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The Privilege of Sorcerers (infosec.pub)

submitted 11 hours ago* (last edited 11 hours ago) by juergen_hubert@ttrpg.network to c/rpg@ttrpg.network

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One of my pet peeves of modern fantasy media is the notion that some people are "special" - and thus implied to be "better" - than other people because of some inherent magical ability. One of the best-known modern examples of this is the Harry Potter franchise, where the protagonists are mostly mages, and even the characters who actually care about the welfare of the latter do so in an extremely patronizing way - i.e. by stopping the "bad mages" rather than working together.

In #dnd and similar #ttrpg, the concept is represent by the "sorcerer" and similar characters who gained their cool powers from some innate birth ability rather than study and hard work.

And while there is nothing wrong with wanting to play such a character, just for once I would like to see an in-setting examination of what it means to have this privilege, instead of the more common:

"Oh no, woe is me, I have been born with special powers and will be hated and persecuted for them. Thus, I must spend most of my time in a secret society with my fellow very special people!"

To be clear, people born with privilege did not ask to be born with privilege, and cannot be blamed for that. However, they should also acknowledge that they have this privilege, and not assume that they are somehow "better" than people without it.

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[–] Sas@piefed.blahaj.zone 5 points 10 hours ago (2 children)

I like Midgard, the first German fantasy ttrpg, in that regard. Every character has magic talent as a stat like dexterity, strength or int. When starting out, only some classes have already learned to use that inherent ability everyone has but there's rules for learning magic for non magic classes. Granted this cost a helluva lot of exp to do but it is possible and takes a bit away from that special people factor

[–] HubertManne@piefed.social 2 points 7 hours ago (1 children)

don't most systems relate magic to a stat. int, wis, cha in the case of pathfinder and dNd? Like in pathfinder your to hit and damage with spells are effected by your key stat. That seems more natural to me. having a magic talent stat is like having a non magic talent stat. to generic over str/dex or such. Granted I wish the magic systems split them more up on both sides. dex and int being to hit and str/cha being damage (although I hate cha as opposed to a word like will power or prescence or such)

[–] Sas@piefed.blahaj.zone 2 points 7 hours ago (1 children)

The important part here is that it's an extra stat that everyone has. It's not like DnD or Pathfinder where you know magic and your modifier comes from one of your normal stats and everyone else does not know magic. Magic Talent is an extra that every class has and every class can eventually make use of if they live long enough. It's also the implication that you don't have a magic on/off switch that is rolled at birth. Everyone has that possibility but has to go through training to use it.

[–] HubertManne@piefed.social 2 points 7 hours ago

I just don't get it it though. shouldn't everyone have a mundane talent score then that dictates how good one is with mundane tasks like swining a sword or picking a lock? with pathfinder and dnd there is special magic talent but also mgic comes from study or gifted by entities and the ability to do that relies on stats the same as stats help you be a better warrior or thief. if anything the magic talent stat sounds like an on off switch.

[–] squirrel@lemmy.blahaj.zone 1 points 10 hours ago

RuneQuest does a similar thing: Everyone can do magic on a basic level, but it takes skill and time to become proficient. To me this always made more sense than the "chosen one" logic inherent in other RPG systems, because most RPG classes are inherently defined by a difference in skill.