GameStarCan Magic and Tech Coexist? A Deep Dive
There is a common belief that magic and technology will always be mutually exclusive. If a society possesses magic, then technology will never work. The reverse will be true for high technology societies. What happens if someone attempts to work with both magic and technology? What if the society itself possesses both?
We Do Both!
Is it ever possible for society to operate with both technology and magic? Are the two always repulsive of each other? What happens when they are merged? There are many examples where both magic and technology are joined. Most of the urban fantasy stories will be examples of this even though they focus upon the magic side more. For example, in Harry Potter, they use magic spells everywhere. Yet, modern technology is mentioned and used at random points in the story. This happens, for instance, with their modern vehicles, buildings, and other features of modern society. Even when the story claims exclusivity to one side, minor aspects of the other are still obvious. Take Star Trek, they claim to be completely technology with no magic. Yet sometimes they can’t explain how something is done with the technology they have developed. They even use technobabble. The best example here would be their character Q. They have tech devices that can generate anything programmed into them in seconds. Nonetheless, Q can do anything he imagines instantly by waving his hand. He wants to teleport another hundreds of thousands of kilometers away. Wave his hand. Wish for this strange item that is only available on one planet several galaxies away? Wave his hand. Star Trek never explained how Q’s powers work, they simply do. The best explanation that I have found is that of magic in their tech-only society.
They are Merged?
There is the common belief that magic will cause technological items to fail, and vice versa. When the two get merged, there happens to be some problem. This is benign, like the item simply not working. Another possibility would be that simply placing the magic into the tech will cause some explosion. This is variable dependent upon the magic and tech that are being merged. This is the reason there are, so few magical items are found. An example would be attempting to combine a mind spell with a coin. The coin will know if the purchase is honest. It will result in a powerful psychic explosion to everyone around. This does not need to be the case. Fantasy literature abounds with devices that have in some manner become magical. This is because the item has some spirit housed (trapped?) inside it, imbued to enhance some feature (like the sword’s cutting), or some other aspect.
When Enchanted?
Debate exists over when something can get enchanted. Many systems will claim that things can always be enchanted. All the caster needs are the items enchanted and the proper spells and components. Other systems will claim that there is a brief period during creation that an enchantment will “take hold”. If the item is not enchanted during this period, it will not matter how good the enchanter is. It will not matter how good the items are. The enchantment will never take effect.
Can Fantasy be Tech?
Most of the talk about joined tech and magic deals with some modern or advanced society, such as scifi. Most fantasy games will have either high magic with low technology or low technology with low magic. Either way, there is little technology compared to modern society. Consider where most fantasy stories take place. It will be the latter period of medieval Europe. That society contained actual real technology that people used. There were swords, various types of armor, bows, and arrows. They also used wagons, concrete, catapults, and many types of ships. Paper was used, just to name a few. Most of what people take for granted was either created or developed during this period. What is to stop the classic fantasy game or story from having some “advanced” (modern) technology worked into the framework? Crude guns have been found in Europe and Asia. The Artillerist Artificer takes several of those simple guns. They combine them with a firing mechanism to create an early version of the Gatling gun. As stated here, robotic life and creations can come in many different forms. Most robotic creations will either resemble those seen in 1950’s and 1960’s sci-fi movies. Alternatively, they will be more humaniform versions that look identical to real humans. Realistically, any creature that obtains its animation by some source that is independent from itself. It will not matter if that source is electronic, nuclear, magic, spring, or some other device that contains energy. This means that golems and gargoyles can be robots just as effectively as those scifi robots are.
People are often trying to separate magic and technology. In reality, they are different aspects of the same reality. What is the difference between that sword made from steel? What about if it’s made from psiforce or manna energy? Or anything else that is used for that effect? Is there any real difference if Cyclops’ eye blast is created by magic or some tech device? Both technology and magic should be capable of operating in the same reality at the same time. The enchantment of items should also be available, the only question would be when. A proper blend of magic and technology will create exciting stories. Players will have a great time with these stories and wish to retell them over several years.
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