No magic VS low magic VS high magic : low tech VS high tec.

[Kalin]

Fallout has psionics and magic nukes. Fallout 2 has talking animals, a fricking ghost and a black womyn in charge of Vault City.

I'd say they're MID MAGIC at the very least.

 

[Cryomancer]

As long as there's gunpowder, I'm happy.

What about a technomancer creating magical robots with gatling guns? Or necromancers giving muskets to his animated skeleton army?

Settings where Magic is purely elemental are as boring as a setting with magic could get.

What about when elemental magic can do more? Eg - Water magic on M&M VI can be used to enchant items, teleport to waypoints, teleport to cities and so on.

 

[luj1]

What I prefer - 'Sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic'

Unfortunately Numenera sucked monkey balls

 

[Farewell into the night]

I think I have a diverse aproach and can enjoy different settings, but I think that I like the most medieval things like Darlands, pnp Ars Magica. World War 2 occult, Mutant Chronicles / Fallout stuff are also close to my heart.
However, I do not like high tech settings, they are cool for literature, but games feel not really sci-fi as I would like to.

 

[Rinslin Merwind]

Technically every option in poll can be done properly, but right now I wish there was more of these:
Low tech/high magic - World living through age similar to Renaissance. First gunpowder weaponry, first printing press etc already invented. Scientific way of thinking is ready to change the world, but magic is still dominant because populace is more used to it and some low Int sorcerers even fear that their tyrannical regimes will be overthrown with power of technological progress. Therefore technology used only in places where using magic is costly/hazardous or in cases when stealth required since many people have methods to detect magic.
Low tech/mid magic - tech same as in first example and science ready to change the world, but magic is not THAT accessible and powerful. Fairly big chunk of populace does not have access to magic and majority of rulers aren't mages either, therefore some people started to think seriously about wrestling for power with casters, but casters still respected/feared by many and play significant role in shaping fate of the world.
Mid tech/ mid magic - technology and magic basically at equals and wrestle/co-exist in world. Yes, Arcanum was good, but there can be done more different things in same vein. Like technology level and magical prowess varies from region to region, depending on historical/economical and cultural features. World still have poor countries that employ primitive steam engines, meanwhile their rich neighbors employ more efficient diesel/biodiesel engines and most powerful and rich states employ the power of nuclear fuel. Magic still exist, but there no sorcerers kings and magical orders replaced by political parties, private clubs and sub-cultures for wielders of magical powers. Casters trying to adapt to ever changing world to preserve their craft and survive.
High tech/no magic - common we need more sci-fi RPGs.

I have different view on what low/mid/high tier means so I haven't voted. Also poll sucks, because you have to choose only one.

 

[Ol' Willy]

And vampires are probably the hardest fantastical creature to "sci-fi it"

Peter Watts strongly disagrees

 

[PrettyDeadman]

AoD is low magic as well, there are

And vampires are probably the hardest fantastical creature to "sci-fi it"

Peter Watts strongly disagrees

His books are pretty weak in terms of giving explanation to the ideas presented in them, including vampires.

 

[DJOGamer PT]

I would say Mid Tech + Mid Magic


Low Magic means that it's presensence rare, it's rules very abstract and it's power subtle
So that works better either for games with equally abstract system or linear campgains

The problem with High Magic is the lack of wonder/mystery and the worse part is that these settings are usually pretty safe
By this I mean the fact that Magic is so present, know about and powerful, yet the settings themselves are so close to our own in terms of societal structure and culture

Mid Magic however is the sweet spot between the two
It's basic workings might be known about, but the knowledge of the mystical arts is still small and sketchy
Mages that are truly proficient are a minority of the population, and even in the societies that do embrace magic it stil may not be a fact of daily life
Plus even the power of such individuals isn't so overwhelming they can't deal with by physical means and the more powerful/complex of spells aren't atomic bombs with no counter and take a toll on the caster


As for Tech
I don't mind including it, because honestly I just want a cool and complex setting, if it's addition can provide it then go for it
That why I am for Mid Tech instead of Low Tech
While High Tech we're pretty much talking about a futuristic setting, and even though I enjoy that, I prefer fantasy

What I would like to see in these settings I voted is more integration between Tech and Magic
I mean if your town has a Pyromancer order in it, then why not use them to give the town heat during winter or some form of electricity from steam?
Instead of using gunpowder to launch the bullet why a gun that turns magical energy into kinetic energy?
Or army that's laying siege to a city could give a small special army unit some breath underwater potions and a kind of DPV or even diving suit to stealthy infiltrate the city and open the gates.

 

[Ol' Willy]

His books are pretty weak in terms of giving explanation to the ideas presented in them, including vampires.

Have you read the addendum?

 

[PrettyDeadman]

His books are pretty weak in terms of giving explanation to the ideas presented in them, including vampires.

Have you read the addendum?

No.

 

[undecaf]

Mid to high tech and NO magic.

I’m tired of magic and conventional fantasy.

 

[Ol' Willy]

No

That's where all the explanation is. Questionable choice, but his books are already overloaded with theoretical stuff, moving some parts aside kinda makes sense.

 

[PrettyDeadman]

No

That's where all the explanation is. Questionable choice, but his books are already overloaded with theoretical stuff, moving some parts aside kinda makes sense.

Didn't read it, but in the book I remember him claiming things like human consciousness being only useful for endless self-reflection and giving humans no advantage other with wild animals who have to consciousness but use their neurological system for better reflexes and stuff like wolves and bears and shiet. The thing which can be rejected by closing the book for a second amf looking around if humans are really under threat from more efficient lifeforms like wild animals, or its the other way around. His vampire evolution and biology also didn't make any sense if you gave it at least a minute of critical thought. His explanations only worked under specific conditions which relied on a bunch of manufactured and unnatural facts to be present in story and if you don't think too hard about it. The whole idea of consciousness being a dead end and detrimental to the success of human species relied on a vastly superior being accidently developing biology vastly superior to human technology (which for some reason presented as "natural" direction of evolution) and made up magic consciousnessless humans who are not able themself to create any technology but will devaste humanity due to superior biology before completely stopping in development since the only reason for them to advance from their primal state is to mimic humans as some kind of hunting technic.

 

[Darth Canoli]

I'd sell my soul for a high tech, Star Trek like cRPG (party-bbases and TB) with ToEE/KotC combat and an overall adventure on par with Arcanum or Fallout.

Well, there's Colony Ship and it's great but a couple of others in the Star Trek universe with phasers and teleportation would just be amazing.

Or same system in a "Planet of Adventure" (Jack Vance) world, starting with low tech and going all the way to high tech as you reach civilization and gain access to better off-world merchants.

 

[Reinhardt]

Fuck magic. It's for gays and wommynz.

 

[Cryomancer]

I'd sell my soul for a high tech, Star Trek like cRPG (party-bbases and TB) with ToEE/KotC combat and an overall adventure on par with Arcanum or Fallout.

OwlCat maybe can deliver it. Is only speculation https://rpgcodex.net/forums/threads/owlcat-hiring-to-develop-a-turn-based-sci-fi-rpg.134185/

 

[ERYFKRAD]

You can have all the magic you want and all the tech you want. Doesn't beat an axe to the head.

 

[Sykar]

Mid-tech mid-magic, or mid-tech low-magic.

Low to mid magic is more exciting because magic stays something special rather than being an everyday thing. It keeps its mystery and always has an air of danger around it. Too high magic makes magic mundane and boring.

I also prefer mid-tech (renaissance to 20th century) to pre-gunpowder tech, because honestly we've had enough pre-gunpowder generic medieval settings. And I like guns, even if it's just simple early handcannons.

As long as there's gunpowder, I'm happy.

I prefer Sci Fi over magic but I do like "Das Schwarze Auge" magic system, especially demon summoning. It can literally kill you, or worse.

 

[Erebus]

Mid Tech / Low Magic

Magic has to be mysterious, special and rare, or it's not magical. That's one of my main problems with RPGs like D&D and Pathfinder, in which magic is easily available and follows rules that are simple and clear. Lord of the Rings and the Conan stories have the right approach regarding magic.

Regarding science, I don't necessarily want electric telegraphs and steam locomotives to be available (though that can be cool), but it's annoying to see technology so often stuck at a primitive level even in stories/settings where it's blatantly not necessary. Pathfinder is a great illustration of the problem : even though the setting is a lot more inspired from the Renaissance than from the Middle Ages, the existence of guns is extremely limited and can easily be ignored. Even in the adventure path that's entirely about pirates, cannons are almost nowhere to be seen ! FFS, cannons already existed at the end of the Middle Ages, the Ottomans used them to take Constantinople !

 

[Caim]

High tech, high magic, and high gains types to beat the shit out of the nerds.

 

[adddeed]

I like low magic games like the Witcher, Gothic/Risen etc

 

[octavius]

I prefer Sci Fi over magic but I do like "Das Schwarze Auge" magic system, especially demon summoning. It can literally kill you, or worse.

Heh, that reminds me of Aleshar: World of Ice, in which spell casting can give you heart attack and kill you.

 

[Sharpedge]

I prefer magic and technology which is done well to magic and technology which is done poorly. All the various stages of magic and technology can be done well, unfortunately, game designers manage to fail spectacularly at it and as a result there aren't many fantasy worlds which I can point to and say, "this world did magic right." For magic to be done well, the designer needs to think of the consequences of what such a system would do within the world and then ensure that the world follows those consequences. The world needs to "make sense" in the context of magic.

 

[Generic-Giant-Spider]

Low magic.

 

[Ol' Willy]

Didn't read it, but in the book I remember him claiming things like human consciousness being only useful for endless self-reflection and giving humans no advantage other with wild animals who have to consciousness but use their neurological system for better reflexes and stuff like wolves and bears and shiet. The thing which can be rejected by closing the book for a second amf looking around if humans are really under threat from more efficient lifeforms like wild animals, or its the other way around.

I don't say that I agree with the guy completely, but the argument has it's point. If you play musical instruments you should know that the easiest way to fuck up is to start thinking hard about what you are doing/playing. Better let the muscle memory to do it's thing. Or the ganja - under which one starts to overthink every action and from the side it looks quite funny.
Of course, the aliens without any self-consciousness whatsoever but paradoxically evolved are a big stretch under any scrutiny.

will devaste humanity due to superior biology before completely stopping in development since the only reason for them to advance from their primal state is to mimic humans as some kind of hunting technic.

That kinda makes sense, actually. Vampires being superior to humans, but still being parasites, and without humans they will just go extinct. You can apply that to vampires in Bloodlines, and it's still gonna work - no matter how powerful Tremere, Malkavians or other vampire clans are, without humans - without blood - they won't survive long.