Bob Schroeck's UTM post: http://drunkardswalkforums.yuku.com/sre ... n-Fenspace
M Fnord's Magic post: http://drunkardswalkforums.yuku.com/sre ... n-Fenspace
Bonewits:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isaac_Bonewits
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Authentic_Thaumaturgy
Seeing as the various traditions of magic use in Fenspace will be built on top of a UTM, rather than the more common deducing a UTM from traditions, I think it's worth considering what might be in the UTM.
We don't have any magic, as authors (or if we do, we aren't admitting it), so the list of what might be usable likely isn't based on practical experience. But, we should be able to use things like Bonewits studies of 'real world' magic, on a meta level, to say a few things.
All the following is META author stuff - you aren't allowed to tell it to your characters. [grin]
We now know, from what Mal has said, that there is a field we're calling 'mana' in the rough area of the Solar System. We don't know (yet) if this field extends far outside the Solar System, we don't know if it exists in other star systems. This field is what minds interact with to generate 'magical effects', and it appears some highly specialised machinery can also interact with mana.
Magical effects are changes that do not fit in with previously known physical laws, or the previously known fields, like gravity, electro-magnetism, strong nuclear and weak nuclear forces. However, they might mimic these, in some cases.
There appears to be a genetic basis to human minds manipulating mana, which is more than a binary "can/can't" switch. It's not yet clear whether a handwavium biomod can provide 'magical ability' (it seems likely) in someone who previously didn't have it. This genetic basis is not something initially understood (except by Noah, etc).
The universe doesn't have any known mechanism to allow physical laws to be altered on a massive scale (such as an Amberite could do with a Shadow). So, the amount of mana that can be manipulated seems to translate into the scale of magical effect that can be produced. More subtle uses of mana may produce more drastic effects for less mana 'spent', but you can't have an ultra-master mage who just turns off the gravity of, say, Earth with a subtle spell. A planetoid maybe, a few kilometers across, not a whole planet.
Two basic magical principles are 'similarity' and 'contagion'.
Stated simply, 'similar things produce similar results' (e.g. pour water on the ground to create rain), and 'things once in contact remain connected' (e.g. having someone's personal possessions means you've a 'handle' to affect them).
Beyond these two principles, just about everything else is down to the tradition you follow. Names and geometry might be vital to one tradition, irrelevant to others (except, maybe, the contagion effect of a name). All spells might need to be done using clearly spoken Enochian, in another tradition the intent behind the words might be the important thing.
About the only thing you can guarantee is that all traditions will be different. And, in many cases 'superior' to all the other 'incomplete' traditions.
See:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magic_%28paranormal%29
I'd strongly recommend reading Bonewits 'Real Magic' if you're interested in this area:
http:////ws-na.amazon-adsystem.com/widge...indow=true
--
"It is the business of the future to be dangerous" - Hawkwind
M Fnord's Magic post: http://drunkardswalkforums.yuku.com/sre ... n-Fenspace
Bonewits:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isaac_Bonewits
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Authentic_Thaumaturgy
Seeing as the various traditions of magic use in Fenspace will be built on top of a UTM, rather than the more common deducing a UTM from traditions, I think it's worth considering what might be in the UTM.
We don't have any magic, as authors (or if we do, we aren't admitting it), so the list of what might be usable likely isn't based on practical experience. But, we should be able to use things like Bonewits studies of 'real world' magic, on a meta level, to say a few things.
All the following is META author stuff - you aren't allowed to tell it to your characters. [grin]
We now know, from what Mal has said, that there is a field we're calling 'mana' in the rough area of the Solar System. We don't know (yet) if this field extends far outside the Solar System, we don't know if it exists in other star systems. This field is what minds interact with to generate 'magical effects', and it appears some highly specialised machinery can also interact with mana.
Magical effects are changes that do not fit in with previously known physical laws, or the previously known fields, like gravity, electro-magnetism, strong nuclear and weak nuclear forces. However, they might mimic these, in some cases.
There appears to be a genetic basis to human minds manipulating mana, which is more than a binary "can/can't" switch. It's not yet clear whether a handwavium biomod can provide 'magical ability' (it seems likely) in someone who previously didn't have it. This genetic basis is not something initially understood (except by Noah, etc).
The universe doesn't have any known mechanism to allow physical laws to be altered on a massive scale (such as an Amberite could do with a Shadow). So, the amount of mana that can be manipulated seems to translate into the scale of magical effect that can be produced. More subtle uses of mana may produce more drastic effects for less mana 'spent', but you can't have an ultra-master mage who just turns off the gravity of, say, Earth with a subtle spell. A planetoid maybe, a few kilometers across, not a whole planet.
Two basic magical principles are 'similarity' and 'contagion'.
Stated simply, 'similar things produce similar results' (e.g. pour water on the ground to create rain), and 'things once in contact remain connected' (e.g. having someone's personal possessions means you've a 'handle' to affect them).
Beyond these two principles, just about everything else is down to the tradition you follow. Names and geometry might be vital to one tradition, irrelevant to others (except, maybe, the contagion effect of a name). All spells might need to be done using clearly spoken Enochian, in another tradition the intent behind the words might be the important thing.
About the only thing you can guarantee is that all traditions will be different. And, in many cases 'superior' to all the other 'incomplete' traditions.
See:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magic_%28paranormal%29
I'd strongly recommend reading Bonewits 'Real Magic' if you're interested in this area:
http:////ws-na.amazon-adsystem.com/widge...indow=true
--
"It is the business of the future to be dangerous" - Hawkwind