Recwar with Antica - a poll

[Jupiter]

So in light of the other thread, I have a poll for all...

[Braden Indianensis]

Medievalfare! Sieges! Trebuchets! Battering-rams! Hot oil! BLOOD!

[Bill3000]

What about magic?

[Chrimigules]

Not again with the magic...

[Jupiter]

Well, we'd have to reach some sort of compromise on that.

[Braden Indianensis]

That might actually be cool. Why, I could sit in my office in the MoMA, thousands of miles away from the battlesite, and smite the swarming hordes of our enemies with lightning.

[Jupiter]

That's SPECIFICALLY what we're trying to avoid, actually.

[presidentwoodrow]

Woodstania aslo wishes to participate on the antican side as Antica-Woodstania Vs Shireroth

[Bill3000]

That's SPECIFICALLY what we're trying to avoid, actually.

*thinks* How is that any different than shooting missles, anyway?

Anyways, I'm just going to reiterate what Harvey said regarding magic.

I've been idly watching this war take place because the content is amusing to me. (and because the rest of Shireroth is so dull it makes me cry) So I feel compelled to comment here for the sake of making this war generally more fun for everyone.

For me any type of magic is god-modding

No. That's a terrible attitude to take. It also makes no sense in terms of the context of the war.

If you've got a gun, you can shoot at the enemy. If have a bow, you can fire an arrow. If you know magic, you can shoot a fireball.

If the enemy is clustered together, you can fire your artillery cannon at them, or you cause some lightning to strike from the sky.

You can drop bombs on the enemy from passing aircraft. Or you can drop meteors from the sky with a spell.

If you're sneaking into enemy territory, you can use camoflage to blend into the surroundings, or you can magically alter your appearance.

Enough examples. Magic does not equal total destruction. It does not equal instant death to the enemy. Thrown fireballs can miss like an arrow can. Lightning from the sky might impact the middle of an enemy formation, or it might miss entirely.

Godmodding isn't how you attack the enemy with weapons, but how you state what you're doing. Saying "I lob fireballs at the enemy and destroy his entire formation" is clearly godmodding, but then again, so is "I shoot my artillery at the enemy and destroy his entire formation." But just saying "My mages spot the enemy from far away and shoot several fireballs in their direction" is not godmodding because both the attacker and the attackee get to decide what happens.

Is magic a little more powerful? Maybe. If a mage is worth two artillery guns in firepower, then you only get half as many. Just like normal SNARL rules. Better trained small force = very large untrained force = normal standard force.

I just really don't see how magic upsets the status-quo. As always, its up to the players to use their abilities responsibly.

Harvey Steffke

In the wars we have had in SNARL, we havn't actually had any problems regarding magic other than this pointless debate. If it is godmodding, then it's treated as the same as any other godmodding post. Quite simple. It's simply treated in the same way such that a unit is equal in power to another unit, as per SNARL rules.

Besides, we still did not put in the corrections and improvements for SNARL as a result of the War of Vengeance.

[Braden Indianensis]

That's a very reasonable argument. After all, we could have people "going Galadriel" and, say, invading the mind of the enemy commander and, with a single thought, causing his temporal lobe to explode, ruining the fun of the recwar for all involved.

[Chrimigules]

If there are units operating off of magic, there should be definitive attack types and definitive limits. Just like rocket artillery has a maximum range, so should the ability to rain magical damage upon an area, and there should be included a margin of error. Even magic casters should be able to miss.

[Bill3000]

Of course, that's the entire point of allowing magic in most forms of fiction in the first place. More importantly, I already said that.

[presidentwoodrow]

i don't mind a bit of magic

[Braden Indianensis]

*Scrambles over the table, knocking over a few things.* ACH! Who are you?! I don't believe we've spoken before.

[presidentwoodrow]

i'm president woodrow leader of woodstania. i would like to tak epart ont he antican side of this war

[Braden Indianensis]

Hello! Didn't mean to seem rude before..I'm Bladwin, MINT, CoSSAF. My primary function is to lounge about Shireroth being sarcastic and giving unhelpful advice.

[presidentwoodrow]

pleasure to meet you

[Jupiter]

Really, what I meant we were trying to prevent was the whole "sitting in the office on the other side of the planet from the war and smiting them with lightning."

Lead from the front!

[Maggern]

Agreed. Magic is just silly, it's more fun to command conventionally!

[Braden Indianensis]

pleasure to meet you

Likewise, I'm sure.

Really, if we're going to use the modern tech devised by ISASO and all the rest, or if we decide to go medieval, it'd be much more satisfying to have a traditional means of attack and command. This is especially true if we're doing medieval, because we could have a fun time getting the Kaiser personally involved in battles--remember that battle scene in Braveheart where Edward Longshanks was in personal command of the English, and the actor wore a crown over the chainmail coif instead of a helm?

[Jupiter]

Agreed. Magic is just silly, it's more fun to command conventionally!

That is definately not what I said. But you're entitled to your wrong opinion.

[Harald of Froyalan]

What about magic?

Why not?

[Harald of Froyalan]

Really, if we're going to use the modern tech devised by ISASO and all the rest, or if we decide to go medieval, it'd be much more satisfying to have a traditional means of attack and command. This is especially true if we're doing medieval, because we could have a fun time getting the Kaiser personally involved in battles--remember that battle scene in Braveheart where Edward Longshanks was in personal command of the English, and the actor wore a crown over the chainmail coif instead of a helm?

And also a good old Viking shieldwall.

[Maggern]

Agreed. Magic is just silly, it's more fun to command conventionally!

That is definately not what I said. But you're entitled to your wrong opinion.

"Agreed" was really the only part of that answer that was directed at the quote. I should have structured it better.
How are we else going to nuke anything? A wizard sends a meteor?

[Fax Celestis]

For those of you concerned about magic, I recommend you look at the "We've Got hostiles" thread in the War of Vengeance.

[stevenAntica]

wait...maybe we should hold a poll in Antica. I know msot Anticans won't want Magic.

[Braden Indianensis]

This is how I see it:
Medieval warfare--magic possible, since nukes aren't.

Korea-era warfare: nukes possible; magic would detract from satisfaction of nukage.

[Bill3000]

This is how I see it:
Medieval warfare--magic possible, since nukes aren't.

Korea-era warfare: nukes possible; magic would detract from satisfaction of nukage.

It's the same thing, and actually, magic is more balanced in modern ages. They would require just as much training (or in the case of nukes, construction and materials) to use to have a doom spell or a nuke. Magic isn't simply incredibly easy just because it's magic - look at Dungeons and Dragons for examples of how hard advanced spells can be. (I'm talking about the epic book here ) A reasonable assumption would be that it would require a ton of effort to have a spell that is as powerful as a nuclear weapon.

Regardless, my point is not to convince people that magic is totally awesome and should be used in every RecWar. My point really is just that it is a viable candidate as any other theme.

[Braden Indianensis]

Yes, of course, just as my aim is to offer arenas wherein magic could be effectively used.

[Chrimigules]

wait...maybe we should hold a poll in Antica. I know msot Anticans won't want Magic.

Then let's have the Anticans voting in THIS poll!