How do you justify a generic, traditional feudal society in a fantasy setting that prominently features magic and spellcasters?
Going right back to the first human tribes, what made people organise into hierarchies with a military strong man at the top? Why didn't the earliest magic users seize leadership roles, setting a precedent for all future leaders of tribes, nations and empires?
Why doesn't the nobility almost exclusively consist of magic users in any generic fantasy setting?
Have a neolithic farmer for your troubles.
Sebastian Turner
They believe that magic is weird, easy and lazy at the best of times, outright evil and corrupting at the worst. Better just stay away from that shit.
It's not hard.
John Thompson
Because magic just isn't that powerful compared to other vocations.
Oliver Turner
>They believe that magic is weird, easy and lazy at the best of times, outright evil and corrupting at the worst. >They believe They will believe what they have always been told to believe by those in power. And since everyone else is walking around with stone axes, the guys that throw actual fireballs are the ones in power.
It doesn't work.
Aiden Young
Even IRL there was a caste of people who could divine weather or commune with the gods which is a form of "magic" and these people had the role of sages or advisors to the royal court.
So, maybe the practitioners are benign and have no interest in power grabs/being wealthy or they're a small enough minority there are checks and balances against them.
Nathan Johnson
Because magic users are essentially unicorns and a magic-less populous will always prefer someone like them on top.
Brayden Richardson
They did, then they were killed out of fear and paranoia (or maybe they really were brutal assholes), and now a pervasive stigma of magic users in leadership roles exists that keeps most from rising higher than advisory positions
Chase Lopez
Magic takes time, preparation and materials, and often requires more than one person to perform. Mages rely on other people in society to keep them safe, gather materials for them and participate in rituals. As a result, they usually take a supportive role behind the chief strongman whose principle job is protecting everyone in society including the mages.
Easton Allen
>Even IRL there was a caste of people who could divine weather or commune with the gods which is a form of "magic" and these people had the role of sages or advisors to the royal court. They had this role because, at best, they practiced the art of suggestion with a bit of chemistry or pharmacology mixed in.
This is in no way similar to someone who can shoot actual fire from his actual hands. Why would people with actual superpowers settle for a position as lap dog to someone with the pointiest stick?
Jonathan King
The nobility is not 'like' the common folk in a feudal society. It's better. Implying they're not is mad.
