Sup /tg/
Currently worldbuilding for a D&D/PF setting where magic has become institutionalized and "rogue magi" (i.e: someone not formally trained by state run academies) are seen as dangerous and tracked down by specially trained agents (I'm thinking that there was an arcane cataclysm in the past that has everyone afraid of them). I was thinking that these agents (for want of a better word) would use have access to a special material that disrupts magic casting, like a mundane version of counterspell. Anyone know of anything that would fit the bill?
That is the dragon age universe. The rogue magi are apostates,the agents are templar and the institution is the circle of magi for the mages and the chantry for the templar
>>46324990
Really? I've...acually never played the games. What can I do to make it different enough without everyone going "Simpsons did it" on me?
>>46324959
>"rogue magi"
That's not a good term for them.
You can call them "witches" or "black mages" or whatever, but if you use the same terminology as for your real mages, then you definitely cannot use such a weak qualifier as "rogue". These people are dangerous criminals, not lovable scoundrels.
>(i.e: someone not formally trained by state run academies)
What about those that were formally trained but had their license revoked?
>>46325003
>What can I do to make it different enough without everyone going "Simpsons did it" on me?
It's not DA exclusive. Don't worry about it.
>>46325105
"Rogue" doesn't mean lovable, it means criminal, outcast and/or renegade
The punk that hides in a back alley and robs/rapes people who tries to walk home from the bar is a rogue
>>46325453
I know what it can mean. But sometimes it means something relatively harmless.
>rogue (rōg)
>n.
>1. [] a scoundrel or rascal.
>2. One who is playfully mischievous; a scamp.
>3. A wandering beggar; a vagrant.
>>46325522
Meaning 1 and 3 (especially 1) means that it's completely ok to call them rogue magi. Just like various western governments refers to North Korea and Iran as rogue states because they are rogue
When NK fires a potentially nuclear-loaded missile on a trajectory towards Tokyo and then cuts off the burn so that it splashes down in the sea instead of killing millions, that's a rogue act
But not exactly a playfully mischievous one
Rogue is a serious word
>>46325687
You could, but you are trying to justify hunting them down and killing them.
You don't use an ambiguous term for that. If we were at war with NK, then we wouldn't call them a rogue state.
I'm doing the same kind of institutional magic in my world. Unfortunately I'm a clichéd sumbitch and termed unauthorized mages "apostates" and the people hunting them "inquisitors" and "mage hunters"
>>46324959
A favorite of mine is the "magic null crystal" which are ritually pumped with antispells until they become a portable anti-magic field, either activated and thrown as a sort of grenade or implemented into manacles to prevent casting while bound. They can also be useful as an arrowhead/crossbow bolt to nullify magic in the target, but those usually need to be specially tailored since the creation process generally makes them circular.
