Post originally by Jay Triplett at 2003-05-06 14:30:38
Converted from Phorums BB System

Harn magic accounts for these things through a principle that the GM can use to explain magical effects, if he so desires. When casting a spell, mages use their Foundation to create a Form. Once the form is created the spellcaster tests it to make sure its safe, and then summons Principle to fill the form. Spellcasting results detail these principles in action for the GM and he can choose to use them or not to explain spell effects. If the principle is summoned into a faulty form which cannot be repaired (a critical failure), the energy cannot be controlled, the form shatters, and the principle manifests itself as one or several forms of mundane energy (such as electricity or fire). The effect of releasing these amounts of raw energy into the environment can be used by the GM to create floods, fires, electrical storms, whatever. Knowing the principles behind the magic explained in the rules, the GM can apply them to any phase of his campaign or campaign setting as he desires. He can create a High Magic world or a Low Magic world with equal realism/ detail, whatever. Some of the wildest effects of magic I have ever seen in a campaign were used by my GM with devastating detail and permanent impact to the environment. Fire used up oxygen in rooms, electricity hitting water electrocuted characters. Travel was speeded sometimes by traveling through portals that were described as mini-wormholes through which matrixes had been built to retain oxygen. Magic covered the blessing of crops, the destruction of crops, altering travel, the impact on the environment, its effect on warfare, its effect on weather, etc. In fact, according to the Harn mythology, this is one of the reasons the organization of the Shek-Pvar exists...to police magic. This means that, if the game is GM'ed well, grave consequences are in store for renegade magicians, or those who misuse their powers. When you are using magic you always have the feeling you are being "observed." To me this suggests a sophisticated high magic world in which laws exist to govern the use of magic, courts exist to try offenders of these laws, and there are penal guidelines for these offenses. The Shek-Pvar suggests to me a society similar to the Druids or the Freemasons, in that they want to keep the knowledge and use of magic from the masses, and keep the use of magic "environmentally friendly". This is why you don't see magic shops on the corners for adventurers to trade in, and you don't see a fleet of flying ships doing trade from Melderyn. This adds the element of having to have a good reputation with the Shek-Pvar in order to use powerful forms of magic. It is similar to having a license to kill. The Shek-Pvar many times have to sanction the use of magic, and in order to do that the players have to do some good roleplaying to convince the powers that be it is necessary and warranted. (Keep in mind, however, that the system does not have to be played this way...it is just the way it was in the campaign I was playing in, and that the rules allowed it to be played that way.)