Background Magic Field: Difference between revisions
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{{trope}}
{{quote|''"While typically invisible to the naked eye, high densities of Mist will occasionally manifest in very visible phenomena. The highest concentrations of Mist can even do damage, leading to over-rapid changes in the environment, and violent behavior among animals and those more sensitive to the Mist's effects."''
|''[[Final Fantasy XII]]''}}
In some settings, magic is more of a raw natural phenomenon than something derived from designated gods or demons, acting as a kind of atmosphere enclosing a planet or permeating a universe. This background magic field, then, is magic in its rawest untapped form as a pervasive energy field that can and does affect the setting in much the same way that radiation or weather might affect our world. In areas where the [[Place of Power|background magic field is dense]], strange things happen, including spontaneous miracles and [[Body Horror|hideous mutation]]. However, it can also greatly (if unpredictably) increase the powers of mages who tap into it. Areas of calmer magic are much more predictable, and in areas where the field is [[Anti-Magic|weak or absent]], magic might not even be possible. If a background magic field exists in a setting, you can be quite sure at least one school of [[Functional Magic]] will involve the channelling of background magic into a more focused form. Often it's the sole source of magic in the setting.
Note that while many settings can be [[Fanon|assumed to have this]], examples should only be included where the
The Background Magic Field may be composed of, or easily turned into, [[Mana]]. Currents in the Background Magic Field may lead to [[Ley Line
The trope name is intended to echo real-world [[wikipedia:Background radiation|background radiation]], which captures many of the trope's aspects in a less fantastical way.
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{{examples}}
== Anime and Manga ==
* The magoi in ''[[Magi: The
* Reiatsu in ''[[Bleach]]'', although this is more of an inner-derived soul force. In Soul Society, where reiatsu is a lot more dense, the characters can use their powers a lot more effectively.
* Nen in ''[[Hunter X Hunter]]'' is also a variant of ''[[Bleach]]'''s reiatsu.
* Psi in ''[[Psyren]]'' is yet another... with the {{spoiler|future}} being more conducive to the brain wavelengths.
== Comic Books ==
* The Speed Force, an energy field that embodies Speed, where all [[Super Speedster]] heroes and villains (notably all incarnations of [[The Flash]]) draw their power from.
== Fan Works ==
* Present in ''[[With Strings Attached]]'' around the world of C'hou. With proper training, a resident can learn to manipulate the Field to perform magic. Also present but rare are those with a natural genetic gift to manipulate the Field without training.
* Also present in ''[[Sailor Moon Z]]''; largely explored in the episode where Hotaru gets a little too close to Saturn for her own liking.
* In the magiphysics/cosmology of ''[[Drunkard's Walk]]'', this is the basic way magic manifests in a universe, although different universes may also manifest Ley Lines and nodes.
** In ''[[Harry Potter|Drunkard's Walk VIII]]'', the Weasley Twins and Hermione Granger discuss "background magic" in a way directly analogous to background radiation.
== Film ==
* The Force from ''[[Star Wars]]''. While the Force is probably the [[Trope Codifier]] for a pervasive magical field in Western minds, its fundamental influence is more strongly felt in the [[Expanded Universe]].
== Literature ==
* Larry Niven's ''[[The Magic Goes Away]]'' was about what happens when a world of magic users hit [[Post-Peak Oil|Post-Peak Magic]] by ''using up'' their Background Magic Field. One character invents a device that signals the depletion of magic in an area (by
* Magic in the ''[[Discworld]]'', including the unstable magic areas where crazy things happen. In fact, the Disc would fall apart without this trope. Bonus points for actually being a very close [[Does This Remind You of Anything?|analogy to radiation]] in some books.
** ''[[Discworld]]'' does a fair amount of this. The Unseen University Library is the greatest collection of magic tomes on the Disc, so efforts must be made to avoid the magic going critical. ''The Science Of Discworld'' mentions that the last place to try splitting the thaum (the [[Minovsky Physics|basic unit of magic]]) is now a very large crater, and anyone who explores it suffers weird consequences.
* ''[[The Wheel of Time]]'' has the True Source, a sort of pervasive invisible magic that is available ''almost'' everywhere, except in Ogier steddings and the city of Far Madding, which block access to it through natural phenomena and ancient relics respectively. [[Functional Magic|Magic itself]], known as the One Power, is channeled from the True Source.
** In the [[Crystal Spires and Togas|Age of Legends]], there existed something called the "Standing Flows" which enabled a variety of [[Applied Phlebotinum|magic-powered technology]], such as telephones and airplanes, to be usable by non-mages.
* The ''[[Heralds of Valdemar]]'' series. Not only do ley lines run everywhere, but in places where they get muddled, Bad Things tend to happen. Like people and animals mutating, sometimes even overnight. Naturally, the Kingdom of Valdemar backs onto a whole wood full of muddled ley lines and mutated creatures, one of the remnants of
* Magic in ''[[The Acts of Caine]]'' series exists as "Flow," which magical adepts can channel for their own purposes.
* The ''[[Saga of Recluce|Recluce]]'' saga has the [[Order Versus Chaos|Order/Chaos Balance]], which can be manipulated by those sensitive to it, but exists in everything and alters the way that the laws of physics and thermodynamics affect ordinary matter, weather and climate, technology, living organisms, and geography in that universe.
* In [[Piers Anthony]]'s ''[[Incarnations of Immortality]]'', Magic is the result of a "fifth fundamental force", expressed through particles called "magicons"
** And in his ''[[Apprentice Adept]]'' series, magic is a natural force generated by Protonite/Phazite, a substance formed in the vicinity of a certain kind of [[Negative Space Wedgie]] and found abundantly only on Proton/Phaze; the [[Functional Magic]] itself only works on the Phaze side and where the two worlds overlap.
* Magic energy in ''[[The Dresden Files]]'' is drawn from a
* In ''[[Harry Potter (novel)|Harry Potter]]'', areas of intense magic such as Hogwarts cause electrical devices to stop working.
* The Tradition in ''[[Tales of the Five Hundred Kingdoms]]'' is an ambient magic native to the land and acts like the laws of nature. Specifically, it causes people's lives to follow the fairy tale they most resemble... without regard to how nice, happy, or even feasible those stories are.
* The different types of fae from the ''[[Coldfire Trilogy]]''
* The Morphing Grid in ''[[Power Rangers]]''. Any time a Ranger exclaims, [[By the Power of Grayskull| “It’s Morphin’ Time!”]] they tapping into this field, whether they know it or not. The Morphing Grid is what enables them to use the [[Transformation Trinket]]s, and gives them a symbiotic link to the Zords. This is, by the way, why Rangers tend to be very upset should a Zord be destroyed (the breaking of the link can be traumatic) or why they are weakened should a Zord fall into a villain’s hands (the link would be corrupted). It sort of works like a magical database where each users' DNA code is copied and stored within, allowing the link to be initiated. Interestingly, the Morphing Grid is not a force of Good, but rather maintained by the [[Balance Between Good and Evil]], and the true goal of every villain in the franchise is to corrupt it and usurp its power entirely. The Morphing Grid does seem to be a physical location (seen only once, in the episode “Once a Ranger” in ''[[Power Rangers: Operation Overdrive]]'') where it is seen as a long, metallic corridor full of flashing lightning. Indeed, it is theorized that the "sparks" of "electricity" that appear whenever a Ranger or Zord is struck during a battle is residue from the Morphing Grid, a side effect of the energy field acting as a damage buffer.
▲<!-- %%[[folder:Live Action TV]] -->
== Tabletop Games ==
* In the ''[[Greyhawk]]'' campaign setting of ''[[Dungeons
* Magic in ''[[Forgotten Realms]]'' is derived from the Weave (''or'' the Shadow Weave), which is mostly all-permeating. In wild magic zones it's "snarled" or mildly damaged
** During the century-advance for the setting to reach 4e, one of the goddesses of magic died, and vast areas of the Realms lie now under a dense area of wild magic, called the Spellplague, that either makes you very, very sick, before mutating into a terrible monster, turns you into a terrible mutated-monster right away, or gives you cool ''spellscars'' that come with interesting powers. In 4e FR, players may optionally be allowed to start with one such scar, and there's a theme (an optional PC element equivalent to a low-level Prestige Class that you get on top of your other class for free, much like Paragon Paths and Epic Destinies in 4e are to Prestige Classes at higher levels) called the ''Spellscarred Harbinger'' that grants multiple spellscars over the course of the first ten levels of play.
** In ''[[Eberron]]'', the background magical field is extremely stable, especially as compared to worlds like Krynn and Toril. Magic is so reliably [[Dungeon Punk|abundant]] that that it has actually been [[Magitek|commercialized]]. The nation of Cyre was destroyed mysteriously during ''The Last War,'' and where it once stood, a terrible mist of wild magic now stands, and no one goes in there now except for clans of Warforged, crazy villains, and crazy PCs. However, this had no effect on the stability of magic beyond Cyre's borders. There are also areas called "manifest zones" where the planet Eberron is magically linked to other planes of existence. In these locales physical laws may become a fusion of both worlds. For example, the [[Skyscraper City|city of Sharn]] stands within a permanent manifest zone that enhances anti-gravity magic and allows for otherwise impossible towers and floating structures.
** In ''[[Ravenloft]]'', the supernatural Mists form the boundaries of the Core, Clusters, and Islands of the world, and likewise manifest within these territories at the whim of the Dark Powers. New lands can congeal from the eerie Mists when a new domain is created, and domains whose darklords have been destroyed may disperse into Mist as if they had never existed.
** The ''[[Dragonlance]]'' setting, however, mostly subverts this. The availability of "primal magic" is directly connected to the amount of Chaos active in the world. The more Order the gods imposed on the world the less available this magic became, until Chaos reasserted itself. Otherwise, [[Rule Magic]] powered by energies furnished by the Gods of Magic, embodied in the planet Krynn's three moons, is the primary source of arcane power. While one could technically utilize this system of magic without swearing allegiance to one of the gods, if the gods are absent then this kind of magic [[The Magic Goes Away|does not work]] anymore.
** Wholly averted in the ''[[Dark Sun]]'' campaign setting. The world of Athas has no ambient magical energy at all, which means that all magic has to come from a specific source. Divine spellcasters draw upon [[Elemental Powers|elemental]] forces. Wizards draw upon the [[Life Energy|
* In ''[[Shadowrun]]'', this is the Earth's aura, or rather the combined auras of all living things on the planet. Mages [[Your Head Asplode|have a hard time in space]].
** Also in ''[[Shadowrun]]'', areas of highly aspected magic to a particular (usually toxic) element are rated by their background count. The higher the background count, the tougher it is on the mage. (2 is discomforting, 3 is Nausea, 4 is utter revulsion, and 5 is called a [[Oh Crap|Mana Warp]].)
* ''[[GURPS]]'' has had local [[Mana]] levels since at least
** [[Ley Line
** The 3d edition Religion source book also has comparable variable levels of "sanctity" for a [[Religion Is Magic|particular religion or specific god]].
* Both ''[[Warhammer Fantasy Battle]]'' universes. The results of high background magic can cause anything, from random mutations and
* ''[[Exalted]]'' has Essence, the energy that makes up and gives form to Creation. Every person has a little Essence in them, but the Exalted (and a few [[Badass Normal|Heroic Mortals]]) are capable of channeling it to full effect.
* ''[[Rifts]]'' uses this idea as the foundation of the magic used in the setting, concentrated into "Ley Lines" that criss-cross the landscape like
* In ''[[Mage: The Ascension]]'' reality is composed of quintessence, the "thread" of the "fabric" of the tapestry of the world. Everything is suffused with quintessence to varying degrees, and can have different Resonance, or magical impressions based on how the world perceives that object or person. For added fun, mages can make use of the Sphere of Prime in order to manipulate quintessence and restructure the magical nature of people and objects around them, including shutting off the flow of quintessence to such things, effectively erasing them from existence.
== Video Games ==
* The Mist in ''[[Final Fantasy XII]]'' provides the page quote. It's an unstable, intangible and (usually) invisible field, which impacts everything from [[Patchwork Map|geography]] to [[Cool Airship|technology]].
** This is even carried over to game mechanics. The rate at which your party's MP regenerates depends strongly on the thickness of the Mist in the area.
** Mist also carries over to ''[[Final Fantasy Tactics
* To a lesser extent, ''[[Final Fantasy IX]]'''s Mist, too. It's less dramatic in its wildness, but still responsible for the shape of travel and civilisation on the Mist Continent, as well as its hordes of ravenous beasts.
* This is actually a battle mechanic in ''[[Chrono Cross]]''. The magic field is always of a certain elemental type, and can be influenced through spellcasting. The (elemental) color of the magic field determines how powerful magic of that type is, and in order to use [[Summon Magic]] the field needs to be the specific entity's color.
* Arcane magic in ''[[Warcraft]]'' setting is energy from the Twisting Nether that is channeled to the mortal world through leylines. Mages tap into this energy to cast spells. Warlocks draw their power directly from the Nether (and by making pacts with demons that live there). Shamans, Paladins and Priests rely on being granted power by deities or elemental spirits. Its somewhat unclear how Hunter magic works, and Hunters using mana could simply be a case of [[Gameplay and Story Segregation]]. Death Knights use some sort of runic system that channels
** Hunters using mana is entirely for game design convenience. Back in the alpha they operated off of focus, a resource more similar to energy and it has now been brought back for Cataclysm.
* Aer in ''[[Tales of Vesperia]]'' is one of the main elements present in the atmosphere of their world. Anyone with the proper magical bracelet and a basic knowledge of how to do so can cast magic using aer.
* This is how [[Mana]] works in ''[[Tales of Symphonia]]''. The source of it is a [[World Tree|Mana Tree]] (or the seed of one), and it's concentrated around the [[Place of Power|homes of the]] [[Physical God|Summon Spirits]], although the cause and effect relationship of this is not entirely clear. Either way, the strength of this Background Magic Field is a central point driving the plot of the game, since [[The End of the World as We Know It|everything will die if it fades completely]], and the Seed that provides mana to the two worlds at the start of the game only provides enough to supply one of them...
* ''[[
** [[Magic]] (which was unconnected to seithr) already existed before the Black Beast, but only a handful of people could use it. Ars Magus was invented by a magic-user as an alternative system so that more people could fight the beast.
* ''[[Dragon Age]]'' combines this, [[Spirit World]] and [[Dream Land]] in the Fade.
* In ''[[The Elder Scrolls]]'', Magicka is energy that is bleeding off into the material plane from the plane of Aetherius where the gods reside, through the plane of Oblivion. The sun and stars are holes in Oblivion, leading to Aetherius.
* Occasionally mentioned in ''[[Kingdom of Loathing]]''.
* A major plot point in ''[[Monster Girl Quest Paradox]]''. Thirty years prior to the game's beginning, the Great Disaster occurred, which (among other effects) filled the atmosphere with holy and dark energy. As a result, all humans can easily learn to use magic.
== Webcomics ==
* In ''[[Drowtales]]'', [[Mana]] is a [[Functional Magic]] - like cloud of energy generated by the [[Life Force]] of the Fey races (elves, fairies, drow, etc.) and is necessary to sustain their immortality. It fills the cities where they live, and it can even be seen by drow but is invisible to humans.
* In ''[[Tales of the Questor]]'' (and to a lesser extent, ''[[
* In one filler arc of ''[[Elves With Mecha]]'', one character complains that the [[Steampunk]] world he all-of-a-suddenly finds himself in has no Magical feild Harmonics.
* ''[[El Goonish Shive]]'' has it used in several major plot points, including flow of magic being sabotaged and "clogged", so that "our" world develops an intensely magical area, to make development of starting magical abilities easier. Which also means a local shortage in the world "downstream", so a pair of griffons 'ported in and tried to investigate the problem.
** Also, one magic-user was beaten because he didn't know what gives him extra power, while his opponents did, and were capable of using it up before their own - he tried to fight one by changing into huge and very tough form, then ''another'' magic-user joined, and they both could fly circles around him, so he had to boost himself with even more magic, while already maintaining one or two big enchantments - and these exercises slurped up more and more of local "ambient energy" until he suddenly found himself unable to maintain all the spells... at tree-top altitude, mid-manoeuvre, in a form with wings, but too massive to fly without magic at all, [[Oh Crap|the surprise]] was brief.
* 'In '[[Gunnerkrigg Court]]'' The Ether works as both this and [[Layered World]] (and layered in itself). E.g. the Ether stations apparently are [[Magitek]] generators processing high-Etheric water. Which is why Zimmy felt worse approaching active one, and its depleted condensate doesn't relieve her strange condition, unlike all-natural rain (or to a lesser degree proximity of a magic talent) does. Conversely, once such a station was set to dump what it have accumulated, which created a local Ether-rich cloud.
{{reflist}}
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[[Category:Magic and Powers]]
[[Category:Background Magic Field]]
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