Magic Better Than Mundane!

[AMFV]

Has anybody ever played in a setting where the disparity between magic and mundane is deliberate and system enforced? Eg. the PCs are all characters who have some measure of magical capability. The only system I'm aware of that reflects this Ars Magica, but I've seen a lot of works of fantasy where the magic users are simply substantively more powerful than those that lack those attributes, I'm curious if this is reflected in games, or what that might be like.

[Fri]

actually yes, lots of system's premise is that the player has some sort of special ability that not many people have. Just from the top of my head, Exalted (where the exalts are simply leaps and bound beyond mortal human, and you most likely play as Exalted), Legends of the Wulin (a lesser example than exalted, because it's implied that anyone who train enough can be a wulin, but not many people are talented enough or devoted enough to be one), or in sci fi works like Chtulhutech (where IIRC there's different level of play and if you play as, say one of those people who can pilot the powered armor you're just in different level entirely than say, normal rank-and-file polices.

[AMFV]

actually yes, lots of system's premise is that the player has some sort of special ability that not many people have. Just from the top of my head, Exalted (where the exalts are simply leaps and bound beyond mortal human, and you most likely play as Exalted), Legends of the Wulin (a lesser example than exalted, because it's implied that anyone who train enough can be a wulin, but not many people are talented enough or devoted enough to be one), or in sci fi works like Chtulhutech (where IIRC there's different level of play and if you play as, say one of those people who can pilot the powered armor you're just in different level entirely than say, normal rank-and-file polices.

Those are definitely examples of that sort of thing, although I would say that it's fleetingly rare in generic fantasy type settings in games, whereas in generic fantasy type settings in writing it's fairly common. Which strikes me as an interesting dichotomy.

[Jormengand]

I've played a game set in the Black Magician setting, in which it's pretty much recognised that magi can't be harmed by mundane means (in fact, the books start off with people throwing stones at the magi which is a recognised Thing That Happens because everyone knows there's no way that the magi are actually going to get hurt. Until someone accidentally takes a level in sorcerer, of course...)

[awa]

Yes definitely both in homebrew and in published games for example most old world of darkness games work that way as most supernatural are just humans plus. (new world might work that way too but i'm less familiar with it.)

[Necroticplague]

Has anybody ever played in a setting where the disparity between magic and mundane is deliberate and system enforced? Eg. the PCs are all characters who have some measure of magical capability. The only system I'm aware of that reflects this Ars Magica, but I've seen a lot of works of fantasy where the magic users are simply substantively more powerful than those that lack those attributes, I'm curious if this is reflected in games, or what that might be like.

3.5 is based off of such fantasy stories, and thus has such a gap for a lot of the casters (especially when it first came out). The gulf increases as level does.