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A few in game questions


Adrian
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Does magic have any side effects to the natural order? Like, say, there is a summer with a large drought. You make rain spells for that year. Next year, there is another drought. Again, you cast rain spells.

 

Does this trend modify the weather in any way?

 

A practical real life example would be cloud seeding in which silver iodide or dry ice are dispersed into the air, which alter the microphysical processes within the cloud thus creating rainfalls. Over the years,for example in Dubai, the number of rainfalls has increased. Would magic have the same effect or it's a totally temporary and unnatural process without any lasting effects?

 

You make rain for your crops and for your drinking supplies. The people and crops who weren't dehydrated is a lasting effect at the very least. Not to mention that even if the clouds are artificial and temporary, they still impact wind patterns, 'impacting' other cloud structures... Such impacts create storms, fogs, and other inclement weather conditions. I'd expect heavy use of rainmaking magic to create a more tempestuous climate than would otherwise exist. This is very likely worth doing in arid climates and very likely counterproductive whenever the unmodified weather already gives you enough rain to work with.

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Yes but much could that affect the entire weather system? It supports the entire butterfly theory which would make you, as a young wizard, fearful of ever drawing your wand. Imagine creating a tiny splash of rain in Mineta and ending up with a hurricane in Pievre. I suppose it would depend on how long the storm and if the clouds are magically dispersed afterwards bringing everything exactly as it was or just move along.

 

It would probably be less destructive to invent irrigation equipment at that rate. Unless it exists already?

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Yes but much could that affect the entire weather system? It supports the entire butterfly theory which would make you, as a young wizard, fearful of ever drawing your wand. Imagine creating a tiny splash of rain in Mineta and ending up with a hurricane in Pievre. I suppose it would depend on how long the storm and if the clouds are magically dispersed afterwards bringing everything exactly as it was or just move along.

 

It would probably be less destructive to invent irrigation equipment at that rate. Unless it exists already?

 

Irrigation equipment is necessary for pretty much all systematized farming, even with the ability to control rain. It'd be pretty weird if it wasn't in the setting. Keep in mind that the Academagia has fields of its own for the purpose of agricultural research. Control of water-soil interactions is one of the things such research needs. This can be done manually by having wizard on the task 24/7, but it can also be done automatically by having an engineer build an irrigation system. The engineer can maintain the grounds much more efficiently.

 

As for handling said chaos factor, it works like this: Don't create rain you don't need and make sure you have redundant talent to control any excitement that develops (or blows in from the neighbors). And as for young wizards being fearful of ever drawing their wands, think of how many kinds of magic are already dangerous for young wizards. The Academagia may be equipped for handling more kinds of magical mayhem than any of the students (or even some of the faculty) ever realize. Mineta already gets wilder weather than it ought to have, right? The concentration of mages in the area may be the source. The Academagia seems to take a slightly radical approach to magical instruction by encouraging students to use magic wherever they can. I bet there are more conservative schools in the setting.

 

Heh, maybe one of the future-year employment options in Mineta will be "Weather magic got out of control, students are being hired to do the boring gruntwork of manually controlling large swathes of sky". Fitness + Incantations for a few pims and a skill step at something. Easy roll, but you get banned from further work at the task if you ever fail it, because they can't afford further mishaps. Not sure what the skill step should be. Maybe make it a coinflip between Agriculture and Concentration.

 

 

Oh, and uh, I'm not staff. These are just how I would expect the system to work. They aren't how it DOES work. If the Legate (or other person authorized to make direct statements about the Way Things Work) makes a comment that negates mine, his is right and mine is wrong, end of story.

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Mikka;

 

Love that series.

 

Everyone;

 

Weather 'control' is generally handled by the local authorities, on a local level. Apart from cities or highly settled country, however, this usually means in practice that a mage can more or less do what they want, unless they cause it to rain on some influential person's picnic, has a significant economic impact or causes significant mortality. Sadly, probably in that order.

 

The effects of magical weather are generally mitigated by the fact that almost all magic is temporary, apart from what is 'used', so excess rainfall or heat doesn't cause lasting damage unless the Spell Duration is very long. Changes in weather do have an impact (sometimes far reaching), but this kind of problem is decried by only a very few. As a result, the law and practice of weather is generally limited to what effects it has on the goods and people under its influence, rather than larger concerns about climate.

 

It does not, however, affect longer term weather patterns, at least inasmuch as understanding of climate allows in this setting.

 

The City of Mineta has some very odd weather patterns, this primarily induced by the Current of Embers. That doesn't change the local affects of having the Academagia in the city limits, of course. ;)

 

Schwarzbart;

 

You can definitely shop for new Familiars, but that's an interesting idea about Training. I can't say if that will make it into Year 2, but it's pretty cool as an idea. ;)

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So, basically, we can totally create a hurricane, but rain on some Lord's sarnies and we're buggered. Got it.

 

Any other uses of magic that could get us locked up? Besides forbidden magic and general murder/theft/arson. I have a feeling characters with Law studies will get much use of it in further years.

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Guild permit? That ... is very Discworld-like. What Guild exactly?

 

And who exactly enforces these rules? We already know the Captain's guards are not quite magically inclined so do the Guilds have their own enforcers like the ones in Ankh-Morpork or does it just depend on luck? If the guards see you lifting that huge anvil, you're going to jail otherwise you're alright? Are there are other guards in the city outside of the Captain's?

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That's funny, I seem to recall there was a spell that lightens burdens, and the description of it implied that it was thoroughly ubiquitous among the lower classes. So presumably the enforcement must be spotty.

 

A lifting backpack was surprisingly affordable, too.

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MadHatt;

 

The Guild of Porters, of course. Enforcement is indeed spotty, but it's technically illegal- they have the monopoly on this form of magic (and so, consequently can keep their prices down.)

 

There are a number of Spells in Year 1 which help to lighten burdens, some of which were trade secrets of merchant costers in the past.

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So next year it will something like we have Highe base maxskill but for geting to 20 we have to put a similiar efford as right now with Favor or Research to push our limit to this hight? Or is it just so hard because of the Attribute necesary to get the increasment down that it only cost 1?

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Is it important to keep such things like the Maestringer, the Enchanted Horn or Diavesque the Living where I suspect that they are important for other adventures to come in year 2 in the player inventory?

Or will there a chance to regain them when there is a new adventure in the later years based on them?

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