Modern Magic Game?

[Diamond Spear]

Would there be any interest in a HERO game with a Modern Magic setting in the spirit of Charmed, Angel, Buffy, etc? The game would be hosted over at Hero Central.

[moquif]

This message has over 50 views and this is the first reply. Please do not take offense, but your tagline may be putting people off. I thought about replying earlier to join, then I saw your political statement and changed my mind. Just food for thought.

[Teflon Billy]

This message has over 50 views and this is the first reply. Please do not take offense, but your tagline may be putting people off. I thought about replying earlier to join, then I saw your political statement and changed my mind. Just food for thought.

I doubt it's his sig, I just have no interest in Buffy, Charmed, Angel style "modern magic"

When I think of a Modern Magic setting it usually is under the idea of "What if... High Fantasy Magical societ was progressed from the dark ages into something resembling modern age." Not the standard "Magic exists but no one but a select few acknowledge or realize it exists" which I find to be pretty boring.

TB

[moquif]

I doubt it's his sig, I just have no interest in Buffy, Charmed, Angel style "modern magic"

When I think of a Modern Magic setting it usually is under the idea of "What if... High Fantasy Magical societ was progressed from the dark ages into something resembling modern age." Not the standard "Magic exists but no one but a select few acknowledge or realize it exists" which I find to be pretty boring.

TB

Point taken. I haven't seen Buffy or Angel so I couldn't say what the genre is. And the only Charmed I've seen is the last 5 minutes of an episode between when I get home and when Law and Order comes on. Most of those episodes end with them hugging and talking about how great it is to be sisters.

Part of the "problem" with your type of Modern Magic is it's hard to get a frame of reference and may be more alien than a sci-fi campagin. You turn on the crystal ball and see a commerical for Crazy Harry's Used Flying Carpets then shout at the home Air Elemental to quit vaccuming while you're watching the ball. It can be difficult to take seriously and keep it from becoming like the Flintstones.

[Teflon Billy]

Part of the "problem" with your type of Modern Magic is it's hard to get a frame of reference and may be more alien than a sci-fi campagin. You turn on the crystal ball and see a commerical for Crazy Harry's Used Flying Carpets then shout at the home Air Elemental to quit vaccuming while you're watching the ball. It can be difficult to take seriously and keep it from becoming like the Flintstones.

You know, this I think would be really cool. It's just that no fantasy genre standards have acreted yet onto these aspects. Everyone writes fantasy within the middle ages only; so they have never developed the aspects to make modern magic settings seem real.

Although, with some of the growing number of fantasy victorian/edwardian & Harry Potteresque books coming out it may be only a matter time before these genre conventions become nailed down enough for effective role playing conceptions can start appearing (at least those internally consistent and reasonable enough for people to actually be able to suspend disbelief enough to play. We may get there yet, we're all willing to accept enough fantasy to think that Dragons and Beholders exist within our game worlds, why not an Unseen Servant who does all of the chores around the house?)

TB

[moquif]

You know, this I think would be really cool. It's just that no fantasy genre standards have acreted yet onto these aspects. Everyone writes fantasy within the middle ages only; so they have never developed the aspects to make modern magic settings seem real.
TB

It would be cool, I'm just saying it would be too easy to go to parody and comedy. Unfortunately comedy games don't last long in the market. What would have to be done is to explain how and why a magical society would get out of the middle ages. To do that we'd have to know how we got out of the middle ages and see how magic would hamper or help. As we move forward in history, you'd have to develop what magic is and how it works. If it just works on Earth, then the space program probably wouldn't exist since that society would have to develop purely scientific advancements. That part wouldn't be economically feasable. On the other hand if magic is a universal force, would we be further into space?

Doing this would require a large effort. You'd have to have a basic understanding of world history, on all levels, for all time. Would we have even HAD a middle age if there was magic? Would we still be stuck in the classical age or just bypass the middle age and go into the Industrial Revolution? For example a big part of the IR was increased food production allowing for a bigger population. With weather-control spells, we would already have the increased food production. Science and technology is driven by need, if magic can already handle the need, what need is there of science?

[Diamond Spear]

When I say “Modern Magic” I am referring to a game where magic has survived into the modern era but only as a hidden aspect of society. There are various cults, societies, etc. that keep the practice of magic alive but the general population is unaware of its existence. Maybe one per cent of the population may be aware of magic and only quarter to half a per cent have an ability to use it.

Generally most magic is lower level and outside of certain very rare and powerful spells/artifacts it functions around heroic levels up to about 40-45 active points at most. Magic items tend to look artistic more than stereotypically “mystical” and the owners of them usually don’t know what they are. They also tend to be single purpose items narrowly tailored to a specific use. For instance there aren’t any wands of fireballs but there might be an Orb of Amentos which is used to hold helpless a summoned being so it can be sent back to its place of origin. However it only works if the correct incantation is used and otherwise just looks like a decorative, multi-colored ball made of glass. Potions and amulets are common but generally low powered.

Spells are still learned from books often provided by an older teacher. Many of them are performed as rituals rather than straight incantations and require strange, sometimes rare ingredients. They are most often of a defensive or divinitive nature although basic attack spells are not uncommon.

There are also certain genre conventions that a game of this type observes. The more common ones are:

People see what they want to see. Since most demons (the common tern for creatures summoned from other dimensions) are humanoid in shape and smart enough to try and disguise themselves as much as possible the general populace sees at most an ugly man not a demon. They just can’t accept that what they saw wasn’t human so they trick themselves into seeing something “normal”. Also many of the foes faced by the heroes are “evil” humans who have no trouble acting is normal society. This also means that most people will accept sometimes flimsy explanations for magical phenomenon because it is easier for them to do that than change their entire worldview.

No guns. Combat is generally hand to hand, either unarmed or with old style melee weapons like knives, swords, axes, etc. Bows and crossbows are used as the ranged weapons of choice but usually combat is not ranged. While guns would undeniably be more effective against most foes they attract too much attention to be used.

Both sides try to keep the existence of magic and the supernatural a secret from the general population. Because they know that the consequences would be harshly negative if the existence of magic and the supernatural is reveled both the heroes and the villains (although not to the same extreme) will try to cover up their activities. Even the most evil extra-dimensional creature knows that if everyone finds out about him he doesn’t stand a chance. Likewise the heroes are battling to save a populace not ready or mentally equipped to handle knowledge of the mystical.

There are other genre conventions but those are the big three. I hope this makes sense. It was certainly a longer post than I planned on making before I started.

[MacBean]

I might be interested.

What kind of point level were you thinking?

[TechnoViking]

There are three type of Modern Magic game type I can think of.

1. The Underworld: Where magic and magical creatures exist, but stay hidden hidden from the mortal world. Buffy, Charmed, and X-Files (kinda).

2. Magic Returns: Magic return to the modern world, it is common and widespread. Technology still exists, and you can strange mix of Tecnology and magic. Check out Gurps Techomancer

3. The Magic Age: You have the modern world, but magic has always been common. Tech has been replaced by magic. Harry Turtledove's "Case of the Toxic Spell Dump" is a great example (and book).

[Lethosos]

I'd do #1 of Mikes's, but you'd want an overarching theme going on. May I reccomend the SIERRAted Edge novels? They're prolly what you're looking for--a nice blend of tech and magic.

[Diamond Spear]

This message has over 50 views and this is the first reply. Please do not take offense, but your tagline may be putting people off. I thought about replying earlier to join, then I saw your political statement and changed my mind. Just food for thought.

May I assume then that you are one of the aforementioned bleeding heart liberals with a cause? Calm down I’m only kidding. And if you look I even changed my sig just for you! I think other got it right when they proposed that it was the genre not the quote. But it WAS the quote then that’s fine. I really don’t want to game with people who can’t agreeably disagree. Lots of people have liberal leaning sigs and I don’t hassle them about it. But oh well. Best of luck in finding a game and if you are interested in mine you are welcome no matter what your political leanings might be.

[Diamond Spear]

I might be interested.

What kind of point level were you thinking?

175ish

[moquif]

May I assume then that you are one of the aforementioned bleeding heart liberals with a cause? Calm down I’m only kidding. And if you look I even changed my sig just for you! I think other got it right when they proposed that it was the genre not the quote. But it WAS the quote then that’s fine. I really don’t want to game with people who can’t agreeably disagree. Lots of people have liberal leaning sigs and I don’t hassle them about it. But oh well. Best of luck in finding a game and if you are interested in mine you are welcome no matter what your political leanings might be.

I can appreciate the logic you used. One of my best gaming friends is politically conservative. We get along pretty well. Things may get a little heated if we talk politics, but I know when to shut up before we get carried away. But would politics enter into your game? If it doesn't come up, what would a player's beliefs matter? If someone went overboard, then there's a problem. The question is, can they give as good as they get?

I don't know if this is politics per se, but in one session we were fighting Demon and one cast a scarfice spell that made his heart explode from his body. I quipped, "Tell Bill Clinton his heart is ready." Guess what was happening in the news earlier that week.

[MisterBaldy]

This message has over 50 views and this is the first reply. Please do not take offense, but your tagline may be putting people off. I thought about replying earlier to join, then I saw your political statement and changed my mind. Just food for thought.

For me, what put me off was Charmed, Angel and Buffy: the Vampire Slayer!

I loved the movie Buffy: the Vampire Slayer, I thought the series was just plain awful. The film is so campy...it's good! The movie was a spoof of all the teen romance, goof horror/vampire movies like Once Bitten, but made it look like it was trying to be a serious drama.

The series of Buffy: the Vampire Slayer took a satire, and tried to make it serious. It's like trying to take the movie Animal House, and turn it it to a serious drama!

As for Charmed, I suffered through the first season...I refused to continue my angst. Again...I just think it's awful.

As for Angel, if I HATE the original...why would I watch the sequel?

I had viewed this thread a few times...to see what responses there were, and to see if maybe Diamond Spear had possibly edited his original post to explain a little more.

So, in the vein (excuse the pun) of Charmed, Angel and Buffy: the Vampire Slayer...sorry, but not interested.

Now something like Valherjar: The Chosen Slain...that's another story.

[hooligan x]

If it's more BtVS and Angel, less Charmed, I am in.









Ya know, cuz Charmed sucks. A lot.