Re: (TFT) Iron & magic

["Chris Nicole" <chris_nicole@operamail.com>]

Meg,

Just my take on Iron and Magic...
It's all down to superstition and belief.

Magic is the Art of achieving the (physically) impossible.
It's got nothing to do with science, it has everything to do with
belief.

Wizards can cast spells because they believe that they can.
Holding onto a belief that you can fly, strong enough to throw yourself
off a high place is so much harder than remembering the right
incantations, gestures or components.
Getting those right must help too...

There is/was a commonly held belief that Cold Iron counters magic.
Hence we hang horseshoes on our doors for good luck and to ward off ill
fortune/elves/witches/evil spirits.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iron_in_folklore

The Wizard has to overcome that background belief with their own faith
in their ability to cast magic.

I have seen it suggested that drawing iron from stone ore and turning it
into a useful tool or weapon is an act of magic in it's own right.
There are a number of superstitions relating to Blaksmiths that might
support this.

Also, incoming cultures with new iron weapons defeated indiginous people
with bronze or stone weapons and drove them underground to become 'the
Little People'.

Traditionally, i.e. Pre-Tolkien, Iron is death to Elves and Fairies,
along with sunlight and holy symbols.

Regards,

Chris 

-- 
  Chris Nicole
  chris_nicole@operamail.com


On Saturday, October 22, 2011 11:49 PM, "Margaret Tapley"
<barnswallow@sbcglobal.net> wrote:
> So WHY is it that you can cast a spell on a steel sword just fine, but  
> if you try to tote that sword around and cast a spell while holding  
> it, you get massive DX penalties? This has been bugging me for years.
> 
> The game mechanic behind it is obvious - it enforces wizardly  
> squishiness* while not sending the price of magic weapons through the  
> roof - but the in-world explanation just isn't there. Has anyone come  
> up with any theories? Or is it just one of those things we'll never  
> know, like how the heck the Mnoren built Cidri in the first place?
> 
> *http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/SquishyWizard
> 
> Actually, I have an idea about Cidri. If you can jump between worlds,  
> you might be able to learn to jump between times as well. So all you  
> have to do, at least in theory, is dump a big, hot wad of material in  
> orbit around a likely star, and wait for it to coalesce into a planet.  
> Come back a couple million years later, seed it with life, pop forward  
> another million years...
> 
> It would be more complicated with some of the models that people have  
> talked about in the archive (hollow spheres, etc.). You'd have to use  
> something like remote-controlled nanobots to build the shape out  
> of...something really strong. Titanium-carbon fiber composite,  I  
> don't know. But I digress - and should probably go get some sleep...
> 
> - Meg
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