Random fantasy & stuff discussion

[drakensji]

Do you want to change topics to something else? Sorry for taking so long to reply, I couldn't think of anything to write. The only thing I could add to what you said before is that every spell is just a form of manipulation, whether it is elemental and/or not. So theoretically, almost anything done in one element can be done with another element. The only exceptions are hyper-specialized spells, ex: spells that work with the element quirks instead of logic.

What kind of spells would be exclusive to specific elements? Where would you categories telekinesis and similar spells that aren't part of a natural element?

 

[SolerFox]

All spells use one understanding of the element to determine the effect of it. The more you understand, the more you can do with it. This does sound simple, but I have mentioned before that many other factors can affect how the spell works. An example of this is Zuko fire bending from avatar the last Airbender. He uses hate and anger as the source of his fire bending. When he lost that anger, he lost access to his bending and needed a different concept to be the source of his bending. This series is also a good example that you can improve your understanding of one element by learning about the other elements. keep in mind that this is an oversimplified version of what actually happened in the series.

That why I said whether it is elemental and/or not. Theoretically, anything can be manipulated, not just the elements.

Telekinesis would be classified as a form of mind magic. As for other spells that can't be classified as an element, it can be classified as what it is or as a combination of elements. An example of this would be a technomancer, a person who can manipulate technology; you can just classify it as that or as something else.

For some stories, they use a catchall element to describe these types of spells/magic. To me, people shouldn't do this simply because they would be limiting their understanding of magic. When you think about it, there would be many fields of magic simply just from what can be manipulated. Magic is unlimited in nature; the only thing that limits it is the creativity of the person using it.

 

[drakensji]

How do you think a long lived race should act like? Will they act like grandpa's even though they are in young and fit bodies? Will they act more or less the same just with more experience? Will they act completely crazy cause they want to do something new after having done it all before?

 

[expentio]

How do you think a long lived race should act like? Will they act like grandpa's even though they are in young and fit bodies? Will they act more or less the same just with more experience? Will they act completely crazy cause they want to do something new after having done it all before?

I think a great example would be the manga "frieren at the funeral" (free on mangadex)
A longlived elf who outlives all her former adventure comrades.

 

[SolerFox]

It would depend on the race itself, how far magic has progressed, and if there is a system in place. Longlived races would be fine living with similar longlived races. When they interact with a shorter-lived race, that is where problems would arise. This could be why elves, in most stories, don't interact with humans. Longlived races are usually magical in nature in fantasy.

How they would act in general would depend on their culture, the experience of the individual, how other races treats them, and how they treat other races.

On the matter of if they would be crazy or not would depend on if their minds can handle living for so long. Longlived races would, either biologically or magically, have a mental fortitude that would be stronger compared to shorter-lived races. The same thing would apply if they can remember everything. A good example of this would be how far longer-lived races would plan ahead. a person from a longlived race would plan ahead in the months and years compared to a person from a shorter-lived race who plans ahead in the days and weeks.

 

[drakensji]

It would depend on the race itself, how far magic has progressed, and if there is a system in place. Longlived races would be fine living with similar longlived races. When they interact with a shorter-lived race, that is where problems would arise. This could be why elves, in most stories, don't interact with humans. Longlived races are usually magical in nature in fantasy.

How they would act in general would depend on their culture, the experience of the individual, how other races treats them, and how they treat other races.

On the matter of if they would be crazy or not would depend on if their minds can handle living for so long. Longlived races would, either biologically or magically, have a mental fortitude that would be stronger compared to shorter-lived races. The same thing would apply if they can remember everything. A good example of this would be how far longer-lived races would plan ahead. a person from a longlived race would plan ahead in the months and years compared to a person from a shorter-lived race who plans ahead in the days and weeks.

But lets say a human mage uses magic to remain forever young. Do you think he will mature mentally similarly to a normal person, and so end up acting like a grandpa after 80ish years, or do you rekon mental maturity is also tied with the bodies state rather than time passed?

 

[drakensji]

I think a great example would be the manga "frieren at the funeral" (free on mangadex)
A longlived elf who outlives all her former adventure comrades.

I read that. It was good. But i also want to put as counter example the elves in the novel "Isaac". Where their lifestyle revolves around experiencing new and exciting things for bragging rights and storytelling

 

[SolerFox]

I believe I said something similar to age in a previous post, do you want me to post that on here?

as I said before the physical reflects the spiritual and vice versa. the person in question would mature in ways, but at the same time would have some habits as whatever their physical age would look like. it would depend on their personality, hobbies, friends, family, their choices, what they experienced, etc.

 

[drakensji]

I believe I said something similar to age in a previous post, do you want me to post that on here?

as I said before the physical reflects the spiritual and vice versa. the person in question would mature in ways, but at the same time would have some habits as whatever their physical age would look like. it would depend on their personality, hobbies, friends, family, their choices, what they experienced, etc.

I remember the age post, but that was more about system related and determining a person's age rather than the effect that age would have. But like you said. The results really depend too much on circumstances, there is no way to say how it would go in general.

Let's talk about something that came up in a book i was reading. Hierarchy of races. In many fantasy stories, humans are the most common races, and sometimes considered the strongest even though an average human is much weaker than the average of other races.

Most of these stories seem to follow the logic that, if 1/10000 are genius powerhouses, than a race of 10000 will only have 1, while the humans with their huge population will have hundreds to thousands of them.
But something i don't see often is the humans being vassals to a stronger race (it does happen in a few stories, just not often). Each story will usually have an explenation for why or why not the humans are in power. But what do you think should happen in a "large quantity of average weaklings next to a small quantity of more powerful, but equally sentient race". We will leave intelligence to not be too different, mostly because i can't imagine how a more intelligent race would think. But magic and general combat strength should immensly favor the other side.

I wonder what a civilization ruled by dragons would be like?

 

[SolerFox]

It would depend on when the two or more races are introduced to each other, how different each race is, and if they can communicate with each other. They will fight each other more often than not. An exception would be when one side kills enough of the other—the reason why is that they will want to stop the fighting for the survival of their species. You could argue that they could join together to take down a common enemy, but that will break down when that common enemy dies or when enough time passes. They should reach equilibrium before that situation happens, though. This is just an extreme answer; it is possible for two races to be at peace with each other.

Note: in fantasy stories, humans are more peaceful when they are the minority. When there are enough humans in one spot is when they start to get violent with other races—the reason why is usually some form of corruption.

Note: all life is volatile in the beginning.

 

[drakensji]

It would depend on when the two or more races are introduced to each other, how different each race is, and if they can communicate with each other. They will fight each other more often than not. An exception would be when one side kills enough of the other—the reason why is that they will want to stop the fighting for the survival of their species. You could argue that they could join together to take down a common enemy, but that will break down when that common enemy dies or when enough time passes. They should reach equilibrium before that situation happens, though. This is just an extreme answer; it is possible for two races to be at peace with each other.

Note: in fantasy stories, humans are more peaceful when they are the minority. When there are enough humans in one spot is when they start to get violent with other races—the reason why is usually some form of corruption.

Note: all life is volatile in the beginning.

im aware of human failings and assume other races have similar problems. I wanted to discuss how you would imagine a civilization run by dragons with humans and possibly other races as subjects. Or similarly dominant subservient relationship between two different races with a vast power difference. In many novels they will say that feudal society continued past what it should because the nobles had access to magic which made the power difference too big to surmount with rebellion

 

[SolerFox]

then it would be a cultivation story situation, where the stronger person is always right. it would either be that or the magic equivalent of it. Dragons don't usually care about other races, but it is a fantasy world so something different can happen. it would depend on what the dragons want and needs in that world.

 

[drakensji]

Im currently reading a book(not a fantasy novel) that claims they are studying how aging works and are working on a solution, with the possibility in the following decades to find a cure for aging. And while im still reading the book and don't know how realistic the possibility of eternal lifespan is, it certainly is inspiring for scifi and fantasy stories

 

[OvidLemma]

Let's talk about something that came up in a book i was reading. Hierarchy of races. In many fantasy stories, humans are the most common races, and sometimes considered the strongest even though an average human is much weaker than the average of other races.

In my novel, A Princess of Alfheim (only on Patreon at the moment, but might come to Scribble Hub soon), most of the action takes place in the fae realms, where the fae minority rule over the other races due to their powerful magic and mystical bonds to the fae realm. In this realm, the humans are considered valuable as soldiers and as engineers because they have incredibly high endurance, strong mechanical aptitude, and the ability to occasionally do absurdly heroic things. Virtually all of the other races have greater numbers than the fae, but the fae are relatively benign, preferring to grow their realm peacefully over the course of centuries (since they live forever) and the unspoken threat is that the fae could always turn their powerful magic upon the other races if they were to rebel. Outside of the fae realms, the hierarchy of races tends to favor whoever happens to be in charge at the time. As one of the characters puts it:

"What if the [hierarchy of races] is artificial and not natural? What if we just value fae traits because we're in a fae kingdom? And what if, instead of valuing immortality and magical brilliance, I valued endurance and strength… or an aptitude for machines and devices… or the ability to have large families? Then I'd conclude that humans belonged on top of this 'natural' order. Or if I valued toughness, strategic thinking, and skill with animals? Or harmony with nature and self-reliance? Then it would be fauns or sylvast. Perhaps it's like having favorites in a family - you can't help if you've got a favorite in your heart of hearts, I suppose, but that's just the language of the heart. You have to realize that it's just a preference and if things were just a little different, your preference might change a whole lot. So maybe I should just enjoy being a princess, you, Calivar a prince, and Meliswe a lady-consort, and we'll only consider how fae somebody is or isn't when ancient tradition requires it."

 

[OvidLemma]

But lets say a human mage uses magic to remain forever young. Do you think he will mature mentally similarly to a normal person, and so end up acting like a grandpa after 80ish years, or do you rekon mental maturity is also tied with the bodies state rather than time passed?

I think it depends on how it works and whether you want to involve a scientific understanding of animal behavior. Young humans are often impulsive and foolish, in part, because their prefrontal cortex has not yet fully developed. Presumably, a very long- lived individual would be fully developmentally mature and, if anything, would have a higher level of self-control. Whether they would eschew "high dopamine" behaviors like socializing, dancing, listening to new music, and engaging in dangerous, thrilling activities... well, that's got aspects of personality, maturity, and aging. Since the aging aspect does not apply, we can expect that they won't act like senior citizens, but they also won't be as impulsive or novelty-seeking as teenagers.

In A Princess of Alfheim, the fae are effectively immortal but age in several spurts, maturing to young adults as quickly as humans and staying that way until they accept some sort of calling or life purpose, at which point, they age another ten human years over several decades. Finally, centuries later, when their life's work is complete, they feel the call to Elysheim, at which point they gradually age to early middle age. In some regards, these characters act age-appropriate - the young adults are fiery and passionate and they like to party, but they're also very sensible (perhaps too sensible) about avoiding risks and the music they like to party to is often fifty years out of fashion. The immortal fae are pretty good about treating people equitably, but there's always a bit of condescending paternalism in their attitude because, while they need the short-lived races and enjoy their company, they also view them as children in need of guidance.

 

[SailusGebel]

How do you think a long lived race should act like? Will they act like grandpa's even though they are in young and fit bodies? Will they act more or less the same just with more experience? Will they act completely crazy cause they want to do something new after having done it all before?

I think you can't answer such a complex question without further looking into the race. It's important to know the number of people in a said race, where they live, and what are other races that they encounter, how fast are their reproduction capability? Also, it's important to understand that the world isn't frozen in time. So apparently what would happen with the said fantasy race when a groundbreaking technology gets discovered or developed, or a large cataclysm starts?

A few examples.
If a fantasy race has a large population even with a larger lifespan, they would be basically like humans. Maybe a bit more quirky because the age dispersion would be probably more chaotic, but overall the same.
If a race is much smaller and has a way larger lifespan than it would be probably a race of individualistic beings.

Everyone keeps forgetting that humans aren't a united race. So the said race as well can easily fall apart or start waging war against their kin because they would have different life values, morals religion, etc. A great example is Eldar or Aeldari from wh40, they have a lifespan of a thousand years(I may be wrong here). As they achieved the pinnacle of technology and magic they started falling into depravity thus leading to a birth of a new chaos god. After this, most of their race was destroyed. While some of them survived they started following a strict set of rules. And the other part continued their depraved way of life.

And if you didn't think that I'm dumb and wrote stupid things, I have a question for you. Most people think about races who live longer, but what about races with a smaller lifespan? To those kinds of races, humans become long-livers. Will we as humans act differently? No, but they would think otherwise. It's a problem of perception of different mentalities. We may think that a High-elf who lived for five hundred years of which he or she spend three hundred years training with the bow and learning archery is haughty and contemptuous. But don't we think like that about athletes in a real-life? People who spent years of their life on training. There are genuine jerks, sweethearts but there are a lot of awkward people as well in real-life sports. Some people only sound arrogant but it's their passion that makes them say it. Or they may think that they are just stating facts, without any intention of offending anyone.

 

[drakensji]

I think you can't answer such a complex question without further looking into the race. It's important to know the number of people in a said race, where they live, and what are other races that they encounter, how fast are their reproduction capability? Also, it's important to understand that the world isn't frozen in time. So apparently what would happen with the said fantasy race when a groundbreaking technology gets discovered or developed, or a large cataclysm starts?

A few examples.
If a fantasy race has a large population even with a larger lifespan, they would be basically like humans. Maybe a bit more quirky because the age dispersion would be probably more chaotic, but overall the same.
If a race is much smaller and has a way larger lifespan than it would be probably a race of individualistic beings.

Everyone keeps forgetting that humans aren't a united race. So the said race as well can easily fall apart or start waging war against their kin because they would have different life values, morals religion, etc. A great example is Eldar or Aeldari from wh40, they have a lifespan of a thousand years(I may be wrong here). As they achieved the pinnacle of technology and magic they started falling into depravity thus leading to a birth of a new chaos god. After this, most of their race was destroyed. While some of them survived they started following a strict set of rules. And the other part continued their depraved way of life.

And if you didn't think that I'm dumb and wrote stupid things, I have a question for you. Most people think about races who live longer, but what about races with a smaller lifespan? To those kinds of races, humans become long-livers. Will we as humans act differently? No, but they would think otherwise. It's a problem of perception of different mentalities. We may think that a High-elf who lived for five hundred years of which he or she spend three hundred years training with the bow and learning archery is haughty and contemptuous. But don't we think like that about athletes in a real-life? People who spent years of their life on training. There are genuine jerks, sweethearts but there are a lot of awkward people as well in real-life sports. Some people only sound arrogant but it's their passion that makes them say it. Or they may think that they are just stating facts, without any intention of offending anyone.

Short lived races would probably have a more hurried lifestyle. They would start working at earlier ages and try and reproduce as soon as possible (not like we are much different).
Can't really say much else as it would depend on race.

 

[Stratothrax]

I have a short-lived race: goblins, but they do have one advantage over other more longer-lived races, they inherit genetic memory. They can speak the common language fluently as soon as they are born because they are born with the memory of language slowly built up and added to little by little over hundreds of generations. This goes for certain skills to although it's inconsistently inherited, a goblin may be born with memories of metalworking for example which is a huge advantage. Imagine combining the plasticity and learning speed of a child with already pre-installed information. It's a pretty powerful combo.

 

[drakensji]

I have a short-lived race: goblins, but they do have one advantage over other more longer-lived races, they inherit genetic memory. They can speak the common language fluently as soon as they are born because they are born with the memory of language slowly built up and added to little by little over hundreds of generations. This goes for certain skills to although it's inconsistently inherited, a goblin may be born with memories of metalworking for example which is a huge advantage. Imagine combining the plasticity and learning speed of a child with already pre-installed information. It's a pretty powerful combo.

Having genetic memory is a super useful ability. After many generations you would have instantly born master polymaths that can accumulate knowledge and skills.