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The Magocracy: Difference between revisions
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* Literary example: A pair of novels by [[Lawrence Watt-Evans]], ''The Cyborg and the Sorcerers'' and ''The Wizard and the War Machine'', are set on an [[After the End]] planet where [[Psychic Powers]] are [[Functional Magic|considered magic]], whose countries are all ruled by mutant Magocracies. Yet each nation's government is different; some good, some bad, some outright incompetent.
** Another Watt-Evans book, ''A Young Man Without Magic'', uses this trope in a fantasy setting. Children found to have magical talent are automatically elevated to the nobility, and it's a capital crime for anyone else to practice magic. The non-magician emperor is more or less a figurehead. The government is mostly functional but corrupt; sorcerers have so much power that they can get away with openly using spells powered by human sacrifice.
* Though they seem mostly unconcerned with [[Muggle]] affairs unless someone offers them money or messes with one of their own, the Bondsmagi of Scott Lynch's ''[[Gentleman Bastard Sequence]]'' series rule their home city Karthain behind the scenes. There is also a faction among them that wishes to rule the world.
* In Brandon Sanderson's ''[[Mistborn]]'' series, the titular Mistborn sorcerers are supposed to be restricted to the ranks of the nobility. However, illegal interbreeding between classes has resulted in the power cropping up among the peasant race here and there.
* There [[Iron Council|are passing references]] to a nation called "The Witchocracy" in [[China Mieville]]'s ''[[Bas-Lag Cycle|Bas-Lag]]'' series, but it hasn't been explored in any great detail.
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== Tabletop Games ==
* Very common in ''[[Dungeons
** Widespread in the [[Forgotten Realms]]: [http://forgottenrealms.wikia.com/wiki/Netheril Netheril] was full of [[Magitek]], inhumanly arrogant, but mostly non-evil (if not ''good'') Archwizards with magical longevity ruled over Muggles—until their abuses of magic provoked turning the entire region into a barren desert and rose to stealing the power from goddess of magic, [[Gotterdammerung|killing her, them and damaging the world's magic circuit]]. Thay and Luskan are evil magocracies (Thay got better later when pro-trade attitude won). [http://forgottenrealms.wikia.com/wiki/Sshamath Sshamath] is a city-state [[Affably Evil|as nice as possible for evil drow]]. The kingdom of Halruaa in the southern Realms ''is'' a good Magocracy, where all citizens benefit from wizardry and [[Magitek]], happy people celebrates holy days, law protects, and... [[Nightmare Fuel]] quietly gurgles behind the scene.
** Mystara also had the Principalities of Glantri, a smaller Magocracy with capital like Venice, diverse subdomains like Switzerland, and great hostility to clerics. Glantri and Alphatia both have magic-users outranking non-magicians, though Alphatia honors clerics as well as arcane magicians.
*** Both Glantri and Alphatia have their faults. The former is scornful of divine casters and not all that bad on [[Muggles]]; the latter is respectful of divine casters and condescending-to-malicious to [[Muggles]], depending on where you are. Herath also qualifies as a Magocracy {{spoiler|if you don't require that the ruling mages be humanoids}}.
** Speaking of which, the ''[[Dungeons
*** Not that close a match. Thieves actually don't have it so good in Alphatia, and Izmer is ''microscopic'' by comparison.
** The Tippyverse is a hypothetical setting that came into being when the implications of the large scale, long distance teleportation was considered. The premise is based on the use of the 9th level spell "Teleportation Circle" which allows for quick and efficient trade between cities, safe travel that does not risk being attacked by monsters and devastating military strikes. This leads to the centralisation of population in major cities, and the all but abandonment of other areas (as it was deemed impossible to effectively defend settlements against mass strikes from enemy nations using Teleportation magic). To solve the problems of providing the necessary food and water, magical "Create Food and Water" traps were created to feed the populations of these cities. Other magical traps (such as "Wish" traps that create 25,000gp every time they are activated) are created to smooth the running of these cities. High-level Wizards have control, as they're the ones with the capability to create these items, and have enough power to ensure they stay at the top.
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[[Category:Tabletop Game Tropes]]
[[Category:Wizards and Witches]]
[[Category:{{PAGENAME}}]]
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