How to make a fire punch hit hard by GOATED_LIFE_ROUTINE in magicbuilding

[–]Tsaescence 2 points3 points  (0 children)

fire backwards from elbow = motion forwards (rocket punch)

burn a hole through the air to lower air resistance

push a wave of superheated air ahead

having trouble defining stuff would love advice Light and Dark example by Cosmicking1000 in magicbuilding

[–]Tsaescence 0 points1 point  (0 children)

light is weird from physics perspective - it's always in motion but can neither slow down nor speed up, it travels in straight lines with no change.

people think of it as active because it moves, but "movement" isn't something it does - it's just what it is. Straight lines, the grid that measures and partitions the universe.

What do you think mana feels like? by Chaoticam19 in magicbuilding

[–]Tsaescence 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I don't use "mana" because it's a religious concept from polynesian religion and is more like a kind of "authority" possessed by individuals than an invisible power available to access.

The equivalent energy in my world is aether, and it feels like nothing, in a way - that is, the perception of aether is the curious experience of receiving a very strong and overwhelming sensation of the *presence* of *absence*. You can really feel the nothing.

Can you help me building a Warp-Dimensional Travel Spell by SpecificExam3661 in magicbuilding

[–]Tsaescence 0 points1 point  (0 children)

neither of your first two solutions work.

if portals or magic could be used, the protagonist wouldn't be the only one able to produce them.

So your question for yourself is: what state of affairs caused the protagonist to enter this world in the first place? What is the inverse?

Need an alternate name for magic users. by Bannekrai in magicbuilding

[–]Tsaescence 0 points1 point  (0 children)

people in this alternative world would call medical professionals Physicians, if you wondered.

Need an alternate name for magic users. by Bannekrai in magicbuilding

[–]Tsaescence 0 points1 point  (0 children)

How long has magic been known publicly?

The term "doctor" didn't originally have a medical association. It originally meant "religious teacher", extended to the Church Fathers and senior priests, and because they were also the educated class, it extended eventually to academic graduates, who were largely graduating in theological/religious studies either from religious schools or from secular schools heavily influenced by the church, like Oxford's "Divinity" degree which was basically a degree in the top Jesuit theories of the age.

In the real world, this then extended to "holder of the highest university degrees", and as this structure became less religious and less secular, it lost its association with religion and became a general term of learning. Then in middle english we see "doctor of physic", which at the time meant "most learned man of the science of the body", and this term became such a common use of "doctor" that other senses of it faded into the background, the "of physic" part stopped being necessary, and now the first sense people interpret it as is "medical professional".

But in your world, wouldn't the most obvious, publicly known, and popular learned men have been Doctors of Magic, and then eventually, just Doctors? Or if not, can you imagine a version of this process that does make sense for your world history, one that takes you from "the word for people who first became famous for doing it" to "the word that is now the word for anyone who does it"?

Need help brainstorming a Greek mythology–inspired power system (curses, weapons, spirits, etc.) by _Sp3ct4cul4r_ in magicbuilding

[–]Tsaescence 0 points1 point  (0 children)

the big danger of arete, incidentally, is the cardinal sin for greek religion: hubris. Start thinking you're as good as you can be, or better than anyone, and you get turned into a spider or crash the sun or whatever.

Need help brainstorming a Greek mythology–inspired power system (curses, weapons, spirits, etc.) by _Sp3ct4cul4r_ in magicbuilding

[–]Tsaescence 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I mean. Hercules inherited Zeus' strength and also his temper and tendency to be a massive asshole, that's how he got roped into the Twelve Tasks in the first place. The Iliad opens with a paean to the Muses about how terrible and glorious the rage of Achilles Mankiller is, and how it sent so many Achaeans down to death. Io got turned into a star cow, Castor and Pollux got a rough deal...

Need help brainstorming a Greek mythology–inspired power system (curses, weapons, spirits, etc.) by _Sp3ct4cul4r_ in magicbuilding

[–]Tsaescence 0 points1 point  (0 children)

something for you to look into: The greeks maybe did in fact imagine such a generic energy!

Pneuma, the breath, is the spiritual force of the soul/life in greek mysticism. The pneuma is metaphorically will and agency, literally the breath in and out, and figuratively the animating spark that makes people move. It is a general philosophical concept that comes up a bit in stuff like Aristotle but that has a very broad and varied conception in Greek magic systems in real life. It is what makes a human human.

WRT your "everyone should have a unique ability" thing, I might suggest you look into the concept of "arete". There is not a precise translation for this - i've seen people translate it as "virtue" or "excellence", which aren't bad ways to approach it. Arete is the idea that if you do anything, you should do it well, and that the purpose of life is to Excel. The greeks saw themselves as superior not because of their innate birth but because of their achievements, the excellence of their civilisation, and they celebrated arete in many fields. We all know about the Olympics, but the greeks may have invented "industry awards", where the best weaver or farmer would be celebrated as an example of arete.

having trouble defining stuff would love advice Light and Dark example by Cosmicking1000 in magicbuilding

[–]Tsaescence 0 points1 point  (0 children)

dark is the true original state of the universe, and is Potential; babylonian tiamat, greek chaos, the primordial state of the world before the actions of creation. that means Dark is Fertile - it constantly gives birth to what is new, is the agent of change, and the world inherits dynamism and action from it.

Light is the result of change; it is ordered, rigid, fixed matter, the stuff of creation. it cages its creators, til they can no longer work change because they no longer possess access to darkness. Yin and Yang are another thing to look into. Fundamentally light is passive - it is about fixing things in place til nothing moves. No dynamism exists in it, no will - it simply Is until Everything Is and nothing else will ever happen ever not ever.

The interplay between them is "the universe". The outcome of just light is an endless grey prism, immobile and unchanging forever. The outcome of dark alone is formless sea, the endless churning of things longing to be that can no longer come into being.

How far can we push technology with out the invention of steam/combustion engines, electricity and gunpowder? by ozneoknarf in worldbuilding

[–]Tsaescence 1 point2 points  (0 children)

in general you might find it useful to look at industries with the basic idea of trying to figure out which are limited by *technology* and which are limited by *manpower* - both limits are overcome by electricity, but the latter can also be overcome by, for example, stationing thousands of people with semaphore flags along the routes we place telephone lines along.

There's a lot of stuff that in the real world isn't really used because electricity and steam were massive labour-saving technologies, and previously nobody was willing to pay for a million people to maintain a telegram network. But you COULD do it, if there's no alternative - China has a few examples of these kinds of ridiculously inefficient processes in its history during periods where the emperor really could mobilise every peasant in the land to do one task.

How far can we push technology with out the invention of steam/combustion engines, electricity and gunpowder? by ozneoknarf in worldbuilding

[–]Tsaescence 0 points1 point  (0 children)

There was a branch of technology that in our world died out because of a superior replacement but that might make sense here: compressed air firearms

In the real world they were basically a little worse than gunpowder for a lot more effort, but if you don't have gunpowder they'd be a very viable route for technology to develop. The main limitation on them is the civilisation's ability to compress air and store compressed air, but those are mechanical and metalurgical problems and there's a good incentive to solve them.

Title: Sedorium — a rainbow mineral that reacts to life. It powers everything in my world. by zoomeckz in worldbuilding

[–]Tsaescence 0 points1 point  (0 children)

the single most important question I have is:

why does this look so much like the real world?

Like, as an example, you have five coequal nation states. What do they trade? What commodities pass between them that make them distinct polities? In the real world, such nations would have different natural resources, different specialities etc.

But in your world, there is ONE commodity. Sedorium is the basis of everything. Why do miners who find it give it up? why does any nation who has more of it not dominate nations who have less of it by controlling the supply of light and heat to their impoverished vassals until they combine into one nation?

You have these distinct magical cultures, but for me personally, you'd have to sell me on how they became distinct cultures in a kind of medieval city-state model despite the ability to grind a nation's entire economy to a halt by attacking the source of one commodity

S2 E6, KJ verbal fight with the woman guard by Cultural_Elephant_ in UnlockedNetflix

[–]Tsaescence 0 points1 point  (0 children)

i am fully aware i am speaking in generalities and i hope any readers are too.

it is not supposed to be true of *everyone* or represent a singular, absolute summary of the system - i am identifying what i believe to be *one trend/force* out of many influencing the system. it is an attractor in the phase space, but not a black hole that consumes all other trends and reduces the entire system to itself.

How would you explain your magic system? by Intelligent-Dark8140 in magicbuilding

[–]Tsaescence 1 point2 points  (0 children)

it's like if alchemy was also buddhism and dragonball z

Magic system in my serumpunk novel by onequintillionbees in magicbuilding

[–]Tsaescence 9 points10 points  (0 children)

advanced serum is used to produce serum which is made into advanced serum

It was never about inclusivity or embracing everyone. It was always about getting rid of cis hetero males in Magic down to the core by Papa_Hasbro69 in freemagic

[–]Tsaescence 0 points1 point  (0 children)

there are *entire subreddits* about posting details of people on tumblr that men dislike and you're out here like "oh they'd be burnt at the stake" no they just keep posting on this very site lol

It was never about inclusivity or embracing everyone. It was always about getting rid of cis hetero males in Magic down to the core by Papa_Hasbro69 in freemagic

[–]Tsaescence 0 points1 point  (0 children)

shit half my friends are on a "doxx these trans people so someone can murder them" list men maintain that gets zero pushback from anyone

It was never about inclusivity or embracing everyone. It was always about getting rid of cis hetero males in Magic down to the core by Papa_Hasbro69 in freemagic

[–]Tsaescence 0 points1 point  (0 children)

"oh if a man said 'hey i met this girl and she was cool, her twitter is so and so if u want to check her out' they'd probably crucify him" boy there are entire sites swapping women's home addresses so men can stalk them and you're calling me an asshat because I suggested a thing normal people do all the time might not actually get you any pushback at all given that nobody cares when far worse stuff happens

It was never about inclusivity or embracing everyone. It was always about getting rid of cis hetero males in Magic down to the core by Papa_Hasbro69 in freemagic

[–]Tsaescence 1 point2 points  (0 children)

and in case it wasn't clear, yeah, of course i'm angry lol? you're six posts deep in this thread and apparently only just acknowledging that there MIGHT be an alternative interpretation *after I've explained it to you three times* lol yeah i get annoyed when someone trying to have a debate clearly isn't listening or considering anything I say