Magical Realism

= Magic is the "What if" of the imagination. =

What is it?
Magical Realism is the use of magic and explaining magic in a realistic fashion under the idea of, "What if." It is most commonly used in spellcasting where characters battle and players try to explain what they are *doing* with magic to produce the affects they desire. This usually involves a mixture of low-level scientific explanation and logic. There are *always* ways around an affect unless over time a trap had been built up by one action chain linking another and another, resulting in a massive interlocking puzzle.

Casting a Dice Game (Dungeons and Dragons or Vampire: the Masquerade for example) spell on a target and expecting them to know it or look it up is frowned upon. Please, state what you do, where it is aimed, and how you intent it to work.

That said, it's not something to be a stickler or jerk about and go crazy with explanation and science. Most of it is just plain common sense and logic. Those who are ellitists may go overboard or get crazy with their wild explanations. This is because they're too into the game and enjoy trying to outsmart others over the "What if" factor. This is not something LAT encourages on a jerk level, just a fun competitive level.

Just remember the basics: What, Where and How.

What: What is the spell? What type of energy is it made of? Is it an area affect, a cone, a beam or just a wave of magic? If you don't include this, it's assumed to be just general magic.

Where: What is your target? Is it an area, how much of an area? Is it a limb? The chest? Are you targetting an organ? If this isn't posted, then it's usually taken as just the person as the target and is open for the target to interpret.

How: How does it work? Will the blue fire burn like normal fire, or will it be like rapid frostbite? Does that deterioration spell attack at a physical level, or does it pluck magic apart or does it deteriorate energy? If you don't post this, players may ask, or just interpret it as being simply colored fire or however else they interpret it.

''If you don't understand an action, ask. But it is up to the attacker to clarify. If the attacker doesn't clarify, the target can interpret the actions as they see fit, and respond logically. Don't get mad if your action is interpreted different from how you intended because you didn't include the information needed to make it come across correctly. So use clear communication. This is a text game after all.''

Examples

 * Nullifying Magic
 * A character may attempt to nullify the use of magic and thus prevent it for a certain low duration. A method of doing so would be to use a psionic blade, or energy blade of one's own lifeforce or soulistic power to lash out and sever the strands of magic that tie into characters through their enviornment. The tear of the blade would also prevent new strands from being formed until the tear was repaired, making magic unusable in the range of the area.
 * Elemental Counter-attack
 * Character Earthuser unleashes a wave of mucky muddy earth to fly at their opponent, Flamehead. Flamehead in turn ups the heat around the wave of mud, turning it to stone.
 * In this matter, Earthuser would be smart to point out that the wave of mud is now a wave of stone, still in motion. Flamehead used their turn to convert the element, but forgot about the movement (or inertia) behind it.
 * Flamehead either gets the chance to run away if Earthuser is nice enough, or they get bowled over by the solid block of stone if Earthuser wants their attack to stick or if the OPs declare a hit.
 * Note: Characters in freeform fantasy usually have the endurance of DBZ characters which allows them to take massive hits and damage in an unrealsitic manner, resulting in torn clothes and bruises but little blood or crushed bones.
 * Fire
 * Fire is an element of heat, light and air.
 * By magically removing the heat of the flame, the light and air still exists. A blast can still be harmful like a forceful gust of wind from the air, or a blinding light.
 * By magically removing the light from the flame, the heat and air still exists. It could be an invisable trap, where only the waves of the heat would give it away.
 * By magically removing the air from the flame, the fire goes out. The flash of light may still exist and but the force of a blast will not be felt because ther is no air and thus no force behind it. Also, fire cannot exist without oxygen.

Just because "it's magic" doesn't mean it doesn't need to hold some value of realism and logic in the world of the Lame Ass Tavern. Magic needs to be explained or used with tact, although when it comes right down to it magic is just a method of explaining the unexplainable, such as in the composition of fantasy monsters or mixed characters or the how of the tavern repairing itself. And really, a player only needs to describe it as much as is needed for the given situation and nothing to the point that it gives away a loophole or weakness to their character or a spell. It's meant to be a puzzle. Riddles and puzzles are common in myth and magic.