Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Posting-Version: version B 2.10.2 9/18/84; site ucla-cs.ARPA Path: utzoo!watmath!clyde!cbosgd!hplabs!sdcrdcf!ucla-cs!mccolm From: mccolm@ucla-cs.UUCP Newsgroups: net.games.frp Subject: Social implications of magic Message-ID: <9865@ucla-cs.ARPA> Date: Fri, 14-Mar-86 20:06:08 EST Article-I.D.: ucla-cs.9865 Posted: Fri Mar 14 20:06:08 1986 Date-Received: Sun, 16-Mar-86 08:38:10 EST Organization: UCLA Computer Science Department Lines: 74 One problem that has not received enough attention is the effect of the existence of magic on a medieval society. It is unreasonable to assume that a society wherein magic is common would be effectively identical to those Earth-historical societies where it was not. Motivation: Frequently in my campaigns, some rabid PC Priest will decide to go forth and make money by performing healings, weather changes, exorcisms, and similar services for pay. So what are the going rates? One must assume that others have previously thought of this, and that the primary benefit to a town or city of having a temple around is the availability of these services. So I came up with a method for calculating standard prices for magic items, spells cast, spells copied, and similar services. Now that magic was considered "available", several effects became obvious: *Plagues can only run wild among the poor, who can't pay for cures, and only in areas where there's a dearth of the hard-core goody-2-slippers types. *Castles are built in months, not decades, without peasant labor, but reek of magic, and are well protected (especially from Dispel Magic spells). *As no siege engine can equal the destructive power or flexibility of a large golem or a dragon, armies do not utilize mechanical combat devices. *Functions normally achieved by technology would more likely be implemented using magic, like mechanics, navigation, medicine, construction, communications, information, etc., leaving only mass-manufacturing. So technology would not develop beyond a certain minimal level. The time and resources necessary to achieve technical progress would be better spent studying magic. *Criminal activities must be carefully chosen to not make enemies among those who have wealth (after the thefts, of course) for fear that they might call in a soothsayer to find out who was behind it all. Of course, a truly unscrupulous magicians guild will sell protection to the local mafia. And of course, there are others. It should be noted that this may not be true in all campaigns, or in all game systems. For example, AD&D places spells outside of the price ranges of mere mortals, which encourages fly-by-night temples to offer cut-rate miracles. :-) Fantasy Hero makes the process of making magic items and casting spells prohibitively expensive, causing prices to rise with difficulty. The hidden assumption that most people simply cannot be taught to use magic, and most others don't get a chance to learn, also keeps prices high. But if one assumes a rich and powerful magicians guild, one can see a process like the following: 1) guild offers services at high prices, with the guild getting a lot of money in the process; 2) guild gets more business than it can handle; 3) guild actively recruits apprentices; 4) number of magicians increase; 5) reduction in prices leads to higher volume, and increased revenue; go to 2. Eventually, prices will stabilize, either when more apprentices cannot be found, or the market is saturated. The social implications are outright staggering. In any society wherein any person can become rich and powerful if only they can learn magic, rigid castes can continue to exist only if one of the following conditions are met: 1) Few people can actually learn magic, given the chance; 2) Few people are given the chance to learn magic; 3) The guilds have a sort of caste system themselves, which cuts down on the possible social progress that a magician can achieve; 4) Entering the guild cuts a person off from their old station in life, so that entering a guild is a drastic move only taken by the desperate or alienated. 1 is assumed in most games; 2 allows for "entry fees", tuition, taxes for working for a guild, and other dirty tricks; 3 is interesting because it would explain why there are all these weak, rebellious magicians running around (they couldn't take the discipline); 4 seems natural in any event. But even if a caste system is in place, the society will be a far cry from the Earth-historical dark ages. Magic in large quantities would produce a very different society; it would even allow for the maintenance of a totalitarian state in a medieval technology, using magicians instead of soldiers to prop up the government. This is too long already, so I'm quitting. --fini-- Eric McColm UCLA (oo' - kluh) Funny Farm for the Criminally Harmless UUCP: ...!{ihnp4,trwspp,cepu,ucbvax,sdcrdcf}!ucla-cs!mccolm ARPA: mccolm@LOCUS.UCLA.EDU Reason is Peace; Fanaticism is Slavery; Tolerance is Strength.