Magical society

[lorddrake]

I've seen several discussions on this forum about how the world and the civilization would turn out if there was great magic going around.

(Yes, I'm looking at you, Tippyverse)

Now I have a threefold question:

How would the world and civilization end up if there were no regular magic (arcane or divine) as we know, but there was:

a) Psionics

b) Incarnum

and c) Only the Magic™ present on Tome of Magic

(To clarify: assuming world A, B and C are different places)

[Blackhawk748]

well for world B i would assume that there would be Incarnum fused technology, like an Incarnum enhanced Flintlock, mainly because Incarnum tends to create an item that the user then uses, unlike conventional magic which simply creates an effect more efficiently than most technology. So Incarnum would benefit from better tech therefore i feel they would continue to develop, but maybe at a slightly slower pace as the need may not always be there

[Feralventas]

Psionics.

Arcane or Divine magic allows for Plenty and Abundance in resources. Psionics goes about providing in the opposite direction; removing need. Instead of buying food, you buy a dorje of sustainance for a week or two at a time and suddenly you don't need to eat. Elan as a species tend to not need even that, though there are some that will still need to actively deal with biology.

Intellectual property takes on a whole new meaning, when ideas and concepts are things of power. Thought Police would not be entirely unsound, with thought-detectors on the watch for dangerous concepts and perspectives.

Materials for structures are likely to be crystaline if you go by 3.5's EPH, or biological if you go by 3.0's symbiont grafts.

Tome of Magic:

Binders, without fear of divine retribution, can provide aid and practice their art in the open. They can heal indefinitely, repair themselves, and a binding doesn't require specific training beyond an hour's worth of basic instruction and knowing how to draw circles in the dirt.

At low levels, Leraje can make people decent hunters, Naberious can provide all kinds of skills for profession and crafting, Amon makes for decent combat options, as does Ronove, as well as being a good start into the more magical aspects of binding (scaling telekinesis.)

Shadow Magic doesn't have near so much viable utility, though the prevalence of a potent, 1st level non-lethal damage spell and the Arrow of Dusk non-lethal cantrip, I could see them as being pacifists as easily criminals. Getting Darkvision early on makes lighting cities a little moot if the population has at least one or two levels in it. Additionally, the Sustaining Shadow feature also diminishes the Demand aspect of a society, as per the Psionic perspectives above.

Truenaming is quite likely to wind up the same as the Tippyverse; truename binding of outsiders to use their talents or call for help makes it pretty easy to get access to many of the same abilities via SLA's rather than through normal spells. They also have fast, effective healing, skill-boosting rather than skill-gaining through Naberious.

If the ToM options are all together, then you would still have enough supernatural options to essentially recreate the tippyverse.

[lorddrake]

Who would have thought that, of all people, the Truenamer would be the one to create a tippyverse-like universe!