connection than modern magic.
Connection Magic and Tech (Mystery Flavor [And Partial Flavors])
It is theorized that the magic of the connection utilizes and manipulates existing magic. It currently appears similar to ancient ruins to some extent, so some believe that it has the most absorbed from that. Some theorize it changes its form to suit the world and has yet to adapt to the modern day or recognize beaconkind. Regardless, it is likely even less bound than ancient magic, able to use your memory and other things as energy without much thought. There are no proven examples of connection magic or technology. It can likely range from seemingly familiar to incredibly alien even to an ancient automaton though.
On Gods:
Modern Magic:
There is no evidence supporting modern magic based divinities.
Ancient Magic:
All known remnants of ancient gods have no traces of beacon magic. It is unknown if they could do so, or if perhaps having that would somehow invalidate their divinity. While it is unclear how many ancient gods exist, there are plenty of tributes to figures of power and magic which has not been found to ever mix with modern magic that implies that some ruins are notably divine.
Connection Magic:
Of the rumored mysterious entities, it could be reasoned that you could call one god. Or that perhaps an ancient god could have some of its magic from the connection. In any case, there very well could be gods of the connection or other reasonably powerful beings that can loan their powers or perform other great feats.
As a bonus note, flora and/or fauna can be magical. Some species may inherently have minor magical effects, while others could have uncommon or rare deviations. In all naturally occurring cases, this will be modern magic. If a specimen was preserved in an ancient bunker or was an ancient experiment, it is possible that it could have ancient magic. As a side-note, this does mean fauna or flora could hypothetically be a playable character as well.