Combat Magic | Miscellaneous | Forums

I pretty much agree.  And yet, the supposed danger of sharing information publicly is part of the rationale used by many oathbound magical traditions, even when they’re not dealing with practices as aggressive as combat magic.

I tend to agree with Claude, much of it seems to me to be intended to create an aura of mystery and power around the tradition, thus attracting followers.  I don’t know if I’d call it elitist, just manipulative and also rather pathetic really.

I don’t agree that Radki is the natural result of sharing (accurate) information on combat magic with the public, though.  There’s too much lore about magic being used offensively.  The art of cursing is found across all cultures and traditions.  And not everyone who uses magic offensively is a fluffbunny.  Here’s a quote from the book I’ve been reading that I think you guys will like:

I know a very powerful magician who once told me that his favorite combat spell was the “Greater Evocation of the .357 Magnum Bullet Between The Eyes.” He said it never fails. Though spoken in jest, it would be wise to keep this anecdote in mind when considering the use of combat magic. If one cannot continence the use of my friend’s type of “magic spell”, then one has no business considering the use of any other type either.

Nor is this statement being used to build up an aura of power and mystery around the practice of combat magic; the author goes on to give very specific information about two methods of using magic offensively, and about countermeasures.  He also cautions against allowing oneself to become overly paranoid and letting your imagination run rampant, the main causes of “psychic warfare syndrome”, though he doesn’t use that term.  It’s an interesting read.

*shrugs* It’s not really my focus, I just came across a chapter on it while reading a longer work and thought it brought up an interesting question.  I might take a look, though. 🙂

The Doctor said:

In my experience, letting novices attempt very complex magicks, or magicks that require a great deal of energy to perform is not as harmful as reputed. Most novices do not have the understanding of the symbols or the training to manipulate them as required to make them manifest anything. Those who have the capacity to raise enough energy but not the skill to manipulate it or use it along with the symbols tend to set their hair on fire (so to speak) and take themselves out before they can harm anyone else.

Exactly… in some ways, it's a lot like making information about “hacking” available to the public… very, very few people of ill intent are actually going to be able to make use of anything beyond precompiled tools or prewritten scripts.  And of those, fewer still are going to be good at it.  Most often, they're going to shoot themselves in the foot.