General Q and A

Rezec wrote:

and btw, how much energy a fairy uses in order to make him\herself tiny or giant?

My understanding is that the answer is "a lot"
Fairy wings are specialized magic capacitor/collectors that enable them to channel energy required to cast their size changing spells. The fact that such organs are required implies that a lot of magic power is used.
The question is whether or not the energy that is added to the grenade to make it giant contributes to the explosion.


Rezec, your question is very pertinent to how size changing magic works (and I believe that this is why we should work out HOW it works, since it would questions like this.)

There is no canon answer currently.

Anime-Junkie wrote:

There is no canon answer currently.

so... can I take it as "Possible yes, but fairy have to put a lot of magic energy into grenade in order to blow up something huge", right? Same with firearms, I presume.

thanks for answer, AJ!))

HeavenlessStar wrote:

It was my understanding that energy/power/force isn't relative to the size of the source so a grenade's explosive power would not change. I could be wrong though

Yes and no. The grenade's explosive power would remain the same. What would change is its scale. It is still the same grenade, just scaled up. To a fairy, it would explode the same no matter what size she chose to be with it. To a human, the explosion, shrapnel and so on would be considerably larger though.

It's like how magic works with a fairy. If she's making a fireball, the fireball is still exactly the same the whole time. What changes is the scale, and how it is perceived by people of different sizes as the scale changes. That is the big drawback to size-changing magic. You are only as strong as your scale. A fairy's magical power and spells never change, only the scale of them.

Ok, I'm lost as usual. xD

This reminds me of why I consider giant sized mages more powerful than human sized mages. Power is relative to scale, right?

I'd comment that it's not the case, but that would spark Magic Debate #518, so all I'm going to say is, depends on the type of magic and caster's experience.

I don't really wanna go there either but I'm tempted. It's hard to not think a human put up against a giant mage of the skill level wouldn't find him/her self overwhelmed.

Well, you just answered your own question, skill level. Humans have the advantage of easily accessible knowledge, which is paramount for a good mage, except for wild magic, innate magic, and possibly ley lines magic. Giants, with the exception of fairies, don't usually have access to tomes that will teach them new spells, so most of the time, their magic is either only rudimentary, or is inherent to their species.

HeavenlessStar wrote:

Ok, I'm lost as usual. xD

This reminds me of why I consider giant sized mages more powerful than human sized mages. Power is relative to scale, right?

That.... is complicated.

More "powerful" in terms of raw magic used, but not necessarily in relative effect. Let me try to explain this in an (hopefully) understandable manner.

1: A 6ft tall human creates a baseball-sized fireball.

2: A 110ft tall naga creates a baseball-sized fireball relative to her.

Both mages are expending the same effort to create what is basically the same fireball. Both are exerting basically the same amount of effort and using (relative to their scale) the same amount of magical energy. Technically the naga is using more magical energy because she is larger and is making a larger fireball, but it takes the same amount of effort as the human is using to make his.

Basically, what I'm trying to say is that, being bigger doesn't make it easier to use magic. Just because your body can harness more magical energy doesn't mean that your magic is inherently better. The requirements scale up along with the effects.

My own theory is that, as you scale up, manipulating smaller-scale magic also becomes more and more difficult. Like, trying to use tweezers to manipulate a tiny gun. For example, in my interpretation, a naga wouldn't even be able to form a human-scale version of her fireball. It would be too small, and too delicate for her to form and manipulate with her magic. Just my own take on it of course, but I like it.

It was comprehensible. C:

Keep in mind, however, that magic is still a thing of debate on here. Very, very strong debate.

To continue Cliff's example, some would argue that a Giant Predator who can make a to scale baseball sized fireball is one of exceptional talent, as the scale of the caster doesn't matter. In D&D, for example, the Level 3 "Fireball" spell is the exact same size whether you're a Pixie, a Human, or a Titan, but for all three it remains a spell that only a Level 6 Sorcerer / Wizard could cast. In this case, it's less someone drawing magic through themselves / from their body, and more manipulating some sort of ever-present force (akin to the Weave, or Winds of Chaos).

At the same time, there's those argue that magic comes from the casters themselves. In these cases, by all means a Giant Predator should have spells scaled up in size / potency, as they're drawing from a volume several dozen / hundred times that of the average person. Magical energy that could explode a human trying to funnel it can be safely coursed through the Giant Predator.

And, overall, neither of these are either right or wrong. If you wanted to make a story wherein the average Giant Predator "Wizard" cannot lob fireballs the size of a double decker bus, you can do that. If you want to make a story where a Giant Predator "Wizard" lobs said-sized fireball, and it was about as troublesome to them as a medium-sized fireball to a human wizard, that's similarly fine. You should try to respect the magical limits defined for pre-existing characters (ex: If Vivian is said to be able to do [y], she can still do [y]), but otherwise you're allowed to go nuts.

Interesting stuff. I'm going to try to get this back on topic and ask what would a Minicalan priestess wear? Like would it be a robe or is any outfit okay as long as it has the colors of their flag?

When it comes to summoners in Felarya...what exactly would they be able to summon and how would they go about forming a pact with them?...

I know for a fact that Dryads can walk, but how fast/long can they walk ?

Not all of them do and they walk at the speed of plot.

AzureJass wrote:

I know for a fact that Dryads can walk, but how fast/long can they walk ?

The vast majority of dryads only walk very rarely. They spend most of the time rooted in the ground, and will only uproot themselves when they need to move to a new location for whatever reason, be it necessity or personal preference. This is only done rarely because dryads are not really made for walking. They'd either need to crawl along on their roots, and/or twist their roots into some kind of rudimentary legs. Uprooted dryads are not that quick, and move fairly awkwardly. Not to mention, they can't really use their illusion camouflage when they're moving... since trees don't move normally, so catching food would be a lot more difficult on the move as well.

The wiki does mention "legged dryads", but it never really expands upon that idea or properly explains what they are. Quite a few people tend to ignore that part for those reasons, and because a lot of people think it sounds kind of un-dryadlike. Like, having a mermaid with legs and calling her a legged mermaid.

kikijonson wrote:

When it comes to summoners in Felarya...what exactly would they be able to summon and how would they go about forming a pact with them?...

Well, the usual summons besides undead should still work, although they would be of the Felaryan variety, unless your thinking of interdimensional summoning...

As for how such pacts are made or applied, I am not certain.

well...what exactly are they amble to form pacts with...elementals?...what kind of spirits?...or even certain beings?...

kikijonson wrote:

well...what exactly are they amble to form pacts with...elementals?...what kind of spirits?...or even certain beings?...

Demonic pacts, and elemental pacts are probably the most common ones I'm aware of. Pacts with ghosts can still be made, but necomancy is still out.

Darkstorm Zero wrote:

kikijonson wrote:

well...what exactly are they amble to form pacts with...elementals?...what kind of spirits?...or even certain beings?...

Demonic pacts, and elemental pacts are probably the most common ones I'm aware of. Pacts with ghosts can still be made, but necomancy is still out.

I always thought it'd be fun to pull some Lovecraftian stuff, and maybe make a pact with beings that inhabit the space between universes.

It would really need to be demons or some other such thing. I still stand by my assertion that a summoner being able to teleport in random creatures from all over Felarya is a bit overpowered. That would be some high-level portal/dimensional magic or something.

Being able to summon demons or cosmic horrors who are already on another plane and can move themselves around? That seems like it'd be fine though.

Um... they mentioned "pacts". I'm pretty sure the inherent concept of pacts and contracts requires that someone physically encounters the creature you're summoning first. I don't think that counts as "random creature" anymore if the thing you summon is that specific.

rcs619 wrote:

AzureJass wrote:

I know for a fact that Dryads can walk, but how fast/long can they walk ?

The vast majority of dryads only walk very rarely. They spend most of the time rooted in the ground, and will only uproot themselves when they need to move to a new location for whatever reason, be it necessity or personal preference. This is only done rarely because dryads are not really made for walking. They'd either need to crawl along on their roots, and/or twist their roots into some kind of rudimentary legs. Uprooted dryads are not that quick, and move fairly awkwardly. Not to mention, they can't really use their illusion camouflage when they're moving... since trees don't move normally, so catching food would be a lot more difficult on the move as well.

The wiki does mention "legged dryads", but it never really expands upon that idea or properly explains what they are. Quite a few people tend to ignore that part for those reasons, and because a lot of people think it sounds kind of un-dryadlike. Like, having a mermaid with legs and calling her a legged mermaid.

I see. Thanks

rcs619 wrote:

Darkstorm Zero wrote:

kikijonson wrote:

well...what exactly are they amble to form pacts with...elementals?...what kind of spirits?...or even certain beings?...

Demonic pacts, and elemental pacts are probably the most common ones I'm aware of. Pacts with ghosts can still be made, but necomancy is still out.

I always thought it'd be fun to pull some Lovecraftian stuff, and maybe make a pact with beings that inhabit the space between universes.

It would really need to be demons or some other such thing. I still stand by my assertion that a summoner being able to teleport in random creatures from all over Felarya is a bit overpowered. That would be some high-level portal/dimensional magic or something.

Being able to summon demons or cosmic horrors who are already on another plane and can move themselves around? That seems like it'd be fine though.

Lovecraftian...You dont mean what I think you mean, right?

On to other manners:

I was reading the wiki on Dusk Lilies and it made me think about mana. Just what is it and how can one increase the amount they have? For example, as a mage gets older in Felarya and continues to practice magic on a regular baises, will their amount of mana increase? In other words, is mana to magic as stammina to the body?

That's a very good question, and the answer is that, as a mage becomes better, he steals the energy of the planet and uses it to become even more powerful. This is why wizards are always 80 something men who somehow have almost as much energy as a 30 something guy. The only problem is that as more and more wizards get into prominence, the sooner the planet will eventually die, but I think that's a minor side-effect. So the next time you read about Gandalf and Dumbledore, just remember that they are killing the planet for the sake of being able to kill people more easily.

Spoiler:

Black Hole Fragment wrote:

rcs619 wrote:

Darkstorm Zero wrote:

kikijonson wrote:

well...what exactly are they amble to form pacts with...elementals?...what kind of spirits?...or even certain beings?...

Demonic pacts, and elemental pacts are probably the most common ones I'm aware of. Pacts with ghosts can still be made, but necomancy is still out.

I always thought it'd be fun to pull some Lovecraftian stuff, and maybe make a pact with beings that inhabit the space between universes.

It would really need to be demons or some other such thing. I still stand by my assertion that a summoner being able to teleport in random creatures from all over Felarya is a bit overpowered. That would be some high-level portal/dimensional magic or something.

Being able to summon demons or cosmic horrors who are already on another plane and can move themselves around? That seems like it'd be fine though.

Lovecraftian...You dont mean what I think you mean, right?

On to other manners:

I was reading the wiki on Dusk Lilies and it made me think about mana. Just what is it and how can one increase the amount they have? For example, as a mage gets older in Felarya and continues to practice magic on a regular baises, will their amount of mana increase? In other words, is mana to magic as stammina to the body?

Mana is a predominantly gaming-centered term, and has always been a bit vague, and situational.

However, we do know some things about magic users in Felarya:

1: There seems to be a natural (genetic?) disposition for it. Some people are just born with a greater affinity for, and skill at, magic than others. While a wide range of people can potentially learn magic, especially in a magic-rich place like Felarya, some people are just naturally better at it than others. It appears to be hereditary to some degree as well, and also depend some on species (fairies and elves are generally more naturally skilled with magic than humans, for example).

A lot of it seems to be directly related to how much magical energy you can influence at once. Personally, I tend to think of mages as an intermediary, or a conduit. They are able to take magical energy from all around them, let it flow through them, alter it to suit their needs, and then re-release it to achieve their intended effect. If you look at it from this perspective, some people can just naturally let larger amounts of magic flow through them, allowing them to perform more powerful types of magic. Fairy wings tend to be seen as magical conductors or amplifiers, which I think also supports this viewpoint. Of course, this is all just personal opinion.

2: Mages do not necessarily have "unlimited ammo". The act of using magic can be both physically and mentally strenuous, and there's just a certain point where someone is going to reach their natural limit and have to stop. I don't think it is them running out of some imaginary substance, so much as it is just them reaching their limit of endurance. Like an athlete will eventually reach his/hers at some point or another. This would vary depending on the magical skill of the person, and the amount of work they were doing of course.

3: Magical skill can be improved with practice and training. Magic, at least in my interpretation and from some of the things I've seen, is really not all that different from anything else. The more you do it, the more your body and mind will gradually alter themselves to be better at it. Spells get stronger and magical endurance will increase. Formal education would help greatly as well, since refining the techniques you use to do something can often make doing it much easier and/or efficient.

Thank you rcs619 for your help clearring that subject up for me.