Alright... I think I have gotten a good view of the basics on how magic COULD be viewed...
You see, I think a major problem with how I think is that I made the mistake of actually reading things outside of D&D and thinking of how it could be adapted. I have also had a good deal of players who constantly challenge the borders of the box, pushing the limits and seeing what they can do. Though not so much anymore, they used to love the concept of constantly researching new spells and magic to either enhance or modify existing spells or break new ground.
I have seen the wonders of Mage: The Ascension and all its capabilities. Infact... its fluff is what made my mind wander and dance the most. Namely the Technocracy and the more technological oriented magical disciplines. Oh, I enjoyed the traditionalists a great deal... I won't pass up a chance to play an Order of Hermes mage... they are the quintessential D&D mage in that system. I do so enjoy lighting things on fire occasionally.
But the thing is... the Hermetic mages... the traditionalists... never advance. Why should they? They already can do so very much with the wiggle of a finger and a thought. Their focus is a small wand or a gem and they can do wonders! Its the appeal of magic.
Its also very greedy. Ooooh sure, there are the Gandalfs and the Elminsters who decide to come down from on high to interact with the non-magical folk and help but for the most part... they are just shepherds to all the non-magical people. After all, they wield powers that rival deities. Clerics are not much better here... but I will get to my hatred of why clerics shouldn't be doing what they do in a later post... right now, I am focused on the wizardry world.
No, these people barely actually help to change the world that they are in... if you assume that they exist within the framework of the pseudo-medieval setting that is the stock worlds of Dungeons and Dragons or High Fantasy in general. There are various weak reasons why they have not taken over... Templars, Laws of Magic enforced by overly traditionalist mages, 'the church', a deity of magic who is being obstinate... the reasons are countless on how we are stuck in a traditional High Fantasy world instead of something far more fantastic.
So... we are going to start here... in the world of high fantasy... and start to look at just how magic can actually improve or change a setting so completely and yet still arrive at a world that we can relate to. Finally, we are arriving at a point where the title of this blog finally gets to come into play. How does a society actually adapt and change to reflect powers that magic has over it? How do people come to grips with something that is a force upon the universe once the veil of mystery and the arcane get strips away? What happens to magic once logic and the serious eyes of the educated get turned to it?
Can the traditional mage and the church survive in a world where words like heresy and mystery have been dispelled like a shadow under the light of a lantern?
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