[MUD-Dev] The distinction between magic spells and magic abilities

[Matthew Mihaly]

On Sun, 16 May 1999, Greg Munt wrote:

<stuff with me talking about the lack of distinction between 'physical'
and 'magical' abilities has been snipped>

> 
> It depends on your perspective, and (again) the rules of your world. The
> distinction that I might make is that spells are learned magic, and
> abilities are innate magic. (Of course, learning spells may simply awaken or
> strengthen - or be required, to use - an innate ability, but that makes
> things that little bit more complex. And blurred!)

Well, I see what you are saying, but I'm not sure there is really a
distinction. Using a sword is an ability, and it's learned, and most
people wouldn't call that magic. (Heh, it's kind of hard to define
something that doesn't exist isn't it?) I guess magic doesn't really mean
much to me, because I've never heard a good definition of it. A computer
would be magic to a primitive. A swordsman manipulates something (a sword)
to product an effect (damage, disarming, etc), and likewise a magician
manipulates something (what doesn't matter really) to produce effects. I
mean, certainly, you can categorize things differently, but when people
talk about magic, they sound to me like primitives (I don't mean that
insultingly) talking about a computer. They have no idea what it is they
are talking about, and no consistent idea of what magic means to them.
People use it, generally, to encompass anything they don't have a good
explanation for.

> I'd be interested to know why you refuse to allow a fireball spell, by the
> way.

Heh heh. Pet peeve. Fireball screams generic to me, and I just can't stand
that. I have hangups about anything that seems too D&D-ish I guess. Most
of our abilities are not at all similar to D&D, and neither are our
classes, though they may have the same name (monks for instance). I did
make a concession recently when I allowed our Templars guild to be renamed
to Paladins. 

> 
> I'd argue that both you and your players are right - somewhere on some
> world. But this is your world, with your world laws. If you decide that
> telepathy can never be an innate ability, it has to be a learned spell; if
> you decide that morphing (it can be innate - see Odo at ST:TNG) has to be done
> via a spell, so be it. And if you liken Tarot Cards to a spellbook (instead
> of, say, paraphinalia required to commune with the spirits of nature), then
> they must accept that too. That's why I would prefer to remain anonymous on
> any world I create. Then problems are due to the inflexible natural law of
> the world, rather than the whim of some human creator, who may possibly be
> convinced to change things...

Ok, addressing the morphing issue, I don't think the word 'spell' has much
meaning, unless you arbitrarily define a spell as being something you
"cast" (you don't cast anything in Achaea. I hate casting. Pet peeve.
Bygones.) You type MORPH <whatever> and provided you have access to that
morph, off you go. Is that a spell? I dunno. Same with telepathy. You type
MIND LOCK <player> and then wait awhile to finishing locking their
consciousness, and then you can do things like MIND EPILEPSY, MIND
PARALYSE, etc. Again, is that a spell? I dunno. Tarot cards...you inscribe
blank cards with an image from the Major Arcaana (you have to have the
ability), and then you can charge and fling them. CHARGE HANGEDMAN, FLING
HANGEDMAN AT <player>(produces a temporary, and cureable, effect whereby
if you hit the person that threw justice at you, you take as much damage
as he does, though you don't get hit by any of the afflictions that the
attack may cause). Once again, does this qualify as a spell? I really
don't know. It all depends on your defnition, and since a spell isn't
something that exists irl, definitions for them are awfully vague.

Incidentally, we don't have things like races that can morph into whatever
they want, because we like ladders of achievement that cost money to climb
(we're a pay game). Sure, I could happily put in a race and and some sort
of in-role method of changing into that race once you have reached a
certain power-level in Achaea, but I would almost certainly charge them
the equivalent of having to learn the Metamorphosis skill up to the top
anyway.

--matt





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