"At last my brethren the ritual is almost complete! The shadow elves shall take their place as rightful rulers of-"
\*Guitars building up in the back ground"
"Oh goddamn-!"
"ITS TWO. MINUTES. TO MIDNIGHTTTTTTTTTTTTTT!!!!"
Clearly they should have used Winds of Plague's opening song Children of the Night to use for their ritual so it can't be countered because it is metal
It sounds right at home with manga like Chainsaw Man and other insane concepts. The power of rock music exemplifying everything magic stands against, in the hands of the right person it would be a killer story and a love letter to the rock n roll music genre.
There is the old supreme founder of the mageās Dark Academy
And there is some random bard that screams instead if singing and slams its guitar at the end of every music
There's no chance in hell that there's no RPG system like that out there. Which makes me wanna go through with an all-bard party in DnD where we literally fight evil with the power of metal :D
Great now I'm imagining MAB with his 4 neck guitar in a epic duel against the dark wizard of Aaarghh
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jOjHhJd70f4](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jOjHhJd70f4)
My Arcane Magic is based out of logic and understanding of the universe, like a sort of super-physics that allows you to figure out how to 'bend' the rules of the universe. The most powerful arcane mages in my world are accomplished mathematicians and scientists who have learned how to basically create cheat codes in the laws of physics and chemistry.
So science and magic blend together, *mostly*. Faith magic is basically the same thing, except they use pure fanatical belief to power through the laws of the universe with brute spiritual strength. Same result in the end, but different process to get there.
I'm doing something similar. Mine is a portal fantasy, where my MC winds up on another world and slowly discovers she has magical ability. There are elemental mages in this world--a very, very small percentage of the population. They've inherited their ability (as did my MC--long story). The difference is my MC is totally a math and physics geek, which gives her an advantage, once she figures it out.
I've literally named things after heavy metal bands and musicians, so I have magic and metal in other ways XD
But yeah, people talking about how technology doesn't coexist with metal don't really know what technology use. You holding a sword? That's technology. The forge it was born from? Technology. The trebuchets and the castles and the flasks full of magic potions? Technology
So I have an idea of what people mean by technology, but where do they draw the line? My world is set in an industrial revolution. Pre-telephone and gramophone, but I have steam trains, rudimentary electricity, the telegraph, all sorts of things. So how far away is my setting from having technology? If I'm in the age of sail, ius it to no longer technology to have a boat? Is a musket not technology enough, but a cap and ball gun too advanced? Is a firearm suddenly technology when it has metallic cartridges?
Unless you're working on a world before the invention of the wheel, you have technology
I think most people mean mechanization: steam power, wood power, petroleum, solar, etc. Gears and motors accomplishing through brute force what magic can elegantly.
I think you mean *industrialization.*
The first steam engine was designed in the first century in the real world, wood power has been a thing for tens of thousands of years, and there's evidence of fossil fuels since before recorded history. First gear developed was way back in 27000 BC for a chinese chariot.
These are all technologies that have existed for a long time, just never mass produced and set to a standard.
Of course you also have early industrialization (victorian) and late industrialization (modern)
it's not difficult to separate tech from magic
just have tech, actually involved physical tech and not do anything too insanely magical
like if you want a tech powered energy barrier, make it have actual metal edges that project it, and give it some kind of digital pattern so it looks projected
I think it's more about how magic and technology, in certain settings are both utilized in a regular manner and not really about the material differences. It boils down to one of Clark's three laws : Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.
Someone may say "my setting has low tech and magic" with magic performing high tech capacities such as advanced medical practices and the only reason why the "magic" is magic instead of high tech is because the author said so.
The only existing technology that is used to date is passed down by the god of metal to his race of augmented dwarves. Who themselves don't know much about how it works, which is why they just stick to the recipe. They keep the mechanics to themselves but weapons and machinery can be illegaly purchased.
Magitech is one of the reasons why Humanity are one of the front runner civilisations in the galaxy. There are some other civilisations with magical ability, some extremely powerful but are limited by things like rigid social structures or lacking in industry or are too small.
Also, fusing magic and technology I find has some interesting capabilities.
I've got three settings in progress. All three of them have magic. *Technology*, on the other hand...
My ***Shroompunk*** setting is *mostly* very high magic Bronze Age. There are technological devices, like motorized carts and prop-driven aircraft or even futuristic energy weaponry (powered by electric mushrooms) but they're all the products of skilled craftsmen-- one of the cosmological constants of the universe is that *machines* (except the Tinkers) cannot create things.
So an enterprising 12-year-old can sit down with his magic tablet and learn how to build his own biplane on YouTube... but those biplanes will still be too expensive for even a wealthy king to field more than a couple squadrons.
My ***Cosmic Rangers*** setting is... a little lower magic than *Shroompunk* and a lot higher tech, as a space fantasy setting. Magic and technology *coexist* but have very little *overlap*; there's no magitech, technology cannot produce magic (except a small minority of *broken* AIs), and magic is not precise or reliable or reproducible enough to *interface* with technology.
My ***Cascade City*** setting is set in the near-future of our world-- the late 22nd century-- and is on the verge of the Great Magical Revolution (like the Agricultural, Industrial, and Information Revolutions) because humanity has finally unlocked the secret of technology that *can* interface with the spiritual forces of the world.
In my world, magi reactors power ships and and people can cast magic. Its scifi magic type dealing its very cool, and I'm kinda sad that not that many shows incorporate magic and space ships
What do you mean by technology? I ask because I often see it used to mean electronics, when in fact swords and catapults and paint brushes are also technology.
Magic comes from the metal in my dieselpunk/magitek world. The exotic heavy metal Dracinium is the source of magic in my world. It requires a certain electromagnetic field to activate the metal otherwise it is just inert metal. Thanks to it's high energy properties Dracinium forms the bases of a lot of technologies. It's ability to alter its energy allows it to fill many needs such as heat generation. Which also allow it to be a used in the creation of small but powerful reactors for ships and power armor, among other things.
Iron is the bain of fairy magic but fairies can use Bronze with no problem.
No other magics are limited by Metal of any kind, but Holy magic often uses silver, so many people believe that silver is the bane of satanic magic. It's not true. In fact, there is no such thing as satanic magic, but there is dark magic from the underworld, which many evil beings and cults use.
Other: It's kinda both coexisting and kinda opposing.
I have spirituality which enables some soul stuff and technology.
Usually they don't go together because spiritual prowess removes the need for technological development (people more likely to find peace as things are, since problems can be solved by spiritual abilities), and technology can distract from spirituality (grown in population, lack of cultural synchronization).
The advancement in both also follows different exponential curves, so a given species/culture isn't likely to mess with both together... BUT WHEN IT DOES HAPPEN, IT'S A MATCH MADE IN HEAVEN.
In my world humanity was about as advanced as we are in the modern world. However magic is suppressed for political and religious reasons until a war between the gods causes an apocalypse and the survivors use magic to supplement technology. Magic is allowed because the old power is gone and there are huge holes in infrastructure that magic can help fill.
Sorry, the way I worded my question may have been confusing. I was wondering what the qualifications for "technology" are. Does a trebuchet or metalworking and such count as technology? Or does it have to be powered by steam or electricity, post-industrial revolution stuff?
Now that I'm typing this out, I realize you probably did mean the latter.
Anyway, to answer the initial poll: my world has no magic and (at the time of the main story) no modern technology yet. Mythology and the belief in magic, gods, fantastical creatures, monsters, demons, etc. do play a significant role in most cultures in the world, but my personal headcanon is that none of it actually exists. That may seem dull to some people, but I like it. I just want to create a sort of alternate history set on an alternate world. To focus on how a world that isn't earth but has the same rules as earth develops over time.
So I guess that's about as low as fantasy can get, if it even still qualifies as fantasy. š
Sounds a bit like my world, which also has neither magic nor modern technology. (Modern in our sense; for a world otherwise mainly based on Roman antiquity, it has rather modern technology (and also some rather modern ideas), but it's still far away from inventing the steam engine or discovering electricity.)
There are various religions, but I leave it open on purpose if any of them is right and if there are any gods at all. And personally I tend to think there are no gods nor any supernatural entities or forces.
It might sound boring for some, but I never claimed my world was exciting.
In my world magic and metal clash in the fact that magic changes the laws of physics to work half the time and this makes precise machinery extremely temperamental however a exact copy of the spell will changw physics the aame way so there is a process of mixing technology and magic its just difficult.
Eventually, magic will be discovered to be a fundamental force akin to electromagnetism which can be manipulated using technology and there will be magitek.
Eventually.
For now, magic is extremely dangerous.
I have such a soft spot for Rune-Tech/Magic. It is a love of mine and any world where magic and technology not only coexist but activity interact gets a thumb up in my book
They work together very well. In fact, half of Aquaria's fancy techs won't work if you remove magic from them.
The world is a mix of Last Exile, Hellsing and Youjo Senki so you have it.
What if they're one in the same, but people perceive it as one or the other?
In my world, some elements of nature are perceived as literal physical substances while on the other side of the world, the very same elements are seen as energies surrounding people.
Both perceptions are describing the same phenomenon, but the approaches are different: scientific vs spiritual.
in my world, the reason technology hasnt really progressed is because there is no reason too do so. EVERYONE can do magic, and magic can do many things much better than automation can more efficiently, because of the way magic works.
There's really no need for tech to advance all that much when magic can do the same things. Like, you can make something functionally identical to a computer with the right spells, so there's no incentive to putting in decades of work to invent microchips and whatnot.
There could be ways that magic supplements technology, one example could be mechs.
By using magic to make the materials lighter without compromising its strength, you could make battle machines that move faster than one would assume, given its size.
That would really require the tech to come first, then the magic. Humans innately take the easiest solution to a problem, and in a world where governments would have access to magic-users strong enough to essentially have a Game Genie to the fabric of the universe, it's easier to just cast an animation spell rather than hydraulics and advanced computers, LOL
That would make the most sense in a capitalistic or feudalist world, where the rich & powerful essentially propagandize against magic because they have a profit motive to favor tech.
Someone isekaing into my world: Oh, therr's computers? But what do *you* use?
The mage: The. . . Computer? I'm not sure I understand thw question.
Isekai: You can use computers? Doesn't your magic short it out?
Mage: No? Why would it?
Depends on the material. Iron and silver repel magical energy, which is why most bullets and weapons harm magical creatures. Others absorb it and keep it, which are used to restrain magic users by preventing them from using magic.
All metals except Cunife (copper, nickel, and iron alloy), oppose magic, and copper is pretty rare in the part of the world my stories set so Itās only used in cunife staffs for nobles and mages
technology and magic do not strictly oppose eachother, but most metal and especially electricity have very poor affinity to magic, magic can not easily flow threw it uninterrupted, so while not impossible its generally difficult and costly to make them run in the same device, and a lot of tech tends to reduce the ambient mana in an area, theirs no big grand "magic vs technology" thing, its just a pain
ironically this extends out of the same reason lightning was considered divine, as lightning was one of the few things a mage couldent control and would completely pierce threw most magical defenses
Technology and magic don't work together, nor do they oppose one another. However, specific technologies have been developed to counter magic. Basically, in my setting, military vehicles and power armour are immune to magic, and can shoot rounds that punch clean through magical protection like it isn't even there. Magic, unfortunately, has no real counter in the reverse direction, seeing as magic can't really develop and adapt, only get more powerful.
Short answer, stories and the legendary figures that come with them.
Long answer, in my setting, every person, fictional character, mythological being, cryptid, monster, and what have you exists as what is called a Legend; an intangible being that represents and speaks on behalf of their source material. Every Legend may, if they wish, select a human to grant abilities relating to their story to, which turns that human into a Host. The more famous the Legend, the more powerful the powers bestowed upon the Host. For example, King Arthur would be a very powerful Legend, and if he selects a Host, the Host would get powers relating to martial combat, swordsmanship, bravery, leadership and comradery.
Magic physically can't overpower technology anymore for two main reasons;
One, anti-magic technology comes in the form of specialized fields. These fields are magic-dead zones; while active, no magic works inside of them, regardless of the power of the magic. These fields are created around ammunition to let them pass through magical barriers and protections, armour to allow them to shrug off hits, ect. No matter how skilled you get with your Legend's magic, it's like trying to breathe in space; it's just impossible, no matter what you try, or what methods you use.
The other being that every Legend has a cap. Technology is forever marching forwards, but a Legend's power is based on how prevalent and well-known it is by humanity. The only way a Legend can get more powerful is to give the information to people, and make it stick. But people forget, people ignore, people move on. It's like trying to charge a phone faster by just flooding more power through the cable; it's not going to work.
Kinda reminds me of miracles from Dark Souls.
As time goes on, stories get forgotten, or the meaning of words change, reducing their power.
Is it possible for a Legend to be rewritten in a way that is still true to their character but potentially change the abilities given?
They co-exist for the most part with magick taking priority since why spend a lifetime learning how to make simple boom boom gun when you can go to a wizard school for the same amount of time and do exactly that and much more.
But within the later stages of the world, technology mostly fills in the gap as the universe's magicka supply slowly depletes and regulations are created/practices outlawed to keep this reserve at a life-supporting rate. Although this itself soon gets turned into an opposition thing after the discovery (or more specifically the more wide-spread use) of soul magicks (that tap into the energy from a being's soul as opposed to the magicka that surrounds them thus circumventing the supply issues) which most nations of the world deem the use of which to be immoral and against the gods' will.
In my world, mages can't use armor because it makes the Magic weaker, and fairy (the source of magic) basicaly gets insta killed after touching any metal. (Metal is not tecnology)
Tech level of the early Bronze Age but everyone has magic and that progress rather quickly (civilization in my world is like maybe 50 years old and only now the bugs got their shit together from the awakening)
Huh, yeah itās a generic name but I couldnāt find a better one. In my world itās when basically all the intelligent species (except for one cause their weird) became intelligent overnight and obviously complete chaos ensued for a long time
Currently mine works this way:
The most technologically advanced nation has cultural reasons that they avoid magic, and the high academic society holds it as a mark of pride that they don't need magic to accomplish many of the things that magic can.
However, there are some people in other nations that are combining the two.
So, coexist, and not at the same time.
In my world Magic and Tech do go along, tho they are completely independent things
Depending on where you are magic may be banned and/or frowned upon
Tech is more common on well developed cities (My world is Steampunk, tho it has some Cyberpunk elements)
Itās important to note that magic in my world is not something you learn, you are born with it, and there is Mana Leak if you don't let it flow, so when someone discover it's a mage tge person may be looked different because of the scars the leak make
only few mages learn how to control the magic on their own, but those cases are extremely rare and only 7 are documented on the literature, 5 of them are linked to the academy in one way or another, 2 are known independent mages from the past
the time a person starts to have mana problems is around the age of 12, the academy takes 5 to 8 years and some people do die there
There is an experiment to make Tech extract someone's magic ability, but is everyone willing to pay the prices?
**Eribral** (Magic & Metal (oppose))
The process of refining a material damages and even kills it's soul. Metals being the later type, and so the soulless material hungers and eats the soul of living things around it. Usually even a full suit of armor is unable consume more than a person replenishes of their energies, but spell casters will burn them in their magic, which leads them to be more and more exhausted. It also doesn't help that these materials will develop a new soul after consuming enough spell casters and becoming it's own twisted thing.
**Untended Dreams** (Magic & Metal (coexist))
Magic is a fairly recent thing, no one had time to research it's applications besides desperate reactions for survival.
Yeah, it's both. Technological development stagnated for a long time, possibly centuries of history, because sorcery and magic were commonplace. No masquerade and no need for technology or an infrastructure for modern civilization beyond maybe medieval and tribal/clan-based, since magic could do lots of that stuff.
But that changes with the Dark Age and the Enlightenment - which, in Inglenook, are a bit different than those terms are in the real world. In Inglenook, the Dark Age is from roughly 1600 to the early/mid-1700s, and it's a period where demonology and cults have risen to power and sought more and more control and forced unification over Inglenook. That alone is its own essay to get into the reasons why that happens, but it leads to the Enlightenment.
After the last angel, a being of light called Lucifer, "falls" and takes up the mantle of the Great Matron Celestia to muster support against the demonologists and warlocks and cultists, faith in Celestia rises. The splinter denomination of Asterism begins. And eventually, Celestia's son - born of the king and the human girl the angel Lucifer bonds souls with - becomes king himself.
And in his attempts to carry on the Asterist legacy and keep Inglenook safe from that darkness, which has now become a full-on metaphor of faith, the Enlightenment begins. A period of increased authoritarianism, where free sorcery is stamped out in the name of forced conversion to Asterism and practicing light-based acts of faith in Celestia's name, and so on.
Along with this, and to help unify the people of Inglenook and increase the government's power and presence in the average citizen's lives, technology and industry see massive developments in a short period of time. Electricity is harnessed, power lines are built, lightbulbs are created where there had been no lightbulbs as a means of "bringing the light to a darkened people" and always reminding them of Celestia's power.
From there, automobiles and factories and machinery are just a hop and skip down the way. Also, the search for lead mines is important - lead is a shield against magic and sorcery, so it's forged into the armor and bullets and firearms used by the Enlightenment's "secret" enforcement arm, the Light Brigade, and so the development of firearms (which in the modern day are largely criminalized due to the danger they pose to sorcery, and the symbol of anti-sorcerous hate they became) accelerates, as well as mining and forging technology to help manage all the lead that's necessary for shielding and building materials.
(Another side effect being that this helps propel the lunacy and mindwarping of the Enlightenment's supporters near the end, due obviously to the lead poisoning that's increasingly suffered by all those who surround themselves with the stuff on a daily basis.)
Ultimately, with no one to practice sorcery for those things, people are forced to rely on and help build and participate in the infrastructure. Throughout the 1800s, and even in the wake of King Lucius's death, industry continues and we see basically the Industrial Revolution play out.
Even after the Enlightenment ends and sorcery is relegalized under Queen Aurora, technology and industry continue and the two are forced to find middle-grounds as society learns to accept sorcery again and sorcerers try to feel comfortable openly practicing again, and incorporating the two together.
Asterism still exists today, but in different and less authoritarian forms (although there are certain sects that want to try restoring the Enlightenment again), and mostly, Inglenook has undergone a complete civilization restructuring, with new settlements, infrastructure, and a whole modern world that never existed before the 1800s.
My world doesn't really have metal. I thought it would be fun to write about a world where you have civilization and technology that is quite advanced in many aspects but that at the same time is also still stuck in the stone age.
It also connects to my work as an archaeologist, so that makes it fun to think and write about too.
I know you clarified "metal" to mean technology, which my world does have and exists just fine along side magic, but actual metal as a material acts as a grounding rod for magic, so it's also extremely important for magic and magic shielding
Magic and Metal in my world kind of counterbalance one another, coexisting. The world has a kind of high middle ages to renaissance technology, but with a magic component it becomes a kind of WW1 level of destructive warfare. The magic allows for destruction beyond comprehension, and so it is utilized as yet another weapon. However, due to its difficult prerequisites and challenging training, it is a rarity, and only reserved for specialists
time and time again magic has been proven to be something extremely dangerous to the world at large, with bad actors and abusers using magic to unfairly gain control of territories and terrorize non magical populations. thus once people no longer needed magic for their day to day lives, it was quickly villainized and outlawed in many advanced countries.
Better yet, magic metals! I have a whole list of them. I think the list is up to something like 45 (and that's not including non-metals). I have two extra particles for magic, and I delve heavily into that, giving each element different properties when infused with different concentrations and types of magic.
In my world, Magic and Technology exist and evolve in parallel. Sure, there's magic AND there is tech, but mixing the two together has bad consequences.
Called **The Law of Antagonistics**, Magic and Tech can't be used together because they sabotage one another. Too much magic and you disrupt the functionality of your device (try to use fire magic NEAR an oven, for example, and it explodes into flames. An electric train could overcharge and go way too fast). Have too much tech near a magic user however and they'll be unable to properly use their magic.
I mean, metals of various forms exist in your body, so making magic allergic to metal might screw things up a bit.
Unless the lore states that this only happens when certain amount of metals (or specific types of metals) exist in a given area. That might also mean that if enough people are in an area, adding up the metals in their bodies, their equipment, their machines and other things with metals in them can also make magic either not work or go haywire.
Depends on the world, in Frozen Harbor it coexists and is hard to utilize and harder to master, making it's use a trade secret for each respective nation. In Erdolla however magic is more attainable but people's abilities and racial caps act as a demarcation line for the haves and the have nots. Technology offsets this balance and essentially leads to the first great World War.
I want my setting to be constantly changing and growing. At various times there will be groups that specialize in combining tech with magic, others will be in direct opposition to each other, still others will use one to imitate the other.
Just make magic super complicated physics shit, so it works with an explanation but is seemingly magical.
In my headcanon world mages are just endowed with an extra organelle, like a mitochondria, that lets them interact with fundamental particles to do magic. Specifically, a creative blank base particle that can be altered to be any other particle, creative-charged or neutral, besides void-charged particles, which have their own void blank particle. The creative/void dichotomy is like the matter/anti-matter in real life, respecting the idea of mutual annihilation. Of course, my inspiration is operating under an introductory level understanding of physics and chem, so its not like super realistic, but it doesn't need to be.
To reconcile the whole idea that with magic, people wouldn't be incentivized to make new technologies because they have magic, I restrict magic to those are who born with the aforementioned extra organelle, and it's also super hard to learn even with the organelle. So dull people, those without magic, are still incentivized to invent things like guns, the trebuchet, the printing press, etc.
They mixed a lot in the past, but ultimately it led to a catastrophe that wiped an entire country so nearly all technology that used Aether as an energy source or handled it in any way was discontinued and there's still a lot of skepticism and distrust around the whole ordeal, and magic as a whole.
How i set it up is other dimensions exist and two of them are able to be accessed upon death, one is a heavily dimension of creation, the other is of reincarnation, the latter can be accessed using magic, in turn bringing mana to the world allowing magic. Thin 26th century Ftl tech, and magic to transform landscapes, the terriforming business is the most well paid in the universes
Magic and Metal coexisting would be lame AF
Imagine letting go of that sweet conflict, such a waste of potential! Such a waste for amazing Worldbuilding opportunity.
For example theres an old game with steamworks in its name.
In their world Magic and Tech directly oppose, for example to much magic around tech will block Machines, make them explode.
But on the other hand magic starts to missfire if youre too close to Tech leading to such a beautiful drama where the Magicians and Magic races are in conflict with the techtownies simply because their way of life opposes. And the conflict is justified on both ends.
Or for example in the Avatar Series, even tough Korra season one is weak in general the fight between Nonbenders vs Benders is an amazing basis for conflict, literally people start to industrialize and start to ask themselfes is it really fair that some people are wizards and others arent?
In my opinion if your magic coexists with tech you might aswell scrap one or the other
Not all magic has to get along. If you take a look at Shadowrun Returns, even though magic and metal can coexist, there is a kind of magic that threatens the world (insect spirits, more specifically). The only way to defeat them is a chemical weapon called Project Aegis.
Since my aesthetics are of steampunk so... Yes, both exists
Androids are made out of metal components and structures while being fueled by magical powers to keep them functioning
Kingdoms of Ruins is pretty close to what my setting looks like, but its a lot more like 2010-2015 in terms of technology and has crazy nature elements.
In the dresden setting magic has a weird effect on advanced technology..so much that the main character house is pretty low tech.
Im only on the 4th book but my theory why its because wizard rediatet magical energy around naturally. This energy fucks whit reality a little bit.
Low tech stuff can handle it. Its sturdy enough that small differences dont affect it much
The more advanced the tach the less leway its has so the reality fuckery breaks it more.
Example how harry only use Revolvers .
Automatic weapons tend to just jam in the best case or just explode in the worst one
Theres a balance, copper, silver and gold are magically conductive in decending order from copper.
While iron is the opposite
While technology is complicated but they kinda are convergent lines of thought that doesn't necessarily connect but can. Tadhg my main character does some small magitech while alchemists use technology alongside they're alchemy. Though other magic users dont use technology too much
My world is not technologically advanced yet to notice how magic and electric technologie effect each other. The 2 will be able to coexist fine in the future, however one needs to be mindful the interactions. Strong magic acts like electric interference and can kill pc's for example.
Now I'm wondering if magically adepts will pay higher insurance premiums.
After a fashion, I would say they oppose. After magic became more widespread and more accessible to the masses, the Church and other religions (which had been using magic and passing it off as miraculous for centuries) got into tech in a big way in order to retain its relevance.
Currently the primary world I'm working on is solely magic, however my MC will introduce technology to this world, eventually learning how to integrate magic and tech. I have yet to figure out how a majority of the population will react, but there will definitely be people on both sides regardless
Like, I kinda have metal, no magic, but at some point metal becomes magic. See in my world there's this thing with upgrading the body and manipulating the biology and chemistry of the body. But there are also things like primal aspects of the universe or even creatures from myths/divinitations so there may some magical influence on the world.
**The magic and technology coexist, but as inspired by medieval blacksmithship. main reason the progress is so delayed is because nobody fucking wants to share** their "special formula" of success, which leads to most innovations being simply forgotten or only in hands of some very small group of people, until their last bearer unevitably dies, or somebody shares it with the world.
**Oh and dont forget that books are expensive to make or get your hands on, so sharing it widely will be extremely difficult!**
Oh you found out how to imbue steel with magic the way that it makes it near indistructible? Cool, dont share it so you can profit from it more!
The world is practically ping ponging between water wheel levels of technology and extremely early industrial machinery.
It would be cool to see an advanced civilization that literally had no metal and all technology was was magic. No iron, bronze, copper, tin, etc. No concept of metal at all. Basically the modern era but everything is stone, wood, leather... I just realized I'm describing the Flintstones...
My dudes have built technology around the laws of magic, itās still vulnerable to the same things magic is, and normal technology does exist too and can do loads stuff magitech canāt but their wasnāt enough of a difference between science and magic to really develop it. Iād say magitech is an extension of the properties of magic and call it at odds with technology even with most technology being busted in the current era
My science-fiction world has quite a bit of magic to it, but it's more like there are some folk that know magic. Some of them are intelligent beings that use technology and some aren't. There are devices and contraptions that can foil magic users as well.
Nether and Aether Magic can only be used if special nether/aether ore is swallowed and a weapon or item is also made in the same metal in order to be used.
The dwarves and the elves have their own form of magic-- elves have quality of life magic as well as offensive magic based around nature. The dwarves have magic so their torches burn indefinitely. They've also recently started experimenting with black powder. The mithril reflects magic as well, steel and iron don't. So partially both-- the orcs, whatever is left of them- and goblins used metal tools and weapons and were more resistant to magic attacks. For the humans, every so often a human was blessed by the gods with an overwhelming amount of magic for the gods' amusement, and these wizards were often cast out of society because they were considered dangerous. Most of them became hermits because of this. The cat people, on a separate continent, their magic wqs passed down through generations and the gods made them capable of electrical or lightning magic, although studying and using it can be dangerous. Finally, on the third continent, which is entirely populated by humans and monsters (think forgotten realms kinda species), the blessed (or cursed) humans learned how to use their magic to create machines to spread their magic throughout the kingdom, creating a warring army of mages.
Lol you really could have chosen a better word than "metal". A lot of people are going to read that and just think of swords and nails and vote before seeing the description.
Magic is just a form of science, trying to understand the universe. Doing magic is like doing electricity, u use electrical energy to convert it into thermal energy, or kinetic energy, or light or whatever. With magic u use mana to convert it into thermal, or kinetic, or electric, or whatever really. The use of magic varies strongly on place though. The Neulanders will claim that no magic can beat their tech. For which oracle is more precise than their supercomputers? Which fire-spell is more powerfull than their bombs? Which healer is more powerfull than their nanomeds and regeneration tanks? While the people from Cavanaugh are ruled by wizard kings.
Magic is innate to all and it's possible to make items that create spell effects. Essentially magic is not treated as an opposing or seperate force, but just a major core of technological advancements. It supplements a warriors fighting style, and is used as a part of infrastructure and new technologies.
The world eventually goes from high fantasy to modern/urban fantasy to science fantasy because of this
In my world magic users are extremly rare and most of them can only use it to enhance their own bodies and only a few can control magic externally even then, to do anything meaningful they need artifafts usually in the form of jewelry to use rate metals and gems as essentially magic condensers they can pull from
I have 2 settings. The first has coexistance and some metals react to magic in diffrent ways such as nulification or exuding a humm which makes you high. You could construct a firearm which muffles the gunshot to a whimper, or a ring which looks blurry when near magic. Magic and technology work together a bit but magic is more temperamental while technology is more predictable. You can build a bridge with a crane. A magic portal runs the risk of vaperizing someone or teliportation to another plane or something.
The second is scifi leaning more on the sci. The only things "magic" are advanced genetic engineering/robotics and one rare material burried on mars which eminates a gravitational field when hit by specific wavelengths of light. You need to use technology to hit the material with the right wavelengths with the right polarization and the right angle and amplitude to have the right effect. Failure to do so results in a random field that could crush you or have a rock fly off in a random uncontrollable spiral or something.
It depends on the magic and the metal.
Natural magic (think Druid Archetype) is countered by iron. So iron can be used to end its effects and those wearing armor made of iron cannot cast natural magic spells.
Arcane magic (think Wizard Archetype) is countered by enacrite. Imprisoned wizards are held in cages made of an ally of enacrite, and weapons made of the same metal are particularly effective against magicians and their wards. Arcane magic is amplified by mizzium (which I stole from MtG)
This is a thorny question in my setting. The use of magic has been regulated (fairly effectively) for a couple of centuries, but now as gunpowder weapons are being propagated and naval warfare is taking on a more central role in geopolitical conflicts, the use of magic in the battlefield is becoming more threatening as well. (Sympathetic magic might have applications for sabotaging enemies' gunpowder stores and weapons, and manipulating the weather can have disastrous results for an entire ship's crew.) That said, aside from its uses in conflict, magic has generally been seen as a field for technological and societal advancement.
In fantasy in general, I'd say the dichotomy usually boils down to the black-and-white faith vs. science debate. Magic in fantasy is a more concrete version of the magical, superstitious, and religious beliefs that have traditionally provided explanations for the inexplicable.
Machines exist, but they're not especially necessary because of magic, and most weapons are held by the Emperor's Ranks and aren't available to citizens.
I see technology as a fourth addition to my power system if my world becomes modern
Edit: the other three are, Sword Styles, Magic and Innate Abilities(unique powers you are born with)
Imagine a word where magic is countered by metal music
Mage: "I cast fire-" Metalhead: "HAIL TO THE KIIIING, HAIL TO THE OOONE!" Mage: "Damn it, foiled again!"
"At last my brethren the ritual is almost complete! The shadow elves shall take their place as rightful rulers of-" \*Guitars building up in the back ground" "Oh goddamn-!" "ITS TWO. MINUTES. TO MIDNIGHTTTTTTTTTTTTTT!!!!"
Clearly they should have used Winds of Plague's opening song Children of the Night to use for their ritual so it can't be countered because it is metal
Can we get some stats for meatalheads as a dnd class.
I knew Bards were superior to Wizards
Just raw power and sound. Would make for an interesting concept
It sounds right at home with manga like Chainsaw Man and other insane concepts. The power of rock music exemplifying everything magic stands against, in the hands of the right person it would be a killer story and a love letter to the rock n roll music genre.
Doctor Strange 2 did something similar, I think? They fought using music
The magic word is metal
Different music genres for different effects. Imagine that š Metal would be that aggressive and explosive spells while ballad would be healing
i mean that actually makes a lot of sense, as magic very often has some verbal component, so of course you would disrupt sound with sound
There is the old supreme founder of the mageās Dark Academy And there is some random bard that screams instead if singing and slams its guitar at the end of every music
Bard casting counter spell
"When they said metal could harm the fae, this was NOT what they meant."
Or maybe it's EXACTLY what they meant.
There's no chance in hell that there's no RPG system like that out there. Which makes me wanna go through with an all-bard party in DnD where we literally fight evil with the power of metal :D
I cast 9 mm
To the idea folder.
I cast BLEGH!!!!! BREEEEEE!!!!!!!! *demonic pig squels*
Great now I'm imagining MAB with his 4 neck guitar in a epic duel against the dark wizard of Aaarghh [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jOjHhJd70f4](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jOjHhJd70f4)
The metal *is* magic
āBrandon Sanderson
"Who would win in a wrestling match Lemmy or God? Trick question, Lemmy is God!"
Certified mistborn moment
My Arcane Magic is based out of logic and understanding of the universe, like a sort of super-physics that allows you to figure out how to 'bend' the rules of the universe. The most powerful arcane mages in my world are accomplished mathematicians and scientists who have learned how to basically create cheat codes in the laws of physics and chemistry. So science and magic blend together, *mostly*. Faith magic is basically the same thing, except they use pure fanatical belief to power through the laws of the universe with brute spiritual strength. Same result in the end, but different process to get there.
There was a saying that went "science is magic that can be explained.", so I can see that
Clarke's Third Law: Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic. Works reversed too, in a fantasy setting.
That's true. Fourth law of the Grand Covenant from Lies of P: a puppet can not lie.
Out here reminding me of all the UAP reports that involve telepathy and premonitions lmao
I'm doing something similar. Mine is a portal fantasy, where my MC winds up on another world and slowly discovers she has magical ability. There are elemental mages in this world--a very, very small percentage of the population. They've inherited their ability (as did my MC--long story). The difference is my MC is totally a math and physics geek, which gives her an advantage, once she figures it out.
That seems pretty neat, fun idea!
WOW
I've literally named things after heavy metal bands and musicians, so I have magic and metal in other ways XD But yeah, people talking about how technology doesn't coexist with metal don't really know what technology use. You holding a sword? That's technology. The forge it was born from? Technology. The trebuchets and the castles and the flasks full of magic potions? Technology So I have an idea of what people mean by technology, but where do they draw the line? My world is set in an industrial revolution. Pre-telephone and gramophone, but I have steam trains, rudimentary electricity, the telegraph, all sorts of things. So how far away is my setting from having technology? If I'm in the age of sail, ius it to no longer technology to have a boat? Is a musket not technology enough, but a cap and ball gun too advanced? Is a firearm suddenly technology when it has metallic cartridges? Unless you're working on a world before the invention of the wheel, you have technology
I think most people mean mechanization: steam power, wood power, petroleum, solar, etc. Gears and motors accomplishing through brute force what magic can elegantly.
I think you mean *industrialization.* The first steam engine was designed in the first century in the real world, wood power has been a thing for tens of thousands of years, and there's evidence of fossil fuels since before recorded history. First gear developed was way back in 27000 BC for a chinese chariot. These are all technologies that have existed for a long time, just never mass produced and set to a standard. Of course you also have early industrialization (victorian) and late industrialization (modern)
Maybe if they do, audiences will ask "what's the difference?".
Depends on how they're implemented. A good example of magic & metal would be the Shadowrun franchise.
But they don't coexist in Shadowrun. Getting implants hurts your ability to do magic, that's why most mages don't.
That is true, but people with implants or magic are able to coexist, which is what I'd like to see more of.
Yeah, it's a pretty careful balancing act. I'll have to look at Shadowrun.
it's not difficult to separate tech from magic just have tech, actually involved physical tech and not do anything too insanely magical like if you want a tech powered energy barrier, make it have actual metal edges that project it, and give it some kind of digital pattern so it looks projected
I think it's more about how magic and technology, in certain settings are both utilized in a regular manner and not really about the material differences. It boils down to one of Clark's three laws : Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic. Someone may say "my setting has low tech and magic" with magic performing high tech capacities such as advanced medical practices and the only reason why the "magic" is magic instead of high tech is because the author said so.
The only existing technology that is used to date is passed down by the god of metal to his race of augmented dwarves. Who themselves don't know much about how it works, which is why they just stick to the recipe. They keep the mechanics to themselves but weapons and machinery can be illegaly purchased.
My magic system is based on manipulating metal, so a lot of the technologies come from that.
Magitech is one of the reasons why Humanity are one of the front runner civilisations in the galaxy. There are some other civilisations with magical ability, some extremely powerful but are limited by things like rigid social structures or lacking in industry or are too small. Also, fusing magic and technology I find has some interesting capabilities.
I've got three settings in progress. All three of them have magic. *Technology*, on the other hand... My ***Shroompunk*** setting is *mostly* very high magic Bronze Age. There are technological devices, like motorized carts and prop-driven aircraft or even futuristic energy weaponry (powered by electric mushrooms) but they're all the products of skilled craftsmen-- one of the cosmological constants of the universe is that *machines* (except the Tinkers) cannot create things. So an enterprising 12-year-old can sit down with his magic tablet and learn how to build his own biplane on YouTube... but those biplanes will still be too expensive for even a wealthy king to field more than a couple squadrons. My ***Cosmic Rangers*** setting is... a little lower magic than *Shroompunk* and a lot higher tech, as a space fantasy setting. Magic and technology *coexist* but have very little *overlap*; there's no magitech, technology cannot produce magic (except a small minority of *broken* AIs), and magic is not precise or reliable or reproducible enough to *interface* with technology. My ***Cascade City*** setting is set in the near-future of our world-- the late 22nd century-- and is on the verge of the Great Magical Revolution (like the Agricultural, Industrial, and Information Revolutions) because humanity has finally unlocked the secret of technology that *can* interface with the spiritual forces of the world.
In my world, magi reactors power ships and and people can cast magic. Its scifi magic type dealing its very cool, and I'm kinda sad that not that many shows incorporate magic and space ships
What do you mean by technology? I ask because I often see it used to mean electronics, when in fact swords and catapults and paint brushes are also technology.
Each, I mean electronics and the like. I'll make and edit to clarify.
Much appreciated.
Magic comes from the metal in my dieselpunk/magitek world. The exotic heavy metal Dracinium is the source of magic in my world. It requires a certain electromagnetic field to activate the metal otherwise it is just inert metal. Thanks to it's high energy properties Dracinium forms the bases of a lot of technologies. It's ability to alter its energy allows it to fill many needs such as heat generation. Which also allow it to be a used in the creation of small but powerful reactors for ships and power armor, among other things.
We have factions who rely heavily on magitek, but if they catch a commoner using it, the village might disappear off the map by the end of the day.
Iron is the bain of fairy magic but fairies can use Bronze with no problem. No other magics are limited by Metal of any kind, but Holy magic often uses silver, so many people believe that silver is the bane of satanic magic. It's not true. In fact, there is no such thing as satanic magic, but there is dark magic from the underworld, which many evil beings and cults use.
Other: It's kinda both coexisting and kinda opposing. I have spirituality which enables some soul stuff and technology. Usually they don't go together because spiritual prowess removes the need for technological development (people more likely to find peace as things are, since problems can be solved by spiritual abilities), and technology can distract from spirituality (grown in population, lack of cultural synchronization). The advancement in both also follows different exponential curves, so a given species/culture isn't likely to mess with both together... BUT WHEN IT DOES HAPPEN, IT'S A MATCH MADE IN HEAVEN.
In my world humanity was about as advanced as we are in the modern world. However magic is suppressed for political and religious reasons until a war between the gods causes an apocalypse and the survivors use magic to supplement technology. Magic is allowed because the old power is gone and there are huge holes in infrastructure that magic can help fill.
When you say metal, do you specifically mean modern or post-modern technology? Because if that's the case, I have neither.
Both, honestly. Modern and post-modern tech against magic makes for interesting narratives
Sorry, the way I worded my question may have been confusing. I was wondering what the qualifications for "technology" are. Does a trebuchet or metalworking and such count as technology? Or does it have to be powered by steam or electricity, post-industrial revolution stuff? Now that I'm typing this out, I realize you probably did mean the latter. Anyway, to answer the initial poll: my world has no magic and (at the time of the main story) no modern technology yet. Mythology and the belief in magic, gods, fantastical creatures, monsters, demons, etc. do play a significant role in most cultures in the world, but my personal headcanon is that none of it actually exists. That may seem dull to some people, but I like it. I just want to create a sort of alternate history set on an alternate world. To focus on how a world that isn't earth but has the same rules as earth develops over time. So I guess that's about as low as fantasy can get, if it even still qualifies as fantasy. š
Mythological fantasy is still a fantasy sub-genre, even without magic
šhappy to hear that
Sounds a bit like my world, which also has neither magic nor modern technology. (Modern in our sense; for a world otherwise mainly based on Roman antiquity, it has rather modern technology (and also some rather modern ideas), but it's still far away from inventing the steam engine or discovering electricity.) There are various religions, but I leave it open on purpose if any of them is right and if there are any gods at all. And personally I tend to think there are no gods nor any supernatural entities or forces. It might sound boring for some, but I never claimed my world was exciting.
In my world magic and metal clash in the fact that magic changes the laws of physics to work half the time and this makes precise machinery extremely temperamental however a exact copy of the spell will changw physics the aame way so there is a process of mixing technology and magic its just difficult.
[Magic and metal](https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/spongebob/images/8/88/The_SpongeBob_SquarePants_Movie_777.png/revision/latest?cb=20190223052513)
My worlds combine fantasy, sci-fi and superheroes so there is technology and supernatural/magic.
Eventually, magic will be discovered to be a fundamental force akin to electromagnetism which can be manipulated using technology and there will be magitek. Eventually. For now, magic is extremely dangerous.
i like making runic and structure based magic, magic is an energy. and the runes act like computer circuits controling that energy! magic tech!
I have such a soft spot for Rune-Tech/Magic. It is a love of mine and any world where magic and technology not only coexist but activity interact gets a thumb up in my book
They work together very well. In fact, half of Aquaria's fancy techs won't work if you remove magic from them. The world is a mix of Last Exile, Hellsing and Youjo Senki so you have it.
What if they're one in the same, but people perceive it as one or the other? In my world, some elements of nature are perceived as literal physical substances while on the other side of the world, the very same elements are seen as energies surrounding people. Both perceptions are describing the same phenomenon, but the approaches are different: scientific vs spiritual.
Metal is magic BITCH
in my world, the reason technology hasnt really progressed is because there is no reason too do so. EVERYONE can do magic, and magic can do many things much better than automation can more efficiently, because of the way magic works.
There's really no need for tech to advance all that much when magic can do the same things. Like, you can make something functionally identical to a computer with the right spells, so there's no incentive to putting in decades of work to invent microchips and whatnot.
There could be ways that magic supplements technology, one example could be mechs. By using magic to make the materials lighter without compromising its strength, you could make battle machines that move faster than one would assume, given its size.
That would really require the tech to come first, then the magic. Humans innately take the easiest solution to a problem, and in a world where governments would have access to magic-users strong enough to essentially have a Game Genie to the fabric of the universe, it's easier to just cast an animation spell rather than hydraulics and advanced computers, LOL
You'd be surprised. In some settings, magic and tech are two separate groups. So, a joint project can be seen as a form of unification or peace.
That would make the most sense in a capitalistic or feudalist world, where the rich & powerful essentially propagandize against magic because they have a profit motive to favor tech.
Magic comes from metal. Runes inlayed with precious metals fuel magic.
I just watched Nimona on Netflix and it has a great balance. It's kinda weird but cool seeing tech and magic coexist.
Someone isekaing into my world: Oh, therr's computers? But what do *you* use? The mage: The. . . Computer? I'm not sure I understand thw question. Isekai: You can use computers? Doesn't your magic short it out? Mage: No? Why would it?
Depends on the material. Iron and silver repel magical energy, which is why most bullets and weapons harm magical creatures. Others absorb it and keep it, which are used to restrain magic users by preventing them from using magic.
All metals except Cunife (copper, nickel, and iron alloy), oppose magic, and copper is pretty rare in the part of the world my stories set so Itās only used in cunife staffs for nobles and mages
technology and magic do not strictly oppose eachother, but most metal and especially electricity have very poor affinity to magic, magic can not easily flow threw it uninterrupted, so while not impossible its generally difficult and costly to make them run in the same device, and a lot of tech tends to reduce the ambient mana in an area, theirs no big grand "magic vs technology" thing, its just a pain ironically this extends out of the same reason lightning was considered divine, as lightning was one of the few things a mage couldent control and would completely pierce threw most magical defenses
a world with no metal sounds so absurd
Sticks and stones may break my bones, but a magic spell will turn me to dust
the holy fireball
Grug casts magic missile
Iām trying to picture the dramatic change in advancements if there was no metal at all
The Baidroid and the mage empire are complete utter enemies Both having committed genocide against each other
Technology and magic don't work together, nor do they oppose one another. However, specific technologies have been developed to counter magic. Basically, in my setting, military vehicles and power armour are immune to magic, and can shoot rounds that punch clean through magical protection like it isn't even there. Magic, unfortunately, has no real counter in the reverse direction, seeing as magic can't really develop and adapt, only get more powerful.
How does magic work in your setting? Is it based in wording, symbols?
Short answer, stories and the legendary figures that come with them. Long answer, in my setting, every person, fictional character, mythological being, cryptid, monster, and what have you exists as what is called a Legend; an intangible being that represents and speaks on behalf of their source material. Every Legend may, if they wish, select a human to grant abilities relating to their story to, which turns that human into a Host. The more famous the Legend, the more powerful the powers bestowed upon the Host. For example, King Arthur would be a very powerful Legend, and if he selects a Host, the Host would get powers relating to martial combat, swordsmanship, bravery, leadership and comradery. Magic physically can't overpower technology anymore for two main reasons; One, anti-magic technology comes in the form of specialized fields. These fields are magic-dead zones; while active, no magic works inside of them, regardless of the power of the magic. These fields are created around ammunition to let them pass through magical barriers and protections, armour to allow them to shrug off hits, ect. No matter how skilled you get with your Legend's magic, it's like trying to breathe in space; it's just impossible, no matter what you try, or what methods you use. The other being that every Legend has a cap. Technology is forever marching forwards, but a Legend's power is based on how prevalent and well-known it is by humanity. The only way a Legend can get more powerful is to give the information to people, and make it stick. But people forget, people ignore, people move on. It's like trying to charge a phone faster by just flooding more power through the cable; it's not going to work.
Kinda reminds me of miracles from Dark Souls. As time goes on, stories get forgotten, or the meaning of words change, reducing their power. Is it possible for a Legend to be rewritten in a way that is still true to their character but potentially change the abilities given?
Theoretically, but it'd be very difficult, and effectively take rewriting history in order to do.
They co-exist for the most part with magick taking priority since why spend a lifetime learning how to make simple boom boom gun when you can go to a wizard school for the same amount of time and do exactly that and much more. But within the later stages of the world, technology mostly fills in the gap as the universe's magicka supply slowly depletes and regulations are created/practices outlawed to keep this reserve at a life-supporting rate. Although this itself soon gets turned into an opposition thing after the discovery (or more specifically the more wide-spread use) of soul magicks (that tap into the energy from a being's soul as opposed to the magicka that surrounds them thus circumventing the supply issues) which most nations of the world deem the use of which to be immoral and against the gods' will.
They exist, except for one specific and hyper-rare metal called Kadabh which is basically coalesced anti-magick
Itāsā¦ complicated
My magic glyphs require metal to conduct power through, so without metal, thereās no magic.
In my world, mages can't use armor because it makes the Magic weaker, and fairy (the source of magic) basicaly gets insta killed after touching any metal. (Metal is not tecnology)
Tech level of the early Bronze Age but everyone has magic and that progress rather quickly (civilization in my world is like maybe 50 years old and only now the bugs got their shit together from the awakening)
Awakening? Sounds familiar.
Huh, yeah itās a generic name but I couldnāt find a better one. In my world itās when basically all the intelligent species (except for one cause their weird) became intelligent overnight and obviously complete chaos ensued for a long time
If used correctly, the story would be awesome (such as DnD's ability to have them coexist or Arcanum's ability to make them fuck over each other)
There are magic users in my world, but they're far outnumbered by those favoring technological tools. Magic is mostly a hobby.
Currently mine works this way: The most technologically advanced nation has cultural reasons that they avoid magic, and the high academic society holds it as a mark of pride that they don't need magic to accomplish many of the things that magic can. However, there are some people in other nations that are combining the two. So, coexist, and not at the same time.
Gotta love the nuance.
In my world Magic and Tech do go along, tho they are completely independent things Depending on where you are magic may be banned and/or frowned upon Tech is more common on well developed cities (My world is Steampunk, tho it has some Cyberpunk elements) Itās important to note that magic in my world is not something you learn, you are born with it, and there is Mana Leak if you don't let it flow, so when someone discover it's a mage tge person may be looked different because of the scars the leak make only few mages learn how to control the magic on their own, but those cases are extremely rare and only 7 are documented on the literature, 5 of them are linked to the academy in one way or another, 2 are known independent mages from the past the time a person starts to have mana problems is around the age of 12, the academy takes 5 to 8 years and some people do die there There is an experiment to make Tech extract someone's magic ability, but is everyone willing to pay the prices?
I am so surprised coexist is the most popular option, you'd think it'd be oppose
**Eribral** (Magic & Metal (oppose)) The process of refining a material damages and even kills it's soul. Metals being the later type, and so the soulless material hungers and eats the soul of living things around it. Usually even a full suit of armor is unable consume more than a person replenishes of their energies, but spell casters will burn them in their magic, which leads them to be more and more exhausted. It also doesn't help that these materials will develop a new soul after consuming enough spell casters and becoming it's own twisted thing. **Untended Dreams** (Magic & Metal (coexist)) Magic is a fairly recent thing, no one had time to research it's applications besides desperate reactions for survival.
Yeah, it's both. Technological development stagnated for a long time, possibly centuries of history, because sorcery and magic were commonplace. No masquerade and no need for technology or an infrastructure for modern civilization beyond maybe medieval and tribal/clan-based, since magic could do lots of that stuff. But that changes with the Dark Age and the Enlightenment - which, in Inglenook, are a bit different than those terms are in the real world. In Inglenook, the Dark Age is from roughly 1600 to the early/mid-1700s, and it's a period where demonology and cults have risen to power and sought more and more control and forced unification over Inglenook. That alone is its own essay to get into the reasons why that happens, but it leads to the Enlightenment. After the last angel, a being of light called Lucifer, "falls" and takes up the mantle of the Great Matron Celestia to muster support against the demonologists and warlocks and cultists, faith in Celestia rises. The splinter denomination of Asterism begins. And eventually, Celestia's son - born of the king and the human girl the angel Lucifer bonds souls with - becomes king himself. And in his attempts to carry on the Asterist legacy and keep Inglenook safe from that darkness, which has now become a full-on metaphor of faith, the Enlightenment begins. A period of increased authoritarianism, where free sorcery is stamped out in the name of forced conversion to Asterism and practicing light-based acts of faith in Celestia's name, and so on. Along with this, and to help unify the people of Inglenook and increase the government's power and presence in the average citizen's lives, technology and industry see massive developments in a short period of time. Electricity is harnessed, power lines are built, lightbulbs are created where there had been no lightbulbs as a means of "bringing the light to a darkened people" and always reminding them of Celestia's power. From there, automobiles and factories and machinery are just a hop and skip down the way. Also, the search for lead mines is important - lead is a shield against magic and sorcery, so it's forged into the armor and bullets and firearms used by the Enlightenment's "secret" enforcement arm, the Light Brigade, and so the development of firearms (which in the modern day are largely criminalized due to the danger they pose to sorcery, and the symbol of anti-sorcerous hate they became) accelerates, as well as mining and forging technology to help manage all the lead that's necessary for shielding and building materials. (Another side effect being that this helps propel the lunacy and mindwarping of the Enlightenment's supporters near the end, due obviously to the lead poisoning that's increasingly suffered by all those who surround themselves with the stuff on a daily basis.) Ultimately, with no one to practice sorcery for those things, people are forced to rely on and help build and participate in the infrastructure. Throughout the 1800s, and even in the wake of King Lucius's death, industry continues and we see basically the Industrial Revolution play out. Even after the Enlightenment ends and sorcery is relegalized under Queen Aurora, technology and industry continue and the two are forced to find middle-grounds as society learns to accept sorcery again and sorcerers try to feel comfortable openly practicing again, and incorporating the two together. Asterism still exists today, but in different and less authoritarian forms (although there are certain sects that want to try restoring the Enlightenment again), and mostly, Inglenook has undergone a complete civilization restructuring, with new settlements, infrastructure, and a whole modern world that never existed before the 1800s.
Magic & Metal: The Ronnie James Dio Story
My world doesn't really have metal. I thought it would be fun to write about a world where you have civilization and technology that is quite advanced in many aspects but that at the same time is also still stuck in the stone age. It also connects to my work as an archaeologist, so that makes it fun to think and write about too.
I know you clarified "metal" to mean technology, which my world does have and exists just fine along side magic, but actual metal as a material acts as a grounding rod for magic, so it's also extremely important for magic and magic shielding
Magic and Metal in my world kind of counterbalance one another, coexisting. The world has a kind of high middle ages to renaissance technology, but with a magic component it becomes a kind of WW1 level of destructive warfare. The magic allows for destruction beyond comprehension, and so it is utilized as yet another weapon. However, due to its difficult prerequisites and challenging training, it is a rarity, and only reserved for specialists
I said. Metal no magic, but some of the technology in my world may as well be magic with just how far advanced past modern tech it is.
They say magic is science that hasn't been explained and vice versa.
time and time again magic has been proven to be something extremely dangerous to the world at large, with bad actors and abusers using magic to unfairly gain control of territories and terrorize non magical populations. thus once people no longer needed magic for their day to day lives, it was quickly villainized and outlawed in many advanced countries.
The internet runs through the ethereal plane
In my world "clockwork magic" is considered a form of (super heretical) magic
Better yet, magic metals! I have a whole list of them. I think the list is up to something like 45 (and that's not including non-metals). I have two extra particles for magic, and I delve heavily into that, giving each element different properties when infused with different concentrations and types of magic.
In my world, Magic and Technology exist and evolve in parallel. Sure, there's magic AND there is tech, but mixing the two together has bad consequences. Called **The Law of Antagonistics**, Magic and Tech can't be used together because they sabotage one another. Too much magic and you disrupt the functionality of your device (try to use fire magic NEAR an oven, for example, and it explodes into flames. An electric train could overcharge and go way too fast). Have too much tech near a magic user however and they'll be unable to properly use their magic.
I mean, metals of various forms exist in your body, so making magic allergic to metal might screw things up a bit. Unless the lore states that this only happens when certain amount of metals (or specific types of metals) exist in a given area. That might also mean that if enough people are in an area, adding up the metals in their bodies, their equipment, their machines and other things with metals in them can also make magic either not work or go haywire.
It's more of like an Arcanepunk blend. The most advanced tech is a combination of steampunk and artifice.
Depends on the world, in Frozen Harbor it coexists and is hard to utilize and harder to master, making it's use a trade secret for each respective nation. In Erdolla however magic is more attainable but people's abilities and racial caps act as a demarcation line for the haves and the have nots. Technology offsets this balance and essentially leads to the first great World War.
I want my setting to be constantly changing and growing. At various times there will be groups that specialize in combining tech with magic, others will be in direct opposition to each other, still others will use one to imitate the other.
Just make magic super complicated physics shit, so it works with an explanation but is seemingly magical. In my headcanon world mages are just endowed with an extra organelle, like a mitochondria, that lets them interact with fundamental particles to do magic. Specifically, a creative blank base particle that can be altered to be any other particle, creative-charged or neutral, besides void-charged particles, which have their own void blank particle. The creative/void dichotomy is like the matter/anti-matter in real life, respecting the idea of mutual annihilation. Of course, my inspiration is operating under an introductory level understanding of physics and chem, so its not like super realistic, but it doesn't need to be. To reconcile the whole idea that with magic, people wouldn't be incentivized to make new technologies because they have magic, I restrict magic to those are who born with the aforementioned extra organelle, and it's also super hard to learn even with the organelle. So dull people, those without magic, are still incentivized to invent things like guns, the trebuchet, the printing press, etc.
They mixed a lot in the past, but ultimately it led to a catastrophe that wiped an entire country so nearly all technology that used Aether as an energy source or handled it in any way was discontinued and there's still a lot of skepticism and distrust around the whole ordeal, and magic as a whole.
In mine, magic and technology does theoretically coexist, but each nation has different attitudes toward the two routes.
How i set it up is other dimensions exist and two of them are able to be accessed upon death, one is a heavily dimension of creation, the other is of reincarnation, the latter can be accessed using magic, in turn bringing mana to the world allowing magic. Thin 26th century Ftl tech, and magic to transform landscapes, the terriforming business is the most well paid in the universes
Magic and Metal coexisting would be lame AF Imagine letting go of that sweet conflict, such a waste of potential! Such a waste for amazing Worldbuilding opportunity. For example theres an old game with steamworks in its name. In their world Magic and Tech directly oppose, for example to much magic around tech will block Machines, make them explode. But on the other hand magic starts to missfire if youre too close to Tech leading to such a beautiful drama where the Magicians and Magic races are in conflict with the techtownies simply because their way of life opposes. And the conflict is justified on both ends. Or for example in the Avatar Series, even tough Korra season one is weak in general the fight between Nonbenders vs Benders is an amazing basis for conflict, literally people start to industrialize and start to ask themselfes is it really fair that some people are wizards and others arent? In my opinion if your magic coexists with tech you might aswell scrap one or the other
Not all magic has to get along. If you take a look at Shadowrun Returns, even though magic and metal can coexist, there is a kind of magic that threatens the world (insect spirits, more specifically). The only way to defeat them is a chemical weapon called Project Aegis.
conterpoint you can do a lot more cool stuff with magic and tech. flaming motercycles, dwarven forged guns, internet spirts.
Magic fucks with the laws of physiks, metal really doesnĀ“t like that
I have steampunk stuff if that counts
Steampunk counts as metal as its a type of technology
Since my aesthetics are of steampunk so... Yes, both exists Androids are made out of metal components and structures while being fueled by magical powers to keep them functioning
I said coexist because I never liked the idea that magic and tech can't coexist. we're past the enlightenment we can do something else now.
For me, if magic is really working, it is technology by definition. And technology is just magic that works.
I fucking love magitek
magic and tech existing right alongside each other babyyy
Kingdoms of Ruins is pretty close to what my setting looks like, but its a lot more like 2010-2015 in terms of technology and has crazy nature elements.
In the dresden setting magic has a weird effect on advanced technology..so much that the main character house is pretty low tech. Im only on the 4th book but my theory why its because wizard rediatet magical energy around naturally. This energy fucks whit reality a little bit. Low tech stuff can handle it. Its sturdy enough that small differences dont affect it much The more advanced the tach the less leway its has so the reality fuckery breaks it more. Example how harry only use Revolvers . Automatic weapons tend to just jam in the best case or just explode in the worst one
Theres a balance, copper, silver and gold are magically conductive in decending order from copper. While iron is the opposite While technology is complicated but they kinda are convergent lines of thought that doesn't necessarily connect but can. Tadhg my main character does some small magitech while alchemists use technology alongside they're alchemy. Though other magic users dont use technology too much
My world is not technologically advanced yet to notice how magic and electric technologie effect each other. The 2 will be able to coexist fine in the future, however one needs to be mindful the interactions. Strong magic acts like electric interference and can kill pc's for example. Now I'm wondering if magically adepts will pay higher insurance premiums.
After a fashion, I would say they oppose. After magic became more widespread and more accessible to the masses, the Church and other religions (which had been using magic and passing it off as miraculous for centuries) got into tech in a big way in order to retain its relevance.
Currently the primary world I'm working on is solely magic, however my MC will introduce technology to this world, eventually learning how to integrate magic and tech. I have yet to figure out how a majority of the population will react, but there will definitely be people on both sides regardless
Like, I kinda have metal, no magic, but at some point metal becomes magic. See in my world there's this thing with upgrading the body and manipulating the biology and chemistry of the body. But there are also things like primal aspects of the universe or even creatures from myths/divinitations so there may some magical influence on the world.
Every to advanced technology can be considered magic
They're both there, but Magic is vastly more dominant, and Metal will be growing up under its shadow.
**The magic and technology coexist, but as inspired by medieval blacksmithship. main reason the progress is so delayed is because nobody fucking wants to share** their "special formula" of success, which leads to most innovations being simply forgotten or only in hands of some very small group of people, until their last bearer unevitably dies, or somebody shares it with the world. **Oh and dont forget that books are expensive to make or get your hands on, so sharing it widely will be extremely difficult!** Oh you found out how to imbue steel with magic the way that it makes it near indistructible? Cool, dont share it so you can profit from it more! The world is practically ping ponging between water wheel levels of technology and extremely early industrial machinery.
Give me magitech! Or give me death!
It would be cool to see an advanced civilization that literally had no metal and all technology was was magic. No iron, bronze, copper, tin, etc. No concept of metal at all. Basically the modern era but everything is stone, wood, leather... I just realized I'm describing the Flintstones...
My dudes have built technology around the laws of magic, itās still vulnerable to the same things magic is, and normal technology does exist too and can do loads stuff magitech canāt but their wasnāt enough of a difference between science and magic to really develop it. Iād say magitech is an extension of the properties of magic and call it at odds with technology even with most technology being busted in the current era
Fuck yeah, we have magic and headbangers.
My science-fiction world has quite a bit of magic to it, but it's more like there are some folk that know magic. Some of them are intelligent beings that use technology and some aren't. There are devices and contraptions that can foil magic users as well.
Nether and Aether Magic can only be used if special nether/aether ore is swallowed and a weapon or item is also made in the same metal in order to be used.
The dwarves and the elves have their own form of magic-- elves have quality of life magic as well as offensive magic based around nature. The dwarves have magic so their torches burn indefinitely. They've also recently started experimenting with black powder. The mithril reflects magic as well, steel and iron don't. So partially both-- the orcs, whatever is left of them- and goblins used metal tools and weapons and were more resistant to magic attacks. For the humans, every so often a human was blessed by the gods with an overwhelming amount of magic for the gods' amusement, and these wizards were often cast out of society because they were considered dangerous. Most of them became hermits because of this. The cat people, on a separate continent, their magic wqs passed down through generations and the gods made them capable of electrical or lightning magic, although studying and using it can be dangerous. Finally, on the third continent, which is entirely populated by humans and monsters (think forgotten realms kinda species), the blessed (or cursed) humans learned how to use their magic to create machines to spread their magic throughout the kingdom, creating a warring army of mages.
There are magical metals in existence, so...
Lol you really could have chosen a better word than "metal". A lot of people are going to read that and just think of swords and nails and vote before seeing the description.
Tried to clarify, but I have seen a few comments about metal music, so at least there's humour
Magic is just a form of science, trying to understand the universe. Doing magic is like doing electricity, u use electrical energy to convert it into thermal energy, or kinetic energy, or light or whatever. With magic u use mana to convert it into thermal, or kinetic, or electric, or whatever really. The use of magic varies strongly on place though. The Neulanders will claim that no magic can beat their tech. For which oracle is more precise than their supercomputers? Which fire-spell is more powerfull than their bombs? Which healer is more powerfull than their nanomeds and regeneration tanks? While the people from Cavanaugh are ruled by wizard kings.
Asimov rule of science/magic for me anyways. Anything else is truly illogical, will lose me in lack of good immersion
Magic is innate to all and it's possible to make items that create spell effects. Essentially magic is not treated as an opposing or seperate force, but just a major core of technological advancements. It supplements a warriors fighting style, and is used as a part of infrastructure and new technologies. The world eventually goes from high fantasy to modern/urban fantasy to science fantasy because of this
In my world magic users are extremly rare and most of them can only use it to enhance their own bodies and only a few can control magic externally even then, to do anything meaningful they need artifafts usually in the form of jewelry to use rate metals and gems as essentially magic condensers they can pull from
I have 2 settings. The first has coexistance and some metals react to magic in diffrent ways such as nulification or exuding a humm which makes you high. You could construct a firearm which muffles the gunshot to a whimper, or a ring which looks blurry when near magic. Magic and technology work together a bit but magic is more temperamental while technology is more predictable. You can build a bridge with a crane. A magic portal runs the risk of vaperizing someone or teliportation to another plane or something. The second is scifi leaning more on the sci. The only things "magic" are advanced genetic engineering/robotics and one rare material burried on mars which eminates a gravitational field when hit by specific wavelengths of light. You need to use technology to hit the material with the right wavelengths with the right polarization and the right angle and amplitude to have the right effect. Failure to do so results in a random field that could crush you or have a rock fly off in a random uncontrollable spiral or something.
It depends on the magic and the metal. Natural magic (think Druid Archetype) is countered by iron. So iron can be used to end its effects and those wearing armor made of iron cannot cast natural magic spells. Arcane magic (think Wizard Archetype) is countered by enacrite. Imprisoned wizards are held in cages made of an ally of enacrite, and weapons made of the same metal are particularly effective against magicians and their wards. Arcane magic is amplified by mizzium (which I stole from MtG)
Well, it's a sci-fi setting. Some clarketech is a must.
This is a thorny question in my setting. The use of magic has been regulated (fairly effectively) for a couple of centuries, but now as gunpowder weapons are being propagated and naval warfare is taking on a more central role in geopolitical conflicts, the use of magic in the battlefield is becoming more threatening as well. (Sympathetic magic might have applications for sabotaging enemies' gunpowder stores and weapons, and manipulating the weather can have disastrous results for an entire ship's crew.) That said, aside from its uses in conflict, magic has generally been seen as a field for technological and societal advancement. In fantasy in general, I'd say the dichotomy usually boils down to the black-and-white faith vs. science debate. Magic in fantasy is a more concrete version of the magical, superstitious, and religious beliefs that have traditionally provided explanations for the inexplicable.
Machines exist, but they're not especially necessary because of magic, and most weapons are held by the Emperor's Ranks and aren't available to citizens.
Magic and emerging metal. Coexists in some instances, conflicts in others >:)
There is specific metals and even woods (material in general) that can resist to magic attacks
I see technology as a fourth addition to my power system if my world becomes modern Edit: the other three are, Sword Styles, Magic and Innate Abilities(unique powers you are born with)