Americans Are Still Afraid of Dragons
I found myself reading a very bizarre conversation the other day about soft vs hard magic systems, which I'll be referring to as unlawful and lawful magic systems, respectively, because it's too hard to type hard that much and not laugh. Unlawful in the sense of magic being nebulous or handwaved, while lawful has consistent rules to explain it. The specific comment compared Brandon Sanderson to Ronald Reagan1. Of course the comment was hyperbole, but I still left it confused. It was confusing that tabletop creators wanted to hand wave magic and how it functions when limits in a system are a big component of tabletop design in the first place. Maybe they don't want to play when reading for fear of the theoryslop taking over?
To make matters worse, another egregious comment was how lawful magic systems were preferred in science fiction rather than fantasy.
When I read a book or consume any form of media with a magic system, I love thinking about it's use cases. It's much more interesting considering the restraints of a system as the narrative progresses rather than having a situation be hand waved away at random as a result of poor writing. This is someone's personal opinion, but why did it bother me so much? Why am I sitting here, writing about it? I think, because it's a prime example of divisveness and faux intellectualism that need not exist. I'll be digging into each comment seperately, since I took umbrage with both.
Magic Systems Defined
To begin, we must define. We love labels, boxes, categories, etc. and why not continue the trend. It's an important component here to clarify which books from fantasy fall into this category.
Something to consider is how each person probably has a loose idea of what counts as an unlawful or lawful magic system. I would say there are three things that mark a magic system as lawful. This is by no means an exhaustive or accurate list, but I am trying to be lawful in my definitions!
- The consistency of the magic. Characters cannot use it all willy-nilly. The character performs X and receives Y.
- The rules of the magic. There are clear rules for how magic behaves/responds/etc.
- The consequences of magic. Any magic oftentimes requires a limitation or price to be used (takes your life force, kills the world, etc.)
I don't think you need all of these to be a viable lawful system but at least 2 out of the 3. Some promimnent fantasy examples include The Daevabad Trilogy, Green Bone Saga, Babel, The Burning Kingdoms, and Magic of the Lost. All of which have either been nominated or won a World Fantasy Award2.
Book Play and Designers
One way to GM involves a bunch of Book Play. Reading and marking up a rulebook, placing sticky notes for reference. All these actions are a form of Book Play that seem to fall off for people when we turn to read fiction. In Ursula K. Le Guin's book The Language of Night, she speaks,
"To be free, after all, is not to be undisciplined. I should say that the discipline of the imagination may in fact be the essential method or technique of both art and science. It is our Puritanism, insisting that discipline means repression or punishment, which confuses the subject. To discipline something, in the proper sense of the word, does not mean to repress it, but to train it - to encourage it to grow, and act, and be fruitful, whether it is a peach tree or a human mind." - Ursula K. Le Guin, Why Are Americans Afraid of Dragons?
I think there's reason to state this continues to be the case inside our own hobby, extending into other forms of media that ttrpg creators consume. Yes, the call is coming from inside the house! Why are creators unwilling to play in the space of lawful magic systems existing within fantasy?
As I grow as a creator, I'm discovering that reading and consuming media outside the immediate realm of tabletop is good. I was told the same when I began my work as a game developer. Right now, I'm reading books about the history of textiles. It's these things that can create and drive innovation in a field, this cross-pollination and exchanges. Why would you not welcome that in regards to magic systems then?
Constraints Feed Fantasy
In both fiction and tabletop, constraints provide the space for players to have fun. For tabletop, it can be a host of things. In dungeons, it's limited inventory space for the loot you can carry out. For Blades in the Dark games, it's limited time. For PbtA, it's limited Moves. The list goes on and on. At its base level, many ttrpgs are constrained at the character sheet level (HP, dice rolls, etc.) This is its own discussion and blog post, but you get the idea. Without these constraints, the space to have different experiences and characters is limited. Why would I ever track the number of torches if I didn't need to? I wouldn't.
Fiction is the same way!
Characters are limited in their ability and are forced to navigate the world, even with magic, in a specific way. The protagonist has to be creative in their solution, or the world ends. Or, they must make the ultimate sacrifice in using their magic. These constraints are further exacerbated by a lawful magic system where they have to take specific actions (much like in a ttrpg) to be successful and survive. The chance of success lies with the author rather than dice or cards, but the idea still rings true.
Writing and War Crimes
I've spent most of this post, discussing the validity of rigorous magic systems being in fantasy books. I've hardly touched on the main comment that ignited me writing this post which is comparing an established author to a war criminal. The comment has been recreated on social media in a bad form of shock-based gotcha visibility. To what extent? I can only surmise that it's rooted in an unwillingness to explore.
On a personal level, I find it gross, especially given the current climate of America. People are dying. This offhand comment served to do nothing more than tear down an author, comparing them to one of the worst presidents to exist where, I imagine, a direct line can be traced from what's happening today to him. My response has been to donate to Stand With Minnesota.
Conclusion
Overall, I find the lack of drive to explore and be curious about other people's work in a meaningful way disappointing. This is not to say we should support bad actors. In fact, it's quite the opposite as a thorough examination of one's design philosophy, regardless of medium, can highlight their character.
Footnotes
- No, I won't reveal who said it. Yes, I am a Brandon Sanderson fan, but I understand and respect personal preference. It seemed bizarre to me that, given our current political climate, to compare a successful author to a war criminal.
- The World Fantasy Award is given each year for the best fantasy fiction publisher that year a the World Fantasy Convention. This author notes all of the listed books with lawful magic systems that were nomainted or won were created post-Brandon Sanderson.