Magic in Prodigy

Probably due to the fact that magic does not exist, the interface between magic and reality is one of the most consistently glossed-over aspects in fantasy, especially when people try to feature classic wizard-y types shooting fire and lightning.  There are two problems that I see happen, fairly frequently.

The first is the conflict between the magic available and the setting itself - Alexis talks several times about how the existence of magic destroys the circumstances required to proliferate gunpowder technology.  The low-level availability of fire magic means that most 1st or 2nd level magic-users can destroy any centralized power depot.  That is a failure to acknowledge the effect of magic on normally functioning historical processes.  The other major issue I see with regard to settings is in settings that over-emphasize the effects of magic - placing mills in the middle of nowhere under the logic that the watermill runs off a Barrel of Everflowing Water or somesuch nonsense.  The economics of powering most mills with minor artifacts does not work out, and it ultimately makes magic feel cheap because objects of great power are intentionally buried beneath a couple feet of cow dung to power the watermill.

The second conflict is between magic-using characters and characters who don't use magic.  This was 'solved' in OD&D by creating rigid character roles based on class - fighters fight, thieves do thief things, and magic-users manipulate the minds of others and bend time and space... (although this was definitely mitigated by the relatively few number of spells known by any individual M-U).  In 3.x, well, everything went a little crazy and there were ways for spellcasters to be better fighters than fighters or thieves than rogues, and it turned into a big bundle of DM-dependent crap (as in, depending upon DM style this might be a huge problem or a nonexistent one), and then 4th edition tried to make everyone a spellcaster.  I think the problem stems from trying to recreate the magic of lore into a game system - this seems to have brought with it the belief that 'if something is interesting, it can be done with magic'.

My solution to both tines of this problem, setting-wise and character-wise, is to keep magic small and significant.  If most people have no access to magic, then it can't have a dramatically derailing impact on technological development, and if each magic=using character can do incredible things but only in a limited sphere we allow magic to be a potent and interesting character choice without it being strictly superior from either a character's or player's perspective. 

In Prodigy, there are 4.5 paths to magical power.  The first is through devotion to culture-specific higher concepts, and each concept grants a small number of boons (no more than 4) appropriate to that culture.  So, mediums of the Order, a religion devoted to peace and nonviolence, psychically emanate an aura of peace that forces everyone nearby to cease any forms of aggression.  More powerful boons are unlocked as the character becomes more devout and more fully understands the intricacies of their chosen faith.

The second path to power is in studying the maddening magics of the Sidh.  This grants mastery over the minds of others but comes with two considerable costs.  The first is that every single society but two (and they are the most marginalized and least powerful of all the societies) will instantly put to death practitioners of this form of magic.  The second is that as the character becomes skilled in this magic, their bodies transform into that of a Sidh, making detection much more likely.  Also, silver completely blocks this power from working, so most powerful people wear some kind of silver jewelry.

The .5th route is that of ritual magics which are utilitarian and wholly static - a ritual functions for one person in exactly the same way it functions for another.  They also require costly components.  Their effects range from creating magical wands that shoot fire to granting the ability to breathe water or levitate.  They are useful, but serve to enable the party rather than supplant an existing character.  They are also (in an OD&D fashion) limited - most characters will only know a scattered few of these rituals.

The 3rd and 4th paths involve embedding what is believed to be a shard of solid magic directly into the potential adept and hoping that the process does not drive them criminally insane and begin a magic-fueled murder spree.  Those who have these shards are understandably reluctant to hand them out to anyone, and they too have limited powers.  There are two kinds of shards, Energy & Matter and Time & Space.  Energy & Matter is very war magic-y, allowing the adept to throw bolts of lightning or rearrange the earth while Time & Space governs magical healing, alternate dimensions, and rapid transit.  Each shard grants access to half a dozen powers and while they are cool, they also come with a considerable physical cost - every power used after the 3rd starts draining health.

As I've mentioned before, skill in any discipline is increased by spending both coin and years of training - at least 6 months of training.  What that means is that most characters don't have the time to master any of these pathways, much less two of them.  At least in theory.

Here is where playtesting will stand me in good stead.  I've only had players pursue shard magic, so while I've a pretty good idea how that plays out, the other two are currently just dreams in my brain and words in my rulebook.  Whenever someone decides to try these things out, I'll know a lot more about how they work in practice.