Recently I run into some forum discussions about magic (and spellcasters, especially at higher levels) is overpowered in D’n’D - but I realized, probably in most (if not in all) of the settings (including novels, films, games, etc.) magic users hold considerably stronger forces than non-spellcasters.
For balancing reasons, in most settings the spellcasters are restricted some ways (limited spellcastings, spell saves, component requirements, spellcasting durations, physical vulnerability, being NPC-s, etc.).
Have you met with such settings (includig novels, films, tabletop and CRPG-s, etc.), where non-spellcasters can be considered more powerful than spellcasters, while the spellcasters were not situational restricted (i.e. they could still cast spells, no anti-magic fields, wrath of gods or witch hunting the society blocks them from practice their trade)?
Also do you know about such settings, where magic was so diffused in the society that actually the non-magical attributes and skills were valued over magic?
[quote=“S_journ, post:1, topic:1975, full:true”]Have you met with such settings (includig novels, films, tabletop and CRPG-s, etc.), where non-spellcasters can be considered more powerful than spellcasters, while the spellcasters were not situational restricted (i.e. they could still cast spells, no anti-magic fields, wrath of gods or witch hunting the society blocks them from practice their trade)?
Also do you know about such settings, where magic was so diffused in the society that actually the non-magical attributes and skills were valued over magic?
[/quote]
Various science fantasies?
What is considered more powerful? A sword? Bow&Arrow? A gun? A tank? The Death Star?
This questions is a bit fuzzy tbh.
Also what makes a caster a caster in your example? Anyone that can cast a spell? If your only spell is conjuring milk then it might not help you much when you are attacked by a bunch of orcs.
Magic != Magic to be honest. In one story it can be great and in another completely pointless.
Anyway, even in systems where casters might become strong at some point they can start off ‘less powerful’ than others. Pathfinder or 3.5 for example.
Just think about the various books/movies/series where an evil wizard/witch/other kind of caster is slain by the sword wielding hero. And of course - as H pointed out - SciFi.
Yeah, it really depends on your definition of power. In fantasy works, political power is usually seen as the highest form of power, and the monarch sits on top of the food chain, not the magic-user.
In roleplaying games, early D&D did an excellent job of incorporating this concept, particularly in the Companion Set. There, those amazing high-level spells are in no way the pinnacle of power.
In terms of pure how-much-force-can-I-exert-on-this-target, then magic is almost always the trump card, at least in standard fantasy. And that’s as it should be, because otherwise magic wouldn’t be particuarly magical. Exceptions that I can think of offhand tend to involve adding other, superior powers, such as the technology or knowledge found in science fantasies, or the superpowers of superhero comics when considered distinct from magic.
@Thopthes you are right, I wasn’t clear enough regarding defining power and magic (next time I try to be more accurate regarding my question).
However, you and @H guessed my original intention, namely I consider “power” as the measurement of influencing the course of events. In this sense even an arrow or a sword can have such an effect by slaying a person or a monster as a fireball does and this could lead to (un)forseeable changes in the events. However, as H pointed rightly out, political power is the strongest one in this sense.
