| From: | Erik Jameson <erikj@****.COM> |
|---|---|
| Subject: | Re: Prometheus Unbound (was Re: Astral Magic) |
| Date: | Mon, 18 May 1998 14:48:06 -0400 |
>Once upon a time, Airwasp wrote;
>
>>> Yeah, and next we will have teleporting PC's.
>>
>>It could be possible.
><snip>
>
> Magic is too weak and FASA swears an oath every day to never let it
>happen. Only two IE has demonstrated what appeared to be this ability. It
>was nothing more than an Dowd showing the the 6th world will have
>mysteries that will escape explanation. It was not a taste of things to
>come. And we haven't seen it again Harlequin.
Exactly. A "taste of things to come," which doesn't mean they are
currently possible by PCs.
This is the biggest problem I have with much of the magic stuff available
on the Internet. People seem to believe that if they can dream it up, it
must be possible. But that's not the case. You really have to keep in
mind not only the current mana level but the current magic level.
And do you really think some sleaze-bag shadowrunner is going to somehow
come up with some amazing magical invention when there are hundreds of
specialized scientists/theorists/magicians who do this sort of research day
in and day out? Possible, but not bloody likely.
We can dream up hand-held laser guns. But does anybody honestly believe
those will be possible in our lifetimes? I don't.
Magic is similar. What is currently possible is based upon two general
concepts. First, as with science, nearly all innovation is the product of
research and is built upon the successes of the here and now, that it all
builds upon each other and there are few "leaps" that allow
technology/knowledge to bounce forward several steps. Progress is usually
a slow progression in other words, not amazing leaps forward. And the
second is the whole "mana curve" thing, that seems to indicate that
whatever it is that "powers" magic (almost certainly mana) is rising. This
curve is thought to be relatively flat. And remember, there is that bit in
the Dragonheart saga about stamping out those spikes.
Even given those two factors, magic allows an incredible amount of things
to be done.
But if you look at magical knowledge in a fashion similar to "mundane"
knowledge, you'd see that things like teleportation simply isn't possible.
Why not?
Okay, here goes. What is teleportation? It, in some fashion, takes object
A and very nearly instantaneously takes object a from point 1 to point 2.
Star Trek transporters in other words. We can now come up with a theory
about how it might work. But there are so many pieces of not-yet-invented
technology that prevent us from doing it. I am aware that an experiment
was done that teleported a single particle from one set of coordinates to
another. But that is one particle, from a predeterimined point a to point
b, and if I recall correctly, the procedure didn't work even most of the time.
Now to magic. How would magic do this? The human mind simply can't handle
all the coordinates needed to do AD$D teleportation; to take a scientific
approach like that you'd have to map all your own coordinates and then know
the exact coordinates to where they are supposed to go. Don't like that
option much.
What about taking the body into the astral plane and doing it that way? As
ED has shown, that is possible, given appropriate mana and tech levels.
But this isn't currently possible in 205X; this comes from a conversation I
had with Steve Kenson about two years ago when I was writing an article for
the now-defunct Shadowlands magazine.
Given the current knowledge limitations, I just don't see things like
teleportation and astral aura altering to "squeeze" past barriers.
But I'll throw a dog a bone on the teleportation issue.
The *ONLY* way I had teleportation in a game I played in and sometimes
GM'ed was that it was a one-way, single shot type deal that was thought up
by another GM and I couldn't exactly stomp it out since it was a collective
world.
But here's my best offering for those people that simply *must* have
teleportation. A magical circle had to be set up and from there the spell
was cast. Something like 12D Physical drain, flat rate. The caster then
had a special charm that he kept with him. When the charm was used, it
would teleport the caster back to the special magical circle. Naked. All
active magical items disrupted (since the route taken back was an alternate
dimension sort of thing).
It made for a nice emergency exit when things got FUBAR squared, but it
wasn't something to be used in 99.99% of situations.
That is how I would suggest allowing teleportation if you are dead-set on
having it.
Erik J.
Fight the Future on June 19th!
