Military, Industry, Agriculture etc...
Well, fantasy is obviously meant to be fantastical, so I get why a mediaval setting is perfect for this. But what if a magical society attempted to use magic for things other than blasting the heads off of goblins and dragons?
This is assuming all the bells and whistles, like magic circles, mana stones, potions etc.
How similar would their magic tech be with our own? What aspects would it surpass or fall behind in?
Sure you can argue that with magic there's no need for progression, but if they have a reason to gather up and form an actual civilization beyond villages. Surely there must be a reason to improve the industry?
Sorry, post-nut clarity hit me hard.
The last sentence was very unnecessary.
I've talked about this idea a bunch and even tried to write a few things with it, but here's my pov:
magic >>> science. Why? You ask. Because it's supernatural, I answer. It's literally in the word: super-natural, above-natural. Magic literally warps reality in some ways and there are certainly ways to abuse it to a ridiculous degree, while science only works within the very pressing constrains of the very natural reality where you can't find an exploit for infinite energy and practically free production.
Now, let's compare technological capabilities, military capabilities, availability and cultural development one by one. Obviously, the magical civilization compared to is theoretical but I will write why I think it doesn't seem ridiculous.
1) technological capabilities: magic is better. No competition. Most spells that are very cliche in fantasy are something we just can't do. Healing, flight, actual telepathy, information transition, literal teleportation, storage of quickly spoiled materials, production of raw materials and procurement of them are far too easy in a fantasy world.
2) military capabilities: obviously, fantasy wins. If your soldiers aren't afraid of bullets and if by the time you bring out bigger guns they will have mascacred you, you basically lose. Not to mention that most delicate tech would fail because of spells, since spells literally warp reality.
3) availability: a common trope is that only a small number of people can use magic. Expect great, ridiculous, nightmarish levels of wealth and opportunity inequality. 1 percent of 1 percent owning everything and everyone kind of inequality. The common man would wear rugs passed down by their grandparents, while the wealthy would live in a hyper-futuristic utopias. And that would be basically unfixable, since only the few are able to use magic in the first place.
4) Theoretical science and math (or things analogous to them) would be developed to an unthinkable degree. Our science is built on a mathematical foundation, what would a super-science that requires to go beyond the natural require? I fail to imagine. But I can guess that all and any natural science to know how to warp it.
TLDR: virgin modern civilization vs chad fantasy civilization