this is a thread to attract SE4 forumers to the first Dungeon Oddessy roleplay thread

[Jack Simth]

Is it my turn or Krsqk's?

[Krsqk]

I thought it was Jack's turn.

I think a majority of the people would feel about magic the way many "seasoned citizens" in the 70's and 80's felt about new technology--they view it with some suspicion, while willing to accept benefits from it. Probably a sizable portion would be ignorant (unlearned) and have false ideas about magic--thus, superstitious. Jack's previous "performances" while at the castle and with the guards on the road wouldn't help the general perception--his magic is far above what they would be used to, especially with meta-magic, fancy-schmancy teleports, and the like.

Having said that, I'll edit those comments if you like.

[Jack Simth]

Well, it's your turn now, Krsqk. Lead the demoralized bandits in, so you can start shooting at them.

As for how the general populace would view mages and magic, most would likely be suspicious and fearful, unless they have enough resources to employ one, or have worked closely with mages. They don't age in the span of a normal mans life, they are never disarmed (can't remove their ability to throw lightning/fireballs as readily as you can take a bow from an archer), and are very hard to catch at what they do (due to teleports, invisibility, flight, or whatever). With long lifespans, many mages would refuse to closely associate with non-mages to avoid the inevitable pain when the mage outlives the non-mage. A mage isn't easily disarmed, so they would be watched much like one might watch someone who carries a sword around all the time. A mage isn't easily caught in wrongdoing, and is difficult to bring to account even if caught, so it would be difficult for mages to defend themselves from charges of theft/murder/whatever.

None of this would be good for their reputation.

Some people would consider it too much power to have in the hands of individuals, some would be jealous of that power, others would be fearful, some might consider it an affront against all that is good, while those who have worked with mages might consider them skilled craftsmen. The first three Groups would likely spread tales of magic abused, while the Last group would be the only real check against mages being vilified. If that group is large (mages are common and often work with non-mages) then magic will be well-regarded by most in most areas. If that group is small (mages aren't so common and/or don't often work with non-mages) then magic will be poorly regarded. It basically comes down to how common magic Users are. Either way, however, magic wouldn't be commonly understood by non-mages; how well do most understand the practice of law, the practice of medicine, car repair, computer programming, or most other forms of skilled labor? Those without some knoweledge of them might very well consider them to be random and mystic. Those with some knoweledge of them would consider them quite orderly. As pretty much only mages will have knoweledge of magic, those comments likely stand.

As for Jack's antics, keep in mind he's only done the fancy stuff around a very few people. The gaurds caught him teleporting a bolt, and putting up a shield - both reasonably normal things to do, as far as magic is concerned. Most mages we've encountered can do teleports of various sorts, and shields are a bit of a staple of fantasy. The only people not in the party that saw the spacewarp were the bug and the psi - nobody else was around. Other than perhaps the specific application, Jack hasn't actually done anything in public that the local mages haven't, other than perhaps some illusion (which would only have been noticed by the doorman, who was present when it happened). John recognized it for what it was, and so is pretty obviously familiar with it. The fancy stuff has pretty much all been in isolated circumstances, with few witnesses. Granted, he is a lot freer with his spells than most of the local mages, and so might be viewed as more powerful, and that might have an effect. However, unless the various mages are spreading rumors, the fancy aspects wouldn't have reached the general populace yet.

[narf poit chez BOOM]

don't worry, Krsqk. i'm is a pretty easy going RPM. just stick your suggestion in the gulitine-mouthed suggestion box...

i've been thinking about it differently, that even farmers could afford some low-level life extension magic or potions and maybe some other stuff and that the average life-span could be 300 years, with thousand and more year old wizards. but we'll go with the majority.

on two other things for discussion, i've been thinking that 12-14 feet is rediculous and was wondering what you'd think of 8-9/9-10 feet for minataur height.

and i've been thinking about the oceans. the rough wether would come on land without something to stop it, so big pillars every # on the coast to stop bad wether. it would be a legitimate use of major weather magic and would probably be greatly respected. the upkeep would be divided between the major guilds and messing with them would incure dire penalties.

[ August 16, 2003, 09:28: Message edited by: narf poit chez BOOM ]

[Jack Simth]

Narf -
Personally, I've mostly been posting things with a rule of "don't contradict anyone - at most, expand/temper what was said". I'm personally inclined to let any undecided aspect of MOTMA be decided the first time someone mentions it in the MOTMA thread in a non "ooc" conversation or narration, and view this thread more as an area to bounce ideas around or coordinate with yourself and Krsqk.

Also, it isn't a clear majority - my answer was basically a long winded Version of "depends on another factor not yet decided". By the rule I've been using, all Krsqk's post did was say that most people are superstitious and have misconceptions about how magic is run; superstition goes with the setting, and misconceptions are common of any skilled labor - many people get their impression of lawyers from TV (common set: Lawyers are: Sleazy, Showy, Greedy), not personal experience, and TV bears little resemblance to reality. Many in the modern world have misconceptions about lawyers; many in MOTMA have misconceptions about magic.

At least, that's my view of things.

[narf poit chez BOOM]

i've been mostly thinking what's written goes, it's just that i was writing with a certian unstated assumption, so i wanted to check veiws. you make sense with that missconception stuff. *throws the ball at Krsqk* ie; do you agree with what Jack said? if not, what is your basis for the superstition? i hereby make you the RPM for this, unless you say it's purple monkey's.

as for the minatuar's, i invented them and their height hasn't been really mentioned in-RP, so that could be changed simply by changing the about. in the case of the minatuar's, there height was setting off my sense of redicualious.

[ August 17, 2003, 01:39: Message edited by: narf poit chez BOOM ]

[Krsqk]

New post. No dialogue; just a narration of the bandits' previous and current state.

[Jack Simth]

Let's see - by my count, it's your turn, narf.

If you are running short of ideas, Narp has a bow and Jack can retrieve most the arrows - those that land in sight. Likewise, Narp can always make devious suggestions, such as asking Jack to start teleporting people a thousand feet straight up or recall some of those golems in the forest for new orders, suggesting Arthur play around with freezing rain or lightning, or talking to the skeleton crew (servants?) left behind on how to properly defend the manor.

[Suicide Junkie]

http://www.ebaumsworld.com/castle.html
Some practice for that people thowing idea

[narf poit chez BOOM]

not short on ideas - sunday just came along faster than i thought it was. then, of course, the forum went down. i'll post today.