The Ripple Effect of Magic http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/fantasy/threads/50013 Transcendent So, my setting is basically an alternate America were magic was introduced at some point in the timeline. I'm thinking... WWI or a bit earlier. It's currently modern day in the story, but the world itself is quite different. The Midwest is basically a highly dangerous expanse of land where there is a constant fog (sometimes it changes color) and zombies and banshees attack unwary travelers. Thus, the East and West Coasts are cut off from each other. Elves, werewolves, vampires and fairies are all part of the world. Dwarves are either extinct or hiding, but their tombs are often rifled through for artifacts and other goodies, and doing this is an excellent, if dangerous source of income. Here's what I'm worried about. I know what was sort of taken over by magic, but I don't know enough about the interconnections of technology to know what would be affected by this. Any help would be appreciated in figuring out this ripple effect. Here's what I know. Lightbulbs were invented, but after magic came along they were replaced by werelights, a type of magic literally anyone can learn with a little effort. Cars were also invented, but transportation magic has taken that over as well, so most people either do that or walk. Bicycles exist too, and unicycles. The Rift, which is the new name for the Midwest, disrupts transportation magic so the only way to get across the Rift is by train or zeppelin. Trains are used by the less wealthy. As far as medicine, healing magic has taken its place mostly, but things like diagnostic imaging and such are still very much in demand, since healing magic is only really helpful if the mage knows exactly what's wrong. As far as weaponry is concerned, offensive magic is a particular kind of study, so certain kinds of weapons still exist. Guns are around, but their advancement sort of stuttered to a halt around the 20s and 30s. Swords are still used due to the fact that it's easier to enchant swords over guns, so swords can easily be just as destructive as guns. So, considering that this is basically modern day and thus things like iPods and kindles and laptops CAN exist... WOULD they exist with these differences in technology? Wed, 08 Feb 2012 10:42:43 -0500 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/fantasy/threads/50013?page=1#forum_thread_comment_1124027 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/fantasy/threads/50013?page=1#forum_thread_comment_1124027 WritingGeek97 Probably, but they might be slow and clunky. Wed, 08 Feb 2012 10:44:23 -0500 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/fantasy/threads/50013?page=1#forum_thread_comment_1124031 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/fantasy/threads/50013?page=1#forum_thread_comment_1124031 OnyxFlame Depends. Is there a spell for instant communication? If not, people might very well still use cell phones. And the internet would be very useful regardless, even if only as a repository for massive amounts of magical knowledge. Heck, there'd probably be a website called magic.com, and a bunch of ripoffs of it. You could get used amulets & crap from ebay, heh. I'm sure someone would've even come up with scams dealing with magical thingies online - "My spell will make you better in bed! Send $5 to find out how!". And geez, imagine the stuff they'd have infomercials for! I bet their TV shows would be interesting too... Of course, with all this magic & crap really existing, I don't know that D&D ever would've been invented. :( And the fantasy genre...well, it wouldn't exactly be fantasy, would it? :P Wed, 08 Feb 2012 11:33:26 -0500 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/fantasy/threads/50013?page=1#forum_thread_comment_1124110 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/fantasy/threads/50013?page=1#forum_thread_comment_1124110 Lizardhound I'm of the opinion that the existence of magic stunts the development of technology, so as you said, they would be behind in some ways and ahead in others. The Internet would exist if they have good enough computers, and then (probably) thus would things like helicopters and airplanes. In short, Internet means good computers means other, good technology. ... Then Internet was kinda invented by CERN, which means you'll either need a particle collider or some other plausible story... and other organizations have contributed to the creation of the Internet as well.... Wed, 08 Feb 2012 15:33:24 -0500 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/fantasy/threads/50013?page=1#forum_thread_comment_1124438 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/fantasy/threads/50013?page=1#forum_thread_comment_1124438 Dragonchilde Moving to the Fantasy Forum Wed, 08 Feb 2012 17:57:35 -0500 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/fantasy/threads/50013?page=1#forum_thread_comment_1124793 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/fantasy/threads/50013?page=1#forum_thread_comment_1124793 neverwinterrains Airplanes were used in WWI, so they would undoubtedly exist, though they would probably be scarcely used and rare. Wed, 08 Feb 2012 17:58:58 -0500 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/fantasy/threads/50013?page=1#forum_thread_comment_1124798 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/fantasy/threads/50013?page=1#forum_thread_comment_1124798 darlingNib What you have here sounds very interesting. Reading it, I was wondering: what is the state of religion in your world now that magic has been around for roughly 90 years or so? Unless religion is not important in your story. I'm curious about how people across the spectrum-from ultra religious to atheist-explain this in terms of the supernatural. Sounds ripe for some juicy conflict to me, lol ;p Wed, 08 Feb 2012 23:40:53 -0500 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/fantasy/threads/50013?page=1#forum_thread_comment_1125533 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/fantasy/threads/50013?page=1#forum_thread_comment_1125533 Raksab If anyone can create lights on command, electricity (or its equivalent) will be way, way cheaper. There won't be as much market for it. Batteries and fuels (wax, kerosene, whale oil, petroleum, gas) will be cheaper, and possibly not used at all depending on how good "werelight" is. There may be fewer fires and explosions (and possibly less fire safety rules) since no one has to burn things to see at night. There may be fewer traffic accidents. There will certainly be fewer mining accidents. Also, crime can be controlled with better lighting. For psychological as well as tactical reasons, people act more honest when they are clearly visible. I fail to see why swords would replace guns, even if they are "easier to enchant." Swords are for melee and guns are for ranged combat. I suppose you could have enchanted bows, but can you enchant them cheaply, in large quantities, to instantly slay multiple enemies at a distance? Will they work in the hands of rookies? Can they cut through an armored vehicle? If not, they cannot replace firearms on a military level. (Unless you can cheaply enchant personal armor in mass quantities to resist bullets... but then what happens if your enemy has cannons, mortars, grenades, armor-piercing ammo, poison gas, land mines, or barbed wire? All were used in World War 1. Is a magic bow superior to those? What about the weapons created in later years?) If you want guns to go away, you could say that magic can easily jam a gun, but then you'd have to figure out how well that spell works, how long it takes to cast, and at what range. If you have to get within shooting distance to cast the spell, or if it only works on one gun at a time, it's still not going to knock guns out of common usage. Also, handguns are easy to conceal, and bows aren't. ^^ Thu, 09 Feb 2012 02:09:31 -0500 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/fantasy/threads/50013?page=1#forum_thread_comment_1125769 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/fantasy/threads/50013?page=1#forum_thread_comment_1125769 Kamboolii For more advanced technology like integrated circuitry, I guess you'd have to look at the history of their production. If none of that history occurred, then its quite likely they weren't produced - or you could create an alternate history to explain how they were produced. Look at space race technology, cold war technology, the history of integrated circuitry, etc... Without electricity, what have you got? Magic. What can magic do? That's defined by you. You'll have to create specific rules for it to know for sure what it can mimic (this is all about the restrictions really, you start with everything and narrow it down). How is magic implemented in your story? By that I mean, how does enchanting occur? How is information stored in an enchanted item? How can that information be accessed by users (the interface)? How can that information be transferred (a data connection)? Can information be broken down into packets (modularized and reassembled). It is certainly possible for magic to serve the same purpose as electricity in regard to information storage, transfer, and interfaces. Magic can do anything, so it's up to you. As far as its limitations, I'd think about "how" a mimic to a tablet or a cell phone, or a laptop could come to exist. What need drove its implementation? Which inventions prefaced its creation? Can you use crystal balls or mirrors for communication? Can you store information in crystals? Can the crystals transfer information to the crystal ball or mirror? Can a mirror be enchanted to detect a person's touch? Can the touch on the mirror be mapped to objects appearing in the mirror? Can those objects trigger an action? Thu, 09 Feb 2012 12:07:33 -0500 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/fantasy/threads/50013?page=1#forum_thread_comment_1126224 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/fantasy/threads/50013?page=1#forum_thread_comment_1126224 Notkieran Your world is making the implicit assumption that everyone will want to use magic. For example, lightbulbs are replaced by werelights because everyone can do it. But that's the same as saying there will be no fast food because everyone can cook... Thu, 09 Feb 2012 22:11:58 -0500 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/fantasy/threads/50013?page=1#forum_thread_comment_1127858 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/fantasy/threads/50013?page=1#forum_thread_comment_1127858 awesomeo Well for firearms you still have the Colt 1911 (incredibly deadly in the right hands) and such. The bolt-action rifles used in WW1 actually (depending on model) had greater range and killing power than many modern weapons. Modern weapons are more accurate at shorter range, where MOST combat actually takes place. Especially in the growing field of urban combat. Swords were phased out largely because of the bayonet. Out of ammo or the enemy charging, just put that there knife on your gun. Bam, instant spear buddy. More utilitarian too. A bayonet can help you dig a trench or open those canned rations. And about a dozen agencies dreamt up the Internet. The first practical one was probably the network connecting America's nuclear missile silos during the Cold War. And are the other humanoids (you mentione vamps and such) the enemy or integrated into society. Maybe used as shock troops or special forces. I can totally see some human soldiers setting up maxim machine guns and artillery to deal with the second wave of an enemy attack. That being comprised of the reanimated dead from their first wave... Fri, 10 Feb 2012 12:05:49 -0500 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/fantasy/threads/50013?page=1#forum_thread_comment_1128980 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/fantasy/threads/50013?page=1#forum_thread_comment_1128980