You recently, through war, became king of a militant country that has magic punishable by death. Your first edict is that mages are now citizens and cannot be killed or punished for practising magic, unless its breaking other laws. All further laws must be passed by the nobility, though most nobles hate you, you do have allies in each region.
What may be the short and long term consequences of this?
Since I'm now in possession of a country full with warlords, I start using my allies and magi friends to systematicly destroy any opposition to my rule.
Judge which nobles are usefull and which are disposable, wheat from the chaff, all that.
Rouse the people through acts of honour and virtue, give them duels and tournaments, let the mages play a role in them.
Reformation motherfucker, do you speak it
The idea of instilling chivalry and honor in wizards through making "wizard tournaments" is an idea that intrigues me.
This is a recipe for civil war right quick. The peasants that were in support of killing magic uses just for being magic users will end up under the thumb of nobles that hate me.
The nobles are either going to pass a shitton of laws that undermine the edict that grants rights and citizenship to mages, for example making it illegal in the region to be in possession of "magical paraphernalia that may be used to undermine kings peace".
The only way to actually avoid this kind of situation is to roll all magic users into the Royal army, granting them citizenship in the process. This way only I have access to magical troops, giving me a significant advantage should the noblemen get out of line.
In short term the nobles will assassinate you. In long term the wizards will raise you as their undying champion and you will retake your kingdom.
>Become undying lich king
>Keep kingdom
>Get new wizard bros to rule with
I see no downside in this.
Your going too fast.
First conscript them into the army as Sanction magi they get some protection and can make use of their abilities.
After some time you'll be able to get rid of the laws using newly acquired political capital and good will the mages will have from serving in the kings army.
Let's create rules and decorum for these fuckin knightly wizard duels you beautiful fuckers.
> 1. It is forbidden to instantaneously defeat your foe, they must be given a fighting chance.
> 2. Any magic used must be plainly visible to observers, it is difficult to judge invisible blades that smell like abstract concepts.
> 3. Only small explosions may be used in the standard dueling arena to prevent further fires.
Anybody got anymore?
>Captcha: spiceball salmonby
Yes captcha it is spicy.
Time to cleanse the streets of magic-hating luddites.
Create a praetorian guard of warriors, wizards and warriors trained in magic/wizards trained in martial arts and send them out to murderhobo the opposition - be they nobles or commoners.
After that's done, the praetorian guard can become an institution that ensures that all magic users abide to the rules about magic.
Also, we need a magic academy so I can become a wizard too. Can't govern a magical nation if you don't know how to use magic.
Also, start researching the application of magic in war. I assume that the neighbours might get a bit scared of a militant nation suddenly going all magitec.
Who fucking cares about the nobles, I have wizards, I mean, I can curse their firstborn to be a trap and their wives to be attracted to those of nubian descents. I can make their life a living hell while I need like one diviner/cartomancer/seer to prevent assassination. I'll remind them who's in charge. And maybe substitute them with the wizzos.
>What may be the short and long term consequences of this?
A lot less nobles, because those who aren't on my side will be rounded up on the fourth day of the coronation festivities and executed for plotting high treason, their holdings split between the crown and those I deem in need of substantial rewards.
A few minor ones probably won't be around for the hempen jig dance off, but what do you know, it seems I have a lot of friendly magic users to call upon for assistance with scrying, curses, and so on.
Then pass various laws that give the common man a reasonable set of rights and protection from the nobility, the top and bottom of society frequently ally against the mushy filling in between.
NO SCIENCE, SCIENCE WIZARD
NO WEAPONS, WEAPONHEAD
TIME FOR WIZ BIZ
>no magical items
>no potions
>staffs and wands only
>final destination
I mean, they do sound like scrub rules, but tournament fighting is about showing off how skilled you are, not about instantly destroying your opponent.
You could have different levels.
You'd have the magical duels that aren't really about a test of might as much as it is about showing the commoners what magic is about and giving them a fun time - kind of like the Super Bowl.
And then there's the equivalent of the Olympic games that are hosted behind a few meters of magical forcewall and has a 30 cleric team ready to heal the bloody shredded wizards back into shape after a magical duel is over.
Could be more like boxing vs fencing.
Or like, a different tournament for each school + a MMA style cage-fight with the aforementioned protections in place.
What if the people were naturally resistant to magic?
You know, given their powers and status having wizards that follow a hard code, like the magical equivalent of chivalry or bushido, is actually a pretty fucking great idea.
Whats interesting, though, is that magical contracts are totally a thing. So if your magic school requires you to take a vow that you will not consort with demons, its not just words. Its a binding magical contract, with all of the expected repercussions/forced inability to break it.
Not to act against the king. Not to consort with demons. Not to inflict harm on the people of the land. To serve your sworn lord. To bring to the justice of the magus college any who practice magic unvowed. Etc.
A wizard who acts like a knight. With, perhaps, each 'Chapter' of wizard knights having different sets of vows. Either because they serve different functions for the king, serve different kingdoms entirely, or simply practice different forms of magic that require different restrictions and protections.
Bonus points: training as a wizard involves training in staff and shield, for the protection of yourself and others.
Well, first of all, the nobility can eat shit.
I took over this country by war fair and square. If the nobles had any armies to speak of, they have already either lost to me in the field or surrendered. Any noble house with the resources to seriously oppose me, that I do not trust implicitly, is getting broken down and their lands and holdings given to a new noble family of my own creation. I'm sure I have generals and officers I promised land to in my campaign, I suspect I trust them rather more than the proud and venerable house of a kingdom I took by force. The nobles I displace shall have the heads of their houses sent to penal colonies as a sign of how few fucks I give. Their sons shall be conscripted into my armies, where they will learn loyalty or earn death. The pick of their daughters shall be married to the new lords I create to satisfy a sense of continuity of ownership for what smallfolk care about that sort of thing, and the rest shall be given the choice of retainers to other noble houses, or to join the church and live their lives for whatever state approved god they see fit.
I'm presuming, given our respective stances on magic, that I won the war in significant part due to the fact that my side had battlemages and their side didn't. As such, I will make significant concessions to my magical allies so they feel the love. My wrath is swift and terrible, but my friendship comes with many rewards.
I will work with my magical friends to, in the first year of my reign, coordinate a series of public and suitably impressive feats of magic that benefit the common man. Purifying a poisoned well, healing those made lame defending their homes from my army, helping crops grow. That sort of thing. This serves the double purpose of making me a friend of the people, and showing that magic does not need to be feared.
Long term, lets rebuild and improve this kingdoms defenses and infrastructure. It obviously wasn't enough to keep me out.
>training as a wizard involves training in staff and shield, for the protection of yourself and others.
Magical warstaff. Magical foci at one end, pointy metal bit on the other. Can be used to cast spells as any staff can, and be used for staff fighting, or you can flip it around and use it as a spear. Probably includes combat spells that involve smacking someone with the foci end for delivering a magical effect.
A simple but very flexible weapon for the martial wizard on the go.
>What may be the short and long term consequences of this?
You get dethroned.
A good king sides with either the nobility or with the masses. The absolutist [though there is a lot of revisionism about how aboslute absolutism really is] king Louis XIV for example managed to effectively eliminate the nobility with his Versailles system but managed to make himself very popular with the bourgeois: they were the ones doing a lot of the administrative jobs the nobles were used to doing before.
Now you've broken the law and given mages full rights. The peasants are upset because they most likely hate these mages due to being superstitious, killing them being some kind of local tradition or other such reasons. You've already established that the nobility hates you, so who is going to look out for you if someone decides to overthrow you? If the peasants start a revolt, a lot of nobles may simply look the other way when you ask them for military assistance. If some upstart noble claims his great-great-great-great uncle was the true heir to the throne, he'll get a lot of support from other nobles and the masses won't bat an eyelash. These mages need to be VERY powerful or useful to prevent this from happening.
Personally, if I were that king I'd try to change things more gradually. I'd take a group of mages under my protection and have them do some useful tasks around my court (à la Court Jews), try to win over as many nobles as possible (and get rid of those who keep dissenting) andover time have some of my Court Mages publish texts which logically and formally explain why mages aren't a threat and even a great service to my country. I may not live to see the fruits of these works, but at least I won't be to shreds by angry peasants.
>the nobility can eat shit.
>I took over this country by war fair and square
Which raises a question: why didn't we dethrone all nobles and replace them with out buddies or family? William the Conqueror did just that.
> A good king sides with either the nobility or with the masses.
True, but we have to consider the logical implications of the fact that we took this country by force.
We either already ruled a country and used that army to take over this one and add it to our lands (in which case this newly conquered territory isn't our actual seat of power) or we are from here and we overthrew the current king (in which case we must have the support of some amount of the nobility or the masses, otherwise where did we get our army?).
We didn't just herp a derp our way onto the throne. We have some kind of allies, and those allies are strong enough to have taken this throne with out help. We don't want to be retards, but we don't have to cower in fear either. We have some force to back ourselves up.
> Which raises a question: why didn't we dethrone all nobles and replace them with out buddies or family?
That's what I'm proposing we do in We just may not need to replace all the nobility, but we sure as hell are replacing anyone even remotely a threat. I'm not discounting the possibility that we have allies among the existing nobles, and any of those are obviously protected.
And after blowing away the 'big' nobles, any of the remaining previous nobility can be expected to work twice as hard to stay in our good graces. Partly because they new have an opportunity to rise in the ranks that they previously never would have had, but largely because they have already seen what happen to those who don't play ball. Fear of the same happening to them will keep them in their place.
Obviously anyone who makes a ruckus gets the shit end of my royal scepter, even if they are a minor house instead of a major one. I didn't come here to put up with their shit.
bump
Initiate a cull of the aristocracy
As soon as you let the popular opinions of the nobles dictate how you rule your kingdom, you're no longer a king. You're a well-dressed middle-man. Remind them that they serve you, rather than the other way around, and if their interests do not align with your own, then their choices are to change their interests, or die.
>Even the greatest fighter-mages will learn to fear the one-eyed stranger
Halruaa has mages that sometimes swear "wizard word oaths". If broken, the oath kills them on the spot.
Sometimes the oath is one of silence, and talking about that thing will kill you.
Halruaa has a ton of awesome mage-culture.
Selective breeding programs determine who you will marry based on the quality of offspring expected.
Arcane magic used throughout the justice system. Lots of cool stuff to appropriate into a fantasy setting.
>Mageduel
These are already a thing.
Disputes between Kingdoms are often settled by 'Wizards Wars'.
The logic behind a Wizards War is that the side with the strongest magic is often the victor. A single exceptional knight usually cannot swing the course of a war, but a single battlemage can very much turn the tide of a battle if unchecked.
In a Wizards War, the two kingdoms set the stakes of victory and defeat, and then organize a series of magical battles between the best battlemages of their respective courts. The rules prevent certain forms of magic to make the battles less lethal, but obviously they are far from safe affairs.
The losing kingdom admits defeat in this matter, and suffers the previously agreed upon concessions. No more, no less. This condition is set by the magical rules invoked during the Wizards War, and likewise prevents the mages involved from accepting outside help, as well as preventing either side from stepping down until the war is completed. Once you begin a Wizards War, you must end a Wizards War.
A Wizards War may last any number of rounds, and continues until either one side is unable to continue, or until one side has two more victories than their opponent does. Each round has different sub-rules and methods, and over the years kingdoms have concocted a rather large list of round setups with legal precedent that may be invoked. Kingdoms alternate picking the conditions of the next round, taking turns choosing rules and battlefields that they think will benefit their team. One round might focus largely on summoning magic and indirect attacks, another might take place at sea where the goal is the sinking of ships. The next might involve attacking or defending a specific set of ruins.
Due to the spectacular nature of wizards battles, Kingdoms often hold mock Wizards Wars as training exercises and as public entertainment, honing the skills of their best wizards in preparation for the real thing and making a decent amount of money in the process.
> I hereby bring this Wizard War, between the Kingdoms of Inglmere and Horast, to order.
> Round One goes to Horast. Your decision?
> "The Fireball Joust."
>> "The Fireball Joust."
How are fantasty races treated?
Depends on how sexy they are.
while not answering the question, i do think that there is a better way to do this.
First off you fund a private Prison tower for those found to be committing acts of magic, only instead of torture and death they are allowed to become licensed wizards if they work for you and can prove loyalty. Weather using their powers for war or for civil works (civil works are much more important for the future PR) you make sure to set up an office where-by a person can "turn themselves in in service of the country, to keep their fellow citizens safe"
BOOM, no you have a private military force under direct control of the king with major potential for civic works. start building aqueducts, bridges, clearing farmland, strategic fortifications, etc.
might not even bother ever legalizing magic, just keep it regulated.
I see that backfiring very quickly. You haven't removed the social stigma against magic, all you have done is taken a bunch of otherwise isolated and independent magic users and put them together in one place, while making you their common enemy because they are only working for you because you forced them to.
You're going to need to dedicate an army to babysitting them to make sure they don't turn on you, which will only breed further resentment. And since they know magic and you don't, its only a matter of time before they figure out some use of magic that makes your army irrelevant and then they bring you down.
A wizard held on your thumb by thread of death is the absolute worst possible position to keep them in. You are setting yourself up for magical betrayal at the moment it would destroy you the most.
>Your first edict is that mages are now citizens and cannot be killed or punished for practising magic, unless its breaking other laws
it is? are you sure?
This causes a civil war which i probably win since i have wizards. Im not sure i want wizards though - i dont like them very much. Im tempted to repeal that law and kill all the wizards.
> This causes a civil war
Against who?
You already took over the country by force. Anyone who has a problem with you has already been defeated.
in WoT the Aes Sedai had to take a magic oath to tell no lie, make no weapon that could kill someone and to never use magic as a weapon against people that weren't cultists, monsters or to defend her life