Archived GM Notes: This page is unsealed GM-notes pertaining to PRPG2. It is not canonical to PRPG2. It may contain contradictions (even with itself), and preliminary ideas that were merely written down as I thought of them, for later consideration. The absence of something mentioned here from the canon does not necessarily mean that the party "missed" it, it could have been mooted for other reasons or simply discarded by me.
UNSEALED after review.
If magic (unicorn magic unless specified otherwise ) is hereditary which line does it pass along? - Both. It's like being tall, both parents contribute almost equally to magicality. What do the horns have to do with using magic? - A horn is the organ of magic like the eyes are the organ of seeing, but it's also a major part of the magical effector. It's not the only magical organ, though; the unicorn's spine is also involved. I forget what the special bits are called, but that's the principle magic-generating organ in other pony types that don't have horns. What makes some unicorns better at one sort of magic than another? - Mostly training. Some unicorns do have particularly strong telekinesis, a trait which is heritable as well, and unicorns with a magic-related special talent often have a particular aptitude for that category of magic. But among unicorns of equal magical strength, most of the difference, say, 70%, is just training. How are different magic types actually different? - That's like asking how heat and light are different, or how magnetism and chemistry are different. I know layponies often talk about 'Unicorn magic' or 'earth pony magic' or whatnot, but magic, physics - that's all the same, there's only one thing we're all manipulating in different ways. Suppose I had a big magnifying glass and you had a burning torch. We both want to light a candle. I could light it by focusing the light of the sun with my big magnifying glass, and you could light it by touching your torch to it - we have different tools to do the same thing. Magic is pretty much the same way. Of course, the tools you have to manipulate magic do make a practical difference -- if in that example, we now need to look at something really small, you're out of luck with your torch. Or suppose that it's night time - then your torch works just as well, but my magnifying glass is useless for lighting the candle. Is there any way other than a magic sense to detect magic? - Sure. Enchanted machines can detect it, and there is some alchemy I think that can allow magic to be sensed. Mind you, none of these things are as good as a horn, not by a long shot - compared to a unicorn's or a dragon's sense of magic, these things are no better than a blind pony's stick is for seeing. Better than nothing to be sure, but still... Is there any way to avoid a magic sense? - Sort of, but it's hard. It's like making a cloak of invisibility to hide you from seeing. It can seem to work quite well and then one day you find someone it doesn't work on. Hiding from magic is even harder. Now, there's something called a null magic box, and if you put something in there, it can't be detected by magic. But we can still see the null magic box -- and that's a great big conspicuous void. What's a magic sense feel like? - It's not something I can explain to someone who doesn't have it. How would you explain sight to a pony blind from birth? I can tell you the kinds of things in general that I can sense with it but there's no way I can convey the subjective experience of being a unicorn. Do different magics feel different? - Yes. Like different musical tambres. Is the sense active or passive? - Both. We can create magical forms actively to probe things, or we can just listen to natural magical emanations or the interaction of the ebb and flow of the magical aether with things around us. Active sensing is much more versatile, naturally. Do you sense how magical someone is at all times? - Essentially yes. Magicality can be concealed, though. How does instinctive TK work? - The same way other reflexes work, more or less. It evolved to protect unicorns from being struck with fast-moving objects, that were going too fast to stop consciously. How can you stop it? - Well, by focusing on _not_ doing it. It isn't easy. How much can it block? - It depends on how strong the unicorn's telekinesis is. Quite a lot, for a magical unicorn. What's the difference between changeling and unicorn magic? - It's manipulating the same physics. A changeling can also just turn into a unicorn, of course. Or any other sort of pony, or a gryphon. I don't know enough about changelings to say how different their base form magic is. Is there anything that stops unicorn magic? - In general, no, but for specific cases, yes, there are countermeasures for most anything. Why can't unicorns lift themselves? - It's complicated. It's a problem of dynamic control. The mathematics explaining why it's difficult are probably a bit outside the scope of this conversation. Why can't unicorns make wings for themselves? - We can. The spells are hard and the wings aren't as durable or powerful as pegasus wings, and the spell takes a long time - not something you'd want to try to cast on your way to the ground. How exceptional is your family magic? - I like to think we're very exceptional. Statistics would bear that out. Probably half of the dozen or so most powerful unicorns on the island are part of the family. What do unicorns learn in magic school exactly? - The science and practical use of magic. We also practice quite a lot, and do all sorts of exercises to enhance magical ability. Think of it as sort of like a music school.