You know what sucks? · 8:44am Nov 12th, 2014
Trying to write a story in the MLP universe involving medical drama damn near anything, only to realize that magic exists. Then you're scrambling to come up with a effective meta-magical reason why the cast can't just use magic to solve all their problems.
This is why magic has to have rules. If there are no rules, then there's no drama. I can't imagine what it was like for the Mage: The Ascension designers working out game balance for a system that literally allows its characters to do anything they want, just by wanting it bad enough.
As you can tell, getting Turning Wheel where I need it to go requires a lot of adjudication on my part about just how pony magic works. In this case, how magical medicine works, how advanced it can be, and how advanced it is AT PRESENT in-universe. I never thought, ten years ago, I would be seriously considering both medicine and unicorn magic in conjunction with each other. Time makes foals of us all.
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Most limitations are kept via the spell being to much to handle for the caster opr targets power or to much power.
2589611 Too easy. If it's just a matter of power, then the power of Friendship ought to be enough for any trouble. Or the power of an alicorn princess.
I'm not going to discount raw power as a concern, but it's not like the MLP universe is lacking in it. Make a rule for magic, and that limits how it can be used, or makes it more difficult to be used for a specific purpose. It's why many fantasy stories revolve around finding a great magic item of power, or digging around for a specific, esoteric spell.
Maybe I should explain it this way: magic should be used the same way we use machines. You could use raw physical strength to lift a big rock up a certain distance, but that requires a lot of power, and a lot of effort. Or you could use a simple machine - like a pulley or ramp - to reduce the amount of effort needed to move it up, at the cost of complexity. You could try to solve a math problem using your own calculations, or build a difference engine to calculate it.
Magic is basically a machine for doing work, both of a traditional and a metaphysical variety. If you're really powerful magically, you could cure someone's terminal disease, for instance. Just drawing upon raw energy and willpower, or a higher metaphysical authority to get it done. If you don't have that power, however, you have to figure out a spell that that will do the same job. Of course, more complex spells might require proportionally greater reserves of power, but complexity exists so that more energy isn't needed to just MAKE the effect happen.
Or conversely, mere mortals do not have the capacity to just MAKE their effects do what they want because they tell it to. They need to actually know what the hay they're doing. "I command the forces of magic to cure this disease!" How though? What does it mean to "cure"? What's a "disease"? How does one take a sick person and make them well? Rules for magic are necessary to determine what the magic user is doing, what is in their power to do, and how they can do it. Rules restrict, but they also create story opportunities.
If it were merely a matter of power, Princess Twilight Sparkle is the Element of Magic. I think she has plenty of raw power to work with. The sticking point is how she works it.
2589638 Many magical lores does something along those lines as well, however they usually add a way of doing it, like circles of tables of equations much like or something along those lines, this type is usually used in works like arcane and healing magics as well as Alchemy
In that regards using elemental or emotion based magics if a entirely different ball game, as i- okay maybe it may be easier to explain it as this, Magic comes from multiple forms pure emotion and feeling the natural and faster learners of it, sorcerers sorceresses, and then there are those who practice and practice trying to get it, but can only do it so far and must learn to be tactical and precise. as i understand those concept it can be little hard to see why i would use it like this but here's why. Magic reacts to the person whose casting and the target, when the caster trys to "tap" into the stream he/she places herself at its mercy of answering or not, magic has its own mind, a basic will, it will try to resist being changed but the cast can use certain methods to force it into limited amounts of forms. a Sorcerer would enforce their will power onto it twisting it to its will, the stronger the will the more complicated spell he/she can cast as many times as they will can handle, but its limited to what they know and what they can imagine, usually not good with arcane the more complicated the more magical essence is needed thus more will required to tame it.Same with empowering spells more magic more willpower needed.
A wizard uses arts and diagrams to often gain his results using tricks knowledge, to gain a edge using this method is limiting in a way as they may not ever cast as quickly as their will-powered counter part, however their magics may be stronger or have many different effects they are also usually more varied, and if prepared are nightmares i na fight, they use their intelligence and quick thinking to bend magic essence to a shape or form, via diagrams rituals casting methods and even words that may seem gibberish unless you listen closely. they use these methods ot break down the magical essence's will and use these methods to shape it to what they need or desire, however the will is then bound to those exact "wording" of the spell, thus it cannot change from it till spells end or death of caster, these methods often lead to darker areas, thirst for knowledge/power.
With the methods listed ill go ahead and list more of their limitations and how they do what they do.
A sorcerer usually has to bring magical essence through them which can be risky at times, as magic may overload its user harming him or degrade his mind (making madness more prone.) they also are limited to how to control it. they are however quicker on the draw and can when good at their craft, pack a rather powerful punch, they lack variety and are not as tactical as a wizard.
A wizard will be a lot slower having to memorize and read their formula(s) unlike sorcerers they don't have magic slow into them but around them, this can be dangerous should the spell fail and backfire but not nearly as much and avoids the degradation, however the flow and feel of it often can induce "dreams of grandeur" and can get even more high and mighty. the wizards are at higher levels a tactical masters, attacking may seem like attacking the strongest fortress ever, if they are prepared. They unlike sorcerers are able to have a wider spread of spells.
In comparison I'd say Luna and Celestia tried to mix the methods but are obviously much more towards the different affinities, Luna is more a sorceress but shows some skill and prowess as a wizard as well. Where Celestia leans heavily on being a wizard but can easily swing pretty well into a sorceress side.
Twilight I'd say is more a sorceress but was taught by and idolized the foremost wizards and is stuck trying to be a absolute master of it. she however shows a higher natural ability and even has been boasted for it, which puts her as a sorceress but she is a cross class, she has a higher potential but has to tame it. Celestia is honestly unsure how in most likely of chances, and Luna doesn't know the situation. Twilight was taught high restraint but takes it the wrong way by thinking by stopping power all together she wont go wrong.
sorry...it was alot for soemthing so trivial, i just enjoy to talk so none of the many methods of magic haha...sorry...
(Edit: Wow...I messed that up...just gonna correct where I can.)