EXPLANATION: Antithesis/"Dark" Alt. Magics

[GodEmperorFlam 3447]

Antithesis/”Dark” Alternative Magics

This thread covers the stance currently taken on lore that is proposed as a “dark” alternative to an existing piece.

Over the years a number of lore proposals have popped up that were “dark” variants of existing magics. “Dark” druidism, “dark” paladins, “dark” shamanism, et cetera. Conceptually, these dark alternatives are meant to be another route to take for the magic that is “dark” or “evil” and/or are meant to act as the antagonist towards the already existing version of the magic, such as dark shamanism’s relationship with shamanism.

 

However, a common issue with these pieces is that they don’t really offer anything that the other magic doesn’t and tend to just be aesthetically different variants of the existing piece made so that a person doesn’t have to deal with the current powersource or group. Another is that they ignore that a lot of these magics are morally ambiguous. Druidism is fully capable of being “dark” if the character using it wants it to be that way, there’s no reason to have a carbon copy of the magic with a different power source while using the excuse “it’s the dark version!”.

 

For magics that are not morally ambiguous/push for a certain mindset, such as holy magics, an argument can be made to have a “dark” alternative for those that wish to RP as rogues or a darker variant of the magic. Currently if you attempt to do that, you essentially get screwed over by groups disconnecting your character. However, that’s roleplay, so creating an entirely new magic simply for that purpose is not a good enough reason. If you are attempting to create said “dark” variant, you should also make sure that it is providing some kind of roleplay for the other group that isn’t purely antagonistic, as this conflicts with our magic targeting stance (found here).

 

Overall, “dark” variants are frowned upon for most lore pieces. If you believe you have a good concept and idea for it, you should contact Story management to hash things out with them.