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Lmarcum
2015-09-14, 03:44 PM
I'm creating a world using pathfinders system but its going to have a much more scientific feel, I was curious how I could justify certain races having spell like abilities that pertain to shadow magic (such as darkness) when they already live in a dark environment

qazzquimby
2015-09-14, 05:35 PM
I'm confused what the problem is. You can cast fire magic in a fiery environment. In addition, most shadow spells are using physical shadow illusion stuffs, which isn't the same as just darkness. If something would just make it darker, and you're already in the dark, it will already do nothing.
If that isn't what you're asking, to cast a fireball you pull from the plane of fire, to cast a shadow whatever, you pull from the plane of shadow. Your environment shouldn't matter.

Xuldarinar
2015-09-14, 06:06 PM
In shadow, there can always be an area of darker shadow.

We are also confusing here shadow, the mundane thing that exists when light is blocked, and shadow, the substance of the shadow plane which is a reflection of material created by the negative energy plane. Shadow, in the latter sense, is a presence and not an absence. It is more present in areas of shadow, in the former, because most cannot discern between them unless it is actively hitting them and it is less noticeable in of itself when in shadow.


Now, science and shadow. I don't believe this is at all you had in mind, but it is worth looking at. Look up Sugroz, the voice in screams. He is a kyton demagogue who oversees a multi-planet based research operation dedicated to the creation of new types of kyton from living mortals. He utilizes in the operation both traditional kyton soul-warping techniques and advanced technologies. I imagine cybertech (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/equipment---final/cybertech) may be involved in some things turned out from that.

Lmarcum
2015-09-18, 02:58 PM
Ok, I meant it as I something lives on a planet with little to no light why would they develop the ability to cast shadows when it offers no racial advantage

Ethereal Gears
2015-09-18, 03:17 PM
Why do creatures native to the Shadow Plane have the innate ability to create magical darkness? Because Shadow and Material have always been linked and intertwined, and these creatures have found such abilities eminently useful when breaching the planar boundaries into Material to cause mischief, et al. Much, perhaps, in the same way as a Material Planes human would find it useful to bring a torch to Shadow. Now torches are not inborn, obviously, but fire was man's "first invention" and so is very much part of humanity's nature.

Just an idea, of course.

Xuldarinar
2015-09-18, 03:18 PM
That is simple. Imagine this:

You live on a world formed from a particular substance, an energy if you will. You could conceivably learn to manipulate this substance and through it generate anything you pleased. A ball of fire, a bolt of lightning, a wall of ice, even shape creatures from it if you so desired. Why would you not develop this capacity and learn to put it to use?

To those of the shadow plane... it is the native energy. In fact, it makes more sense for them to use shadow magics than people of the material to call forth things from other planes. Sure, on the material you are still drawing from elsewhere, but on a world in which shadow is present, it is a substance present to be worked with.

lunaticfringe
2015-09-19, 08:01 PM
To be more comfortable or function better in a non native enviroment? Like a human wizard casting Light in dark cave.
Or perhaps as a defense mechanism. Maybe an ancestor species or the current species have light blindness and are hunted by or at war with a species capable of casting light spells. Magical Darkness and Light cancel each other out.