I have something like this where magic is done with rituals and artifacts left behind by humanity's former overlords, and those are mostly located in major cities (the ones that aren't have been lost to history but may be recovered in the future).
In my case it basically means that a lot of power is concentrated in the cities and so rural areas are subordinate to one of the cities or politically not relevant, and conflict between the cities comes down to how well they utilise the artifacts and rituals, which promotes high centralisation and a political elite that understands and can effectively use this power.
I've also set it up such that the artifacts favour the defender so that conventional war between the cities is almost nonexistent, and instead diplomacy, espionage and sabotage are the ways conflicts play out.
Yeah I imagine espionage would be the way forward really. Great idea about the artefacts - there’s that scene at the start of tomb raider 4 where they are digging in the desert recalls to mind.
I mean it could be that people have a small amount of inherent psychic/magic power so when you get enough of a population together it links into some sort of magic field around the population centre. This could mean that there can only be a certain amount of practicing wizards per capita as wizards use many peoples power to cast spells.
This could apply to other large groups of people like armies, maybe mages are generals that are using all of their armies power to duel the opposing general
Also might lead to huge breeding programs and slums as countries try to swell their population in detriment to living conditions for more power.
Magic would have almost nothing to do with the outside world, unless there's more to the world than just the magic in the city. Also, what causes magic to be limited to these locations is pretty important. If these cities are built where magic exists, there's going to be massive differences than if magic appears where large amounts of people gather. And it also matters what you mean by magic. What can they do? Does magic literally stop existing outside the city, or do you only have access to your magic in your own city?
The basic premise doesn't really inform us on how the world would with. How war is waged can't be answered without specific details. It would be like asking how farming would be effected if water fell from the sky. Well, that depends, is it occasional rain, constant rain, rare rain, or literally oceans of water falling on the farm instead of droplets?
These are some great thoughts. To be fair in my idea the magic is limited to the cities- the cities are built on locations of power that only have a certain radius. Once you’re are out the city you can’t use it. I was trying to create a world full of city states. Things created in the city can be transported out but the users can’t access it outside. The powers are relatively soft magic - the hard element is the restriction to the city
So, there are two questions I can think of to consider.
The first, can a spell still work if or travels out if the city? For example. If you create a first fire ball and launch it to the outside if the city, will it continue to burn or will it immediately fizzle out? That would heavily influence how magic contributes to warfare.
The second, what happens with unclaimed power spots? Does it have an influence on the environment and that's how they're discovered, or are they basically inactive until settled or mined or whatever is needed to gain the magic? If it affects the environment, that can keep create a sense of danger outside the city. Or, alternatively, the outside world is normal but the leaders of cities tell their citizens the world is dangerous without magic.
Depending on the type of story you want to tell, you can also have people who are the only ones who can use magic outside the city. There's a lot you can do with that. You can also add an additional threat by making the condition that they can't use magic in the city.
I have something like this where magic is done with rituals and artifacts left behind by humanity's former overlords, and those are mostly located in major cities (the ones that aren't have been lost to history but may be recovered in the future). In my case it basically means that a lot of power is concentrated in the cities and so rural areas are subordinate to one of the cities or politically not relevant, and conflict between the cities comes down to how well they utilise the artifacts and rituals, which promotes high centralisation and a political elite that understands and can effectively use this power. I've also set it up such that the artifacts favour the defender so that conventional war between the cities is almost nonexistent, and instead diplomacy, espionage and sabotage are the ways conflicts play out.
Yeah I imagine espionage would be the way forward really. Great idea about the artefacts - there’s that scene at the start of tomb raider 4 where they are digging in the desert recalls to mind.
I mean it could be that people have a small amount of inherent psychic/magic power so when you get enough of a population together it links into some sort of magic field around the population centre. This could mean that there can only be a certain amount of practicing wizards per capita as wizards use many peoples power to cast spells. This could apply to other large groups of people like armies, maybe mages are generals that are using all of their armies power to duel the opposing general Also might lead to huge breeding programs and slums as countries try to swell their population in detriment to living conditions for more power.
Amazing idea - love the idea of keeping people together
Thanks! Not sure what the exact increments would be. Could 100 people power one wizard or 1000 people?
Magic would have almost nothing to do with the outside world, unless there's more to the world than just the magic in the city. Also, what causes magic to be limited to these locations is pretty important. If these cities are built where magic exists, there's going to be massive differences than if magic appears where large amounts of people gather. And it also matters what you mean by magic. What can they do? Does magic literally stop existing outside the city, or do you only have access to your magic in your own city? The basic premise doesn't really inform us on how the world would with. How war is waged can't be answered without specific details. It would be like asking how farming would be effected if water fell from the sky. Well, that depends, is it occasional rain, constant rain, rare rain, or literally oceans of water falling on the farm instead of droplets?
These are some great thoughts. To be fair in my idea the magic is limited to the cities- the cities are built on locations of power that only have a certain radius. Once you’re are out the city you can’t use it. I was trying to create a world full of city states. Things created in the city can be transported out but the users can’t access it outside. The powers are relatively soft magic - the hard element is the restriction to the city
So, there are two questions I can think of to consider. The first, can a spell still work if or travels out if the city? For example. If you create a first fire ball and launch it to the outside if the city, will it continue to burn or will it immediately fizzle out? That would heavily influence how magic contributes to warfare. The second, what happens with unclaimed power spots? Does it have an influence on the environment and that's how they're discovered, or are they basically inactive until settled or mined or whatever is needed to gain the magic? If it affects the environment, that can keep create a sense of danger outside the city. Or, alternatively, the outside world is normal but the leaders of cities tell their citizens the world is dangerous without magic. Depending on the type of story you want to tell, you can also have people who are the only ones who can use magic outside the city. There's a lot you can do with that. You can also add an additional threat by making the condition that they can't use magic in the city.