When the real world and D&D magic collide.

[roseembolism]

In a recent discussion thread the question was brought up: visualize a modern world where D&D magic was developed in the middle ages. After considering what D&D magic is capable of, my personal view is that it would resemble nothing like either our world or the standard D&D world. For example, consider the effects of:


1431: Roun France
Joan of Arc: "You. Are going to burn. Me. Me. Do you want fire? Here's some fire- FIRE STORM! And while we're at it (summon) Talk to the Arcon about God and heresy."

(High level clerical spells and summonings could easily start, or end a crusade, and have really strange effects on religion.)


1512: Italy
Machiavelli: (hand gesture) "You will stop supporting the Medici's attack against Florence."
Pope Julius II: "I will stop supporting the Medici's attack against Florence."
Machiavelli: (hand gesture) "You will appoint me as your personal adviser."
Pope Julius II: "I will appoint you as my personal adviser."

(The effects of Dominate, Charm Person and similar spells can't be understated in completely warping he political state of the world. Just consider how many events in history could have been changed if a single ruler had decided other than he did.)


1540; Germany
Martin Luthor: "How DARE the Papists monopolize Healing Altars and Hero's Feasts for the wealthy! My Healing Altars and Hero's Feast Altars will serve everyone for free!"

(The ability to create magical devices will have the greatest effect on the world. It's possible in 3.X to create immobile chargeless at-will devices for spells up to True Resurrection. Sure they would be expensive, but the ability to bring back any deceased with no ill effect would massively change warfare, and the costs could be amortized over thousands of people. Similar devices for curing diseases could render plagues irrelevant, and at-will Heroes' Feasts devices could render most agriculture redundant.)


1505: Florence
Leonardo de Vinci: "And so we see by guiding the stream of water from the Decanter of Endless Water against the vanes of the screw, we have a source of motive power for pumps, cranes, carriages and an endless assortment of other devices. In fact, I am now working on a self-propelled balloon which will..."

(I've mentioned before that medieval and Renaissance engineers were very talented and ingenious in their own right, and their main limitations in construction were materials and power. Magic eliminates those restraints. Spells like Fabrication and Wall of Stone could revolutionize construction and engineering.)


In other words, very shortly the world will look nothing at all like history. We're talking about a Renaissance Singularity where the major limitations of the era are eliminated, and the political landscape subject to shifting at the whim of people with the right spells. And I think that considering what powerful magic could do to change pre-industrial Europe may be useful in thinking about creating unique fantasy worlds, and making them look more unique than a faux-medieval Europe.

So does anyone have any ideas of what bizarre things do you think could come out of a D&D/Historical Renaissance?

Comments

[heron61.livejournal.com]

I'd expect permanent teleport circles between all major cities within 20 years of magic becoming known. In a century, there would be ultrawealthy people with a house which consisted of separate rooms connected by permanent teleport circles - instead of a refrigerator, part of the pantry would be a room surrounded by an alpine glacier, and there would be several main living areas, one for each season of the year -a warm but not too hot Summer in the French room, a cozy Winter room in the southern portions of Italy or Spain... If magic became known and reliable around 1,200 CE, the world would be very strange and magical place by 1,400 CE, and I don't think anyone can predict what 2,010 would look like - I'm guessing that by 1,600 at the latest the entire planet would be a drastically post singularity society where immortals dwelled in floating cities and elementals and other summoned beings & constructs waited on their every need. I'd expect upgrading people, body switching and suchlike to come in eventually. Also, by no later than 1,300 the great age of planar exploration would start (if the planes existed). Even if other planes don't exist, good telescopes to sight enhancing magic + greater teleport = interplanetary travel.

Depending upon the various events and the quirks of history, 1,600 could look like anything from Star Trek to Eclipse Phase (with magic instead of tech), but it wouldn't look like either D&D or our world.

Edit: I also just remembered the 5th level Druid spell Awaken - permanently give any plant or animal human intelligence. I would presume that it would breed true if two Awakened animals mated. I'd imagine that this would have a significant affect on the world.

[seawasp]

Yep, the Time Of Emergence of magic is key to saying what happens next -- and whether anything we know today would exist at all.


Interplanetary? Interstellar. A single mage with adaption and a bag of holding could easily explore out to quite a few light years on his own; a corps of mages could easily reach the nearer galaxies. Trivial, really.

Assuming, of course, nothing STOPPED them.

Note though that many people here are looking at the positives. There'd also be increases in anti-teleport technology, interference in magical scrying, etc., the Gods would get involved, there'd be more powerful attacks and defenses, etc., etc.

On my world of Zarathan, for instance, there are SOME reliable teleport links... but the baddies don't always let them work. Sometimes they interfere, and interference can range from "ended up a mile off" to "disappeared to an unintended plane" to "grabbed by the bad guy and 'ported into a secure holding cell (which gets an Antimagic Shell on it as soon as you arrive".

[roseembolism.livejournal.com]

The mage needs to put Adaption, Teleport, the Bag of Holding and a couple other spells into a single easy-to-access object. Like say, a ring. Yeah, blame yourself for making me think of the Green Mage Corps.

Yes, I and others have passed over the negatives. The most obvious would be a war of evolution between wards and scry-and-die techniques. And "Divert Teleport" seems like a reasonable middle-point.

But also the social effects would be incredible, and not just from huge amount of resources diverted to magic. What happens when you invert the entire economy, and instead of paying and taxing peasants for their crops, you make food for them and charge them? What will they do? What about when common Cure Disease items makes sure that most kids survive (Better work on those contraception cantrips and put those in magic items)

Finally, the politics of a 2010 Europe with D&D magic would undoubtedly be far less egalitarian. Feudalism likely wouldn't survive, but there would be a definite divide between "those with magic" and "those who have access to some magic". Enter the classic "Reign of the Wizard Kings scenario.

[seawasp]

If you invert the economy you end up with starving broke peasants, or peasants just growing their own food and not buying yours. YOU may be eating Heroes' Feast every day, they're still doing the same old thing because they can't afford your fancy-schmancy magic food.

A Green Lantern ring is something like a Ring of Infinite Wishes with some minor limitations, really. It's way more powerful than anything you'll find in the DMG.